The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-01-25
- ACCURACY WITH THE BOW -
TUeny

long Kentucky rifle. Despite the reats
of Leather Stocking. in COoper's Las;
OF the MOhicans" and that series. they
were not everdrawn. In Daniel BOons;
days to bark a squirrel a 90 yards win
the SMOOTH bore patch-and-ball ruz-
zle-lOader was not considered extraOr-
binary. This meant to send the little
pellet just underneath the squirrel, De
tween him and the limb. barely raising
the bark, and by the conclusion of the
passage killing him OF severely stun
ming him. His hide must not 8
touched.
But for quick. deadly offhand shoot
ing, the western 'gunman' and ms
heavy Colts revolver have never been
equaled. When two gunner met tand
BY gunman / do not necessarily mean
bad man. but rather any man whose
reputation with his weapon vas his pro-
tection) in encounter. the only cues
ton was which would shoot first. That
decided the victory. And yet this should
be declared with reservation. Although
the average gunman would fire so rap
idly and so surely that he would put
two bullets in the heart and well nigh
by the same hole. like a fish, his VIC
tim, before reaching the floor. would De
apt 10 sire back, by an instinct stronger
than death, and perhaps hit
The gunman of the frontier in the
west was what may be styled an instan-
| famous shot. To draw weapon and
to shoot was practically one act lie
filed off the front sight of his re
volver, so that it would not eaten d
holster OF clothing. He did not need
the sight. He never used a sight. re
tied back the trigger with bit Of
buokskin and "thumbed" the gun; that
is, his thumb on the hammer, aided
! by the weight of the barrel as each
time it dropped into position, was all
that was required. The trigger was not
needed.
In this manner the gun could be fired
from the hip so rapidly that the six
shots sounded as one staccatO. No skill
/ full gunman ever waited to level his
weapon before him, as is seen in pic
lures. The moment that it cleared
| holster or other resting place it wen'
bang"
| As a delicate marksman the western
gunman has been somewhat overra ted
/ in narrative. He used a. siX-shoOteT, as
a rule, at close quarters; he worked II
wonderfully quick, and as the butler
from a "A OF 45 Colts has tTemen-
Gous shocking power, if he landed tin
missile in the body he counted-and
what he was after was to put his o.
pOnent out of action.
| However. through personal knowledge
/ can v0uch for at least three Instances
of crack shooting by gunner.
One occurred at Creole. Colo. during
/ the early days, when Creole was GER
tainly wide open mining camp Tie
community harbored as a chance citi-
zen a little chap called Colorado kIG
| reputed TO be one of the best shots
with a gun in the country. The KID
got into an alteration with an ac-
quaintance. Alterations were of shOr'
| grace in a place such as Creole, anC
the acquaintance. hot-headed and recK-
less, drew his gun. Before he could
fire it the Kid, with one shot, smashed
his thumb; as the gun dropped the
man clutched it with HIS left hand tC
try again-and the Kid very promptls
smashed that thumb also.
"Pshaw- 1 didn't want to kill him,
explained the Kid.
Another instance occurred in Lead
vile in the boom mining days of tina
town. Leadville probably was one o
the greatest gambling centers in tni
west-a gambling center where the kIns
gamblers dressed irreproa chabiy. movet
gently, spoke softly. rarely smiled
might have been undertakers or par