My dad told me the story on these two shots. This was around '77-'78 on a ride to Myrtle Beach SC from FL. When they arrived in town there was some kind of convention or something going on & there was no hotel rooms available anywhere, so they rode to another city named Connor which was also showing nothing but 'No Vacancy' signs. At a service station an old black man was eager to help them & flagged down these two redneck guys (as my dad puts it, & who would know better? ha!) driving by. These two guys saw the local sheriff and whistled him over. The sheriff escorts them to this building and takes them around back which is where these pictures were taken, and tells them to camp here, no one will mess with you. A few times throughout the night a patrol car drove by and checked on them.
I've always admired these Zane Grey western novels that you could order in the back of old western magazines, and today i finally tracked down my first copy from the collection; ''Riders of the Purple Sage.''
This edition is from 1940 but the novel was originally published in 1912.
...and of course one of my favorite bands got their name from this book.
It was owned by country music singers Willie Nelson and David Allan Coe and worn in three movies by these men. The rig was worn in three movies by Mr. Coe and Mr. Nelson. 1) Buckstone County Prison 1978 with David Allan Coe and Earl Owensby. 2) Barbarosa 1982 with Willie Nelson and Gary Busey. 3) Red Headed Stranger 1986 with Willie Nelson and Morgan Fairchild. It is a beautiful custom set with the belt buckle, knife handle, and gun grips in all matching Native American art. The original provenance which is seen in the photographs is included with this set. The knife included in this set is made by Master Bladesmith Wayne Goddard. I wrote to Mr. Goddard to inquire if he made this knife and this was part of Mr. Goddard's reply, "The knife blade is part of an original knife I made in the early 70’s. At that time I made my logo with a set of chisels that I made…that makes each logo an original. I think that whoever made the pistol grips also modified the original skinning knife by making it into a narrow tang to fit the deer antler crown."