How often do we say that fate is played by man. But in the same way it can be said that the person himself plays with his fate. It is said: sow a thought - reap an action, sow an action - reap a habit, sow a habit - reap character, sow character - reap destiny. Although this wisdom is very old, it sounds quite true even now.
In short, life is a chain of cause and effect. That is, if you strive to achieve something in life, then you need to build a chain of causes and effects in accordance with your abilities, inclinations and … necessity. And, of course, take advantage of any advantage given to you by God over other people. The example of the life of the American writer Ned Buntline is a good illustration of this, as well as a "memo" to all writers of today.
To begin with, his real name was different: Edward Zane Carroll Judson, and he was born in 1823, in Stamford, New York, and died in 1886 in the same place. He became famous as the author of popular "dime novels", written in the western genre.
Here it is, the "Colt" revolver, model 1872 "single action" - "Buntline Special"!
Edward made his first fateful act at the age of eleven, that is, very early he showed himself to be a man capable of making fateful decisions and being responsible for his actions. He … fled from his home to the navy and became a cabin boy. Either he felt bad at home, or he wanted to "sea romance" - here we have to dig into his biography, but for us in this case, this very act is important. Moreover, it must be emphasized that it was a difficult choice for a boy of his age, and what the fate of the boy at that time, it is possible not to say. The ship of those years was not a spiritual seminary at all. But he survived the first two years, and at the age of thirteen he became a midshipman and took part in the Seminole Wars in Florida. During the Civil War, he was also drafted into the army, and he served in the First New York Rifle Regiment and rose to the rank of sergeant, but was dismissed from the army for drunkenness.
And this is Ned Buntline himself, or Edward Zane Carroll Judson
And now about the drives and abilities given to man from God. And he clearly gave him the ability to write, since Buntline wrote his first story at the age of 15. In 1838 he was published in the magazine "The Knickerbocker", after which he was attacked, one might say, "writer's itch." Rather, "journalistic". Because he tried to publish his own newspaper. I tried … but none of his attempts were successful. But success brought him a series of stories in which Buntline very vividly and naturalistically described the slums of New York.
And this, too, is he in a picturesque scout outfit.
Buntlein's political views at this time were highly original. Thus, he supported the “I Know Nothing” party and was a supporter of nativism. Nativism - from the English word "native", that is, indigenous. Members of this party believed that uncontrolled emigration to the United States was dangerous. The influx of Irish Catholics is especially dangerous, which is even reflected in a number of novels, and in particular in the novel by Mein Reed "The Headless Horseman" Irishman! To all questions about the party, its members had to answer "I know nothing." This is where its name came from. The party had few politicians who held a prominent public position, but among its members was a well-known bandit, the head of a large New York gang, William Poole. So Buntline became a member of the Dunno Party, and in 1844 he finally took on a pseudonym. Moreover, it is also quite original, - buntline is a marine term, in Russian meaning a proud bull. This is nothing more than one of the tackle of running rigging on a sailing vessel, with the help of which the straight sails are pulled to the yards during harvesting.
Photo from The Life and Adventures of Ned Buntline.
After Buntline went bankrupt once again in 1845 with the publication of another magazine, he had no choice but to run away from his creditors. But … he was a resolute man, physically strong and this helped him: in Kentucky, he managed to capture two criminals and receive a reward for their capture - as much as 600 dollars. Times were simple then, and as you remember, and as Mark Twain wrote about it in "Tom Sawyer", for a dollar a boy could have a table and an apartment a week, and also get a haircut and wash for the same money! Well, and an adult? The cowboy was paid one dollar a day, and the cook who cooked for the cowboys was paid two! The Stetson hat cost $ 12 and the famous Colt Peacemaker cost the same.
Cover of one of Ned Buntline's novels
Illustration for Ned Buntline's novel Buffalo Bill and His Adventures in the West (1886)
But then Ned did a very bad deed, almost putting a big fat cross on his life at all. Being with money, in 1846 he started an affair in Nashville with the wife of a certain Robert Porterfield, who, of course, did not like this. He challenged him to a duel and … Buntline, who shot first, shot him! The case went to trial, at which Porterfield's brother, planning to take revenge, shot Buntlein, but did not kill, but only wounded and, in addition, not too seriously. In the commotion that ensued, Buntline managed to escape straight from the courtroom. The inhabitants of Nashville rushed to catch him, grabbed him and decided to lynch him like a libertine and a murderer. However, he found friends in the city who saved him, after which at the next court session the judge acquitted him.
Buffalo Bill's Best Shot - One of Buntline's novels
Buntlein's articles have always been devoted to some burning topics and written in sharp language, so that the impact on the readership was very strong. After one of the publications, the case in May 1849 came to a real riot at the Astor Place Theater in New York. Twenty-three people died, so Buntline was put on trial again. He was sentenced to a $ 250 fine and imprisoned for one year. But even after leaving prison, he did not calm down and continued to write sensational stories for weekly newspapers, which gave him a good income even by our current standards: $ 20,000 a year. And at that time it was just fabulously high earnings! This is what it means to write about what you need, when you need it, and for those who need it. Success is guaranteed!
Ned Buntline, Buffalo Bill, Giuseppina Morlacchi, Jack Texan in 1872 on Broadway
Interestingly, although Buntline loved to drink, he lectured on the dangers of drinking, and traveled with them to many states. And while traveling around the country, while in Nebraska, he met with the hero of the Wild West, shooter and player Wild Bill Hickok. Buntlein wanted to write a novel about Hickok, but he clearly did not like writers and journalists and, threatening him with a revolver, ordered him to get out of town. However, the idea sunk into Buntline's head, and he decided that since Hickok himself did not want to tell him anything about himself, his friends would willingly tell him about him. Especially if you treat them to a glass of whiskey. That's how he met the bison hunter William Cody. Moreover, subsequently, it was Buntline who claimed that he invented the nickname Buffalo Bill.
Advertising revolver "Buntline Special"
In fact, this is not so important. It is important that it was under this nickname that he became widely known for the novels of Buntlein, published in the New York Weekly in 1869-1870. Initially, Buffalo Bill appears in Buntline's novels simply as a friend of Wild Bill Hickok, but then Buntline thought and decided that Buffalo Bill was even more interesting hero than Hickok and focused exclusively on him. And the success of his novels was so great that already in 1872 the playwright Frank Meader wrote a play about Cody based on them. And Buntline was jealous of him and also wrote a play about him called "The Prairie Scouts." The most interesting thing is that the roles in this play were played by Cody himself, cowboy and scout John Omohundro, nicknamed Jack Texan, Italian dancer Giuseppina Morlacchi and … Ned Buntline himself. Moreover, even a six-year-old Indian boy Carlos Montezuma, a future activist of the Indian movement for equality with whites, took part in the production.
Nickel-plated Buntline Special.
The Prairie Scouts premiered in Chicago in December 1872. Critics scolded the play, but people went to it, the box office was good, and as a result, Cody really became famous. Moreover, having learned the basics of performing arts and seeing that people are greedy for "exoticism", after some time he organized his own performance with cowboys, Indians and shooting - "Show of the Wild West".
Engraved silver plated "Buntline Special" with mother-of-pearl handle
Well, Buntline continued to write "dime novels", although they no longer had the same popularity. His books were published under different pseudonyms: Captain Hal Decker, Scout Jack Ford and Edward Mintern, but the writing style and syllable were always easily recognizable, no matter what he wrote about. Now he lived without a break in his house "Eagle's Nest" in Stamford, constantly kissed the bottle, and as a result, in 1886, died of acute heart failure. Although he made a lot of money as a writer, his wife had to sell the house to pay his creditors.
Nickel plated revolver 1914.
Revolvers Colt "Buntline Special" were produced in a variety of models, they are differently decorated and have a different coating. One of the rarest and most expensive is a revolver with an octagonal barrel and a removable shoulder stock, made in 1876. This unique revolver features a factory-made 16-inch octagonal barrel and all parts are silver-plated. A special elongated screw rotates between the parts of the removable stock frame and firmly connects them to the handle. The handle of the revolver is made of black walnut wood. The barrel bears the inscription COLT'S PT. F. A. MFG. Co. HARTFORD CT. U. S. A. " on one line. Build number "22" is located on the inside of the drum. Serial number "28825" is stamped on the bottom of the frame, the trigger and the back of the grip. The partial serial number "8825" is printed on the side of the drum. This revolver is listed as one of 23 known Buntline Special revolvers. It is believed to be "the rarest of all Colt Model 1872 single action revolvers." The revolver comes with a replaceable 5 1/4 inch octagonal barrel with the inscription COLT'S PT. F. A. MFG. Co HARTFORD CT. USA "on the top surface with two illegible markings.
"Buntline Special" with an attached butt.
All his life, one way or another, Ned Buntline has dealt with weapons, or knew people who dealt with them. And so his biographer Wyatt Earp Lake reported such an interesting fact that Ned gave him, Earp, and also four other famous "thieves" from the Wild West - Bat Masterson, Bill Tilgman, Charles Bassett and Neil Brown a truly royal gift - Colt revolvers made by special order. Moreover, the barrels of these revolvers were as much as 12 inches (30 centimeters) long, and the name "Ned" was carved on their wooden handles. Because of this, they were allegedly given the name "Buntline Special".
This is how he was in the cinema … Still in black and white.
It was used, as a rule, only by positive heroes, the positiveness of which was on their faces!
But that was only his statement. American researchers searched a lot, but did not find any evidence that such revolvers were made for Buntline. But … people are so arranged that as soon as they find out about something, they begin to desire the same.
Buntline Special has also featured in color westerns!
There were such revolvers ordered by Buntlein, they were not - what's the difference! The main thing is to have exactly the same revolver, which most likely will not be with others. And off it went - there was a fashion for the Colts "Buntline Special", and 12 inches of barrel length was no longer enough, so that there were real monsters with 16-inch barrels and attached butts. Many had cheeks made of bone and mother-of-pearl on the handles and were decorated with engraving, so that the price of individual copies reached … $ 400 and nevertheless they continued to order and buy!
