Shootin' 'em up in Sisters

Last weekend in downtown Sisters, Cascade Avenue was transformed into the Wild West with 140 feet of Western town façade.

Folks strolling by did a double-take and stopped for a spell to watch The Pine Mountain Posse players entertain with skits from the Old West for the 4th annual Sisters Wild West Show. Spectators got to step back into the wild age of gunfighters, saloons and cowboys, like a scene out of an old classic John Wayne Western that came alive.

The Pine Mountain Posse Players performed three Wild West skits and shootouts with champion cowboy action-shooter Mohave Mick as the new marshal in town.

The players dress in authentic or authentic replica clothing for their skits and always go by "Western" names. And the firearms are pre-1900 replicas.

Richard Weatherson, aka Sidekick Rick, and wife Colleen Weatherson, aka Stargazer Sal, headed up The Pine Mountain Posse Players this year.

"This year we have two new skits along with the crowd-pleaser, The James Gang," Colleen said.

Most legends of the West are about men, but there were many women who became famous as well. And one of the skits, Women of our Western Town, was written by Colleen Weatherson.

"We've been doing this for years, and there has never been a skit that focused on the women kicking up a bit of dust, so I decided to change that," Weatherson said.

Nineteen-year-old Hayden Kingly, aka Huckleberry Hickcock, has been with Pine Mountain Posse for four years.

"I've been involved with cowboy action shooting and playing the part of the cowboy but haven't had as much time devoted to shooting since I am going to the University of Oregon," explained Kingly.

Event organizer Richard Esterman emceed each Wild West skit, going over show safety rules with the spectators and giving away Wild West souvenir books to little buckaroos who knew the answers to easy Oregon trivia questions.

"The Wild West Show performances were a success and stopped travelers driving through Sisters," Esterman said.

In between shootouts folks got to browse through Western arts and crafts, and a convincing 19th-century mercantile store with homemade goods with a blacksmith on hand working hard at hammering hot iron on an anvil.

Civil War reenactment player and co-owner of Company Mercantile, Cindy Hilchey from Eddyville, Oregon, makes the 19th-century women's clothing and bonnets for the mercantile store. All the homemade goods in the store are for sale during all the Civil War Reenactment shows throughout the West.

Hilchey has been a reenactment player for The Northwest Civil War Council (NCWC) for 12 years. And her entire family are also reenactment players.

"We are trying to expand our business outside of the reenactment shows," Hilchey told The Nugget.