The Floating Outfit 17

by J. T. Edson

  10 While Colonel Iain McDonald, then commanding the 3rd United States Cavalry, was probably working to create the best result of cross breeding from Scottish deerhound and British bull mastiff at the period of the events recorded therein, there was no reference to this activity in the notes from which we produced A MATTER OF HONOUR.

  11 The habit of circling back and. waiting in concealment for its pursuers, when injured and being followed, is common amongst all wild species of the Bovidae. Such incidents have frequently been recorded as happening with Cape and Indian buffalo, the guar of Asia, and even the feral buffalo of Australia. However, as hunting on foot and following up wounded animals, as Morton Lewis and First Lieutenant James Thatcher were doing, only rarely happened in the United States of America, the bison was not so well known for laying ambushes in this fashion.

  12

  Ironically, due to the slowness of communications having delayed news of peace reaching him, Colonel John Salmon ‘Rip’ Ford and his troops won the final battle of the War Between the States for the South. However, this took place at Palmitto Hill, some fifteen miles east of Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas, on May 13 1865. More than a month earlier, on April 9, at the Appomattox Courthouse, the surrender of General Robert E. Lee on behalf of the Confederate States should have signified an ending of all military hostilities.

  13 How the life of one man was ruined by the worst aspects of the ‘Reconstruction’ period in Texas is described in THE HOODED RIDERS.

  14 How this exploitation of what was then the major natural resource available in Texas was developed—it would be many years before ‘black gold’, oil, became of considerable importance in the economy of the Lone Star State—is recorded in GOODNIGHT’S DREAM, FROM HIDE AND HORN and SET TEXAS BACK ON HER FEET.

  15 For a description of the way in which such a factory was operated, see THE HIDE AND TALLOW MEN.

  16 In addition to being featured prominently in the first two books to which we refer in this Chapter, further information regarding the less than savory activities of John Chisum can be found in THE MAN FROM TEXAS and Part One, ‘They Called Him The Cattle King’, SLAUGHTER’S WAY.

  17 The author can state from personal experience this was the sensation he felt on those occasions during his twelve and a half years service with the Royal Army Veterinary Corps when he was bitten by a guard dog. The pain comes later.

  18 ‘Ride-plenty’: Indians’ name for a Texas cowhand, given as a sign of respect for the ability they shared with the braves as horsemen.

  19 ‘Namae’enuh’: put politely, ‘They who have incestuous intercourse.’

  20 ‘Old Yellowboy’: name given to the Winchester Model of 1866 rifle, on account of its frame being made from brass.

  21 According to the legend, having promised his hired hands better accommodation on moving into superior quarters himself, John Chisum showed them into an adobe shack which had as its sole furnishings a bottle of whiskey in each corner and another in the middle of its dirt floor.

  22 Although a wrangler was employed to look after the horses of a trail drive’s remuda during the hours of daylight, a ‘night hawk’ was hired to perform this task while the rest of the crew, excepting those hands riding ‘night herd’ on the cattle, were asleep.

  23 Details regarding the family background and special qualifications of the Ysabel Kid, also an explanation of various Comanche terms can be found in APPENDIX TWO.

  24 Two occasions when the Ysabel Kid benefited from ‘medicine’ are recorded in COMANCHE and GO BACK TO HELL.

  25 The family background and special qualifications of Captain Dustine Edward Marsden ‘Dusty’ Fog are recorded in APPENDIX ONE.

  26 Information regarding the family background and special qualifications of Mark Counter can be found in various volumes of the Floating Outfit series.

  27 Manadero: master stallion of a herd of wild horses.

  28 The trick was known amongst the horse racing fraternity of Great—as it was then—Britain, see Case One, ‘Silver Blaze’, THE MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

  29 An example of Captain Dustine Edward Marsden ‘Dusty’ Fog exhibiting his exceptional physical development and strength is given in MASTER OF TRIGGERNOMETRY.

  30 A ‘skewbald’ horse is colored by irregular patches of black and white and a ‘paint’ is white with any other color.

  31 ‘Pahuraix’ and ‘Par-Kee-Na-Um’ are two names for the ‘Water Horse’ band of the Comanche nation, which earned the title because its members always preferred to set up camp close to water.

  32 With the exception of Belle Starr, some information respecting to all the ladies mentioned can be found in APPENDICES ONE and TWO. The lady outlaw makes ‘guest’ appearances in several volumes of the Floating Outfit and Waco series. She and the Ysabel Kid are major participants in Part One, ‘The Poison And the Cure’ WANTED, BELLE STARR and THE QUEST FOR BOWIE’S BLADE.

  33 When a Pehnane Comanche warrior ‘rode pukutsi’, he stripped to his breech clout, made the sign of a red hand on his chest and the shoulder of his horse, then charged into the attack regardless of the odds he was facing. He was expected to emerge victorious, or die in the attempt. Why the Ysabel Kid elected to ride pukutsi is explained in COMANCHE and SIDEWINDER.

  34 The type of ‘hackamore’ used by the Ysabel Kid resembled an ordinary leather halter. However, it had a headpiece something like a bridle, a brow band about three inches wide which could be drawn down to cover the horse's eyes, a bosal—a rawhide loop immediately above the mouth, from the Spanish word, bozal, meaning ‘muzzle’—in place of a bit and having one-piece reins instead of a lead rope.

  35 Details of the methods employed by the Ysabel Kid to hide his tracks and of other incidents to which we will only be referring later in this narrative are so similar to those described in Part One, ‘The Half-Breed’, THE HALF-BREED, that to repeat them verbatim would merely be repetitious.

  36 Told in THE DEVIL GUN.

  37 See the second paragraph of our Author’s note.

  38 Proof that the Ysabel Kid had not forgotten his training at archery is given in RIO GUNS.

  39 A:he; ‘I claim it’: the declaration made by a Comanche warrior in a fight, when delivering a fatal blow or, regarded as more praiseworthy, touching an enemy with an empty hand, to announce he had ‘counted coup’.

  40 Further information regarding this defect in the Winchester Model of 1866 and how it could be repaired is given in CALAMITY SPELLS TROUBLE.

  41 Chief Long Walker had come from the Pehnane Comanche reservation accompanied by his good friend, Colonel Charles Goodnight to help his grandson keep the Kweharehnuh from taking the war path. Arriving shortly after the Ysabel Kid had set out from the village, they had followed with Chief Wolf Runner and a number of braves to lend moral support if it should be needed.

  42 David Masefield Stewart never returned to the Standing DMS ranch, or Holbrock County. Receiving a warning of what had happened from one of his supporters while on his way from Austin, he fled from Texas and sold his ranch to a wealthy Easterner who proved to be a less ambitious and more friendly neighbor to Morton Lewis.

  43 Details of some of the career of Dustine Edward Marsden ‘Dusty’ Fog prior to his enrolment are given in Part Five, the Civil War series, ‘A Time For Improvisation, Mr. Blaze’, J.T.’S HUNDREDTH.

  44 Told in YOU’RE IN COMMAND NOW, MR. FOG.

  45 The first ‘commandos’ were bands of South African irregular troops fighting very successfully against the British Army in the Boer War.

  46 Told in THE BIG GUN, A MATTER OF HONOUR, UNDER THE STARS AND BARS and KILL DUSTY FOG!

  47 Told in THE BIG GUN

  48 Told in THE COLT AND THE SABER and THE REBEL SPY. Other episodes of the life of Belle ‘the Rebel spy’ Boyd are recorded in A MATTER OF HONOUR, THE BLOODY BORDER, BACK TO THE BLOODY BORDER, THE HOODED RIDERS, THE BAD BUNCH, TO ARMS! TO ARMS! IN DIXIE!, THE SOUTH WILL RISE AGAIN, THE QUEST FOR BOWIE’S BLADE, Part Eight, ‘
Affair of Honor’, J.T.’S HUNDREDTH, THE REMITTANCE KID, THE WHIP AND THE WAR LANCE and Part Five, ‘The Butcher’s Fiery End’, J.T.’S LADIES.

  49 Details of the career of General Jackson Baines ‘Ole Devil’ Hardin, C.S.A., can be found in the Ole Devil Hardin series; Part Four, ‘Mr. Colt’s Revolving Cylinder Pistol’, J.T.’S HUNDREDTH—covering his early life—the Civil War and Floating Outfit series and his death is reported in DOC LEROY, M.D. The General’s sobriquet arose partly as a result of his deliberately enhancing the Mephistophelian aspects of his features when he was younger and because his contemporaries claimed he was a ‘lil ole devil for a fight’.

  50 Told in Part Three, ‘The Paint’, THE FASTEST GUN IN TEXAS.

  51 Told in THE YSABEL KID. (When sent as a manuscript to our first publishers, Wagon Wheel Westerns, in 1961, we gave it the title, DUSTY FOG, but it was changed by the editor without consulting us.)

  52 ‘Floating outfit’: four to six cowhands employed on a large ranch to work the more distant regions of the property. Taking food and other necessities in a chuck wagon or ‘greasy sack’ on the back of a mule, they would be away from the ranch house for long periods and so were the pick of the crew. Because of General Hardin’s prominence in the affairs of Texas, the floating outfit of the OD Connected ranch were frequently dispatched to assist such of his friends who found themselves in serious difficulties or danger.

  53 Details of the career and special qualifications of Mark Counter can be found in Part Two, ‘We Hang Horse Thieves High’, J.T.’S HUNDREDTH and various volumes of the Floating Outfit series.

  54 Told in .44 CALIBER MAN and A HORSE CALLED MOGOLLON.

  55 The military rank, ‘Colonel’, granted to Charles Goodnight was honorary and out of respect for his abilities as a fighting man and leader. As is recorded in the Alvin Dustine ‘Cap’ Fog series, Dusty Fog was accorded a similar honor later in his life.

  56 Told in GOODNIGHT’S DREAM and FROM HIDE AND HORN.

  57 Told in SET TEXAS BACK ON HER FEET.

  58 Told in TRAIL BOSS (Our first published work).

  59 Told in THE MAN FROM TEXAS (Our original recommendations to Sabre Books was far more suitable in our opinion, if not that of the editor, ROUNDUP CAPTAIN.)

  60 Told in QUIET TOWN, THE MAKING OF A LAWMAN, THE TROUBLE BUSTERS, THE GENTLE GIANT, THE SMALL TEXAN and THE TOWN TAMERS.

  61 Told in GUN WIZARD.

  62 The members of the Hardin, Fog and Blaze clan with whom we have consulted decline to explain why Lady Winifred Amelia ‘Freddie Woods’ Besgrove-Woodstole decided to leave England and live under an assumed name in the United States of America. Nor was a present day member of the Besgrove-Woodstole family, the Right Hon. Brenda—who makes a ‘guest’ appearance in THE LAWMEN OF ROCKABYE COUNTY—wife of Sheriff Jack Tragg, any more inclined to be informative.

  63 One example of Dusty Fog exhibiting his exceptional muscular physique and strength is given in MASTER OF TRIGGERNOMETRY, the ‘expansion’ of Part One, ‘The Schoolteacher’, THE HARD RIDERS.

  64 The ambidextrous prowess was in part hereditary. It was possessed and exploited just as effectively by the grandson of Freddie and Dusty, Alvin Dustine ‘Cap’ Fog, q.v. ‘Cap’ also inherited the physique of a Hercules in miniature and these traits helped him to become, in addition to arguably the greatest combat pistol handler of his generation, the youngest man ever to hold rank of captain in the Texas Rangers. However, some authorities award the ‘combat pistol’ honor to Ed McGivern, author of FAST AND FANCY REVOLVER SHOOTING, a partly autobiographical work and a definitive treatise upon the subject.

  65 Although the military sometimes claimed derisively it was harder to kill a soldier than a sailor, the weight factor of the respective weapons caused the United States’ Navy to adopt a revolver of .36 caliber and the Army settled for the heavier .44. The weapon would be carried on the belt of a seaman and not—handguns having originally and primarily been developed for use by cavalry—upon the person or saddle of a man who would be doing much of his travelling and fighting on the back of a horse. Therefore, by tradition, .44 became classified as the ‘Army’ caliber and .36 the ‘Navy’.

  66 Information regarding the Colt Model P ‘Single Action Army’ revolver is given in those volumes of the Floating Outfit series which come after THE PEACEMAKERS on the chronological list.

  67 ‘Tommy Okasi’ is an Americanized corruption of the name given by the man in question when he was rescued from a derelict vessel in the China Sea by a ship under the command of General Hardin’s father. Due to the families involved, who have living descendants holding positions of importance in Japan, the Hardin, Fog and Blaze clan consider it inadvisable even at this late date to disclose why Tommy had to leave his native land.

  68 ‘Samurai’: a member of the Japanese nobility’s elite warrior class who usually served as retainers for the Daimyos, the hereditary feudal barons. A masterless samurai who became a mercenary was known as a ronin. From the mid-1870s, increased contact with the Western Hemisphere brought an ever growing realization that the retention of a hereditary and privileged warrior class was not compatible with the formation of a modern industrialized society. Various edicts issued by the Emperor between 1873 and 1876 abolished the special rights of the samurai and they ceased to exist in their original form, although some of their traditions, concepts and military skills were retained. How well later generations absorbed the martial arts of the samurai culture is proved by Alvin Dustine ‘Cap’ Fog having received instruction similar to that given to his paternal grandfather from a kinsman of Tommy Okasi who lived in the United States from 1910.

  69 The members of the Hardin, Fog and Blaze clan with whom we have been in contact cannot, or will not, make any statement upon the exact relationship between Elizabeth ‘Betty’ and General Hardin. She appears in Part Five, ‘A Time For Improvisation, Mr. Blaze’, J.T.’S HUNDREDTH, Part Four, ‘It’s Our Turn to Improvise, Miss Blaze’, J.T.’S LADIES, KILL DUSTY FOG, THE BAD BUNCH, McGRAW’s INHERITANCE, Part Two, ‘The Quartet’, THE HALF-BREED, MASTER OF TRIGGERNOMETRY, THE RIO HONDO WAR and GUNSMOKE THUNDER.

  70 Pairaivo, first, or favorite, wife. As is the case with other Comanche terms, this is a phonetic spelling.

  71 Nemenuh: ‘The People , the Comanches’ name for their nation. Members of other Indian races with whom they came into contact called them, frequently with good cause, Tshaoh, ‘the Enemy People’.

  72 A description of the work of a party of mustangers is given in .44 CALIBER MAN and A HORSE CALLED MOGOLLON.

  73 Told in COMANCHE.

  74 An example of how the Ysabel Kid turned his knowledge of wild animals to good use is give in Part Three, ‘A Wolf’s A Knowing Critter’, J.T.’S HUNDRETH.

  75 Some researchers claim the actual designer of the knife was James Bowie’s eldest brother, Rezin Pleasant and was made by the master cutler, James Black of Arkansas. (A few authorities state it was manufactured by Jesse Cliffe, a white blacksmith employed on the Bowie family’s plantation in Rapides Parish, (Louisiana). As all James Black’s knives were handmade, there were variations in their dimensions. The specimen owned by the Ysabel Kid had a blade eleven and a half inches long, two and a half inches wide and a quarter of an inch thick at the guard. One thing all ‘bowie’ knives have in common is a ‘clip’ point, where the last few inches of the otherwise unsharpened ‘back’ of the blade joins and becomes an extension of the main cutting surface in a concave arc, whereas a ‘spear’ point is formed by the two sides coming together in symmetrical curves. What happened to James Bowie's knife after his death in the final assault of the siege of the Alamo Mission, at San Antonio de Bexar, Texas, on March 6 1836, is told in GET URREA and THE QUEST FOR BOWIE’S BLADE.

  76 Told in THE BLOODY BORDER and BACK TO THE BLOODY BORDER.

  77 Told in THE YSABEL KID.

  78 A similar association was formed between a grandson of the Ysabel Kid, Mark Scrapton, and Alvin Dustine ‘Cap' Fog, q.v., as is told in RAPIDO CLINT
, MORE JUSTICE FROM COMPANY ‘Z’ and THE JUSTICE OF COMPANY ‘Z’.