July 20, 2009 –
On June 29, the West lost one of its most devoted cowboys-Joe Bowman. Though times had changes and his idols like Roy Rogers had long passed, Bowman-a renowned sharp shooter-never gave up on his love for the Wild West, the cowboy’s way of life, and the basic belief that there is a clear divide between good and evil.
Born in Johnson City, Tennessee on April 12, 1925, Bowman took up shooting at age 6 and became a fast fan of westerns starring Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and others. He and his brother Mark would spend Saturday mornings at the matinee shows, staring in wonder as their idols would take down the bad guys. Bowman once told the Houston Chronicle, “What I remember is the morality of the westerns and of the cowboys. That’s all what westerns were: morality plays, where there was good and evil. Now look at the movies and on TV: good can be bad, there’s no distinct line. I don’t think kids learn from that.”
Taking a cue from his big screen idols, Bowman worked to develop his own unique quick-draw techniques. He practiced from the back porch of his house, using his BB gun to shoot flies off of trash cans. At age 12, Bowman’s father moved the family to Houston, where Bowman attended Sam Houston High School.
While in Houston, Bowman learned a trade that would later earn him the business of one his favorite cowboys-Roy Rogers himself. Bowman worked as an apprentice at Roy Smith Boots and Palace Boots, learning the art of boot-making. After his Army service in World War II, Bowman returned to Houston and opened the Bowman and DeGeorge Boot Shop. Word spread of Bowman’s talent for crafting and finely detailing boots, saddles, belts and holsters, and eventually Roy Rogers enlisted Bowman to make him a pair of boots with red roses on the sides and gold toes and heels.
In the early 1960s, Bowman sold his boot shop and became a salesman for a drafting company. On the side, Bowman began performing shooting stunts at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, along with other conventions. Eventually, Bowman decided to devote himself entirely to his beloved pastime and went on tour across the country as a one-man shooting show. He wore a cowboy hat and tooled-leather boots that he crafted himself. His act included a fast-draw and twirling exhibition, in which he used his re-tooled Ruger .357 Blackhawk, along with card tricks, story-telling, and lassoing. Bowman add new dares and stunts to his routine and ignited his audience with his performance. One of his fellow performers, James Drury, who starred in the 1960s television series The Virginian, said Bowman “could hit an Anacin tablet with a .22 rifle at 30 yards and pulverize it every time.” Drury said that in a only a fraction of a second, Bowman could fire three shots at 30 paces through the middle of a 50-cent piece.
Bowman crowned himself the “Master of Triggernometry” and the “Straight Shooter,” and his fame earned the attention of several actors in Hollywood who solicited his expertise when preparing for Westerns. Bowman gave lessons to Robert Duvall for his role in Lonesome Dove, as well as James Arness for Gunsmoke. Bowman also taught real-life crime fighters-FBI agents and law enforcement officers-how to handle a gun, including a lesson on “instinct shooting,” which Bowman described as relying on the eye and aligning the body correctly instead of taking the time to aim down the gun sight.
Even in the last week of his life, Bowman was still putting on a show. On his way home from a sharpshooting exhibition in Albuquerque, Bowman stopped in the West Texas town of Junction for the night. It would be the last place he hung his hat. At age 84, after a lifetime of bringing excitement into the lives of others and a deep appreciation for the cowboy’s way, Joe Bowman passed away.
Just as Captain Woodrow F. Call famously told his lifetime friend Captain Augustus McCrae in Lonesome Dove, we as Texans can also say “You’re one of a kind, Joe. We’re gonna miss you.”
Sources: Los Angeles Times; New York Times
