Outlaw turned lawman, lawman turned outlaw.The law of the old west was at time's in the hands of hardened criminals. Sometimes that's what the citizens wanted. Someone who was not afraid to risk his life and could clean up a town mostly with his reputation.
Wyatt Earp was wanted for horse stealing before he became a lawman, Billy the kid was once deputized, Judge Roy Bean was wanted for murder once and the list goes on.
To be a lawman during the 1800's you had to be cunning, brave and you better have the ability to handle a gun, and not be afraid to use it. You had to know your limits and know when to back off. If an outlaw came to your town and minded his own buisness odds were that he would not be arrested. Sherrif Wild Bill Hickok and John Wesley Hardin were in the same town at one time with Hardin being wanted, but no arrest was atempted. Billy the Kid was in many towns during his hey day and was not arrested.
Many of the lawmen had respect for the gunmen and the same respect was returned. The way most lawmen saw it was they were hired to protect the citizens of that town and thats what they did. It was hard enough to stay alive just doing the job they were hired to do, so why go out of the way to take a chance of being killed. Below you will read about some of these men who helped tame the wild west. |
