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No Old Western
In reference to Bill O’Neal’s “9 Western Film Stars From Texas” (Roundup, October 2016): No Country for Old Men a Western? I never heard that before, especially considering “The American Frontier” purpose of Wild West. Also, Willie Nelson a Western film star? Western actor, maybe, but certainly no star. I otherwise love Wild West—and that photo of luscious Linda Darnell (as Chihuahua in My Darling Clementine).

Steve Northcutt
Little Rock, Ark.

Editor responds: No Country for Old Men is considered a neo-Western, as we mentioned in the August Roundup when noting it won the 2007 Oscar for best picture. Willie Nelson isn’t on our list of favorite Western actors either, but we do prefer Willie’s singing to that of, say, John Wayne (who admitted his singing was bad; when he played Singin’ Sandy Saunders in 1933’s Riders of Destiny, his singing voice was dubbed).

“Big Nose Kate” was born Marie Katherine Horony in 1850.

Horony or Haroney?
In the October 2016 issue are several articles mentioning Kate “Horony” [including “Doc & Kate,” by Gary L. Roberts], but on the inside back cover is an ad for a revolver commemorating Doc Holliday and Kate “Haroney.” Someone didn’t do his research.

Darrell Dehne
Pierre, S.D.

Gary Roberts responds: Kate was born Marie Katherine Horony. When she reverted to her family name around 1888, she went by the name “Mary Horony” (although her marriage certificate and her wedding announcement in The Aspen Weekly Times in 1890 added an “e,” rendering the name “Horoney”). At some point, I am not sure just when, other members of Kate’s family, her sisters and brothers, began to use the spelling, “Haroney.” In some of the documents it is hard to determine whether an “o” or an “a” is used, but by the 20th century the preferred form was Haroney.

Bitterroot Game
In regard to Rodney A. Fosback’s comment about wolves in Letters (October): Like knowledge, a little history can be worse than no history. During the Lewis and Clark visit scarcity of big game in the Bitterroot country had nothing to do with wolves. Rather, that area was old-growth forest, maintained with periodic cool burns executed by Sheepeaters. Such is not prime big game habitat.

It was only decades after the Sheepeaters were removed that the hot fires burned, clear-cut logging started, lots of understory came in, enhancing big game habitat, and the elk and deer populations rose. Lewis and Clark had plentiful game to the east where wolf numbers were huge, matching the big game on the plains and open mountain country.

In short, the Bitterroot area was not only short on big game but also short on wolves. The latter had nothing to do with the former. As to the rest: Tough. I’m an elk hunter, and I long for the howl of wolves.

James C. Burnham
Cotopaxi, Colo.

No Horn Pardon
December 2016, with Tom Horn on the cover, was a nice issue. From time to time I see suggestions a posthumous pardon be granted to Tom Horn. When we conducted the retrial of Horn in 1993, which resulted in an acquittal, we indicated to Wyoming Governor Mike Sullivan we would not pursue a posthumous pardon. Sullivan graciously agreed.

Chip Carlson
Cheyenne, Wyo.

Cruickshanks
Recently, various individuals have mentioned in Wild West that they were unable to find English Earp researcher David H. Cruickshanks [see “Adelia Earp’s Dubious Memoir” by Scott Dyke, with a sidebar by Bob Palmquist, in the October 2016 issue of Wild West]. My last correspondence with him is dated May 2010, in which he told me he was in very poor health and felt he would not be on the earth much longer. An obit in the Edinburgh Evening News [reporting the death of a David H. Cruickshanks at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary on Feb. 21, 2013] perhaps solves the mystery.

Phyllis Moreeale-de la Garza
Willcox, Ariz.

Scott Dyke responds: I can’t say the obit is his, considering the fact I have a photo of him and his young daughter, while the obit lists three sons. Cruickshanks is not an uncommon name in Great Britain.

 

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