'BRONCO'
"SHADOW OF JESSE JAMES"
Aside from having Bronco Layne involved with Jesse James, Belle Starr, and Cole Younger and his brothers, this episode also played fast and loose with the timeline when it came to another historical figure.
JOSEPH SHELBY
Joseph Orville "Jo" Shelby (December 12, 1830 – February 13, 1897) was a Confederate cavalry general noted for his actions in the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War.
In June 1865, rather than surrender, Shelby and approximately 1,000 of his remaining troops rode south into Mexico. Reportedly, Shelby sank his battle flag in the Rio Grande near present-day Eagle Pass, Texas, on the way to Mexico rather than risk the flag falling into the hands of the Federals.
Maximilian declined to accept the ex-Confederates into his armed forces, but he did grant them land for an American colony in Mexico near Veracruz. The grant was revoked two years later following the collapse of the empire and Maximilan's execution.
Shelby returned to Missouri in 1867 and resumed farming. In 1883, Shelby was a critical witness for fellow ex-Confederate Frank James at James' trial. Shelby was appointed the U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Missouri in 1893, and retained this position until his death.
However, in Toobworld (at least according to this episode), Shelby was made the Marshal at some point in the early 1870s because he was holding that position before the "Great Northfield, Minnesota, Raid".......
From Wikipedia:
1876 - September 7, Attempted robbery of the First National Bank by the James-Younger gang. Bank treasurer Joseph Lee Heywood was killed after refusing to open the bank safe.
On September 7, 1876, Northfield experienced one of its most important historical events, when The James-Younger Gang attempted a robbery on the First National Bank of Northfield. Local citizens, recognizing what was happening, armed themselves and resisted the robbers and successfully thwarted the theft. The gang killed the bank's cashier, Joseph Lee Heywood and a Swedish immigrant, Nicholas Gustafson. A couple of members of the gang were killed in the street, while Cole, Bob and Jim Younger were cornered near Madelia, Minnesota. Jesse and Frank James escaped west into the Dakotas, while the remaining gang members were killed or taken into custody. Considering the James gang as related to postwar insurgency, the raid has sometimes been called the last major event of the American Civil War. One of Northfield's slogans is "Jesse James Slipped Here", based on the raid's failure.
1876 - September 7, Attempted robbery of the First National Bank by the James-Younger gang. Bank treasurer Joseph Lee Heywood was killed after refusing to open the bank safe.
On September 7, 1876, Northfield experienced one of its most important historical events, when The James-Younger Gang attempted a robbery on the First National Bank of Northfield. Local citizens, recognizing what was happening, armed themselves and resisted the robbers and successfully thwarted the theft. The gang killed the bank's cashier, Joseph Lee Heywood and a Swedish immigrant, Nicholas Gustafson. A couple of members of the gang were killed in the street, while Cole, Bob and Jim Younger were cornered near Madelia, Minnesota. Jesse and Frank James escaped west into the Dakotas, while the remaining gang members were killed or taken into custody. Considering the James gang as related to postwar insurgency, the raid has sometimes been called the last major event of the American Civil War. One of Northfield's slogans is "Jesse James Slipped Here", based on the raid's failure.
So about twenty years in the man's life was collapsed in order to make the episode feel more urgent.
William Forrest played Marshal Shelby and unlike the Youngers, Belle Starr, and the James boys, it appears thta this was the only portrayal of Shelby in a TV series. More than likely that was due to other TV Westerns following the established timeline so that Shelby really had no significant part in the history of the wild, wild West when it came to Earth Prime-Time. (However, the exploits of Shelby and his Undefeated in Mexico would have made for an interesting episode for 'Death Valley Days' which is our theme for this August showcase.)
I have no problem in declaring this portrayal of Shelby as the official televersion for the main Toobworld - even though the timeline is bleeped to hell and even though the other historical figures in the episode have had plenty of other incarnations in other TV series. The simple splainin is that they were all seen from the perspective of Bronco Layne.
BCnU!
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