WHAT THE HECK IS A RATTLESNAKE JACK?
WHAT THE HECK IS A RATTLESNAKE JACK?
(Hint: It is NOT a device to assist you in changing deflated serpents.)
The homely hombre depicted on the left, above, is your host at this website:
RATTLESNAKE JACK ROBSON (a.k.a. Grant Rombough), Western Canadian Frontier
Shootist Society Badge #198, Alberta Frontier Shootists Badge #69, and a member of the "ROCKY MOUNTAIN RANGERS, #4
TROOP" (the Western Action Shooting unit of the Medicine Hat Rifle and Revolver Club).
(Photo Credit: Prof. G. Fox (a.k.a. Gary Kangas), Miracle Frontier Photographic Co., of
Victoria, B.C.)
The handsome
cowpoke on the right is an unidentified Trooper of the original Rocky Mountain Rangers,
during Canada's North West Rebellion of 1885 (Riel Rebellion), posed with his Militia/NWMP Issue musket-stocked Model 1876 Winchester rifle.
[If you are a real stickler for punishment, you may click here for a somewhat clearer image
of your host.]
In "real life" I am a lawyer with a general practice in the small western Canadian city of Medicine Hat, Alberta. I am married, with two daughters, and reside in an "Craftsman" style 1 1/2 storey house constructed in 1913 during a major economic boom in our community. My major recreational pastime has become "Western Action Shooting": a mixture of history and fantasy which lets grownups play "Cowboys and Indians", in costume and in character under an "Alias", using actual working western frontier type firearms: mainly single action pistols, lever action rifles and period-style shotguns. Western (Cowboy) Action Shooting is the fastest-growing shooting sport in the world; to learn more about it, check out some of the links on my Introduction Page.
My Shooting Alias is based on the real-life character John M.
'Rattlesnake Jack' Robson, a Scout with the Rocky Mountain Rangers (RMR) during Canada's
North West Rebellion in 1885. The original RMR were an irregular mounted unit, consisting of three
Troops, raised for defence and patrol duty, and made up mostly of ranchers and
cowboys from the area of Fort MacLeod, then in the District of Alberta, N.W.T.
RMR Troops One and Two were sent east about 150 miles to Medicine Hat, then in the District
Of Assiniboia, a fledgling community founded in 1883 where the Canadian Pacific Railway
main line bridges the South Saskatchewan River. Number Three Troop remained at Fort
MacLeod.
Because the Rocky Mountain Rangers presence in this area during the Riel Rebellion
undoubtedly forms one of the most significant 'Wild West' components of our local history, the
Medicine Hat Western Action Shooting group have chosen the name Rocky Mountain Rangers, #4
Troop. The lack of a truly 'wild' aspect in the history of the Canadian West is well
illustrated by the fact that the original RMR Troopers saw absolutely no action during the
Rebellion (except for long and uneventful patrols,) and found it necessary to relieve the
monotony by 'living it up' and harassing the militia infantry unit from Halifax, Nova
Scotia, which was also stationed at Medicine Hat at the same time. In the present day #4 Troop, we do our best to emulate our namesakes: small in numbers but big on spirit and bluster, determined to have a good time doing what we enjoy!
CHANGE THE MUSIC?
LEFT CLICK ON SONGTITLES FOR BACKGROUND RAGTIME MUSIC!
(First, shut down the playbar of whatever you already have playing, then select another tune. You can then minimize the playbar which appears, to get it out of the way. The music will keep playing as long as you are here. )
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