FIRE FOR FIRE . . . LAWLESS, MOVIE ABOUT THE FRANKLIN COUNTY, VIRGINIA, MOONSHINE OR WHISKEY REBELLION, WHERE OUTLAWS BECAME LEGENDS, BECAUSE LAW ENFORCEMENT & COUNTY ATTORNEYS WERE SO BRUTAL & CORRUPT, WAR ON LIQUOR, MUCH LIKE WAR ON DRUGS OF TODAY, WAS PROHIBITED, THE MANUFACTURE, SALE, OR TRANSPORT OF INTOXICATING LIQUORS, WERE PROHIBITED, EVEN FROM EXPORTATION, WITHIN THE U.S., BUT THE 18TH AMENDMENT WAS PROPOSED IN 1917, RATIFIED, JANUARY 16, 1919. IT WAS REPEALED BY THE 21ST AMENDMENT ON DECEMBER 5, 1933, LIFTING PROHIBITION--SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO GO TO WAR TO GET TO PEACE! GOOD FLICK! BACK IN CENTRAL MONTANA, THE HEART OF THE BIG SKY . . . BACK FOR A WEEK, TO SINK MY TEETH INTO THE WILD ASS HEAVY WEIGHT BOXING MATCH--RESEARCH, ARCHIVES, OLD NEWS HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE WORLD--THE FIGHT THAT WON'T STOP, HELD IN SHELBY, MONTANA, JULY 4, 1923; SHELBY, MYSELF & SON'S BAND, GOD'S REVOLVER, ALL HAVE SOMETHING IN COMMON . . . WE ALL GOT SCREWED BY SMARMY, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, CITY SLICKERS, WHO LET US DO ALL THE WORK, THEN TOOK THE CREDIT, THE MONEY AND RAN! DID THE PROCEEDS FROM THE DEMPSEY VS. GIBBONS FIGHT, THE TICKET SALES OF THE ROUGHLY 8,000 PLUS, GET ABSCONDED, USED TO BUILD THE KEARNS BUILDING IN SLC, UTAH? I'M GOING TO FIND OUT, AND HOPEFULLY I CAN BRING OUT A SPOTLIGHT ON THE TOWN & HIGHLIGHTS OF THE FIGHT, THAT MIGHT LEAD TO THE FRUITION OF SOME IDEAS I HAVE, IF THE MAYOR AND TOWN GO ALONG WITH THEM, FOR A CELEBRATION AND FOR A REMATCH, KICKING UP SOME DIRT ON THE GLORY DAYS IN SHELBY: (1) 4TH OF JULY BOXING MATCH, OF CURRENT CHAMPS; (2) PARADE TO CELEBRATE INDEPENDENCE DAY, WITH ALL SURROUNDING TOWNS JOINING; (3) BIG ASS POW WOW--INDIANS WERE CAMPED OUT IN TEE PEES, WATCHING--GET IN THE ACTION THIS TIME; (4) ROCK CONCERT FROM GOD'S REVOLVER, LITTLE BLACK HORSE WHERE ARE YOU GOING WITH YOUR DEAD RIDER? . . . ROCK IN, ROWDY, RAW, RELEVANT MUSIC, WITH SIMILAR HISTORY, ROCK THIS TOWN & GUESTS, WITH TRUE GRIT, FORTITUDE, INNOVATION OF THE FOUNDING FATHERS & MOTHERS BACK IN 1923, AND (5) RECOUP SOME OF THE FAME, THE MONEY, AND NOTORIETY OF THE EARLIER MATCH, BRINGING TOURISTS, NEW INCOME, FOCUS ON A TOWN WITH GREAT HISTORY AND JUST 67 MILES FROM EAST GLACIER! FUN, FUN, FUN! JUST DREAMIN' . . . CITY LIBRARIAN WAS RECENTLY CONTACTED BY NEWSPAPER IN CHICAGO, WANTING TO EXCHANGE INFORMATION, STILL COOL! BOXING LEGENDS HAVE WALKED THE STREETS OF SHELBY! HOT AIR BALLOONS MIGHT BE COOL TOO!

Outlaw Legends

In the movie, Lawless, there were three brothers, who were shot, smashed in the faces with rifle butts, throat slit, friends murdered, raided, distilleries blow to kingdom come, taunted, threatened, intimidated, and marauded by law enforcement and their attorneys, working to stamp out moonshine making, sales and transport, while partaking of the intoxicating liquors themselves, killing relentlessly, with all the power of the law and authority, in a brutal reign of terror.  The brothers got legend status, because they seemed to be invincible, beyond death, bullet riddled and almost dead, coming back to life two weeks later, one finally fell through the ice, while drinking and dancing on the edge of a pond, ironically, after being near dead so many times by serious and fatal injuries, he died of pneumonia!  The legend of gentleman and classy bank robber, Jesse James, train robber, who haunted law enforcement for years, with a respectable wife and family, was finally shot in the back by an associate, he trusted, while hanging a picture for his wife, in their front room!  

Eight-hundred thousand people came to show their respects to the outlaw, more than came to mourn at the deaths and caskets of United States Presidents, of the day . . . with the shooter, dying in shame, hatred, and disdain . . . there are just some things that are so magical, fascinating, the stuff of myth and folklore, much like Butch Cassidy, with festivals all over the state of Utah, no prophet of the Mormon church sees the likes of that, nor ever will.  There is a legend bear, called Old Ephraim, who terrorized sheep herders and cattle ranchers for tens of years, marked by a paw missing one toe, standing over 11 feet tall, on two feet, almost double the size of an average man, and having a skull, that is a fourth larger than any other bear of record, and claimed to have slaughtered 150 sheep in a single evening, leaving the carnage, a few eaten, in a rampage of horror, for weary herders.

However, the man, who was actually tracking the bear, with his dog and horse, was stunned by the old legend, one day, while drinking out of a stream of water, when the dog went ape shit, and the man barely turning in time to grab his firearm from his saddle on his horse, and blasting the bear with the full barrel of rounds, out of his rifle.  His daughter, said that her father, regretted killing the bear, for the rest of his 60 years on earth.  There are some things, that just are so awesome, beyond the normal, that killing, catching, jailing, or ending the fight, is almost more of a tragedy than the other way around.  I think that the Dempsey, Gibbons fight, falls into this category of events, that not only changes history, but carries a fascination forever, capturing the imagination of the public, to time immemorial.  At least, it does that for me . . .

Bring the Legends on Home

The skull of Old Ephraim, used to sit in the Smithsonian Museum, in Washington, D.C., I am sure, originally, with the idea, that many more people would get to see the huge bear skeleton, and I am sure they did, but they never had a hometown connection with the story, the folklore, the history, as did the people of northern Utah and Idaho.  So, just recently, some local people took the skull back to Montpelier, Idaho, or to the Bridgerland Museum, that sits on the border between two states, Utah and Idaho, at the edge of Bear Lake, where a Loch Ness--like, Monster, swims the Lake that, as I recall, scientists, have never found the bottom to it.  Or Big Foot, who allegedly roams the forests of Washington state . . . fun stuff!  My grand kids, would rather have me tell them about the legend bear, than open their Christmas presents, or they used to!  A young mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to ignite!  That quote is written on the walls of the young adult section of the Great Falls Library, love it.

Last week, while I was taking the shuttle from Shelby to Kalispell, I happened to mention the famous, Dempsey vs. Gibbons, heavy weight boxing match, held back in the day, July 4th, 1923, and this guy, who was actually raised in Shelby, didn't know anything about it, graduated from high school, with graduating class sizes shrinking from about 80, when this guy about my age, graduated, to the current class size, of 23, this year!  If we want to keep our young people in small towns, we need to have a thriving economy, bring either service jobs, for tourists, or build up area industry, capitalizing on the Amtrak Station, and rail road, that passes right through Shelby, on its way to Glacier National Park, with record numbers, this year!  Many towns are made, by some simple thing like a huge ball of string, or a Corn Palace, in some small town, in South Dakota, that me and 4 teenage boys, in route to a 17 day trip across country, just happened to get lucky enough to hear an ad on the local radio, bringing the hometown treasure of literally, a Taj Mahal, made of white, yellow, purple and black corn!  The boys, ages, 14 to 17 years of age, didn't want to stop, but I couldn't get them out of the large auditorium looking interior, with everything from candles, to corn row wigs, with Bob Marley type hats, it is those little unique historical things, like the fight that catches the imagination of people.

Not Going to Step on Toes

This morning, as I was eating at The Griddle, having Gary's Special Omelet, there was a meeting of the good citizens, or the mayor, city council, or just a group of citizens, where were busy planning great events for the town, from Halloween, to Thanksgiving and on to Christmas.  I overheard ideas, off and on as I was reading the Great Falls, Wall Street Journal, Tribune, a shockingly good newspaper for a smaller community or counties, with sections to rival the Journal, but it sounded like there were some fun things coming up, in the next few months.  With about 9 months until the 4th of July, the day the Dempsey fight was held, there is plenty of time for the town to plan this event, that would be so awesome and would bring people from around the state, if not nation, and world travelers, could include it in their vacation plans for next year!  Someone would have to get on YouTube or MySpace, and contact, God's Revolver & Maraloka bands, who need to be out under the big blue Montana skies, that fits their music with a cowboy, horse, dog, lover's triangle themes, of pride, justification, sanctification, love, etc., passionate music that fits these here parts, so fucking well, it is crazy.  

But, Elliot, my son, the bass guitarist for both bands, will not listen to his mother!  But, most festival concert bands have to be booked at least this much in advance, plus I have bragged up Glacier, so the band, if we can get them back together, the tragedy of the whole music thieves, is they would have to convince the real band, that they rock, as much, if not more, fitting the venue even better up here, and like I tell my son, lover's triangles and the themes in their songs, are really part of the culture, in small towns!  They could actually bring both bands, with members of the one, being in the other.  A small outside stage, with huge amps, might work, and maybe, the Red Ants Pants Music Festival, could work to coordinate bands, stages, and musicians, I always think of these things, when musicians have been scheduled, early by people who are on the ball.  White Sulphur Springs, is still in central Montana, helping with both towns economies, possibly bringing some of the traffic from one to the other, capitalizing on the Glacier visitors.

Harley Davidson, Hog Rallies, Always Looking for New Music, Sites, Towns

Zion Harley Davidson Shop, in Hurricane, Utah, or between Washington City, Coral Canyon, on the way to Zion National Park, was sponsoring a nationwide, Hog Rally, and I took a copy of my son's CD to the manager, who just took out a check book and basically said, have them name their price!  Every time I mention the band's names, my numbers skyrocket, so with all these things combined, we could light this place on fire!  Most of the Harley riders, are your wealthy professionals, doctors, lawyers, retired money, who would not be a bad crowd to get here, and they would be fascinated, as I was, as the National Park Service Volunteers, giving lectures on Amtrak, as I was going to Washington, D.C., told about the fight . . . I didn't tune in, fast enough, but just the small bit I heard, has obviously captured my interest, as it will many!

The economy is picking up, and Shelby, Browning, Cut Bank, Conrad, and these towns are in a prime location to get people to become aware of the beautiful scenery and fun stuff happening here, in this part of Montana, promoting the lifestyles and allure of the country, farm, ranch life!  I have the central Montana, 2014 Travel Planner, to be found at centralmontana.com, right here in front of my face, with gorgeous pictures, fun, events, wild life, natural country living, etc., so cool, love it.

Legends Have Walked the Streets of Shelby . . . Capture the Moment in History for Generations to Come!

P.S., I am staying at a Glacier Motel & RV Park . . . right on highway 2, affordable, charming, with great artwork, old school, pictures of Indian Brave Warrior, between two buffalo, with his Chief Ancestor, super imposed on the mountain butte behind him, the other one, grandeur of a Brave dressed in traditional dress, with beautiful clouds, blue skies, prairie grass fields, majestic horse . . . love them.  All the amenities of a New York hotel room, but costing about $225 less!  The rooms have all you need, in addition, a small fridge, microwave, and the normal, great way to save some bucks, while staying here for a week.  I am in room, 116, if anyone from Kalispell is looking for me!  Cute place, I generally, leave by 7:00 a.m., and come home at around 11:00 p.m., but I have just left long enough to get some treats, to eat and drink, during the time I watched the movie, LAWLESS, you get a free movie each night you stay, and the office has all the ones I like, the genre, and more.  For those of you who do not know how to do Pay for View or Netflex . . . this is old school, like me, love it!