Has anyone ever spent any time looking up some of the real life characters that LL drops into his books. For example, Pete Kitchen who was referred to and showed up in several novels. His life reads like an LL novel. In "Comstock Lode", there is a Langford (or Farmer) Peel. He was a real gunfighter always known for giving an opponent a chance in a gunfight. Same book, the real George Hearst had a famous son. William Randolph Hearst. Then, there was one character I remembered because of the way he really died but I could not remember his name or the book he was used in. So I thought I would start a search. I started with "Comstock Lode". After reading it, I posted a comment about how dark I thought the story was. And, how brutal the villain. Then, Tennessee Dave said his favorite brutal character was Pony Zale. I told Dave that I could not remember Pony and asked what book he was in. Falcon came back and told me the book was "Tucker". So, I thought I would look up old Pony. And, here's the irony. Who else should show up in "Tucker" but Mart Duggan whose name and the book he was in I could not remember. He was reportedly a real catamount and gunfighter. According to Wikipedia (assuming it's accurate), Duggan was shot in the back of the head in 1888. He lived for about 7 hrs. Before dying, he even regained consciousness and, when asked who shot him, he reportedly replied, "I'll die before I tell you" which he did. One last character dropped into Tucker was Belle Siddons. She was a dealer at the gaming tables, a Confederate spy, and a confidante of bank robbers. After her outlaw lover was lynched, she faded away until she was arrested in San Francisco near dead from alcoholism after which she was never heard of again. These are some of the real-life characters that make the Sacketts soooo belivable!

Justintime