The commandment that says ‘thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor’ is a good one to bear in mind when writing a story about an alleged crime. As we all know, that commandment is set aside all day every day, all night every night, all around the globe.
Well paid liars abound, and well placed lies have been creating mountains of mischief since long before Moses came down from the mountain. In Shakespeare’s play ‘Much Ado About Nothing’, there was whole herd of hullaballoo over a naughty lie that was told about a young maiden. Yes, they made the play into an uproariously funny movie.
We poor, silly humans have to swim through oceans of lies from the time we barely learn to talk. There’s an old adage that says, ‘Don’t believe anything you hear and only half of what you see.’
If we all adhered to that adage, nobody would learn or know anything. Fortunately, there are also oceans of truth around the globe to help offset what Ayn Rand once called the ‘daily bromide’.
The other day I sent an email claiming that I’d rather be up in the mountains, camped beside a creek with a dog and a fishing pole than be bouncing all over the west writing a story about something that happened clear back in 1981.
Wishes be derned, there is a moral obligation to yield to. Somebody needs to write this story, and apparently I’m the only one who has it. So, when I tell my readers that history has recorded the Claude Dallas case bass-akwards, that what is known is mostly fiction − well, that’s not only because the truth is a little hard to stomach − it is also because there are political forces who want that history to be skewed in favor of the government.
In large, any given person’s version of the truth, is the truth the way that person sees it. But, when someone tells an intentional lie in a case like this one, that lie can cause a lot more mischief than the plain and simple truth.
It’s one thing to bear false witness, and another to propose an inquiry. This column is not making any outrageous claims, or attempting to defame anyone’s character. However, there is information available from very reliable sources indicating that the media lied, the recorded history is largely false, and that certain witnesses who testified at the trial were close enough to lying in teeth that an inquiry is more than warranted.
Very often the media gets things all wrong on purpose, and so does history. A good example of this can be found in the movie called ‘Tombstone’. In that movie, Johnny Ringo is portrayed as a vicious killer, and one of the deadliest pistols in the west.
According to most historians, Johnny Ringo was never known to have killed anyone. Yet, because of media mischief, the lion’s share of people who have heard of Johnny Ringo think he was bloodthirsty gunman and quick draw artist.
There are many other cases where the popular perception is absurd, but if the Good Lord’s willing and the creek don’t rise, the history of the Claude Dallas case will be retold, and told straight.
To that end, a group of old cowboys, Zeb Bell, the famous rodeo announcer and radio and television host, Dan Gill, a local professional shooter (cameraman), Waddie Mitchell, a well known cowboy poet, myself and others – we’re all mulling over the possibility of heading out on the Owyhee Rangelands this September to do an accurate docudrama that we can pitch to a bigger network.
Anyone interested in participating in this proposed excursion is welcome to drop me a line at jackwaynechappell@gmail.com. Of course, an excursion like this one requires a lot of palaver before anything gets done, but if the palavering is well recorded, that in itself will be fun!
Meanwhile, summertime is nearing the horizon, and that means gearing up for the Gooding Rodeo, so you all have plenty to do. Let’s hope this year’s show is the biggest and best-est of them all. Happy trails!
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