Other Gunslingers

Being huge fans of American West history, Blazin' Young Guns couldn't just let Billy the Kid hog all the limelight. Here you will find many men and women outlaws from the time of the Wild West, some mean, some charitable, some infamous, some relatively unknown.

## John Wesley Hardin

John Wesley Hardin was born May 26th, 1853, in Bonham, Texas.

John's father, James G. Hardin, was a Methodist preacher, lawyer, schoolteacher and circuit rider. His mother was Elizabeth Hardin. At age fourteen, John stabbed a schoolmate over a incident at the schoolhouse involving graffiti and a girl. At age fifteen, he shot an ex-slave, called Mage, whom he had beaten in a wresting match the previous day, Mage in revenge had attacked Hardin with a stick and after warning the man to back down Hardin shot him three times. Hardin then fled, as he explained in his autobiography:

"To be tried at that time for the killing of a Negro meant certain death at the hands of a court backed by Northern bayonets... thus, unwillingly, I became a fugitive not from justice, be it known, but from the injustice and misrule of the people who had subjugated the South."

The law was hot on his heel and finally caught up to him, Hardin stood his ground and fought. He killed at least one, possibly four Union soldiers who were attempting to apprehend him.

"I waylaid them, as I had no mercy on men whom I knew only wanted to get my body to torture and kill. It was war to the knife for me, and I brought it on by opening the fight with a double barreled shotgun and ended it with a cap and ball six shooter. Thus it was by the fall of 1868 I had killed four men and was myself wounded in the arm."

Hardin then tried to make a living out of poker but this resulted in him killing Jim Bradley in a gambling row.

Hardin's next killing took place in Kosse, while escorting a saloon girl home a man tried to rob him.

"I told him that I only had about $50 or $60 in my pocket but if he would go with me to the stable I would give him more, as I had the money in my saddle pocket ... He said, 'Give me what you have first.' I told him all right, and in so doing, dropped some of it on the floor. He stooped down to pick it up and as he was straightening up I pulled my pistol and fired. The ball struck him between the eyes and he fell over, a dead robber."

In 1871 he was involved in taking cattle to Abilene where he met Wild Bill Hickok. Hardin later claimed he had killed five men on the journey and three more at his destination. After killing four black men he was arrested by the sheriff of Cherokee County. He escaped from jail in October 1872, and was soon back in trouble with the law. In May 1874, Hardin killed a deputy sheriff in Brown County while visiting the town of Comanche. Hardin fled to Florida with his family. Over the next few months he killed six more men. With a $4,000 price on his head Hardin was pursued by several bounty hunters.

Eventually he was captured by Captain John Armstrong and a party of Texas Rangers at Pensacola on 23rd July, 1877. The following year he was sentenced to twenty five years in prison. He was taken to Huntsville in Texas and he spent his time studying law, theology and mathematics. Hardin regained his religious faith and became superintendent of the Sunday School in prison.

In 1894, After serving seventeen years in prison, Hardin was released. He joined his children in Gonzales County (his wife had died on 6th November, 1892) before moving to Karnes County, where he married Callie Lewis on 8th January, 1895. The marriage was not a success and Hardin moved to El Paso to testify for the defense in a murder trial. Following the trial, he stayed and established a law practice.

On August 19th, 1895, El Paso lawman John Selman, Jr arrested Hardin's friend, the widow Monrose, for 'brandishing a gun in public.' Hardin confronted Selman, and the two men had a verbal dispute. On being told of the argument, John's fifty eight year old father John Selman, Sr who was a constable, approached Hardin and the two men exchanged words.

After this altercation, Hardin went to the Acme Saloon and began playing dice with local furniture dealer Henry Brown. Around midnight Selman walked in and shot Hardin in the back of the head, killing him instantly. Legend has it that Hardin's last words were, 'Four sixes to beat, Henry.'

As Hardin's body lay on the floor, Selman fired three more shots into him.Despite Hardin killing over thirty people, he had a reputation as a gentleman among those who knew him, and he always claimed he never killed anyone who didn't need killing.

The El Paso police found Hardin's unfinished autobiography in the house he rented. This was handed over to his children and the book, 'Life of John Wesley Hardin as Written by Himself' was published in 1896.

## Wyatt Earp

Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp was born in Montmouth, Illinois, on 19th March, 1848. His father moved the family, to San Bernardino, California and joined his older brother, Virgil Earp, as a freighter-teamster between Wilmington to Prescott, Arizona.

In 1870 Earp was elected constable of Lamar, Missouri. Later that year he married Urilla Sutherland but she died soon afterwards of typhoid. His job as constable came to an end when Earp was arrested for horse theft. He managed to escape and became a buffalo hunter in Kansas. Earp then moved to Wichita where he married a local prostitute. He also joined the Wichita police force. However, he was discharged in April 1876 after a fight with a fellow officer.

A few months later Earp joined the police force in Dodge City. In 1878 he was appointed assistant city marshal under Charles Bassett. While in the city he became friends with the former dentist and now a professional gambler, Doc Holliday. Earp's record as a marshal was unimpressive and in September 1879 he left Dodge City and three months later reached Tombstone where he became a farmer. Earp's brothers, Virgil Earp, Morgan Earp and James Earp also lived in Tombstone. Earp's best friend, Doc Holliday, was also based in this fast-growing town.

Virgil Earp eventually became city marshal of Tombstone. Soon afterwards he recruited Wyatt Earp and Morgan Earp as 'special deputy policemen'. In 1880 the Earp family came into conflict with two families, the Clantons and the McLaurys. Ike Clanton, Phineas Clanton, Billy Clanton, Tom McLaury and Frank McLaury sold livestock to Tombstone. Virgil Earp and his brothers believed that some of these animals had been stolen from farmers in Mexico. Wyatt Earp was also convinced that the Clanton brothers had stolen one of his horses.

Wyatt Earp also came into conflict with John Behan, the sheriff of Cochise County. At first this started as a quarrel over a woman, Josephine Sarah Marcus. She had lived with Behan before becoming Earp's third wife. Earp also wanted Behan's job and planned to run against him in the next election. The two men also clashed over the decision by Behan to arrest Doc Holliday on suspicion of killing a stage driver during an attempted hold-up outside of town. Holliday protested his innocence and he was eventually released. In September 1881, Virgil Earp retaliated by arresting one of Behan's deputies, Frank Stilwell, for holding up a stagecoach.

On 25th October, Ike Clanton and Tom McLaury arrived in Tombstone. Later that day Doc Holliday got into a fight with Ike Clanton in the Alhambra Saloon. Holliday wanted a gunfight with Clanton, but he declined the offer and walked off. The following day Ike Clanton and Tom McLaury were arrested by Virgil Earp and charged with carrying firearms within the city limits. After they were disarmed and released, the two men joined Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury, who had just arrived in town. The men gathered at a place called the OK Corral in Fremont Street.

Virgil Earp now decided to disarm Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury and recruited Wyatt Earp, Morgan Earp, James Earp and Doc Holliday to help him in this dangerous task. Sheriff John Behan was in town and when he heard what was happening he raced to Fremont Street and urged Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury to hand over their guns to him. They replied: 'Not unless you first disarm the Earps'.

Behan now headed towards the advancing group of men. He pleaded for Virgil Earp not to get involved in a shoot-out but he was brushed aside as the four men carried on walking towards the OK Corral. When they reached their destination Virgil Earp said: 'I want your guns'. Billy Clanton responded by firing at Wyatt Earp. He missed and Morgan Earp successfully fired two bullets at Billy Clanton and he fell back against a wall. Meanwhile Wyatt Earp fired at Frank McLaury. The bullet hit him in the stomach and he fell to the ground.

Ike Clanton and Tom McLaury were both unarmed and tried to run away. Clanton was successful but Doc Holliday shot McLaury in the back. Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury, although seriously wounded, continued to fire their guns and in the next couple of seconds Virgil Earp, Morgan Earp and Doc Holliday were all wounded. Wyatt Earp was unscathed and he managed to finish off Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury.

Sheriff John Behan arrested Virgil Earp, Wyatt Earp, Morgan Earp and Doc Holliday for the murder of Billy Clanton, Tom McLaury and Frank McLaury. However, after a 30 day trial Judge Wells Spicer, who was related to the Earps, decided that the defendants had been justified in their actions.

Over the next few months the Earp brothers struggled to retain control over Tombstone. Virgil Earp was seriously wounded by an attempted assassination and Morgan Earp was killed when he was playing billiards with Wyatt Earp on 18th March, 1882. Eyewitnesses claimed that Frank Stilwell was seen running from the scene of the crime. Three days later Stilwell was found dead. A Mexican who was also implicated in the crime was also found murdered in a lumber camp. It is believed that Wyatt Earp was responsible for killing both men.

Earp was now forced to flee from Tombstone and eventually reached Colorado. Later he moved to Arkansas where he was jailed for theft in 1883.

In February, 1883, Luke Short moved to Dodge City and purchased the Long Branch Saloon with W. H. Harris. A power struggle now took place between Short and Nicholas B. Klaine, the editor of the Dodge City Times. In the election for mayor of the city later that year Klaine supported Larry Deger against Short's partner, W. H. Harris. Deger defeated Harris 214 to 143.

Soon after gaining power Deger published Ordinance No 70, an attempt to ban prostitution in Dodge City. Two days later the local police arrested female singers being employed in Short's Long Branch Saloon and accused of being prostitutes. That night Short and L.C. Hartman, the city clerk, exchanged gunfire in the street. Short was now arrested and forced to leave town.

Short had some powerful friends and in June 1883 he returned to Dodge City with Earp, Bat Masterson, Charlie Bassett, Doc Holliday and other well-known gunfighters such as, M. F. McLain, Neil Brown and W. F. Petillion. However, Deger and Klaine refused to be intimidated and when they refused to back down, Short and his friends had to accept defeat. In November 1883, Short and Harris sold the Long Branch Saloon and moved to Fort Worth.

In 1885 Earp was once again imprisoned for theft. After his release he opened a saloon in San Diego. He also attempted to breed racehorses in San Francisco.

In 1896 Earp agreed to referee the Bob Fitzsimmons-Tom Sharkey heavyweight fight in Oakland, California. Earp insisted that he should be allowed to carry a gun. This was needed when he controversially declared Tom Sharkey the winner, after he had taken a terrible beating and appeared on the verge of being knocked out. Earp also owned a saloon in Tonopah and Goldfield in Nevada before settling in Los Angeles in 1906.

In old age Earp was befriended by Stuart N. Lake who agreed to become his biographer. Wyatt Earp died on 13th January, 1929 and the book, 'Wyatt Earp, Frontier Marshall', was published two years later. The book was quickly denounced by people who knew Earp as being a very inaccurate account of his life. Allie Earp, the widow of Virgil Earp, described it as 'a pack of lies'.

## Pearl Hart

Pearl Taylor was born in Ontario, Canada in 1871. Her parents were from a middle class background and Pearl was given a good education and attended finishing school. At the tender age of seventeen Pearl was seduced by a gambler named Frederick Hart and he convinced the young lovesick girl to elope with him. Knowing her parents wouldn't approve of the union Pearl felt she had no choice if she wanted to be with the man she loved. Pearl soon found out she was headed for wedded bliss, her husband was a drunkard and also abusive. Pearl left him many times but went back to him many times too. In 1893 Fredrick and Pearl attended the Chicago World Fair where she found a great love for all things 'Wild West' while watching Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. She particularly admired Annie Oakley.

Seeing such a strong woman seemed to give Pearl the strength she needed to leave her husband and she headed to Colorado where she became a popular saloon singer. She soon discovered she was pregnant with Fredrick's child, it was a boy and she sent him to live with her Mother. Pearl then moved to Phoenix, Arizona were she worked as cook and laundress. The West wasn't living up to her expectations and she felt disheartened.

In 1895 her estranged husband tracked Pearl down and convinced her to come back to him. Pearl agreed and things looked good for the couple, Fredrick got a job and they began to live on the wild side, drinking and gambling. They had their second child, a girl, and this seemed to break the content time they had been having. Fredrick returned to his violent ways, at one point knocking Pearl unconscious. After this he left to join the army, Pearl returned to her parents, but the call of the West was too strong and she soon went back to it, leaving her second child with her Mother. Pearl moved back to Arizona but found that life was just as hard as she remembered, she attempted to take her own life on several occasions.

By 1899 she had met a miner by the name of Joe Boot and the two became firm friends. Pearl soon received a letter from her Brother explaining that their Mother was ill and was in great need of money to pay medical expenses. Pearl discussed the matter with Boot and Boot let her in on his plans to rob trains and stagecoaches. The two planned to start their criminal careers small, Pearl would lure men into a room where Boot would hit them over the head and their belongings could then be taken. But the loot wasn't enough and the two soon planned their first stagecoach robbery.

Pearl cut off her hair and dressed in men's clothing and on May 30th 1899 they executed the plan, robbing a stage coach that ran between Florence and Globe Arizona. They stopped the Stage at gunpoint and as Boot kept the driver covered Pearl ordered the passengers out and took their wallets and other valuables. Once this was done Pearl ordered the passengers back in and the Stage was allowed to go on it's way.

Unfortunately Boot and pearl hadn't planned on the surrounding desert. Having little knowledge of it left them lost and they soon had to admit defeat and make camp. By the morning they found themselves surrounded by a posse. They were taken to Globe, Arizona and put in jail. Peal loved the attention in her newfound infamy brought and she signed autographs and generally entertained the crowds that had come to see the 'Bandit Queen'. On October 12th 1899 Pearl escaped along with another prisoner and her fame grew. She was captured soon afterwards and returned to jail.

She was put on trail in November 1899 and was reported as saying 'I shall not consent to be tried under a law in which my sex had no voice in making.' She plead guilty but was acquitted most likely because the Jury was moved that the money she was taking was going to her sick Mother.

## Kitty LeRoy

Kitty LeRoy was born in Michigan in 1850. Kitty became a professional dancer by the age of ten and was soon appearing in saloons and dance halls as an entertainer. During this time she also developed skills such as target shooting. One of her show stopping acts was to shoot apples off people's heads. By the age of fifteen Kitty married but it didn't last, Kitty was restless and some say unable to be faithful to her husband. She left him and moved to Dallas, Texas where she became extremely popular due to her dancing. In Dallas Kitty got a taste for gambling and became an expert in playing Faro and gave up dancing to become a dealer. She was noted for sometimes dressing as man and sometimes dressing like a gypsy, her strange attire and her skills in dancing, gambling and shooting made her a celebrity. At the age of twenty Kitty married again and she and her husband moved made for California.

Along the way Kitty grew tired of her husband and left him. Legend says soon after she married again, but this time not for love but because of guilt. A man apparently grew attached to Kitty, but she did not return his advances, when the man became too forceful Kitty challenged him to a fight, the man refused stating that she was a woman and he could not. Kitty promptly changed into her manly attire and challenged him again, she drew her gun but he did not and Kitty shot him. As he lay dying Kitty called for a preacher to marry them.

Kitty moved to Deadwood, South Dakota in 1876, arriving amid the Black Hills gold rush. She made the journey in the same wagon train as Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane. She opened her own saloon called the 'Mint Gambling Saloon'. She met a rich German prospector and the two soon became husband and wife. This marriage didn't last long either, as soon as the German man's gold ran out Kitty smashed a bottle over his head and threw him out of her home.

Kitty's business did well and although she may have occasionally worked as a prostitute she mainly managed her saloon and the other girls working there. Husband number five came along in 1877. His name was Samuel R. Curley who was a prospector and gambler. The marriage again, was not a happy one. Samuel was a jealous and violent man and the couple had numerous arguments when he accused her of having affairs with many men, including Sam Bass and Wild Bill Hickok. It's most likely that Samuel wasn't too far from the mark as Kitty wasn't known for being faithful.

While away in Denver on business, Samuel got word that Kitty had started up an affair with one of her ex husbands and rushed back to Deadwood to confront his wife. On December 7th 1877 Samuel shot and killed Kitty in the Lone Star Saloon before killing himself with the same gun.

They were buried together. Kitty was only 28 years old at the time of her death.

## Ellen Watson

Ellen Liddy Watson was born July 2nd 1861 in Ontario Canada. Ellen's family was large, she was the eldest of ten children. In 1877 her family moved to Kansas and settled on government free land. Two years later Ellen met and fell in love with local farmer by the name of William Pickell and the young couple were soon married. But all did not go well for Ellen, her new husband was a heavy drinker and resorted to violence when the mood took him. In 1883 Ellen could stand this life no longer and moved back in with her family, soon after she divorced William.

Ellen eventually moved to Rawlins, Wyoming and worked as a cook. It was here that Ellen met the handsome James Averell and the two soon fell in love. Ellen moved to with James to where he had a store on the Oregon Trail. Although no proof remains other than a marriage license attained by the couple it is assumed that at this point they married. Ellen obtained a good deal of land right next to the land owned by James' store and cafe. Ellen continued to work at the cafe putting all the money she earnt back into her new passion, ranching, and James became the postmaster of the community.

Ellen and James built up a fine ranch with fences, livery tables and corrals. By 1888 Ellen had earned the nickname of Cattle Kate from the newspapers. Unfortunately for the couple their land was wanted by other greedy, rich ranchers. In 1889 these ranchers devised a plan to get rid of their unwanted neighbors. Ellen and James were harassed by cowboys working for the ring leader Albert John Bothwell.

It was a heady July summer's day when Ellen and 14 year old Decory made a trip to the local Shoshone Indians. Ellen bought a pair of buckskin moccasins and they returned to find the ranch in disarray. Fences had been broken and her cattle driven off. She was quickly confronted by six very angry ranchers who accused her of stealing cattle. Ellen was forced into the back of a wagon, she protested valiantly saying she had purchased all her cattle fairly and they knew this. The men ignored her pleas and went on their way with the kidnapped woman, leaving the young Decory to try and find aid. As the mob made their way along the trail they came across James Averell and told him they had a warrant. When James asked to see this 'warrant' one of the men pulled out a gun and said coldly that this was all the warrant he needed.

James was forced into the wagon along with the frightened Ellen. The couple had no chance of escape and were taken far from any help to a large pine tree. Here they forced Ellen and James to stand on rocks and nooses were placed around their necks. At this moment a friend of Ellen and James rode up, having learned of the kidnapping not long before. He managed to shoot one of the ranchers and shots rang out. In the blur of gunfire and men running both James and Ellen were pushed from the rocks.

The drop of the rope was too short to break any necks and the couple kicked and struggled, grappling with the rope that tightened about their necks with their free hands. Both died and painful and unwarranted death.

Due to the witnesses that had seen the kidnappings and the word of the friend who tried to save them, Frank Buchanan the Sheriff was involved. The six ranchers who'd carried out the murder did not deny their part when later interviewed, their felt no fear, they were rich and popular but their arrogant thoughts were proved wrong. It was true that perhaps they would have gotten off with killing James Averell, a male rustler, but hanging a woman was highly frowned upon. They were arrested had each had to pay a hefty bond.

The six began a campaign against Ellen Watson aka Cattle Kate and tried to tarnish her character, claiming she was a soiled dove, a cattle rustler and an outlaw, the newspaper The Daily Sun happily reported the slander and by the next day when they were forced to retract their article the damage had been dealt. Favor turned in favor of the local ranchers.

When they were tried for murder none of the key witnesses for the prosecution testified, Frank Buchanan had his life threatened and was in protective custody and other key witnesses either disappeared, fled or were perhaps even killed with poison or a bullet.

Because of this the prosecution had no case and the six murderers were set free. Through research and facts the name of Ellen Watson and her beloved James Averell have been cleared of any wrong doings and the finger can be firmly pointed at six men who were nothing but heartless murderers.