Great Moments in Mustang History: The 1864-1/2 Mustang and Pipsqueak Pete

Gallery Article by Charlie Crawford on Jan 5 2010

Silly Week 2010

 

Pipsqueak Pete, that pint-sized pesky purloiner of pioneer people's ponies, is seen here performing the act for which he became famous; stealing a horse at gunpoint. Or as it was known in those days, a "walk-by horse-jacking".

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Resplendent in his 5-gallon hat and armed with a pair of three-shooters, this sawed-off little owlhoot had an interesting, if somewhat brief, career in the Old West. He first appeared at a gathering place in Arizona Territory known as "Mustang's Alley", where he preyed on an unsuspecting horse trader. He preferred Mustangs, as they were somewhat shorter than other breeds of horses, thus not requiring a step-ladder in order for him to mount. Having acquired a horse, he then went out and performed a series of stagecoach robberies, as the horse made him tall enough to be seen through the dust raised by a coach-and-four...
He is seen here at the end of his..um.."short" career, because in the next moment the big guy dropped that saddle on his head and skooshed him like a bug...

This little vignette was created for a model club theme night, the subject being “Mustangs”. In amongst all the GT-350s and P-51Ds, I placed this little gem. It was, shall we say, “under-appreciated”…Trivia Note: The two figures came from a very early Revell 1/25 car kit. Do you know what it was? (Not only that, I still have the kit. Unbuilt. Not for sale). The mustang horse was  purchased from a horse-trading chicken farmer named Shelby.

Charlie Crawford

Photos and text © by Charlie Crawford