Looking Back – “Should We Read Him His Rights?”

I had originally carved the steer in this scene for another group I was carving but it turned out just a little out of scale to be used. I can’t really remember just how the thought of depicting a little prairie justice came about but it worked and it was a lot of fun putting it together. Here’s the post from October, 2006:

“Poor old Alkali Jones. He should have known better than try to sneak that heifer past those two ranchers. At least one of them is having second thoughts about whether they should go ahead and string him up so maybe there’s still some hope for him. Unfortunately, we’ll never know.

This was a real fun scene to construct. I had carved the steer earlier for the Auctioneer scene in the previous post. However, once that scene came together it became apparent to me that the cow was too small next to the other figures. As I had already carved Alkali Jones I just added the Longhorn as evidence of the crime!

These figures are considerably smaller than those I normally carve. The Cowboy with the rifle stands about 8″ tall and the overall height of the scene is about 18″. While large it would still fit nicely on a desk corner or a sideboard.

The tree is a cedar branch I picked up at the National Pea Ridge Battlefield Park in Arkansas. My wife and I ride our horses over there and there are lots of dead cedar trees I use in scenes for fence posts, gates, etc. The branch that will soon support the weight of Alkali was added on and then modeled to match the larger trunk. The two vultures are held in place by metal rods which I epoxied to the branches. The Wanted sign is made out of metal. I guess poor old Alkali wasn’t much of a rustler as, from it’s absence on the poster, no reward was offered.

I spent an entire afternoon carving Alkali’s gun and holster laying next to his hat. I had hoped to have some bullets on the belt but it just became too fragile to handle by the time I got to that step. The hat and six-shooter do a good job of filling up that empty spot.

So, the next time you’re on your knees giving thanks for all your blessings, put in a word or two for Alkali. Maybe it’s not too late for him to see the light and mend his ways.”

Poor Alkali….he’s still setting on that horse going on 14 years. He did get a change of scenery having recently relocated to El Paso but his outlook still looks bleak!

Comments welcomed and appreciated.