First Appearance: Gunsmoke Western #60 (September 1960).
Appearances: Gunsmoke Western #60.
Years Active: 1860s.

The Grey Rider, in years past, was renowned as one of the fastest guns in the west, reputed to be able to out-draw Wild Bill Hickok himself. Little was known for sure about the Rider, however; all that was known was that he "always wore a grey mask, and he rode with Quantrill's Raiders." One day the Grey Rider disappeared, and he was not seen for years. In the Western town of Colbyville, some years later, a man named Norman took up a position as the town judge. Those in town wondered at his fearlessness when he was threatened by a shootist who he sentenced to three years at hard labor; one of them said, "He's a mighty fine jasper, that judge! But he comes from the East. I don't reckon he realizes how mean some of our Western owlhoots can be!" Norman resolutely refused to wear a gun, and even when that shootist threatened him and threw a gun at him, daring him to draw on the shootist, Norman refused, throwing the gun at the shootist and punching him out. During the fight the judge's bureau is knocked over, revealing the hood of the Grey Rider. Norman explains that "when I became a judge I swore never to draw a gun again."

Notes: All we see of the Grey Rider's outfit is his hood, but it looks a great deal like the hood of the Phantom Rider, albeit in grey. What the author of the Grey Rider story may not have known is that Quantrill was a war criminal, responsible for the deaths of hundreds of civilians. Still, the story makes clear that the Grey Rider was a good guy, so....