I know what you’re thinking. Where the hell is Captain McNelly? I hate to be the guy who blows out his own deadlines, but the day-job deadlines have to take precedence right now. I have decided that, rather than beating myself up over not getting the McNelly’s Rangers podcast written and recorded this month, I’m just going to go ahead and push it back to May.
It ain’t just the newspaper work that’s got me buried — I’ve got a real cool thing coming up: Two full days of private firearms training with John “Shrek” McPhee, aka, The Sheriff of Baghdad. There will be four shooters total, including myself and Craig Rullman. Opportunity of a lifetime.
John McPhee, widely known as “The Sheriff of Baghdad” or “SHREK,” is a retired U.S. Army Special Operations Sergeant Major with over 20 years of distinguished service. Specializing in various special mission units, he accumulated extensive combat experience across multiple theaters. Since retiring in 2011, John has been a trailblazer in video diagnostics training, analyzing shooting techniques with unparalleled precision through a specialized app.
One day pistol, one day carbine. Murphy Ranch beef barbecue in between.
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My go-to range music the past few weeks has been Turnpike Troubadours’ A Long Way From Your Heart. It’s a powerhouse record with a lot of Evan Felker’s trademark storytelling imagery. The Winding Stair Mountain Blues is a standout — a modern outlaw tale from a piece of country in Arkansas and Oklahoma that has long been an outlaw haven.
And you’re somewhere in the Winding StairThinking you still got a trick or twoAnd you’re planning out your fight in the lantern lightBut I don’t see this going well for youNo, I don’t see this going well for you
The song ricocheted in my storytelling memory, and rattled the bookshelf. Douglas C. Jones wrote a novel titled The Winding Stair about the pursuit of an outlaw gang in the 1890s, based on the brutal Rufus Buck Gang. The historical gang of teenagers engaged in a brief and horrifically vicious spree of robbery, rape and murder in Indian Territory in 1895. Anglo lawmen and Creek Light Horse mounted police captured the gang and they were hanged in Fort Smith, Arkansas, in 1896. If anybody ever needed killing, it was that bunch.
I have never paid proper respect to Douglas C. Jones here at Frontier Partisans. That’s a major oversight. Jones was the author of a whole bunch of really fine frontier historical novels. He’s probably best-known for his an alternative-history novel The Court-Martial of George Armstrong Custer, but the heart of his work is a series of interconnected novels set in the borderlands of what was once called Indian Territory — Arkansas, Oklahoma.
Jones’ stuff is really good, and worth tracking down. Pairs well with red-dirt music and gunpowder…
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These are Choctaw Lighthorsemen — same region, same concept as the Creek Light Horse. The Choctaw Nation incorporated this photo into the logo that goes on their patrol cars in 2022 — which may be the most badass thing I’ve ever seen on a police rig.
Jerry N says
Ok, that IS a cool opportunity! It’ll give me a chance to finish “Taming the Nueces Strip” by George Durham.
Reese Crawford says
On my wave length again Jim. Just finished a deep dive into Ned Christie. His fortified cabin stood in the Goingsnake district quite a bit north of the winding stairs. While down that rabbit hole I found a mention of a Choctaw uprising around 92 or 93. Any connection to the Rufus buck gang?
JimC says
Buck was active only for a few months in ’95. Don’t know about a ruction with the Choctaw.
Matthew says
I am disappointed in not hearing the podcast until May, but I know things happen.
From what I heard and read, Delta guys spend a lot of time on the range practicing the basics. Because basics is almost always more important than some fancy trick. When I played basketball in junior high it was always the basics that were emphasized. Thing is a lot of people think special operation forces have some secret ninja techniques, but what they really want is high quality individuals and give them a lot of training.
I have been watching a lot of videos on youtube with former Delta and SEAL operators. It’s fascinating. There have been a lot of debates on what is better Delta or DEVGRU. People want a simple answer to the question which is really complex. I also notice Army guys always say Delta and navy guys DEVGRU.
JimC says
Yes, it’s all about getting the fundamentals truly dialed in, then perfect practice over and over and over again. Then build in speed and movement.
David Wrolson says
I think Stephen Hunter’s “Black Light” had Swagger get in a gun fight in the Winding Stair region. If not there-somewhere just like it as that is his (Bob Lee Swagger’s) home area.
JimC says
I believe that’s correct.
Quixotic Mainer says
Take your time Jim, one of the worst things about this modern era is that everyone wants everything right now, regardless of who or what they ride to a lather to get it.
The lady and I took advantage of the opportunity to hit the mountain west this week, loving Montana and Wyoming. Got to follow some of John Colter and Lewis and Clark’s trails, saw bison, a wolf, and ol’ Ephraim( from a respectful distance).
Enjoy the training, access to top shelf instruction like that is a great opportunity!
JimC says
Thanks QM. Trip sounds great. Must have been a great feeling to know you are walking in the moccasin prints of John Colter.
Quixotic Mainer says
It did! I was at Little Bighorn this morning, standing in those boots was a lot more daunting. Still, amazing to see the place after reading about it for so long.