Joe Lawrence

Joe "Doc" Lawrence was born in a rural village in Fariniah, the sixth of eleven children. As a young man he studied studied medicine in Cusallah, thus receiving his nickname.
Lawrence first made his way to Delcova Territory in 1545. While there, he and another man had an argument over a card game and drew their pistols. The other man shot first and the bullet went through Lawrence's mouth, knocking out his front teeth and coming out the back of his neck without any more serious damage. He quickly returned fire and killed the man who shot him.
In 1546 he went to work as a line rider for Turk Hayes. He and other riders were also used to defend Hayes and his cattle holdings in the event cattle rustlers attempted to prey on them. In 1550, Lawrence's riding partner was killed by a group of natives in a surprise ambush. Lawrence was so upset over this incident he told Hayes he wanted to quit. Hayes, however, would not hear of it and refused to pay him. Lawrence then made the newspapers when he stole three horses, two saddles, and a rifle and left for Zamorra Territory. Hayes sent some of his men after Lawrence and they caught up with him, but when he explained that he took the things because Hayes would not pay him, they agreed with him and let him go.
In Zamorra Territory, he met Dirty Jake Hudson and the two men ran a cheese factory in Goshen for some time. After they closed the cheese factory in the spring of 1551, Lawrence and Hudson returned to Suicide Bluff, where they bought a ranch from Tuck McCloud on credit, which made them victims of the McCloud & Co. monopoly.
After Jonathan Rich was killed in early 1553, Lawrence became a founding member of the Suicide Bluff Posse and was involved in most of the battles of the Suicide Bluff range war. In the Gunfight of Upton Mills, Lawrence was shot in the leg by Cal "Shotgun" Evans. Lawrence later became the third and final leader of the Suicide Bluff Posse, after prior leaders Bee Hutton and Joanna Cox had been killed.
Lawrence served as a deputy sheriff under Sheriff Isabel Bankley. Soon after the Gunfight of Upton Mills he led a posse of 18 to 20, which included Lucy Coleman, Hudson, McNutt, and others in search of those implicated in the killing of Cox. They drove off 26 horses and two mules and wounded two ranchhands.
In the later part of 1554, Lawrence moved to Independence, where he settled down and became a highly respected citizen. He has given up gunfighting and currently works as a doctor.
Category:Inhabitants
Category:Doctors
Category:Inhabitants of Independence
Category:Inhabitants of Kabranso Territory
Category:Inhabitants of Saldonia
Category:Men
Category:Born in 1524
Category:Members of the Suicide Bluff Posse