Trimond297 on Sep 15, 2015 wrote:

I have this question that's been wrapped around in my mind after facing the Red Sash Gang in Cool Ranch, and I feel that there is no shred of the Red Sash Gang's origins, other than it was being led by Johnny Ringo himself & Merriweather Clark knows about them & they stole the Bison necklace charms and pinned the blame on Clark after they committed the crime, (though, I did remember Slow Jake saying "The Duck's gonna pay a pretty penny for these Bison Beads." before the Hidden Valley Ranch adventure was made shorter, in terms of instance length, of course, but that's different).

Like how we did our takes on English Bill's origins before the Puppet Show about him got made, I think it was time we begun our thoughts on how the Red Sash Gang was made. That, and there is no Puppet Show in Book 5, as of present being.

My thoughts on their origins, they were likely regular citizens, & they all came from Back East to get away from their troubles. They have been trying to seek out many ways to attain wealth quick after settling in Cool Ranch, yet, they've not succeeded.

One day, they spotted opportunities after seeing the Marleybone Dogs' arrival to Cool Ranch. Hearing that they need more to help aid their mining operations & colonizing establishments to bring more ancient historic artifacts to bring to their museums, they jumped in and got jobs working for the dogs.

Johnny Ringo, a talented individual, had a knack for using spark shooters & building new inventions after seeing the dogs in action, yet, their weapons had been not working properly after test runs. Johnny Ringo spotted problems in their weaponry & made modifications to give them more spark & blast in them, & he had his own time in the spotlight after his changes made him a big success.

Many years later, he had helped them create more weapons to aid them in their battles, & even gave some of his friends jobs to make machines. However, as time went on, Johnny & his pals became greedy & crazy, & one day, they went too far.

Days before the Zephyr Engine's destruction, Johnny took his time to "help himself" to some more money and weapons to "show" his folk how they do things their way, & his pals followed. Their heist was about to be a success until the dogs spotted them doing robbery. What they didn't know is that their hasty actions & incomplete construction started a chain of events that caused the Zephyr's destruction & their heist failed. Enraged, the dogs fired Johnny & all of his pals & took all of their riches, even their homes.

Maddened by the loss of wealth & ridiculed by their families, Johnny Ringo vowed to take away everything they took as vengeance & his pals soon joined in on his crazy evil path, & that led up to the rise of the Red Sash Gang, the crooked gang of outlaws of robbers & shooters that plagued Cool Ranch with crime & destruction they've been doing to this day.

This is my take on their backstory. Though, if anyone has other thoughts on this, speak up here.

anecorbie on Sep 16, 2015 wrote:

I'm sorry, my previous statement was a touch, no, very rude. Your story has merits, but I wish to point out that the wreck of the Zephyr has been explained. Due to the use of cheaper, weaker Valencian steel the engine crashed and burned in the Arroyo.