YOUR TELEVISION ALL-AMERICAN COWBOY ■I .YOUR TELEVISION ALL-AMERICAN COWBOY FOR CHILDREN mous brands for fine fitting quality and g low cost dependability. SCHIFF'S SHOES 232-236 S. MICHIGAN ST. SOUTH BEND, INDIANA sr-csi;: IM—tris- BU5TFR CRABBE r N. Y. Copyright W* January. 1911 Published bi-monthly by Famous Funnies Pub] ica lions, J00 Pif d Stain. Scton.l.l.. n ;p|!c.,i,. „ |.:o! im; u the Poii Office it New York. N, Y. ■cond-class entry rxnrling al the Poit Office it Mcriclen, Oinri. F<]iir.,-ij| inil di 10, Conn. Conn am I. Pipe. Prcsiilcnr; h : i„.i fi. Diihty, T[<:.isur«. Prime! I>y Tlie Eastern Oilnr The incidents! charac (11 u. this roajrazinc ate ficimnus. li rhe name of any Hying person or institution ii ui New York 18. N. BUSTER CRABBE AND HIS SIDEKICK WHISKERS, RIDING THE DESERT TRAIL. COME UPON A CORPSE.. .AND THUS TAKE THE FIRST STEP ON THE LONG. GRIM STAIRCASE OF DANCER LEADING TO — T£/£ MONSTER. OF- DEATH M VALLEY! WE'LL SR1N0 HIM \ THEM BUZZARDS INTO TOWN AND LET \A CI RCLIN 1 'SOUND UP THE CORONER DECIDE ) THERE CONY THINK WHAT KILLED HIM. ^ WE'RE DOIN* PROPER, THAT'S THE PROPER THING TO 00. f WE GOTA LADY DOCTOR. SHE'S OFFICIAL\ CORONER, TOO, SINCE POC ANDREWS UP AN' J DIED. BUT I DON'T NEED HER TO KNOW TrJK!* WHUT KILT JEFF HAINES HE J&Xs WUS BIT BY QILA MONSTER if [M ^raa / G*ff^L Wov Wffli&^fM WSfcffit' w/ "M^mM'wMi THIS HERE IS BUSTER CRABBE, N'AM. RECKON l MUST'VE HEARD ' WHAT DO Y X MEAN THAT THERE'S SOME- ] YOU MEAN. ) THING ROTTEN IN ALKALI OOCTOR?^ COUNTY? I'VE DONE SOME RESEARCH ON 6ILA MONSTERS, 1 AND THE REPTILES HAVE J LLED MORE PEOPLE < H SIX MONTHS THAN^ 1 Athey HAVE IN THE \'7&~79C~\ PAST 1 \ fcj£«u^\ SIXTY ANOTHER STRANGE 7h*M...ARE YOU SURE THING IS THATEVERvL THESE MEN ACTU- VICTIM HAS HAD MUL-7*I-LY DIED F*OM y\ TIPLE BITES... AND -^ ILA VENOM f ''! OILA MONSTERS 00 "V^i nti rV MOT TRAVEL ABOUT J IHil /Mi t ^IN GANGS' A MMRi lilyi ifmjP r %& rJ /'- '■'-^-\ gfi. TO C-m W^fc ■i-v//,/ 1 ,* A \&* c-£Er s^S&W £&'' w& \WB WAL.WE CAN'T LET THE POOR GALOOT YwAL. THERE YUH AREfCONSIDER YERSELVES SWORN STARVE. A CARNIVAL LEFT HIM STRANDED \ I N AS DEPUTY SHERIFFS OF ALKALI COUN TY? I EXP ECTS . HERE LAST YEAR. SEEMS HE ATE MOREy YUH TO ARREST EVERY GILA *"*~~ ^^' THAN HIS STRONG-MAN ACT WAS ^/ MONSTER IN DEATH VALLEY ) / WE'LL DO OXJR> MAKE 'EM TALK BEST, SIR * WHEW, AM X GLAD TO SEE yOU, BUSTER? IT AIN'T POSSIBLE, BUT NOT ONE OF TMEI MONSTERS DOWN THERE, LAID A PANS ON ME WE'LL ARGUE THE POINT LATER< TAKE THIS GUN, HIDE YOUR' SELF AND WAIT FOR THE KILLER TO GET hack » YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO IF HE y DOES? OH? AND WHY WHERE YOU SO . WORRIED ABOUT] HE DROPS IN ABOUT THREE TIMES A WEEl DYING OF DIS- EASES. BUT GE' TING BACI THESE MURDERS. TAKE YOU TO HE PIT? THAT WOULD BE DAN- , GEROUS' THERE'S A HOMOCIDAL LARGE FRANTIC ANTICS (yawn) that gol-duhned sourdough \ ain't human( Always aqittin' up with/ the birds 'steada with us s s. P£OPL£..AYMH) ^^ P.^fw / 40 1 jSSfjF **** /n\v \u/\ x \S\ / I st1 /§' J^f^L / ^Ma ^Sit, N *i^^' ■ < 7 LIS3EN HERE, YUH ORNERY CAYUSE, WHEN I TELL YUH TO OIDDIYAP, SWDfYAPf UH? WUH? SAY, YOU AIN - T MY HOS3 V. YOU AIN'T EVEN A HOSSf I THESE FANCY DUDE DUDS V RECKON WE'RE WE RENTED OUGHT* J THE DAD-GUMMEST IMPRESS THE GIRLS/ j/\ SLICKEST-LOOKIN' l^T ^S \ 'HOMBRES THIS SIDE HEYf WHERE DO YOU THIN YOU'RE GOING? THE SIDE 'SHOW TENT IS BAC HERE The elephant aimed and fired, but neglected to make allowance for a moving torget.ond THOSE TWO SCOUNDRELS J PUT THAT ELEPHANT UP TO THIS? I...X KNEW THIS WOULC HAPPEN. .X BE6GED FATHER TO LEAVE-BUT HOW. ..IT'S TOO LATE... AND I'll GOING TO STAY UNTIL BLACK HAS ME KILLED, TOO...£M GOING TO BE JUST AS BRAVE AS MY FATHER WAS... .YOU WUS COUNTIN TURNER DYIN", BUT AGOIN' TO DO YUH NO GOOO? WE'RE AGOIN" TO STRING YUH UP WHERE BLACK KIN SEE IT THROUGH BINOCULARS HOLD ON? IF s / WE'VE BEEN LAW YOU'RE LAW- 1 ABIDING TOO ABIDING S* \LONGf IT'S PEOPLE, YOu\ / TIME WE S WON'T KILL \ ' STARTED C MEN IN COLD FIGHTIN" FIRE\ BLOOD? YOU/ WITH FIRE? ) HAVE NO A YOU WON'T / PROOF < SHOOT ANY \ THAT WE \J MORE HOME- \ SHOT S STEADERS J TURNER? A 1 IN THE BACK .'A 1 *^L Mfl Wfv W scr^-r m m WHACK.' A little later, a silent, shadowy figure steals over the wall... ...and runs down into the volley, concealed from view by the high banks of the dry river bed... And before long, Miss Turner has an unexpected visitor i THIS IS THE SHOWDOWN, MEN.' BURN EVERY ;: ■■■{ HOUSE TO THE GROUND WHILE THEY'RE AT THE 1 CEMETERY AND SHOOT THEM DOWN WHEN , ^J^ THEY COME RUNNING HACK.' THE RIVER-BED^ IS A PERFECT TRENCH.' THERE GOES WHISKERS fITH THE J . | HORSES f I'VE GOT TO WORK jffll FAST NOV/f ■'■ | HjMjJ ifflj ! V 1 ''■j^m ESN Pv So ^o \ '• \ 11 f^^^yRtri7/\ hr*M ill SI? gS%;P ;=|i ^ trn r THE LEGEND OF PECOS BILL by Buster Crabbt ACCORDING to the more veracious of our his- torians, Pecos Bill was born about the time Sam Houston discovered Texas. Little is known of the man who fathered Pecos Bill, but One thing is certain— he wis one of the biggest liars in the world! Bill's mother,was a sturdy pioneer woman. It is a matter of record, although the records are lost, that she once killed forty-five Indians with a broom- handle. She weaned Bill on moonshine whisky when he was three days old. He cut his teeth on a bowie-knife. When Bill was a year old, another family moved into the- territory and settled some fifty or sixty miles down the river from Bill's place. Bill's father de- cided the place was getting too crowded, so he packed his family and belongings into a wagon and headed west. One day after they crossed the Pecos River. Bill fell out of the back of the bumpy wagon. There were sixteen or seventeen other children in the family, so his parents didn't miss him for several weeks, and then, of course it was too late to try to find him. Bill was a rugged baby. He Jived on horned toads, rattlesnakes and gila monsters, and grew up with the coyotes along the Pecos. It wasn't long before he learned the coyote language. He hunted with them and sat on the hills and howled with them at night. Being so young when he got lost, he always thought he was a coyote. The coyotes thought he was, too, because he could do anything they could do. One day when he was ten years old or so, • cowboy came along just when he was tearing a hind leg off a gritzly bear to have for breakfast. This cowboy stared at him in astonishment, and then asked him what he was doing running around naked like that with the varmints. "Why." replied Bill. "It's because I am a varmint. I'm a coyote." "No, you ain't," said the cowboy- "You're a human being." Bill wouldn't believe him, although the cowboy argued the point *loud and long, "I'm a coyote," insisted Bill. "Ain't I got fleas? Don't I howl all "That don't prove nothing," said -the cowboy, "All Texans got fleas, and most 'of them howl. Did you ever see a coyote without a tail? You ain't got no tail! That proves you ain't no varmint!" Bill looked, and sure enough, the cowboy was right. No tail. So Bill went along to town with this cowboy, and took up life as i human being. Bill adapted himself to this new environment just as easily as he had to coyote life. It wasn't long before he became famous as a had man. Although Colt took the credit for the six-shooter. It is a matter of record (this record, too, has been lost) that Pecos Bill invented the six-gun. He also invented train- robbinc. and most of the other crimes popular in those djys. Before long. I'coj Bill had killed all the bad men in West Texas, impaired all the Indians, and eaten all the Buffalo. He decided to migrate to a new country where a nun could find some diversion. He was riding westward when his horse stubbed his foot on a mountain and broke his leg. Bill shot him, slung Ins saddle over his shoulder and continued on toot io very bad humor. Suddenly a ten-foot rattlesnake, resenting being stepped on, reared up and bit Bill. Bill thrashed that snake within an inch of its life. While he was doing this, a. Hig old mountain-lion jumped him from behind. 'Hi's was no ordinary lion 1 — it was as big as an elephant with four-foot fangs and claws to match! This was the famous lion the State of Nuevo Leon was named after down in old Mexico. A few minutes later, Bill had his saddle cinched on one thoroughly chastised lion, He went down that canyon whooping and hollering, riding thai lion a hundred feet at a jump, whipping his flanks with the rattlesnake. There wasn't anything that Bill couldn't ride, and he was thrown only once in his life — and then under such peculiar circumstances you couldn't rightly call it "thrown." It happened when Bill made a bet that he could ride an Oklahoma cyclone, without spurs or saddle. He met the cyclone, the worst ever known, up on the Kansas line. Hv knocked that tornado down and climbed on its hack. That cyclone pitched and bucked w*th such incredible violence that it would be- unbelievable if it had not been vouched for by so many reliable eye-witnesses to the event. Down across Texas went the cyclone, knocking down mountains, blowing holes in the ground and tying the riven into knots. The plains used to be heavily-timbered forests until that big wind left it a hare prairie. Pecos Bill jusl sat up there, slapping the cyclone across the ears with his hat, and rolling a cigarette with Ins free hand. He rode it through three States, but over in Arizona it got him. When that cyclone realised it couldn't throw him, it just up and rained out under him. Bill came down over California. The spot where he landed is now known as Death Valley, a hole in the ground more than one hundred feet below sea-level. The print of his lup-pockcts can still be seen in the granite. Incidentally, the Grand Canyon was dug by Bill one day when he was prospecting. This is a matter of record. Unfortunately this record, too, has been lost. Ii was Bill's drinking habits that finally killed him. It £!Ot so that liquor had no effect on him, so he started drinking strychnine and cyanide and o.hc-r types ot" wolf poison. This would have been all right, except that he used to spike his drinks with fish-hooks and barbed wire. It was the barbed wire that did it. It rusted his interior and gave him indigestion. He was hardly more than a hun- dred years old when he died, a victim of his in- temperate ways. rtH/ SOME PEOPLE THINK THE FAMOUS ROY BEAN — "THE LAW WEST OF THE PECOS" WAS A FICTITIOUS CHARACTER. ACTU- ALLY, HE WAS A REAL, LIVE, FLESH ?AND BLOOD INDIVIDUAL STILL REMEM- ' 8ERED BY SOME OF THE OLDER CI Tl- < ZENS OF LANGTRY, TEXAS, AND MOST OF THE "TALL TALES" TOLD OF KIM v ARE IN FACT, THE UNGARNISHED TRUTH? Roy Bean was the proprietor of the ifersey Lily Saloon. As well as the coroner and Ihe Justice of the Peace of Lang try.he attained this high position by diligent work and study — on how to make the most of his two six-shooters... Roy Bean was a born businessman. If a man plunked down a ten-dollar bill for a ten-cent drink, he got no change Roy Bean just couldn't bear to part with money, other people's or his own... always closed the bar when he had to act In his official capacity of judge, or coroner.. JUDGE, WE F0UNDTHI$\bARS CLOSED/ HOMBRE DEADON THE IgENTLEMEN— ROCKS BELOW THE ^S FEH A MINUTE RAILROAD TRESTLE.^ OR TWO. HE MUST HAVE FALLEN V_ OFF/ X KILT HIM, V H'MMM...WAL, I'LL NEED A \ AWRIGHT' / COUPLE OF HOURS TO LOOK 1 NO USE r ^A INTO THE LEGAL ASPECTS ) DENYIN' I \ OF THIS HERE CASE... BRING / IT. J \HIM BACK LATER FER j/ "*•— yr— ' \SENTENC1N'< , -— tfjl fil MM / \^&i Mm ^\V\ "%•*. liUK^uS <-y-"M£a& JI*mt And so, a few hours later... | gentlemen,^ A^\ ' THROUGH EVERY LAW BOOK OF THE GREAT STATt OF TEXAS FROM STEM TO <^ STERN, AND I'LL BE HANGED IF X KIN FINO ANY LAW *d&t .AGIN KILL1N' A CHINAMAN. V SO THE CASE IS HEREBY^ N "v^ DISMISSED, i -^y w^yp i^iz, ■iW^== =: ^m*// I'l IB'i F^jS Uli—*"5si2s 3M aae ^\l Judge Roy Bean's ruling on that case has become one of the best- known and most quoted incidents of his fabulous career. But what isn't Well* known, was the method in his madness... Bean's brand of justice may be open to question, but there was usually a reason behind it...o good reason or a bad reason... but a reason? At that time, 1883, the railroad was being built across Texas, and hundreds of Chinese laborers were employed by the Railroad Company. They worked hard and cheap. ..and thus were resented by the Ameri- cans who didn't believe in working hard and cheap. FEELING WAS RUNNING HIGH AT THE TIME THE CHINAMAN MURDERER WAS BROUGHT TO TRIAL. BY FREEING THE MAN, ROY BEAN MAY NOT HAVE SERVED THE ENDS OF JUSTICE, BUT HE VENTED A FULL SCALE RACE- RIOT, AND POSSIBLY HIS OWN NECK. HE KNEW WHAT HE WAS DOING Bean had a bear by the name of Bruno. Bruno wos an alcoholic, and it cost Bean's customers a small fortune every day to keep the bear happy. And Bean insisted the bear be kept happy f But Bruno had another function besides drinking up huge profits for 8ean.be was used to punish wrong-doers, especially those who had no money YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE, JUDGE, AND IT WAS A DIRTY TRICK. HOWEVER. I'LL FORGET IT, AND YOUR DUE BILL, TOO... IF YOU GIVE ME THAT j VARMINT'S PELT AFTER ROY BEAN WAS NOT A MAN TO TURN | DOWN A GOOD BARGAIN. BUT THIS TIME KE'O RUN INTO A MAN WHO HAD SOME ULTERIOR MOTIVES OF 1 HIS OWN. WEEKS PASSED BEFORE THE SALESMAN FOUND THE OPPOR-. The earliest known ancestor of the modem horse, was a prehistoric mammal that lived some three million years ago on the North American Continent, named Eohippus— or the Dawn Horse. This tarly horse was no larger than a fox' / Although the first horse originated in America, it's descendants did not survive on our continent. The "wild" horses that the American Indian captured and domesticated were not native to this land—but were the descendants of horses lost here by Cortez and other early visitors from Europe! This accidental breed is known as Mustang! _____ j __________ The pure Arabian horse represents the highest form of the horse's development throughout the oges. When the British Isles were Invaded In the first century, B.C., thj na ti ve s were found to possess small but very hardy hors es. These ' animals, bred with Arabians and other breeds finally pro- duced the horse now known as Thoroughbred.' Today we hove horses of all size and shape, ranging from the dimin- utive ponies to the enormous Per- cheron Draft-Horses—but they, all have one thing 1n common:they all evolved from Eohippus' WILD BILL HICKOK J AMES BUTLER HICKOK was bom in La Salle County, Illinois in 18J7. He grew to six _ feet, one inch of broad-shouldered, barrel - chested manhood. In his youth he killed wolves for bounty, and supplemented his income by shooting at a dime foe a target at wagers of half a dollar a shot. These activities did much to develop him into the incredible marksman he became — and he be- came the deadliest gun fighter of them all! He was equally adept with his 1'i.its. Of all the countless fist-fights he had, there is no record that he ever lost a single one. He lived in an era of violence, when six-shooter was the law of the land, and human life of small importance. He adapted himself well to his environment — so well that he soon became the most feared man in the history of the old West! The question is: was all this necessary? That is, was he actually the heroic figure that legend pictures him to be, or was he a surly, quick-tempered, shoot- first- and- ask-quest ions-later type of individual? Hickok has been the subject of much controversy. There is no question about his being a killer, but was he a gun fighter, who fought fair, or a gun- man, who didn't? I don't know the answer, but the fact that he killed literally hundreds of men seems to balance the scales on the "gunman" side. It is difficult to believe that a peace-loving man, even in those tur- bulent times, couldn't avoid taking that many lives! There was nothing modest about Hickok. He would relate his harrowing adventures and extol his personal prowess and courage to anyone who would listen. Throughout his varied career as stage-coach driver, Civil War sharpshooter and spy for the Union forces, Indian fighter, scout, guide, and peace officer, Wild Bill Hickok did much to create his own legend by his swash-buckling manner and de- termination to achieve immortality. He succeeded. But he made things easy for the folklorist, and difficult for the historian. How James Butler Hickok became "Wild Bill" Hickok is somewhat of a mystery. He may have assumed the name Bill because it was a popular name at the time, adding "Wild" to it to malce it even more colorful. There was Buffalo Bill, and there was the legendary Pecos Bill, among others. One story has it however, that James was nick- named Bill by one of his early employers. Hickok had an aquiline hawklike nose, and his boss de- risively referred to him as Bird-bill, Duck-bill, Buzzard-bill, and, at times, as just plain Bill. Hickok resented these jibes, being a sensitive young man, and it wasn't long before his employer departed this world. Thereafter, "Bill" was known as "Wild Bill!" But, however he acquired his fanciful appelation, he lived up to it to the hilt! Wild Bill was a two-gun man — as lightning fast and as accurate a shot with either hand. Many gun fighters carried two guns in those days for psycho- logical reasons, but very few could use two at the same time. Hickok could, and often did. It is a by Buster Crabbe matter of record that he more than once eliminated two enemies simultaneously, aiming and firing in two directions at the same time! These feats arc all the more remarkable when you consider the fact that he never raised his gun sights to eye- level to take aim, but always shot from the hip! His reputation was much the same as that of a prize fighter who has vanquished all opponents. He was the champion. In those days, gun fighters as- pired to kill any one with a superior record, and Ihus lay claim to the championship. It is doubtful that Wild Bill would have lived as long as he did, had it not been for his constant alertness. It is said that he even slept with his guns in his hands! His luck finally ran out in Deadwood, the outlaw town in Black Hills. This was Sioux land. One of General Custer's scouts had discovered gold there in 1874. The War Department managed to keep this a secret until the following year when the news leaked out, and the gold rush was on! Incidently, this invasion of the white man into the territory the United States Government had granted to the Sioux Indians was the main cause of the Sioux rebellion that resulted in the annihila- tion of General Custer and his entire command on the Little Big Horn. Wild Bill Hickok rode into this outlaw town in 1876. He was a married man now and hoped to secure his future by finding a gold deposit or two, (A year later, the U. S. Government was to recog- nize Deadwood as a legitimate settlement and he could have filed his claims — but he was not des- tined to live that long.) Legend has it that Hickok had a premonition of his impending death — and this is verified by his last letter to his wife wherein he wrote that should he never see her again, he would die with her name on his last breath. . . . On Wednesday afternoon, August 2, 1876, the day after he wrote the prognostic letter, he was playing poker in a Deadwood saloon. A swaggering braggart named Jack McCall who talked tough — with only lies to back him up, decided to become the genuine article by killing the famous Wild Bill Hickok! He entered the saloon, watched the poker- players casually for awhile, and then, as Hickok studied his cards, he pulled his gun and shot the famous gun-fighter through the hack of his h;ad. But Jack McCall's aspirations to be a hero were short lived— the outraged citizens of Deadwood hanged him for the miserable coward that he was, and buried him in an unmarked grave. Hickok was buried at the mountain slope of Ingle- side — then a significant and romantic spot. The entire town came out for the funeral in respect for the "truly great man." James Butler (Wild Bill) Hickok was determined to be immortal. So determined, that many years later when his body was exhumed for reburial, his remains were found to have undergone the miracle of natural embalming! Small wonder that his name is engraved forever on the tablet of American Legend and History! CJhalA 7Uw by MABEL O'SHAY HI) EVERYIODY. I've bean shopping end found some smooth articles. I'll gat them for you too, Jutt use the coupon on the bot- tom of the page, te sura you print your noma and address plainly and one of these day* tha mailman will be bringing you a package, 'lya now— I mutt gat on my ihop- ping shoes. I'll b« back toon with more bm. ALICE IN WONDERLAND RECORDS— ell the wonderful long, from WaK Disnoy'i feature film at played by Fred Waring and hli Pennsylvania™. a folder of two unbreakable record) in either 78 rpm (regular] or AS rpm, $2.50. PANDA-BEAR-the newest thing in mascots-all J 8 inches of h.m. 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