Legends in history don’t come any bigger than the heroes and bad men of the Old West. They are all painted as being larger than life and living to the fullest. Whether hero or villain, whichever you prefer, they have the ability to captivate us and get us to believe their story; whether they are true or tall-tales that have been made taller like a growing tree through the ages.
I love to read the stories as well as what historians say about these prolific people of the untamed west. There are many that stand out; Buffalo Bill, Billy the Kid and Wild Bill Hickok — wow, there are a lot of Bill’s in the Old West and they seemed to get all the cool names.
When you think about it, there is Bob Dalton and the Dalton gang, Jessie James, Frank James and the Youngers, as well as Wyatt Earp, and Pat Garrett, and all of them, no cool nickname.
This also makes me wonder where all the Tanner’s and Brock’s were in the Old West. Were they the shop owners or ranchers? ‘Brock the rancher’ or ‘Blacksmith Tanner?’ But I digress.
This also makes me wonder where all the Tanner’s and Brock’s were in the Old West. Were they the shop owners or ranchers? ‘Brock the rancher’ or ‘Blacksmith Tanner?’ But I digress.
I also loved to watch some of Hollywoods renditions of these western tales. I believe we can all agree that they take liberties with the already stretched and skewed truth of the western legends. We just went from an oak tree sized legend to a redwood, simply by adding Hollywood.
One of my favorite of these is Tombstone starring Kurt Russel as Wyatt Earp and Val Kilmer as “Doc” Holiday. Born John Henry Holliday, “Doc” still doesn’t count as one of the cool nicknames the “Billy’s” got because he was an actual dentist.
There are so many catchphrases and one-liners in this movie that will live throughout eternity, just like the legends themselves.
“I'm your huckleberry.”
“I have two guns, one for each of ya.”
“You're a daisy if you do.”
There is one particular scene in this movie that stands out in my mind. Wyatt Earp walks into a bar looking for employment. He talks to the proprietor (probably named Tanner), and in the discussion — let’s just call him Tanner — tells Earp that the man running the card table is running off all the customers due to his belligerent and cruel attitude.
Wyatt Earp watches the man for a moment as he is incessantly berating the few people at the table. Having enough of the man's cruelness he walks over to him and confronts him. Now in order to get the conversation correct, I am going to list the exchange between the two of them.
Johnny Tyler looking at Wyatt Earp: — “Something on your mind?”
Wyatt Earp: “I just wanted to let you know you’re sitting in my chair.”
Johnny Tyler: “For a man that don't go heeled, you run your mouth awful reckless.”
Wyatt Earp: “No need to go heeled to get the bulge on a tub like you.”
Johnny Tyler: “Is that a fact?”
Wyatt Earp: “That’s a fact!”
Johnny stands and faces Wyatt pushing his chair aside.
Johnny Tyler: “Well, I'm real scared.”
Wyatt Earp: “Damn rights you're scared, I can see that in your eyes.”
Wyatt rushes forward to stand toe to toe with Johnny as Johnny hovers his hand over his gun.
Wyatt Earp: “Go ahead! Go ahead, skin that smoke-wagon and see what happens!”
Johnny Tyler: Stuttering and frightened holding the butt of his gun “Listen, mister, I’m getting awful tired…”
Wyatt Earp: Interrupts his statement with a hard slap across his face — “I'm getting tired of your gas now jerk that pistol and go to work.” Slaps him hard again — “I said throw down boy!” slaps him across the face for the third time and asks, “You going to do something, or just stand there and bleed?”
Johnny Tyler shakes his head and looks away from Wyatt clearly defeated.
Wyatt Earp: “NO? — I didn’t think so.”
This is an iconic part of the movie and a lot of people claim that it shows how heartless and cruel Wyatt Earp was. Others argue that it shows his fearlessness and conviction.
The reason I have taken you through this journey with me is I believe there is a lesson to be learned by this scene.
Wyatt Earp approached a clearly belligerent man who was armed and known for his temper. He confronted him and called him out for his actions; the whole time knowing that he himself wasn’t armed.
“For a man that don't go heeled, you run your mouth awful reckless.”
This is in reference to the fact that Wyatt was unarmed. Wyatt stood his ground and defeated Johnny simply by not backing down.
I have a motto that I like to live by — “Attempt everything in life as if you cannot fail.” Imagine what you could accomplish if you attempted everything in life knowing that you cannot fail. Wyatt approached a known violent and armed man with total conviction that he could not fail.
The legend of Wyatt Earp goes on to state that throughout his lifetime and the numerous gun battles, he was never touched by a single bullet.
Throughout the gunfight, at the Ok Corral, the most famous of these, both of his brothers were wounded and even the great Doc Holliday was grazed. Several of the ‘cowboys’ were wounded and three were killed, yet Wyatt came out unscathed.
I don’t believe that this was divine intervention or some mystical aura that he possessed. It was plain and simple his mindset. He had a mission and nothing would derail that mission. He didn’t give himself a plan B.
It is rumored that throughout his life everything that he did, he did with such conviction that it was impossible for him to fail. He never allowed that to cross his mind.
When he set his mind to something, that’s the way it was. There wasn’t any doubt or fear; just the vision of the outcome that he already expected. How much more would we accomplish if we didn't worry about the outcome and just knew that it was going to be?
After the start of my disorder, it was difficult for me to accept this mindset that I had adopted years earlier. How was I supposed to attempt the things in life that never before slowed me down or caused me fear, but now as a sight-impaired individual cause me great anxiety?
However, I have come to realize that now is the time for me to accept and completely embrace this motto. There are many things that I haven't tried yet but when I do finally get the opportunity I will go at them with only one thought — “I cannot fail!”
SP
In our neighborhood, a six year old boy has a condition that causes fibrous tumors to grow. Most of his are small and in not noticible places. However, one tumor grew fairly large, and on his foot. It impeded his movement as he got older. Just recently the boy had surgery to amputate his foot and part of his lower leg. He has had to relearn to walk, but he is walking instead of in a wheelchair. Rarely through this has he been without a smile. His family approached it as a new beginning, a happy start. It's all in the attitude.
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