When talking about real life western heros, folk talk about Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Billiy The Kid and Jesse James.
but two names rarely mentioned are Tom Jeffords and John Clum, both Indian Agents for the Apache.
Jefford's in particular seems a remarkable man, who rode in alone into Cochise's stronghold to talk about letting the pony express through without fear of ambush. the two men became close friends and this led to a brief period of peace between the whiteman and the Apache. a film called Broken Arrow with James Stewart as Jefford's told the story, but what it didn't say Jefford's became their Indian Agent. also i've know idea of knowing if it was true or not that Jefford's was briefly married to an Indian maiden as was suggested in the film. Jefford's apparently resigned after the Indian's were forced into the San Carlos Reservation and was unhappy about the appointment of John Clum as his replacement.
Clum as played by Audie Murphy in Walk The Proud Land also as it turned out appeared to have a good relationship with the Apache's. however, it seems they still prefered Jefford's. one reason given is that Jefford's didn't believe in God, so wasn't at odds with the Apache religion, whereas Clum was a Christian and it did cause the odd problem. Clum also resigned when the army was brought onto the reservation.
Jefford's became a stagecoach driver late in life. i wonder if that was regarded as a social comedown after his yrs as an Indian agent. what i didn't realise was that Clum was the Mayor of Tombstone during the troubles between the Earp's and The Clantons and that he sided with the Earp's. his character was potrayed in the 1990s film Tombstone
Tom Jeffords and John Clum, two real heros of the west
Another unsung western hero of mine is Chicken George Moore, who was played by Ben Vareen in Roots. by todays standards the sport of cock-fighting is barbaric, but it was his ability to train those champion birds that got the black slave his freedom just before The American Civil War. as played by Vareen, he came over as a larger than life type of character