John Coleman is a master plumber, who still works at his day job. Chuck Clark is retired from a career as a civilian employee for the Department of the Army. Both want to be sure you understand that they are NOT re-enactors. But the two self-described “wild west entertainers” have managed to put together one of the most successful, entertaining and educational shows in recent memory with the custom-built, portable, western-style “town” they call Brazos Bottom.

At one time, Coleman considered himself a re-enactor and tried to do everything in the historically accurate way. When he and his “Cowographers” (a term adopted from a Gene Autry movie) met Clark at the Salado Legends outdoor drama seven or eight years ago, Clark convinced him that it was more important to put on a good show than to wear “authentic” long, woollen underwear. “If we do a skit set in 1865, the audience doesn’t care if we use guns invented in 1868,” Clark declares.

Shortly after that meeting, Coleman called Clark and asked him to be vice-president of the Cowographers. “He said, ‘I need a VP,” Clark recalls. The two men settled on a division of labor; “John’s administration,” Clark explains. “I’m in charge of the set, the set-up and the shows.” Their enthusiasm and humor soon attracted recruits, and they averaged about sixteen members for the nine or ten shows they did that first season.

Another group, called Red River Valley Gunfighters, had fallen on hard times, and needed to sell a “town” of six buildings on “the remains” of a house trailer. “We bought the town and the sound system for $1800,” Clark remembers. “But everything was so heavy – it took an army to set it up.” While the group continued to grow, the membership was “ready to revolt” four years ago, because of the hard labor involved in moving the town. Also, the group used to carry nearly a thousand “props” with them on their trips, includin ...

Read the entirety of this article in the print edition.

Subscribe online — it's quick and easy