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".
Click on
images below to see larger images
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
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