END OF TRAIL 2006, page 2

Vendors:

Excuse me, Mr. Blacksmith. Are your wares handforged?

Buckaroo Bobbins makes Victorian era patterns, as is well known by those who sew.

For years Cactus Cris has been running the gun cart corral. He rents gun carts and rents space for you to store your gun cart. I buy a space just for the peanuts he gives out. It's lunch on a shooting day. MEMO TO THE WILD BUNCH: GIVE CRIS MORE ROOM NEXT YEAR. IT WAS CROWDED IN THERE!

We had big wagons...

little wagons ... (Sheriff E. H. Horton's famous 3000 piece Conestoga Gun cart seen at the best gun cart judging. Sheriff Horton, SASS #757, seen bending over it, has won best gun cart several times. It's easy to see why. Sheriff E. H. Horton was his great grandfather, and he dresses like him.)

...A wagon named Chuck (site of long lines at breakfast and lunch time)

A gun cart made by magically shrinking a Stage Coach... (seen at Best Gun Cart competition)

When someone asks you if you've seen Mr. Dillon, he's not talking about James Arness, but Mogollon Monk, Gary Kieft, of Dillon Precision, author of Beyond the Wild Bunch, and absolute expert on all things Dillon.

Colorado Mountain Hats is a long-time SASS hat supplier.

I'm not quite sure what they're selling. Looks more Indian than Cowboy.

Capt. Saveur Baken makes cedar and other wood gun carts, chess and checkers sets, jewelry boxes, etc. If you see him, tell him to watch out for Indians.

Two always busy vendors, IAC Shotguns, with Coyote Cap usually holding court on their extensive line of Cowboy Action Shotguns, and Eagle Grips, who make gunfighter grips for the big Rugers and exotic grips for Colts and clones.

Asking Colt Firearms if they have anything new can be surprising since they've been making the Single Action Army off and on since 1873. But now for the CAS market they're making them plated with electroless nickel. They look like stainless and can be expected to hold up well to CAS usage. Anyway, they're Colts. Wyatt Earp didn't shoot a Uberti (well, except in Tombstone).

What Colt didn't have was pretty girls selling their wares. Take note Colt folks. (See photos of Cimarron and Taylor girls on page 1)

Food vendors were high quality, low quantity. Thus you had to expect to stand in line a long time to eat, and don't expect to have a late dinner. Most of the food vendors forgot that SASS people had activities on site until well after dark (like opening ceremonies, poker, Soiled Dove Costume Contests, Costume Contest awards, and a bar at the Belle Union).

This beautiful wagon was in the Off the Wall Gun Carts booth. A gun rack and an ammo box are available for it. When/if I ever have room for such a wagon...

Speaking of gun carts, the surface at EOT was VERY rough. Gravel was laid down everywhere necessary, which prevented the mud of last year, but it was tough stuff. The nice wooden wheels of my cart were destroyed. The vibration and bumping did other damage. The cart has wire wheels now with rubber tires, and some other items have been modified for this place. If you're shooting smokeless and are not entering in the best gun cart contest, a lightweight, fat rubber tired cart is recommended. If you're shooting smoky, especially Frontiersman, then you have to have room for your "stuff." But keep weight to a minimum and try to have soft-riding tires.

The SASS Booth Ladies. You can tell which ones could tell a camera from a gun.

River Crossing, home of Miss Tabitha and Mad Mountain Mike, experts in all things Victorian. They were in charge of the Best Dressed Costume Contest and did a really good job. Finding Costume Contest judges who know a Dickie from a Whalebone Corset is tough, and good ones should be cultivated, given free entries and engraved Colts. Sadly they're not.

Sport Ear, another place I spent lots of money. Go back to the picture of the Taylor's Firearms lady and see if you can pick up a trend.

Stage Coach rides were available. Sadly you couldn't shoot from the moving stage. Maybe next year.

Absolutely no motorized vehicles were allowed on vendors row!

I'm tired of all this shopping (and broke). Can we shoot something now? (other than the trailer rental guy)

Posse 31/32:

Crazy Emmett shoots pocket pistols as main match guns and gets away with it. I'm not sure how. Actually he shoots these short-barreled revolvers and also carries two pocket pistols on his costume that have to be checked at the unloading table every time.

EOT is shot over 3 days (plus another 3 days the week before for overflow and workers). Each posse shoots 4 stages a day, in either the morning, midday, or afternoon shift. The afternoon shift never gets to start on time. Here another posse has arrived and is waiting patiently for the previous posse to finish.

Tex, SASS #4. I was fortunate enough to be on his posse. I believe he hand selected most of the comedians in SASS. It was a very fun group.

Please go to Page 3