The Gunfighter

A young, reckless cowboy named Eddie (Richard Jaeckel) deliberately provokes an argument with the notorious gunfighter Jimmy Ringo (Gregory Peck). Ringo is widely known as the fastest draw in the West, making him the perpetual target of every young gunslinger eager to become famous as "the man who shot Ringo". When Eddie ignores Ringo's warnings and draws his weapon, Ringo has no choice but to kill him. Eddie's three brothers pursue Ringo as he leaves town, seeking revenge, but Ringo ambushes them, takes their guns, and drives off their horses, leaving them to walk back to town.
In the nearby town of Cayenne, Ringo settles into a corner of the largely deserted saloon. Though he knows that the three brothers will soon arrive, he waits, hoping to see his wife and young son, whom he has not seen in eight years. The barkeeper, Mac (Karl Malden), recognizes him and alerts Sheriff Mark Strett (Millard Mitchell), an old friend of Ringo's. Strett informs Ringo that his wife, Peggy (Helen Westcott), has changed her surname to hide their past life together. Strett is anxious to avoid a gunfight in his town, and urges Ringo to leave; but Ringo persuades him to ask Peggy to come to the saloon to talk to him. Peggy, recalling the hotheaded young man that she knew, declines.
Meanwhile, Ringo has to deal with Hunt Bromley (Skip Homeier), another young local gunslinger keen to make a name for himself, and Jerry Marlowe (Cliff Clark, uncredited), an older man who mistakenly believes Ringo killed his son. The bar girl, Molly (Jean Parker)âanother old friendâeventually persuades Peggy to see Ringo. Ringo says that he is now older and wiser, and wants to leave his gunfighting past behind. He intends to settle down to a peaceful life in California, where people do not know him, and he wants Peggy to come with him. She refuses, but agrees to reconsider in a year's time, if he has kept his word and abandoned his sordid past for good. Ringo meets his son at last, although he does not reveal that he is his father.
Ringo's business in Cayenne is finished, but he has lingered too long. The three vengeful brothers have arrived, and lie in wait, but Strett and his deputies intercept them and bring them in. Ringo bids farewell to Peggy, his son, and his friends; but as he departs the saloon, Bromley shoots him in the back, mortally wounding him. As Ringo lies dying, he tells Strett that he wants it known that he drew on Bromleyâthat Bromley shot him in self defense. Bromley protests that he doesn't want Ringo's helpâbut Ringo explains to his killer that he is doing him no favors. Bromley, he says, will soon know how it feels to have every hotshot two-bit gunfighter out to kill him. He will become a magnet for trouble. He will learn, as Ringo did, that notoriety as a gunfighter is a curse that will follow him wherever he goes, making him an outcast and a target for the rest of his life. Strett orders Bromley out of his town, punctuating his order with a beating, which he warns is "just the beginning" of what Bromley has coming.
In death, Ringo has finally found what he sought for so long: his wife's forgiveness and reconciliation. At his funeral, as Peggy proudly reveals to the townspeople for the first time that she is Mrs. Jimmy Ringo, a silhouetted, unrecognizable cowboy rides off into the sunset.

Question: Why did Ringo lie about his death?
Answer: So that Bromley would be hunted for the rest of his life as a gunfighter.