George S. Patton – Hunting Poncho Villa
George S. Patton is not someone often compared to the Old West. Most who know the name remember him for his exploits during WWII (or for the eponymous Oscar-award winning movie named after him). However, the famed General earned his own kind of infamy in his youth. In the final days of the era, a young 2nd Lt. George S. Patton was attached to the Army Expeditionary force hunting the famed revolutionary-turned-outlaw Poncho Villa in Northern Mexico.
On May 14th, 1916, Patton raided the San Miguelito Ranch near Rubio, Chihuahua. Patton was out looking to buy some corn when he came across the ranch of Julio Cárdenas, a military leader in Poncho Villa’s organization. Taking fifteen men and three Dodge touring cars, Patton ended up leading what was to become America’s first motorised military action. In the ensuing gunfight, he personally shot Cárdenas and two other men dead. He then strapped the dead men to the hood of the cars and drove them back to General Pershing, the leader of the expedition’s headquarters. Patton is said to have carved three notches into the twin Colt Peacemakers he carried, representing the men he killed that day. In response to his actions, General Pershing nicknamed him the “Bandito.”
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Ned Christie – Ned Christie’s War
On May 3, 1887, US Deputy Marshal Daniel Maples led a posse into Indian territory in Oklahoma, trying to clamp down on the illegal whiskey trade. He was shot and killed in an ambush by someone who escaped without being identified. Ned Christie, an upstanding citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a close advisor to the Chief was falsely blamed and forced to flee into the wilds.
What followed was a five year running battle, known in the newspapers as “Ned Christie’s War.” The innocent former-blacksmith managed to build a makeshift fort atop a hill overlooking his former home after a posse burned his old cabin to the ground. The posse that finally brought him down consisted of twenty five men, heavily armed with rifles, dynamite and even a 3-pounder field gun. After a day and a half of fighting, thirty-eight cannonballs flung at the fort, and over 2,000 rounds of rifle ammunition, the deputies managed to blow open the gate with dynamite and finally bring Ned down.
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Dallas Stoudenmire – The Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight
Dallas Stoudenmire certainly earns ‘best in show’ when it comes to his gunslinging. A US Marshal serving in El Paso, Texas, Stoudenmire had just started his tenure three days before the fight. A trial involving cattle rustlers and a pair of murdered Mexican Cowboys led to a confrontation between the local Constable, who had been translating for the Cowboys’ friends, and George Campbell, the ex-Marshal whom Stoudenmire had just replaced a few days ago, and who had a close connection to the aforementioned cattle rustlers.
Stoudenmire came upon the scene after one of the ex-Marshal’s friends pulled his gun and shot the Constable. The Marshal pulled out his pistols and ran out into the street, firing wildly. His first shot struck and killed an innocent bystander who was running for cover, his second struck the murderer clean between the eyes. The ex-Marshal tried to shoot him, but Stoudenmire whirled away from his position and instantly fired at Campbell, killing him as well. All in all, the fight took less than five seconds, but killed four people.
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Capt. Johnathan R. Davis – Eleven Bandits
If Dallas Stoudenmire was impressive for the speed at which he slung his gun, then Captain Johnathan R. Davis was impressive for the sheer number of men he killed during his gunfight. A veteran of the Mexican-American War and a gold rush prospector, on December 19th 1854 he single-handedly killed eleven armed outlaws at Rocky Canyon near Sacramento, California using two Colt revolvers and a Bowie knife.
While trekking on a miner’s trail along the North Fork of the American River, Johnathan Davis was ambushed by a bandit force consisting of a Frenchman, two Americans, two Britons, four Mexicans and four Australians. This group had robbed and killed four American Miners the previous day and six Chinese Miners the day before that. Captain Davis’ companions were killed instantly, but he pulled out both of his pistols and killed seven of the bandits immediately. Out of ammo, Captain Davis, an expert fencer, pulled out his Bowie knife and killed four more of his attackers. The surviving bandits fled for their lives.
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Elfego Baca – The Frisco Shootout
One of the most famous gunfights of the Old West came at the tail end of its existence. On December 1st, 1884 a shootout occurred in the town of Reserve in the New Mexico Territory. The conflict stemmed from Deputy Marshal Elfego Baca’s arrest of a cowboy who had been shooting into the air and into random buildings while drunk. This escalated when, shortly after the arrest, Baca was confronted by a large number of the cowboy’s friends.
Baca took refuge in a local house. An intense shootout ensued, during which the cowboys increased in number to around eighty men, all trying to kill Baca alone. The cowboys fired more than 4,000 rounds into the house, failing to strike Baca even once. He returned fire, killing four of the cowboys and ending eight others. The standoff ended after 36 grueling hours when the cowboys simply ran out of ammunition.
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Wild Bill Hickok – The Gunslinger Duel against Davis Tutt
No list of famous gunfighters would be complete without the most famous gunfighter of them all: Wild Bill Hickok. In a now-infamous incident, Wild Bill shot and killed Davis Tutt, in one of the only actual recorded instances of a one on one pistol quick-draw duel in the Old West. The two entered into conflict when Tutt publicly humiliated Hickok at a cards table, taking one of Hickok’s most prized possessions off the table, his gold pocket watch as collateral for a debt he was owed. When Hickok heard that Tutt was planning to wear the watch in the middle of the town square the next day, Hickok reportedly replied, “He shouldn’t come across that square unless dead men can walk.”
On July 21st, 1865 the duel began. Just before 6pm, Hickock was seen calmly approaching the square. The crowd immediately scattered to the safety of nearby building, leaving Tutt alone in the other side of the square. Hickok cocked his pistol, holstered it on his hip, and gave a final warning, “Don’t you come across here with that watch.” Tutt did not reply, reaching for his pistol. Hickok drew his gun and steadied it on his opposite forearm. The two men fired a single shot each at the same time. Tutt missed, but Hickok’s bullet struck Tutt in the left side between the fifth and seventh ribs, killing him.
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Frank Loving – The Long Branch Saloon Gunfight
Not all gunfights occur from a distance or in the street. In the case of the Long Branch Saloon Gunfight, it was the proximity of the two fighters that was most surprising. Levi Richardson and Frank Loving had been quarrelling for some time in Dodge City, Kansas. Loving claimed that Richardson had been making unwanted and disrespectful advances on his wife. The two had a fist fight, which left enough bad blood behind for Richardson to want to kill Loving.
On April 5th, 1879, Richardson sat down in the Long Branch Saloon to play cards, having failed to find Loving after swearing to “blow the guts out of the cockeyed son of a bitch.” A few hours later, Loving strode in and took a seat across from Richardson. After exchanging some low words to each other, Richardson stood and drew his gun, prompting Loving to respond in kind. Both men began firing so close that their gun barrels nearly touched, emptying out nine rounds between them from only feet away. When the gunsmoke cleared, Richardson had been shot in the chest, the side, and the arm. Loving was grazed on the hand by one bullet, but was otherwise left uninjured. No one realized Richardson had been fatally wounded till he collapsed onto the ground, seconds later.
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Frank Loving – The Trinidad Gunfight
Perhaps it is not surprising that a man contentious enough to get into a gun duel over a fist fight and insults would wind up on this list twice for gunfights. However, this fight went decidedly against Frank Loving. Three years after his fateful battle with Levi Richardson, Frank Loving found himself in Trinidad, Colorado working as a professional gambler. He quarrelled with a man named John Allen in a saloon, and was only just restrained from a gunfight by the timely intervention of friends.
The next day, on April 16th, 1882, as Loving returned to the saloon, Allen immediately opened fire on him, while Allen shielded himself behind another patron. Loving drew his revolver and fired one round, missing. Allen fired a total of three shots at Loving, two while Loving was unarmed and trying to retrieve his dropped pistol. Allen then fled out the rear door. Loving went in pursuit, firing the remainder of his rounds as Allen fled. The next several hours was a cat and mouse game as Loving attempted to locate Allen, while being continually disarmed by the local Marshal. In another attempt to rearm himself, Loving entered the store Allen was hiding in to buy more ammunition. Allen then shot and killed Loving from behind.
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Billy Dixon – The Second Battle of Adobe Walls
While not technically a ‘gunfight’ in the traditional sense, Billy Dixon’s famous lucky shot was nonetheless an iconic moment in the legends of the Old West. Dixon, a famed Buffalo hunter operating in the North Texas panhandle during the 1870s led a hunting party to found the outpost of Adobe Walls, in a place where he knew the Buffalo to be in abundance. The group of 28 men and one woman occupied the outpost, drawing the ire of local Indian tribes hostile to the encroaching Americans.
On June 27th, 1874, The outpost was attacked by a band of around 700-1200 Indians. For three days the beleaguered hunters were trapped, fighting off waves of attacks as they tried to cling to their settlement. Spotting a large group of Indians preparing for another attack atop a ridge nearly a mile away, Dixon took aim with a borrowed Buffalo rifle and fired, knocking an Indian off his horse almost a mile away on his third shot and killing him. Unnerved, the Indians withdrew and left the settlement alone. It became known as “The Shot of the Century.”
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Wyatt Earp – The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
No list about Wild West Gunfights would be complete without the most famous of them all. Entire books have been devoted to the events leading up to and during the gunfight, which did not, in fact take place at the O.K. Corral itself, but rather a narrow lot a ways distant from the Corral. The details of the feud are complicated, but the core of the issue stemmed from the Cowboy’s illegal activities and the Earp brothers’ attempts to stop them. On the day of the fight, October 26th 1881, nine men walked into the lot. Virgil, Morgan, and Wyatt Earp as well as Doc Holliday on one side, and Tom and Frank McLaury, Billy and Ike Clanton, and Billy Claiborne on the other.
When Virgil saw the Cowboys, he immediately commanded the Cowboys to “Throw up your hands; I have come to disarm you!” Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton drew and cocked their six-shooters, to which Virgil yelled: “Hold! I don’t mean that!” Things rapidly escalated as shots rang out in the afternoon air. Within thirty seconds, Billy Clanton, Tom and Frank McLaury were dead, and Doc Holliday, Virgil and Morgan Earp were all wounded.
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Doolin-Dalton Gang – The Wild Bunch
Few Gangs in the Old West were more violent or more notorious than the Doolin-Dalton Gang. Based in Oklahoma in the 1890s, they cut a bloody swath across the territory and surrounding states. They robbed bangs and stores, held up trains and on numerous occasions shot and killed lawmen. Despite their brutal and selfish nature, in their own time they were given an almost-mythic Robin Hood status by the general public, and was often aided by them in eluding the law.
Things came to a head however in 1893, with the appointment of US Marshal Evett “E.D.” Nix, who was chosen mainly due to his promise to topple the Doolin-Dalton Gang. He appointed a hundred marshals to the task, systematically hunting them down over the course of the next ten years. Of the eleven men who made up the gang, only two of them survived into the beginning of the 20th century, and all of them without exception met their violent ends in shootouts with lawmen.
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Dalton Gang – The Coffeyville Bank Robbery
Connected to the Doolin-Dalton gang, though technically a predecessor, the Dalton Gang met its end in a manner quite similar to its related gang. Led by the Dalton brothers, Bob, Grat and Emmett Dalton, the gang specialized in bank and train robberies. Their most famous (and ultimately fatal) incident came on October 5th, 1892, when the gang attempted to rob two banks across the street from each other simultaneously in Coffeyville, Kansas. They wore fake beards but one of the townspeople recognized them. An employee at one of the banks managed to delay them by convincing them (incorrectly) that the safe was on a time lock, and could not be opened for another 45 minutes.
While the robbers waited, residents armed themselves and prepared for a gun battle. When the gang finally left the banks, a shootout began. Three townspeople were shot, and the Town Marshal was killed. Within a few minutes almost the entire gang, exempting Emmett Dalton, were killed. Emmett received 23 gunshot wounds – including buckshot in his back – and survived.
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Jim Levy – The Jewish Gunslinger
Few remember the name of Jim Levy today, but in his time he was one of the most notorious gunmen of the Old West, known for challenging other gunmen to duels. Born in Dublin, Ireland to Jewish parents. When he was young, they emigrated to the United states, heading out west to Pioche, Nevada. After testifying against a man who had fought in a gun duel and shot first, he racked up his first kill when the man angrily challenged the young man to a duel. Levy shot first, killing his opponent and sealing his destiny as a Wild West Gunfighter.
Perhaps his most famous duel came in Cheyenne, Wyoming on March 9th, 1877. Levy got into an argument with another infamous gunfighter named Charlie Harrison over a game of cards. The two then moved out in front of the saloon. Both gunmen drew their pistols at the same time, and Harrison managed to shoot first, but missed. Levy fired next, hitting Harrison in the torso, killing him. By the end of his life Levy had built a formidable reputation, participating in over 16 gunfights. His fate was sealed when he challenged his 17th opponent to a duel and – terrified of facing the infamous gunslinger – the man ambushed him just before the duel, ending Levy’s astounding streak.
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Hugh Anderson – The Old Style Duel in the West
Most of the gunfights in this list tend to be chaotic, lawless and generally without rules or regulations with regards to the weaponry involved. However, the 17th century tradition of legitimate duels of honor was breathing its last gasps. Hugh Anderson was a cowboy and gunfighter who – due to a dispute over politics – ended up shooting and killing a man named Mike McCluskie in revenge for McCluskie killing one of Anderson’s friends when he was unarmed, eventually claiming self defense.
Two years later, in July of 1873, his actions came back to haunt him when Arthur McCluskie, Mike’s brother challenged him to a duel. The two agreed to first pistols, and then knives. They stood with their backs to each other at twenty paces. At the sound of a signal, the two quickly turned to each other and fired. When the smoke cleared both were wounded, but not fatally. The two resumed their duel with knives. The second round saw both men repeatedly stab each other, ending finally with McCluskie falling to the ground, ending the duel. McCluskie later died of his wounds, and Anderson would live to the ripe old age of 62, when he was struck by lightning herding cattle in 1914.
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David S. Terry – The US Senator who dueled an ex-Chief Justice
Called “the last notable American duel,” the Broderick-Terry duel was fought between United States Senator David C. Broderick of California, and ex-Chief Justice David S. Terry of the California Supreme Court. The two men had been friends and political allies within the Democratic Party, however their relationship came to blows when they split over the issue of slavery. Broderick was an abolitionist, while Terry was pro-slavery. Eventually the resentment blew up and Terry challenged his former friend to a duel.
The first attempt to hold the duel was broken up by the authorities, who caught wind of the increasingly-unpopular practice. The location of the duel was moved to a secluded area near Lake Merced in the San Francisco area, and occured late in the afternoon on September 13th, 1859. The weapons chosen were Belgian .58 caliber pistols, which Terry was familiar with whereas Broderick was not. Adding to the situation, Broderick’s gun was more delicately set than Terry’s, so much so that a jar might discharge it. Broderick’s seconds were inexperienced, and didn’t notice the important difference. Terry then shot and killed Broderick, and was later acquitted of the crime. Broderick’s funeral was used as a mouthpiece to champion abolitionism, which was later given as the reason for the duel in the first place.
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