The Gunfighters of the Old West
A FOREWORD FROM A. M. KING, ONCE WYATT EARP'S DEPUTY
I've often heard tell that the gunfighter has his beginning when pistol
types were changed from those old flintlocks to the cap-and-ball.
He could draw and shoot these faster and more accurately. All the
formalities of the duel were forgotten. Draw. Shoot.
That was it.
I've often heard Wyatt Earp say Jesse James was among our
first gunslingers to carry a Navy Colts six shooter, the same as Butler
Hickok, or "Wild Bill," who carried two of these cap-and-ball
equalizers in his red sash. Wild Bill was presented with these
ivory-handled guns by the Vice-President of the United States - - a
Senator Wilson then.
Ben Thompson and Wes Hardin brought the draw-shoot era into prominence, in my opinion, and all our gunfighting took place in about 20 years.
The gunfighter was a fellow
with a cool nerve. You had to have it to last. Personal
histories of the gunfighters show that the top hands had it, and the
cold blue stare of a killer was unmistakable. About 95 per cent
of all the gunslingers were blue-eyed. Many were related, like
Jesse James to the Youngers, the Youngers to the Daltons, and Cole
Younger, the uncle of Tombstone killer, John Ringo. Wes Hardin
had relatives all over Texas.
Yes, the gunfighter was a product of the Civil War.
Post-war feeling, according to Earp, ran high. The new Negro
police caused a lot of trouble and actually bred gunslingers, such as
in the case of John Wesley Hardin. Railhead towns of the big
cattle drives also generated the gunfighter, and many a gunman has
stood before an old, dusty, warped mirror to stretch and admire himself
from hat top down to his sparkling "waistband of death", as I once
heard it called.
Anyway, it is all history now. Yet, it happened only
yesterday when you come to think of it. There was an old boot dug
up from Custer's Little Big Horn burial ground a couple of months --
sole on the boot, hooks and nails, lookin' like you could wear
it. And when I come to think of working with Wyatt Earp not so
many years ago -- well, it hasn't been too far back in history.
Every man has a place to fill in the making of America. The
gunfighter has been no exception. The great, in both sin and
morality, stand shoulder to shoulder in stone, bronze or on canvas; and
many a boy, yes even grown men, would rather hear of the deeds of Wild
Bill Hickok than read all the books written on George Washington or Abe
Lincoln.
-- A. M. King, Wyatt Earp Deputy, Arizona and California 1900
Listed below are some of the most famous and infamous gunslingers of the
Old West. The link to the OK Corral details the famous shoot out between
Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, the Earp Brothers and the Clanton Gang. Also
included is link to the artist of the beautiful paintings shown on each
page, Mr. Lea McCarty. I humbly ask that read about this wonderful man
and the paintings that he created.
Calamity Jane | Clay Allison | Curly Bill | Dave Mather
Doc Holliday | Jesse James | Jim Courtright | Joaquin Murrietta
John Ringo | John Wesley Hardin | King Fisher | Luke Short
Old Man Clanton | Pat Garrett | Wild Bill Hickok | Wyatt Earp
OK Corral | Artist - Lea Franklin McCarty
