Cannon

Old West

Society

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© 2003 Cannon Old West Society. All rights reserved.

The History

Greg Wollen was a part of Brackets Battalion until he decided that it was too expensive to continue as a part of that group.  They were truly authentic in their wardrobe and serious about their character.  Greg started Hatches Battalion in 1993 with a few people who felt the same way. 

They started coming to the Little Log House Pioneer Village as a Civil War Battalion.  Soon there were a couple of cowboys that joined, and Rusti Marroquin joined as a Saloon Girl.  That was when they began doing a few skits in the Saloon.  Gordy Hies and Ken Cooksey joined Brackets Battalion in 1995.  Then switched to Hatches in 1996 for the same reasons Greg started the club.

Ken and Gordy started doing Old West with Hatches Battalion.  One year Al narrated a series of shootouts like they did in the movies.  At that time the club was called Hatches Battalion/Cannon Old West Society.  Cesairo Lopez and Linda, Jerry Robbins and Jan, Dan, Cathy, and Joyce Taylor were a few of the earliest members.  Hud Heidlebaugh and Jody Greenslade joined in 1997 too, but didn't reenact with the group until the summer of 1998.  Many of the original members dropped out after that summer and left the club with only one event (Little Log House) and two rules (don't be stupid and have fun).

Rusti Marroquin, Cesario Lopez, Rose Taylor, Ken Cooksey, Al Danforth, Gordy Hies, Justin Voerster, Jody Greenslade, Hud Heidlebaugh, and Bryan Olson are all that is left of the members from the last century.  In 2000 we began to grow from a club with few active members to a club with enthusiastic new members.  It was then decided to form a Posse to help us to keep the identity of Cannon Old West Society from changing too dramatically from the way it was.  It was also about this time that we admitted the loss of Hatches Battalion.  We have very few members who are Civil War enthusiasts, but we keep hoping that more will join.

Although, Little Log House has always been our largest event each summer and the same two rules are still our priority, we have gained a lot of dedicated members who make great contributions to the club.  Beginning the season of 2003, COWS had 46 members including men, women, and children; and started the season with 10 events scheduled.  This had been the most active year for us since the inception of the club. 

Even though our membership numbers and events scheduled has fluctuated somewhat in the past few years, the membership has leveled out to still 46 members and a manageable 5-7 events.   We are looking forward to another great year in 2008!