The Mojave Muleskinners, an Old West re-enactment group out of the Valley were on board for Globe’s 25th Annual Historic Home Tour this last weekend. They came at the invitation of Mainstreet and the Chamber, and did so as an all-volunteer group which included 12 adults and 5 children. Providing lots of photo ops and entertainment for visitors who were on hand to catch their show(s) on Saturday, they left a memorable impression for all.

Talking with them as they rode the rails on Saturday it seems their names are as unique as their characters; names like Windy Bill, Red Feather, Spike, Smiling Jack, Chilean Fryes, Preacher and Laredo. According to Windy Bill, who started the group back in the late 1980’s along with his brother, each member concocts their own unique character. They don’t try to re-create famous people like Doc Holiday, as much as design a character of their own making which is consistent with the life and times of someone living in the late 1800’s.

The clothing is authentic, down to the dirt. “The guys will roll in the dirt before a show just so they have that “rode hard-put away wet” look and a slap on the back will result in a cloud of dust. The guns they use are authentic reproductions like Laredos’ pair of double action Colt 45s which he says now would be worth about $3200, but he got them for a deal several years ago. And the boots which Smiling Jack wears are called preacher boots, with expanded tops for storing things like, sticks of dynamite and a little flask of whiskey

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 The group has 150 members in Arizona, Colorado and Nevada and although there was a time when it was made up of young guys, they have alot of members in their 70’s willing to shoot-it-out and fall on the ground up to ten times a day….. just for the fun of it. Although, in speaking to a few of them, they say it does get hard on the knees (and joints) after awhile.

The group staged one bank robbery and two gunfights while they were in town and made hundreds of acquaintances. A “skirmish” was staged just before the 11:30 train pulled out of the station, and they joked with conductor Ken Bitten during the stop over at the Casino where they handed him a lit fuse of dynamite.

Bitten took the bait and looked dismayed, but everyone looked dismayed when the fuse didn’t go out after someone stomped on it with a boot. It was the quick action of “Spider” and his 10″ Bowie knife that nipped the fuse before it went kaboom (saving it I suppose for the skit back at the Depot)

It was Windy Bill who made the final call on the staging of the train robbery and he did it in the ten minutes before the train pulled into the station. By the time the train arrived, each member of the group knew his/her part in the “robbery” and the rest is… well, pure entertainment. Here’s how it went down:

Good Guys get off first and make their way to the freight station. Bad Guys- get off with the money box and are stopped by the Good Guys when they get into the clear open space where the shoot out will take place. There the Good Guys want to know what is in the box, and there is shooting and some bad guys go down, and the good guys retreat farther into the freight office. Bad Guys manage to throw a stick of dynamite into the freight station, flushing the good guys into the open. More shooting. More go down. In fact everyone is lying sprawled on the ground at the point except for Windy Bill and Smilin’ Jack…the two with the money box who think they are going to escape afterall, when the women show up with shotguns.

This is the first time the Mojave Muleskinners have performed for a Globe/Miami event, but based on the reaction to all who had the opportunity to catch their show or just visit with the members, it will not be their last. Welcome Muleskinners. You have a key to our town anytime you want to come back.