Authentic Tales of the West: Part 2

Denver Fields

Arnold Ashford’s Journal Entry #2

“Fields Gang”, he said, as if it was self-evident. As we finally pulled into town, I realized that this was a place of industry, a place of questionable legality, and a place of opportunity for those with ambition.

The Saloon was impossible to miss; you could see it, smell it, hear it; I didn’t yet have the courage to get close enough to touch and taste it. I finally arrived at the only hotel in town, the Wild Goose, and as I was arranging things with the keeper (a nice enough man with a burgundy nose and a neck that seemed too stretched), I eventually mustered up the daring to ask what I had been wanting to ask all along.

“So friend, what’s this I’ve been overhearing about a “Fields Gang”?” I tried to sound as casual as I could, but I fear I failed in my attempt. I admit I was surprised at how forthright he was, almost as if he’d been waiting to unburden himself of his thoughts. He proceeded to tell me how Dodge City has not had a proper Lawman for several months now, due to this Fields Gang and their canny, crafty and cunning leader – Denver Fields.

Denver is best known for his “Plan B”

Illustration by Steven Lambert

The townsfolk have sent out letter after letter from the local Post Office to try to recruit a Lawman, a real true Gunslinger, to come protect their town and their livelihoods, but it seems that Dodge City has been saddled with quite a Bad Reputation (probably due to the rather short life expectancy of its deputies).

I wondered right then if perhaps I could make a difference in crafting a recruitment draft to draw such a man to this Dodge City.

— Check back next Monday for a new entry in Ashford’s journal —