How did you choose your alias?

[Thomas (Tom) Horn aka James Hicks]

Mine was easy to decide. I wanted to "play out" a "real" person from the 1800's. Did not want it to be from "Hollywood". But, speaking of Hollywood... and even though the movie is FAR FROM BEING ACCURATE I liked the way Steve McQueen displayed the persona of Tom Horn. I was really surprised that SASS gave me my first choice. Having said all of that, I dress the way McQueen did for the movie. I had an "over-shirt" made just like McQueen wore, my hat is identical to the hat that McQueen wore and my chaps are also identical down to the silver conchos.  The REAL Tom Horn was not a "revolver" totin cowboy. Prior to 1894 Tom Horn used a Winchester 45-60, but after the 1894 Winchester 30-30 came out he used that. But in SASS we have to use revolvers to play the game. I get a lot of comments from folks on "Why did I choose Tom Horn as an alias."  I did so, because I can identify with him the way he did things. Man of few words, but deadly with his actions. As stated above, McQueen's movie was not historically correct, but I loved the way McQueen played out the character of Tom Horn. I to have a rifle of preference... the 45-60.  I do not wear the two shirts in summer shoots, just to hot. LOL But when I go to other places to shoot, as soon as they see the way I am dressed, folks do not have to ask what my name is... they know.

[Rye Miles]

  I had a couple of aliaises before I settled on Rye Miles. I wanted a real historic name to connect to the old west. I read a book called Arizona Rangers and settled on Rye Miles. I thought it sounded pretty cool and he was a real Arizona Ranger.
Sgt. J.T. "Rye" Miles was born in Texas in 1866, was a cowboy, an Arizona Ranger, Sheriff of Tucson, Constable of Benson and later was a prison guard at Arizona State prison. He died in Casa Grande, Az at the age of 76, was married and had 6 children. He killed 4 men in his lawdawg career.

[Cinch ring Sam]

The alias  is from an old Louis LaMoore book, I forget which one, where a group of cowboys sitting around the fire were talking about
using a cinch ring from a saddle held between two sticks as a field expedient running iron. This was apparently done by certain shady characters of the time. Anyway, the story is, that one of the cowboys took it upon himself to check some of the saddles of the group and found several with indications of having been exposed to high heat sometime in the past. The Sam was from an old friend. The name kind of rolled so I kept it.

[Trailrider]

I've been making leather gear professionally since 1975, under the name Trailrider Products.  When I started in CAS, it was just real convenient, and tied in with the business. Yes, I've ridden a few trails, and shooed a few cattle (mostly out of the way of my Air Force pickup truck on the way to a Minuteman site up Montana-way. Not a fancy story, but there she is.

[Russ McCrae]

When the club I started in would do Lonesome Dove themed shoots I got questioned the most because I could think off the top of my head some line from the book that fit what they wanted. Also Russ (real name) and Gus rhyme and honestly I got so much character being myself I really don't need a fancy aliais, I handle the fun department pretty good on my own 

[Capt. Jack McQuesten]

My original SASS alias was the "Arabela Kid". I took the name from the area in New Mexico where my ranch is located.

Recently, I have been doing some research into my family history. It turns out that I am the great, great grandson of Capt. Leroy "Jack" McQuesten. Apparently he was quite a historical figure in the gold rush of the late 1800's up in Alaska and the Yukon. He was known as "The Father of the Yukon". 

Capt. Jack founded several trading posts and towns in the Alaska and Yukon territories. He was a steamboat Captain who brought supplies to the gold miners in the area.

Supposedly he was friends with Jack London and Wyatt Earp, who both frequented Alaska during that time period. The whiskey "Yukon Jack" was named after him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_McQuesten

In his honor, I have changed my SASS alias to "Capt. Jack McQuesten"......

[Grey Beard]

I used to do a lot of Walleye tournament fishing and both myself and partner had beards.  One day when the two of us were sitting in the shade after day one of a tournament he commented that we should call ourselves team Grey Beards.  We won the tournament and so we kept the name.  When I got into CAS a couple years later it just seemed natural that I go by Grey Beard.

[PJ Hardtack]

My wife just joined SASS and her alias (Mizz Josie) had to change. She chose that after an ancestor, a Hurdy-Gurdy Girl during the Cariboo Gold Rush in the 1850s - 60s.

So now she is 'Mizz Cara Boo Belle', keeping in the tradition of the Gold Rush. Several of our CAS members have local historic names.

[Tucumcari Tim]

Nothing as elaborate or historical as a lot here, but I decided on mine this way. As a kid, we would always go on vacation to my aunts place in San Manuel AZ. Big thrill for me as I was a cowboy, western type kid that grew up wishing he could've lived back in the 1880's or there abouts. We travelled through quite a few western towns along the way (not always a direct route from OH to AZ) and would always stop in Tucumcari NM for a buffalo burger. (unheard of when I was a kid) Being fascinated with the old west, and knowing that William Bonney did some "work" in Lincoln County (even though Tucumcari is in Quay county), I thought a New Mexico town name would bring back some childhood memories. I guess it could have been Truth or Consequences Tim instead, but that was too long......

[HogDoc Olliday]

My alias is the culmination of ideas based on who/what I am. My alias is HogDoc Olliday

Hog = I own and ride a 2008 Harley Road King Classic. I love my hog.
Doc = I have a PhD in Counseling and the parents, kids, and staff at school call me Dr. Loyd
Olliday = an off shoot of the historical western character, Doc Holliday. Just a little play on words. 

Now, folks, that's the story I have to tell the city folks and the territorial marshal who ask, but the REAL story is that I was a pig farmer back in 1869 (HOG). Then in 1873, I began to do a little "doctoring", surgery to be specific. You see, I would "operate" on traveling folks...you know...the ones riding in the stagecoaches. Yep, as a good surgeon, I would "lift and remove" the gold and other valuables from the good folks from the East (DOC). Oh, and did I mention that I am the lost natural brother of the famed Doc Holliday? (OLLIDAY) We both went to the same med school. Hence...HOGDOC OLLIDAY.

[Coal Creek Griff]

Well, my alias is pretty simple.  I tried to think of the way that nicknames were given in the old west.  Often, there would be more than one person with a name, so people would keep them separate by something about that person, or the place they came from, like Texas Jack, Deadwood Dick, Arkansas Tom, or Bitter Creek Newcomb.  For generations, the men in my family have had our last name shortened to "Griff".  To differentiate between my father and brother, I identified myself with the area where I live—in the "Coal Creek" area.  I'm up at the end of the valley above Coal Creek, on Coal Creek Road.  My grandfather had a very "western" sounding name—Jesse Emmitt.  I took his full name for that reason.  I usually sign my name "CC Griff" because it is short, but, like "Turkey Creek Jack Johnson", I prefer to go by "Creek Griffith" or just "Creek."

CC Griff

[wildman1]

It was all that I could think of at the time. Dumbass was already taken.

WM

[dusty texian]

I have great respect for the early settler's of my home state of Texas. It took a special person to go out into the wilderness that at the time was crawling with Indian's Comanche and Apache and all sort's of Desperado's.These folk built homestead's and raised a family. This land is spotted with unmarked grave's , and failed homeplaces ,proof that life was tough,back yonder.My family landed by sailing ship in Galveston Tx.  from Germany in the mid.1800s ,they moved into the edge of the Texas Hill Country along with other's new to this wild land,and planted roots. Early people in Texas were called Texian's while under Mexican rule and after, during the Texas Republic .The two ranch's I have in Texas were once Mexico. One is 3.5 mi. from the Rio Grand and it's still not settled, the other is near Mason ,and Fredricksburg the heart of Tx. All once Comancheria . Out of respect to the ones before me I call myself a Texian .  I do not take what they did for granted.If you have been too West Texas then you know where the Dusty part comes from. Again pardon the spelling I was lookin out the window a lot in the classroom HE-HE  .........Dusty Texian.

[Twitchy]

Cuz I have a kinda tick with my shoulder.

[Deringer Donny]

Well i chose my alias by thinking of the different guns of the time period. I one came to mind for a gambler, Derringer. Now people as me why only one R in the name Deringer Donny, and that was from my research the man who invented the Derringer pistol spelled his name with only one R. Kind of neat and it really got me looking into a fascinating time in gun history.

[flyingcollie]

This is a long thread, but mighty entertaining, and well worth the read!

I started CAS a year ago, and the local club suggested that an alias might be historical. I took 'em at their word, and being really "into" the history of the gold strikes at Bannack and Virginia City (MT) just over the hill from me, and the road agents and vigilantes, thought "Hank Crawford" would be a good alias . . . he was sheriff, and shot the (accused) road-agent leader Henry Plummer in the elbow, but missed him with the second shot from a two-barrel rifle. Crawford knew Plummer would kill him when he healed up, so he fled the country. He returned after the Vigilantes had hung Plummer's Gang.

It's not a good CAS alias, because it's too much like a real name, and there's a member whose name is Crawford . . . confusing !

(I sign on as "flyingcollie" after my Border Collie Sox who spent his youth literally three feet above ground . . . over fences, catching frisbees, and herding livestock)

[Tula Berdanka]

spending a lot of time in the pacific north west and in eastern europe and central asia, my interests involve Russian America, Russian firearms ( a lot of which were American designed/made ) etc

Tula = town with the oldest firearms factory in Russia
Berdanka = Russian nickname given to the model 1870 Berdan rifle designed by Hiram Berdan and produced by Colt and Tula

[sharps1863]

Well I guess mine is kinda a mixture of 2 different time periods, 1st I'm a big fan of Bernard Cornwells Sharpe's series of books. That are set from 1790's India to the battle of Waterloo. It follows a uneducated soldier "Richard Sharpes" rise through the ranks from a sergeant to a Lt. Colonial in the British Army. Something of an impossibility back then. Then the next part is I love shooting my 1863 .54 Sharps carbine.  So I just put them both together for the forum name.

[Mean Bob Mean]

Mine was hung on me by some friends due to a couple different things I had done in my life and some situations I was in that we liked to poke fun at.  I have been an underground hard rock miner, my dad was "Thumper Bob" and "El Toro".  A couple friends called me "Bad Bob" and "Mean Bob" after a political debate I won, after a fictional biker who they made up because i rode around on  a 250cc Yamaha (very laughable) and some rather curt things I used to say which they found hilarious.  So, this wasn't my idea at all, it's a nickname I had since college days.