| The Life Of A Gunslinger |
| In reality there were very few face to face gunfights, and none that I've ever been able to find where two men went out on the street and shot it out the way that the movies show them. John Wesley Hardin was deadly, he would shoot and he was not afraid to do so. Hardin had a reputation of being a killer, like Clay Allison and Wild Bill Longley. Their reputation as being killers kept people from pulling a gun on them. Most gunfights were at a distance of not more than ten or fifteen feet. At the OK Coral the distance between the Earps and Clantons was not over six feet. If a gunslinger was going to shoot, most of the time he just pulled his gun and started firing. Most cowboys wore their pistol tucked under their belt, not in the fancy rigs you see on the big screen. Holsters or gun buckets were used while riding on a horse. Most of the early cowboys did not even carry a pistol unless they were a long way from the ranch preferring the rifle over a pistol because of accuracy. Clay Allison shot it out with Chunk Colbert in a saloon, while both men were seated at a table after finishing their meal. John Wesley Hardin killed Deputy Sheriff Charles Webb in a saloon when someone yelled look out, he turned an began to fire to keep from being shot in the back by Webb. Wild Bill Hickok killed his own deputy by mistake while he was in a shoot out in a saloon. One of the deadliest gunfights of all time was the Newton Kansas, Hyde Park shootout. For some reason the gunfight was never written about very much and some people have never heard of it. On August 20, 1871, a young man no more than 18 years old named Kinch "James" Riley, (Who people said was dying from consumption as was the case with many people of that time), saw his best friend Mike McCluskie shot down in Tuttle's Dance hall while sitting at a Faro table by a fellow named Hugh Anderson. Anderson, Billy Garrett, Henry Kearnes, and Jim Wilkerson had come there for the sole purpose of killing McCluskie, who a few weeks earlier had shot one of their friends. After shooting McCluskie the men proceeded to fire their guns in the air to hold off anyone who might interfere with their departure. James Riley wearing two colt pistols pulled both guns and went to work on anything that moved. After the smoke had cleared bodies and wounded men were laying everywhere. Four men were either killed that day or died later and three men were wounded by Riley. Jim Martin a friend of Riley's is first hit. He is shot in the neck and his jugular is severed, he runs out of the saloon and dies. Hugh Anderson is hit in the thigh and leg. He survives his wounds. William Garrett is hit in the shoulder and chest. he dies later in the day. A man named Hickey an innocent bystander is shot in the calf. He survives his wounds. Henry Kearnes is shot in the chest. He dies on August 27th. Patrick Lee is shot in the stomach. He dies on August 22nd. James Wilkerson is shot in the nose and leg. He survives his wounds. Young James simply turned and walked out the door and was never seen again by anyone that knew him. If someone started to shoot you never knew who else would pull a gun and fire. No gunslinger ever went into a town to harass the local town folks and lived very long. A good Winchester 66 or a Sharps buffalo rifle would usually take care of the problem at a safe distance. Many men were shot in the back and depending on the circumstances nothing was ever done about it. I've only seen two movies that portrayed the old west in a realistic way, that was Lonesome Dove and The Unforgiven. In the Movie The Unforgiven, Clint Eastwood was a gunfighter turned farmer turned hired gunman and would kill any way he could. Living the life of a gunfighter you always had to be on the alert. You never knew when your visit to boot hill would be a permanent one. There was always someone a little better or luckier than you, and luck did play a big part in a gunfight. In the 1800s the only powder available was black powder, fire three quick shots and you could not even see your adversary especially on a calm day with no wind or inside a building. In the early 1860s the Colt cap and ball was the most widely used side-arm and they were notorious for misfiring. If you were going to play the part of a bad guy it was a must that you carry more than one pistol and most did, which was usually a smaller colt 31 caliber pocket pistol. Sometimes two guns were not enough. Take the gunfight between "Turkey Creek" Jack Johnson, who was famous for taking his time during a gunfight. In 1876 Johnson was challenged by two men to step to the street. Each of the men strapped on two pistols. As soon as Johnson stepped out the door both men started firing at a distance of fifty yards. Jack cool as ever waited, gun in hand not firing a shot. Both men emptied one pistol and started firing the other, getting closer as they continued to fire. At a distance of 30 yards Jack fired his first shot hitting one man dead center in the chest, killing him instantly. At this point the other man continued to fire getting closer all the time. Johnson waited for the other man to come a little closer, raised his gun again and fired, killing the other man instantly. The two men had fired twenty-four shots between them at Johnson and now both lay dead in the street. When the shooting started there was no safe place to be. Doc. Holiday and Milt Joyce one of the owner's of the Oriental Saloon in Tombstone once got into an argument. Joyce physically threw Doc. out of the bar. Doc. later returned and started shooting. When the shooting was over Milt was shot in the hand, the bartender was shot in the toe, and Doc. had a knot on his head when Joyce hit him on the head with a gun. Doc. was arrested for the incident and later fined 20.00 for a reduced charge of assault, No one showed up in court but Doc. In the 1800s the law was not called every time there was a fight or minor shooting scrape. Lawmen were scarce and could not protect a person as supposedly they can today. Most settled their differences themselves and left the law out of it. If Joyce had appeared in court there would surly have been trouble later. The lawmen of the West usually left things alone unless it started to get out of hand. They knew like anyone else, that they could be shot at any time. Lawmen were hired to protect the citizens and most considered the cowboys, outlaws and gunslinger's not to be a citizen so left them alone as long as they minded their own business. Jesse James and his gang rode into Dodge City while Wild Bill Hickok was serving as Marshal. Bill was informed by the gang that they wanted no trouble with him, but in case he came calling they had already made arrangements for his funeral. Bill never came calling. Billy The Kid, John Wesley Hardin were wanted men and were in many towns and not arrested. They were simply left alone. These men knew they would be left alone as long as they caused no trouble. The men of the West whether gunfighter or lawmen lived a rough and violet life. Most died at an early age by lead poison. Shot in the night as they slept or in the back. Billy The Kid around 21 was shot while entering a dark room. John W. Hardin 42 was shot in the back of the head, Johnny Ringo 32 was found dead, possibly shot while he was drunk, though most think he commited suicide. Jesse James 34, shot in the back of the head. Pat Garrett 48, shot in the back. Wild Bill Hickok 39, shot in the back of the head and the list goes on. Would it be great to know all the true facts about the West and all these people? I'm not so sure. If all the facts were known the story would be told. As time goes on more real facts will be found but not many, and there will always be controversy about these men. The Rebel |
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| "Meet me in the street at high noon" This was and still is the favorite phrase of the movie stars and the old west reinactors. In all reality if you had said this during the mid 1800s during the gunfighters hey day you probability would be on your way to boot hill shortly there after. If or when a gun fight erupted it was usually after a heavy drinking session in a saloon or gambling hall and never made it to the street. If by chance it did it was a running fight with wild shots being fired at random. Still there's nothing like seeing Clint Eastwood or Matt Dillion (left) face a bad guy and send him on to meet his maker. |
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| The Way It Was? |
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