James Kane

James "Jim" Kane (1851-1924) was an American gunslinger, outlaw, and eventual rancher. From 1870 to 1901, he was a member of the Carson-Nash Gang, and was their most skilled gunfighter. After the gang fell apart, Kane became a rancher and lived a quiet life before being pulled out of retirement to defend his family and his ranch from rustlers in 1913.

### Aliases

Jim, Jim Kane, James Matthews, Mr. Matthews

### Occupation

Gunslinger (formerly)Outlaw (formerly)Cattle Rancher

## Biography

James "Jim" Kane was born on December 29th, 1851, in Yuma, Arizona. When he was eleven years old, his family moved to Los Alamos, New Mexico after the passing of the Homestead Act, and his parents became farmers.

When James was nine, his father taught him the basic skills of how to shoot so his son could hunt with him, and he picked them up quickly.

Kane was a stubborn child, and he became a rowdy teenager when he got older. He was frequently disciplined in school for acting out and he clashed with his parents often. When he was seventeen, he ran away from home and worked as a horse wrangler with a crew of cowboys on the open range. He enjoyed frontier life, and he adapted quickly to it. During his two years as a cowboy, he learned to ride a horse and he picked up a few other skills that would stick with him for his entire life, including his ability to speak fluent Spanish.

In 1870, when James was in Kansas City after a cattle drive, he was pulled into an alleyway at gunpoint by Ted Carson, founder of the relatively small Carson gang. Carson meant to rob the young man, but Kane got him by surprise and disarmed the outlaw, holding him at bay with his own gun. However, Carson's partner in crime appeared and put a gun to Kane's back, ordering him to drop the revolver. Carson simply laughed and told the gang member to back down, and turned his attention to James. He took a shine to him, and offered him a place in his gang. Seeing an oppurtunity for adventure, wealth, and glory, Kane took him up on his offer and joined.

A rival gang in the Kansas area was the Nash gang, a gang that ran various cons and also loansharked. Carson feared that they would encroach on their business, and he took Kane with him to confront Nash. They argued with and threatened each other at first, but they reached an an agreement after negotiating and they agreed to merge into a single gang, the Carson-Nash gang, in 1872.

Though he had been a member of an outlaw gang, Jim Kane had little skills and experience at the start. He had a natural flair for hand-to-hand combat, but Ted Carson and other members of the gang trained Kane over the next four years in new skills like knife fighting, improved his shooting and quick draw, taught him to fan a gun accurately, and taught him new outdoorsmans skills like hunting, fishing, tracking, and skinning. After four years of constant and grueling training, Jim Kane was ready. Ted Carson gave him another Colt Army and a holster for it, now that he was a competent gunslinger. With a new, highly skilled shootist in their crew, the Carson gang grew in noteriety in the Kansas area and aquired many new members.

Another member in the gang was fiery thief Helen Kane, and the two became friends. Over the years, they would develop a romantic relationship and they would get together in 1873.

James' first kill would come soon after in June of 1874, when he went on his first large bank robbery. He had done smaller banks before, but the gang had set their sights on a bank in Reno, Nevada, and Kane felt ready. During the robbery, it all went well until a civilian managed to break a window and shout for help, and the lawmen were onto them. They were forced to shoot their way out, and Kane put two men in their graves as they fled. Luckily, they managed to make out with a few thousand dollars, but Kane grappled with guilt.

Over the years, Kane would rob many more banks, as well as trains, stagecoaches, and he would kill many more times. Over time, he felt less and less bad about it. He became a feared gunslinger with a price on his head, and the law was after them. Still, the gang was getting very powerful. By 1898, when their power peaked, the gang had well over two-hundred members.

By 1900, Kane felt that the country had become too dangerous for outlaws like them, and he left the gang and started a family with Helen, much to the sadness of Carson and the other founding members. He started a ranch a short distance from Davis, Oklahoma, and the now-62-year-old Kane left his gunslinging life behind.

Kane was lucky to have made it out, because the next year, Ted Carson, Cody Nash, Tom Massey, Ray Dixon, and over a hundred other members of the Carson-Nash gang were caught by US Marshalls in Colorado. Of them, only Dixon was able to escape. The others were imprisoned, and in the case of Carson and Nash, hanged. Kane was guilty, as he felt if he had been there, he could have made the difference.

In 1907, he was forced to shoot and kill an old enemy, an old member of a rival gang who had a bone to pick with Jim. He tracked him to his ranch near Davis, Oklahoma, and planned on killing him and his family.

## Equipment

### Weapons

#### Handguns

**1860 Colt Army**

A set of two, they were the first guns ever owned by James Kane, they were gifted to him soon after Kane entered the gang by Ted Carson himself, in preparation for Kane's training as a gunslinger.

Kane would use the guns for years, and they could be seen in his holsters or tucked into his belt especially from 1870 to 1874, when he started occasionally swapping one of the revolvers for his Peacemaker, and from that point on, he started carrying different guns in conjunction with the Colts.

Overall, the two Armys were his favorite guns, ones he had care for, and the ones he used most overall, even when other weapons were objectively better.

**Colt Single Action Army "Peacemaker"**

The first firearm ever purchased by Kane himself, he bought it after his first major bank robbery in Reno in 1874. His Peacemaker had a mahogany grip and a blued finish, aside from an iron trigger and hammer. He usually kept in a cross draw rig alongside one of his Navy revolvers or concealed elsewhere alongside both.

**Remington** **1858 New Army**

Another of Kane's revolvers was his 1858 Remington New Army, which he bought in 1874 as a companion to his original Colt Army revolvers. He found the Remington to also be a good firearm, but he still preferred his older 1860 revolvers over the Remington, so he rarely used it.

Kane notably carried the Remington during his last public shootout in 1900 alongside his Single Action Army.

**Smith & Wesson Model 3 "Schofield"**

Bought in 1881 as an upgrade from his Colts, the Schofield was among Jim's favorite weapons, and he carried it often, especially in conjunction with his Peacemaker. He often kept it in his hip rig, as his Schofield had a long barrel that didn't make for a fast draw if kept cross draw. His Schofield featured a nickel finish and a white grip.

**Remington Model 1875**

Bought in 1878, the Remington would be among Jim's least-used weapons, as it was taken along with his Colt Lightning in 1889 by bounty hunters.

**Colt** **M1877 "Lightning"**

Jim's first double-action, he stole it off of a gambler it in 1885 the same night as the Dodge City saloon robbery to be a hidden piece he could carry in gun-free towns, or to be a third or even sometimes fourth handgun he carried, especially when going into a serious shootout or robbery. He kept the Lightning in a custom rig in the small of his back, or even tucked into his belt or pocket. He lost the Colt when he was captured by bounty hunters in Utah in 1889, along with his Remington Model 1875, which were the weapons he had with him at the time.

**Colt 1911**

The last gun acquired by James Kane, he was gifted it in 1913 by Ray Dixon, who had stolen it from an army supply train. He had no holster for it, so he kept it in his belt. Afterward, he bought a holster for it and made the 1911 one of his go-to's.

#### Rifles

**Winchester Model 1873**

Kane's first Winchester was gifted to him by Ted Carson when he first joined the gang, along with his 1860 Colts. Until he bought his 1894 Winchester, he carried the 1873 during every robbery or holdup.

**1903 Springfield**

His regular ranch rifle, Kane bought the Springfield in 1904 to replace his Winchester, and used it for tasks around the ranch, as well as for home defense and hunting.

**1894 Winchester Repeater**

The last rifle bought by James Kane while he ran in the The Carson-Nash Gang, he used his .30-30 Winchester during the last of his robberies and shootouts, and after he left the gang, he used it on his ranch.

#### Shotguns

**Winchester Model 1887**

Kane's lever-action Winchester was the other most common longarm he used on the ranch, besides his Springfield. He also used it for home defense and bird and deer hunting.

## Gallery

A teenage James Kane on his family's farm in 1865An eighteen-year-old James Kane working as a cowboy in 1869James Kane deciding to join the Carson Gang in 1870James Kane during his first year in the gang (1871)Jim Kane training to become a gunslinger in 1873Kane during his early years in the gang (1874)Jim Kane wears a poncho while he holds a man at gunpoint in 1876Kane in 1884Jim Kane dressed in an evening suit during the Amberhead saloon robbery (1888)Jim Kane wearing another custom holster rig in 1889A portrait of Jim Kane and Ray Dixon taken in Mexico, 1891Jim Kane wearing his old poncho to keep off the Mexican sun in 1894An aged James Kane just before his final public shootout in 1900Kane during his final public shootout, 1900James Kane retired from his outlaw life living the quiet life of a rancher in 1903Kane defending his home in 1907Jim Kane, pictured on his horse Blondie in 1913Jim Kane and Ray Dixon fight side-by-side against rustlers in 1913James Kane threating a man with his gun in a saloon in 1914Jim Kane shooting a Mauser pistol in 1918Jim a few days before his death in 1924