Cowtown Range, originally known as “A Day in the West” and later as “Cowtown” was built in the seventies by Ron Nix, a Hollywood stuntman who moved to Arizona with his wife and a dream to create a real old west atmosphere, something like Old Tucson.
Anyway, he brought a lot with him – stuntmen, rodeos, public performances, Civil War reenactments and completing a western town which served as the basic set for a lot of movies and western events. The reenactments opened the door for cowboy action shooting which is where our Club comes in.
Back in those days a bunch of guys and gals got together in the desert every Sunday morning for shooting and experimented with targets, scenarios and all of that stuff and had a hoot doing it. Finally, they came up with the idea of forming a club and, although not the first of the cowboy shooting groups, in 1982 they became the first organized Cowboy Action Shooting Club with established rules and safety guidelines.
Through the efforts of Jim Martin and Bill Waller, a couple of the members, who were friends of Ron Nix, the Cowtown Cowboy Shooters Association (CCSA) was invited to become part of the town. This added greatly to the ambiance of the town with the members strolling around in their period clothing, shooting irons and a general camaraderie still found today. And then in 1984 the Club held the First Actual Arizona State Championship of Cowboy Shooting. Three years later, in 1987, the Single Action Shooting Society (SASS) was formed, adopted our rules and became the worldwide organization it is today.
Under Nix’s leadership, Cowtown prospered for a while, but his dream never reached full fruition and he sold the property in 1994. Under an agreement with the new owners, CCSA continued to operate on the property.
Like Cowtown itself, our Club experienced many changes and challenges over the years. Due to the dedication of a few of the originators and members, our Club still thrives today.
Our shooting venue is named FORT SNOW of the ARIZONA TERRITORY after Don Snow, one of the original founders of the club. Don Snow became ill in 1993 and until his death in December of 2000, he made Cowtown literally his life and it is for his often heroic efforts that the original concept still exists. His motto was: “If it ain’t fun, it ain’t worth doin’.” The area was officially named in 2001, after Don’s passing, with a ceremony by the group in full military regalia.
Don never lost sight of keeping safety first, but insured the sport was still fun. He enjoyed seeing the smiles on peoples faces knowing they had a good time. He knew that many would come here and move on, but believed that this was good because they had developed a love for the shooting sports. He believed that Cowtown would draw them back because of the wonderful welcome new shooters received to help them become part of the cowboy family and really enjoy the sport.
