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hunter. As the tale unfolds, Wales
befriends a wandering Indian Chief
named Lone Wat ie,
played to scene stealing
perfection by chief Dan
George, whose delivery
of even the simplest line
is poetry.
By the time he
gets to Texas, Josey
has four companions
he never chose but is
content to ride with
and protect. Besides
Lone Watie, there is a squaw named
Little Moonlight, rescued from a pair of
bounty hunters who made the fatal error
of thinking they had captured JoseyWales.
In one of the film’s best gun handling
scenes Eastwood does a double road
agent’s spin with the Walkers and shoots
both men down. His final companions are
two white women, survivors of a doomed
wagon train from Kansas; the belligerent
and indomitable Grandma Sara, played
by Paula Trueman, and her granddaughter
Laura Lee, played by Sondra Locke.
In a poetic turn, Wales has replaced
his family with a group of lost souls who
first depend upon him for their survival,
and in the end return the favor by helping
save Josey from both the Union Army
and from himself. It is a story that has
all the right elements, from tragedy to
redemption. It is western filmmaking as
it should be.
GUN DETAILS
The choice of Walter Colts for Josey
Wales was in keeping with the period,
since many confederate soldiers carried
older guns or guns captured on the battle-
field. Having already returned to farming
in Missouri before the end of the war,
Wales wasn’t likely to own a later-model
revolver, which doesn’t explain away the
Richards-Mason in the ashes, but let’s
not dwell on inaccuracies but rather on
some interesting facts. In 1976, Colt had
not introduced the Second Generation
Walker. That model would not apper until
1980, so the guns in Josey Wales’ holsters
were either originals or hand built copies,
some of which are known to have been
done as early as 1940s. the Walkers in
than half a dozen characters throughout
the story. The massive revolvers wielded by
Eastwood for the rest of the film are 1847
Walker colts, which he carries in cut down
military belt holsters. Wales also keeps an
1860 Army tucked in his gun belt and
wears a shoulder holster variously occupied
by a period correct .44 caliber 1860 Army
with cut down barrel, a .36 caliber Pocke
Navy, and a .38 Colt Pocket conversion.
Not to worry, the Walkers also become
cartridge guns several times in the film,
which begs the question, who was making
cartridge conversions for Walker Colts in
1976 ? the answer: probably someone in
theWarner Brothers Studio armory, so that
Eastwood’s guns could be quickly reloaded
with blank cartridges for filming the action
scenes. Ah, Hollywood!
With much attention drawn to the
brace of Walkers, the most impressive
weapon in the entire film is Wales’ Sharps
rifle, which is mounted with a 30-inch
scope. This is the long gun he uses to shoot
the guide rope off a ferry carrying Terrill
and his men across a river. “This is what
we call a Missouri boat ride,” says Wales as
the raft breaks free of its towline sending
the Union soldiers washing downstream.
With Terrill in dire pursuit of the
not dead as thought Josey wales, the rest
of the story centers around a cat-and-
mouse game of the hunted becoming the
(Above) the Model 1874 Sharps used was
well ahead of the movie’s timeframe, 1865-
66, but black powder Sharps rifles were popular
with both sides during the Civil War, often to
shoot Cavalry officers off their horses at more
than 200 yards. (Above right) The author test
fires the scoped Sharps chambered in .45-70.
This Armi Sport Sharps Sporting Rifle from
Taylor’s & Co. is similar to the 1874 Sharps
used in the movie.