Fort Smith, Arkansas sat on the border of Indian Territory in 1875. It was a rowdy place filled with brothels, saloons, and outlaws. It was said that there was ‘no law west of Arkansas’ and not much in Fort Smith. That changed when Judge Isaac Parker was appointed to the bench. Known as ‘the hanging judge’, Judge Parker was stern and unbending in his application of the law… his court often referred to as the ‘court of the damned’. The jail at Fort Smith where outlaws were held awaiting trial wasn’t a pleasant place to be and was considered to be ‘hell on the border’.
The wreck of the Hilma Hooker is one of the best wreck dive sites in the Caribbean. The story of how the 235 foot long by 36 foot beam Colombian cargo ship was sunk is a good story and a nice piece of history.
The Kansas/Missouri border was a dangerous place during the Civil War and in the years that followed. Kansas entered the Union as an anti-slavery State only months before the war started and was bordered by the Pro-slavery State of Missouri. ‘Border Ruffians’ like William Quantrill fought for the Confederacy while ‘Free Staters’ and ‘Jayhawkers’ fought for the Union. They were all guerrilla fighters led by men of often questionable morality. There was only some measure of legitimacy given to them by the Confederate and Union governments respectively because they claimed they were fighting for the same cause. The results on both sides was the same… people killed while towns were sacked and burned.
The Ranger is the prequel to the novel Texas Jack!
This brand new adventure follows the story of a young man named Britt Logan who is a member of a wagon train on the way to Oregon in 1852. He and his parents are among just a few non-Mormons in a Mormon wagon train heading to the Salt Lake Valley. Their plan was to leave the train at the South Pass and head to Oregon with another train, but when Britt’s parents are killed by an influential member of the church, Britt finds himself on the run.
Back when I started diving… 50+ years ago, my primary interest other than exploring the undersea world was hunting. Spearfishing, lobster, abalone and scallop hunting were my main focus. As years went by I had visions of becoming a great underwater photographer. I’ve won a few awards for underwater photography over the years but back then it was a very difficult skill to master, which I never really did. I started with a Kodak Instamatic camera in a plastic box before moving up to a Nikonos camera and then 35 mm SLR cameras with large bulky housings. Strobe lights attached to the cameras made using them difficult to do sometimes and a complete underwater camera setup was an expensive investment.
As the name suggests, the Catalina Goby (Lythrypnus dalli) lives around Santa Catalina Island. It’s about 1/2 – 3/4-inch-long and can be found among the crevasses of rocks down to about 75 meters. It’s considered a nano fish and lives in the west coast waters from California to Peru. They remain gender neutral until they establish dominance within the harem. The most dominant will then become male and grow a longer dorsal fin.
These sharks lay on the bottom and mind their own business… until someone like me comes along. They have two very sharp needle-like spines at the dorsal fins and they will hurt! Trust me, I know. They also have several rows of teeth and a crushing bite.
Texas Jack: The Bank Robbers: A Novel of the Old West (A Texas Jack Western) Paperback – August 13, 2020
The fast-paced, action-packed third Western adventure in the new “Texas Jack Western” series from Mark Marchetti!
Phineas Todd was a strange little man. He arrived in Filo, Texas many years before the Civil War and was a familiar fixture in Filo since he was the president of the only bank in town. Even when he was young, for some reason he just seemed to be older than his years. He was known in town simply as ‘Old Finny’ and was loved by the townspeople, in spite of his quirky ways.
For many of the town’s people and ranchers in the area, it was ‘Old Finny’ who had helped them navigate the hard times during the war and after. He was the wealthiest man in town yet lived like a pauper, his only interest being the welfare of the town. Receiving the love and respect of the town’s people was the only thing he believed was of value. Unknown to the town’s people was the secret of his past in the days before he came to Filo.
When four bank robbers arrive in town, led by the notorious gunman Russell Blye, the world of ‘Old Finny’ and the town gets turned upside down. The former Sheriff, Tommy Vee, comes out of retirement and recruits ‘Texas Jack’ McKenna to track down the robbers and bring them to justice.
As a longtime friend of ‘Old Finny’, Jack knows his secret… and doesn’t want it revealed. As they set out to hunt down the outlaws, Jack and Sheriff Vee discover they each have a different vision of how justice should be served… the legal way and the ‘Texas Jack’ way.
