Right on target

ST. MARIES – Cowgirl Pinto Annie stepped into the fray with steely resolve.

The day before, self-righteous town folk had run all the prostitutes out of Dodge. Now, the girls were back, claiming vengeance. The entire saloon was in an uproar, and the fighting spilled onto the street.

Pinto Annie fired multiple shots from her pistol, shotgun and rifle. Judges stood on the sidelines, giving her marks for accuracy and speed.

Meet LeAnn Kemmerer – a systems analyst with an alter ego of hellion in petticoats. For five years, she’s been testing her skill at Single Action Shooting Society competitions.

On Saturday, a field near St. Maries was transformed into a mock Western town for the 12th annual Great Northern Cowboy Shootout, one of many such competitions held each year.

Men strolled through the grass, spurs jingling. Flat brimmed hats kept the rain off their faces. Jeans were tucked into knee-high boots. Participants greeted each other by names like “Shalako Tucker” and “Salina Slip.”

Each target shoot involved a scripted story line that could have come from Zane Grey himself. But fast draws were noticeably absent.

“That’s Hollywood, not the Old West,” explained Dave Resser of St. Maries, one of the event’s organizers. “We actually discourage that kind of behavior.”

The contestants each shot more than 200 rounds of ammunition over the weekend. To the 60,000-member-strong Single Action Shooting Society’s credit, no one has ever been seriously injured during an event, Resser said. “We’re absolutely focused on safety.”

The shootout drew 100 participants from Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho and Canada. Camaraderie and nostalgia, jokes and singalongs are part of the fun.

Many of the contestants grew up during the golden era of cowboy movies.

“Mom gave you a quarter, and it was good for an all-day matinee of Western serials,” said 68-year-old Joe Abrams of Trout Creek, Mont. “Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Lash La Rue. … There were so many cowboy actors.”

The Old West was “a nice, simple time,” said Bob Giles, who used to stage Old West gunfights for tourists. Right and wrong were clearly defined. Justice always prevailed.

The shootouts keep that era alive – along with the youth in the hearts of the participants, said Giles, aka Cowboy Bob.

“We don’t plan on growing up,” he said. “I’ve been to Arizona, and there are lots of old folks there who aren’t having any fun.”

Kemmerer and her husband, Ed, joined the competition after trying trapshooting. The Touchet, Wash., couple wanted a competitive shooting event, without the intensity of other sports. At cowboy shootouts, everyone is a good sport, they said.

“If you come to one of these things, you hear a lot of laughter,” said Kemmerer, a three-time state champion.

The authenticity is also part of the fun, she said. Kemmerer uses a vintage Winchester rifle in the competitions. She’s sewed nine Victorian-style dresses to wear to the events. About 20 yards of silk or calico go into each dress, and the petticoats add another 12 to 18 yards of fabric.

On Saturday, Kemmerer was apologetic about the jeans underneath her oil-cloth duster.

“I almost never show up at the events in britches,” she said. “But I gave up on the dress in the rain. It gets really heavy when it’s wet.”