The Tenderfoot Diary

The following is Bill Donegan’s report on the OK Corral weekend at Old Bedford Village:

Old Tenderfoot

They call me old tenderfoot now after just one cowboy event at Old Bedford. I forgot to check my riding boots for plantar inserts so I was a walkin’ gently this past week-end. I told one old cowboy that I had a blister on my left foot and a bunion on my right so that both limps cancelled each other out. He said: “Well you walk just like John Wayne”.

Linda and I had the time of our lives at the “Old West” week-end in Bedford PA.

Arriving early on Friday we met our hosts and got our assignments as extras in the cast.

There were stage coach hold ups, bank robberies, jail breaks, forming of posses, shoot outs, gambling, singing, can-can dancin’, church going, undertakin’, weddings, tar and featherin’, hard and fast horse racin’, bettin, more arguin’ and shootin’. And no one got hurt.

We met up with our friends, Larry Milhon, and wife Susan, and partnered up for one of the jail break shootin’ scenarios. The girls and I were assigned security on the street to keep folks from getting run over by horses. Then the jail break occurred and the bad men were runnin’ in our direction. Linda said: “Mild Bill they need your gun”. Larry was already a firin’ at the bad men when I came along side. He would shoot at a feller and the so would I, then we’d see him go down. Then I would fire at another one and then Larry would fire, the man would fall. I guess we had them in a cross fire cause we killed all the bad guys.

Larry, Susan and I then met up with Sgt. Spence Waldron at the saloon and got involved in a high stakes poker game. Spence kindly advanced us some cash and we began a plain’ poker. We played Susan under the table so when she left to get some air, along came “Bad News Barnes” and we dealt him in too. Barnes played a few hands, won a pile of cash, and then felt the call from three “fallen ladies” who work at the saloon. I recon they wanted his stash of cash. That was the last I saw of him with three women sittin’ on his lap. My wife arrived, and before she could object, Spence had dealt her in as well.

The stage arrived while the town marshal was playing poker with us. The saloon became crowded with visitors, a song fest broke out, some can- can dancers started up, and then some ruckus at the far end of town started and the Marshall was called away. We followed him at a distance and saw the Earps, Doc Holliday, and some others shootin’ cowboys for fun at the OK corral. The marshal then arrested the Earps and friends and led them away to jail. This was a curious event to say the least as the cowboys seemed to have been minding’ their own business. I later discovered that the cowboys had stolen some mules from the US Army and had changed the brands on em’. The Earps were released from custody. Then we learned that there had been a peepin’ Tom caught and the town’s folk decided to tar and feather him. They stripped him down to his union suit, put the hot tar to him but he ran away before the feathers could be applied. On the heels of this a drunk tried to shoot the town marshal after calling’ him out at the undertakers. The undertaker came out and was measuring the drunk for a coffin when the shootin’ started and the undertaker was shot and killed. The town deputies then put “Burying Dan” as he was called, into one of his own coffins and carried him to Boot hill. Attached are some pictures of this event.

Submitted by: Mild Bill aka Tenderfoot.