Sunday Funnies – 09

The Gunfighters List

This is a fairly comprehensive list of the gunfighters from the gunfighting era. Not everyone who should probably be on this list is, it’s safe to say, but I’ll be making updates as I discover, or get around to, filling in omissions that have been realized. I’ve broken it down into three sub-groups. The first being the most recognized, the second section being either names known by association, or because they were active enough to be considered heavy-hitters but never got the same recognition, and finally, the third group is gunmen that were prolific enough to make the list for one reason or another, but just aren’t as known.

Last Name

First Name

Born

Died

Nickname

Notoriety

Affiliation

Starting with the A-Team…

Allison	Clay	1840	1887		Meanest/Deadliest	Texas Cowboys
Earp	Morgan	1851	1882		Tombstone feud	Earp Brothers
Earp	Virgil	1843	1905		Tombstone feud	Earp Brothers
Earp	Wyatt	1848	1929		Tombstone feud	Earp Brothers
Hardin	John Wesley	1853	1895		Ornery SOB	Texas Cowboys
Hickok	Bill	1837	1876	Wild Bill	Lawman/Deadly Shot
Hollliday	John	1851	1887	Doc	Tombstone feud	Earp Brothers
James	Frank	1843	1915		Train & Bank Robbing	James Gang
James	Jesse	1847	1882		Train & Bank Robbing	James Gang
Longabaugh	Harry	1861	1908	Sundance Kid	Train & Bank Robbing	Wild Bunch
Masterson	Bat	1853	1921		Dodge Lawman	Masterson Brothers
McCarty	Henry	1860	1881	Billy the Kid	Lincoln Co. War	Regulators
Parker	Robert	1866	1937	Butch Cassiday	Train & Bank Robbing	Wild Bunch
Ringo	Johnny	1850	1882		Tombstone feud	Clanton-McLaury Gang
Short	Luke	1854	1893		Dodge City Gambler	Masterson Brothers
Thompson	Ben	1842	1884		Deadly Gunman	Texas Cowboys
Younger	Bob	1853	1889		Train & Bank Robbing	James Gang
Younger	Cole	1844	1916		Train & Bank Robbing	James Gang

Next, we have the B squad…

Bass	Sam	1851	1878		Train Robber	Sam Bass Gang
Bowdre	Charlie	1859	1880		Lincoln Co. War	Regulators
Bowles	Charles	1829	?	Black Bart	Stage Robber
Brewer	Dick	1852	1878		Lincoln Co. War	Regulators
Brocious	Bill		1882	Curly Bill	Tombstone feud	Clanton-McLaury Gang
Bullock	Seth	1849	1919		Deadwood Lawman
Clanton	Ike		1887		Tombstone feud	Clanton-McLaury Gang
Clanton	Billy	1862	1881		Tombstone feud	Clanton-McLaury Gang
Clements	Mannie		1908			Hardin Family
Clements	Mannen		1887			Hardin Family
Courthright	Jim	1848	1887	Long-haired
Curry	George	1871	1900			Wild Bunch
Dalton	Bob	1868	1892		Coffeyville Raid	Doolin Dalton Gang
Dalton	Emmett	1871	1937		Coffeyville Raid	Doolin Dalton Gang
Dalton	Grat	1865	1892		Coffeyville Raid	Doolin Dalton Gang
Dalton	Bill	1866	1895		Coffeyville Raid	Doolin Dalton Gang
Doolin	Bill	1858	1896		Coffeyville Raid	Doolin Dalton Gang
Evans	Jesse	1853			Lincoln Co. War	Jesse Evans Gang
Fisher	John King	1854	1884		Rustler/Gunfighter	Thompsons
Garrett	Pat	1850	1908		Assassin of Billy the Kid	New Mexico Lawman
Horn	Tom	1860	1903		Gun-hand
Ketchum	Thomas			Black Jack		Wild Bunch
Logan	Harvey	1865	1904		Train & Bank Robbing	Wild Bunch
Longley	Bill	1851	1878		Outlaw	Texas Cowboys
Madsen	Chris	1851	1944		Pursuit of Daltons
Masterson	Ed	1852	1878		Dodge Lawman	Masterson Brothers
Masterson	Jim	1855	1895		Dodge Lawman	Masterson Brothers
Mather	Dave	1845		Mysterious
McLaury	Frank		1881		Tombstone feud	Clanton-McLaury Gang
McLaury	Tom		1881		Tombstone feud	Clanton-McLaury Gang
Miller	Jim	1866	1909
Neil	Hyman			HooDoo Brown
Newcomb	George	1866	1905	Bitter Creek		Doolin Dalton Gang
O’Folliard	Tom	1858	1880		Lincoln Co. War	Regulators
Owens	Commodore	1852	1919		Lawman
Plummer	Henry	1837	1864		Montana Lynching	Plummer Gang
Reeves	Bass	1838	1910		Lawman
Rudabaugh	Dave	1840	1886	Dirty		Dodge City Gang, Regulators
Scurlock	Josiah		1882	Doc	Lincoln Co. War	Regulators
Selman	John	1839	1896		Killed John Hardin
Slaughter	John	1841	1922
Smith	Tom	1830	1870	Bear River	Abilene Lawman
Stoudenmire	Dallas	1845	1882
Thomas	Henry	1850	1912	Heck	Pursuit of Daltons	Three Guardsmen
Tilghman	Bill	1854	1924			Masterson Brothers
Thompson	Billy	1845	1888		Killed CB Whitney	Texas Cowboys
Webb	J.J.	1847	1882		Dodge Lawman. Las Vegas Gangster	Dodge City Gang
Younger	James	1848	1902		Train & Bank Robbing	James Gang
Younger	John	1851	1874		Train & Bank Robbing	James Gang

And finally we have the men that you should probably know about but may not…

Alvord	Burton				Lawman/Outlaw
Brooks	Bill	1832	1874	Buffalo, Bully
Brown	Henry	1857	1884		Lincoln Co. War	Regulators
Claiborne	Billy	1860	1882	The Kid	Tombstone feud	Clanton-McLaury Gang
Coe	Frank		1931			Regulators
Coe	George	1856	1941			Regulators
Coe	Phillip		1871		Klled by Hickok
Crawford	Ed		1873		Lawman	C.B. Whitney Shootig
Cruz	Floreintino		1882	Indian Charlie	Tombstone feud	Clanton-McLaury Gang
Daugherty	Roy	1870	1924			Doolin Dalton Gang
Earp	Warren	1855	1900			Earp Brothers
Flatt	George	1852	1880		First Marshal of Caldwell
Ford	Bob	1861	1892		Shot Jesse James	James Gang
French	Jim				Lincoln Co. War	Regulators
Gillette	Jim	1856	1937		El Paso Marshal
Hall	Jesse	1849	1911		King Fisher/Sutton Feud	Texas Rangers
Hill	Tom		1878			Jesse Evans Gang
Hindman	George		1878		Lincoln Co. War	Murphy Dolan
Hite	Robert		1882			James Gang
Jackson	Frank	1856				Sam Bass Gang
Johnson	Jack			Turkey Creek	Tombstone feud	Earp Brothers
Leslie	Frank		1925	Buckskin
Logan	Lonie	1871	1900		Train & Bank Robbing	Wild Bunch
Long	John				Lincoln Co. War
Long	Steve		1868	Big	Corrupt Lawman	Laramie Lawgroup (Criminals)
Matthews	Jacob	1847	1904		Lincoln Co. War	Murphy Dolan
McCall	Jack	1850	1877		Assassin of Wild Bill
McMasters	Sherman				Tombstone feud	Earp Brothers
McNab	Frank		1878		Lincoln Co. War	Regulators
Middleton	John		1885		Lincoln Co. War	Regulators
Miller	Clelland		1876		Train & Bank Robbing	James Gang
Morco	John		1873	Pocky Jack
Olinger	John				Lincoln Co. War	Murphy Dolan
Olinger	Bob	1841	1881		Lincoln Co. War	Murphy Dolan
O’Rourke	John	1861	1882	Johnny Behind the Deuce
Outlaw	Baz	1854	1894	Bass	Drunk Lawman
Pickett	Tom	1858	1934		Lincoln Co. War	Regulators
Pierce	Charley		1895		Train & Bank Robbing	Doolin Dalton Gang
Raidler	Bill	1865	1905		Train & Bank Robbing	Doolin Dalton Gang
Roberts	Andrew		1878	Buckshot	Lincoln Co. War	Murphy Dolan
Salazar	Yginio	1863	1936		Lincoln Co. War	Regulators
Shepherd	Oliver		1868			James Gang
Stiles	Billy	?	1908		Train Robber	Burt Alvord Gang
Stillwell	Frank	1857	1882		Tombstone feud	Clanton-McLaury Gang
Tyler	Jesse		1900		Pursuit of Wild Bunch
Waite	Fred	1853	1895		Lincoln Co. War	Regulators
Walker	Joe	1850	1898		Train & Bank Robbing	Wild Bunch
Warner	Matt	1864	1938	Mormon Kid	Train & Bank Robbing	Wild Bunch
Weightman	George		1896		Train & Bank Robbing	Doolin Dalton Gang
Wells	Sam		1876		Train & Bank Robbing	James Gang
Wheeler	Ben	1854	1884		Medicine Lodge Bank Robbery

And a couple notes…

• Information has been gathered from all sorts of books, newspapers, and documents, but for this list, and for any sort of quick info look up, Bill O’Neal’s Encyclopedia of Western Gunfighters is easily the best resource.
• Also, I know there may be (and probably is) someone who should be on this list but isn’t. Don’t fret, I’ll be making updates and adding omissions as I realize them.
• Feel free to drop a line about a name you think should be added, or a name that belongs in a different location. Just have a solid reason for why, and not just willy-nilly.

 

 

 

Western Peace Officer

Virgil Earp, Western Peace Officer, by Don Chaput, is really the only go-to book specifically for Virgil Earp. Due to the fact that Virgil is widely overshadowed by his more renowned brother, Wyatt, Virgil just hasn’t had as much attention. Fortunately, the one book that we do have is written by the very capable and intelligent Mister Chaput. He is the Curator Emeritus of the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles and is a bit of an expert on many aspects of the Old West . Besides these impressive laurels, he is also great friends and research partner with my favorite Earp historian, Lee Silva. So we know the man runs in good company, if nothing else.

Western peace officer is a fantastic biography, but it’s also more than just a biography. Chaput does a tremendous job of giving more than just a timeline of moves and events. Along the way we get a great sense of character of both Virgil and his wife Allie, as well as a great understanding of their relationship. In the resulting output is a very human picture of who this man was.

Just as Chaput does with the character of Virgil, he does likewise with his environment and the world he interacted with. The author does a great job of conveying just what the times were like and the conditions in which Virgil operated. Often times he uses Allie as a juxtaposition too more deeply understand their current setting, and the reasons how and why they operated, wherever they were.

The only drawback I might cite in this book is that while the author does a great job in telling a respectable story of Virgil Earp’s life, he seems to hold a bit of disdain for Wyatt and often times that bleeds through a little bit in the reading. There are no cheap shots or unfair attacks, but it does sometimes seem unnecessary when he occasionally spotlights some of the differences between Virgil and Wyatt.

If you would like to learn more about Virgil Earp, and really know his story, then Western Peace Officer is the book you need to read.

Who is Virgil Earp?

Of course the short answer here is that he was Wyatt Earp’s brother, or for a base level of added detail, he was Wyatt Earp’s older brother. But who was he beyond that? Given the attention that Wyatt Earp has received over the years, you would almost think that Virgil showed up just in time to help his brother Wyatt fight the cowboys and then disappear again.

But Virgil was more than just an also-ran brother to the most famous gunslinger, he was an established lawman of his own reputation before the O.K. Corral gunfight ever happened. In fact, at the time of the gunfight, Virgil was they key lawman of the group, serving as city marshal of Tombstone following the sudden departure of the then-current marshal Ben Sippy (who made his way back to Brooklyn and stayed there).

Sometimes Wyatt will be accused of co-opting life stories from Virgil in order to embellish his own saga, but Wyatt didn’t need to do that. However, it does go to show just how intriguing of a western character Virgil was to suspect that Wyatt’s adventures weren’t his own, but belonged to his brother.

Without attempting to go into a full biography of the man, it should be known that Virgil joined the Civil War, fighting for the north, and gained some much valued skills with guns and sharp-shooting, as would be evidenced later in life. After the war he joined with his family in California, did some stage driving  there as well as in Wyoming, and then in Nebraska where he met his second wife.

While Wyatt was in Dodge earning his own reputation, Virgil was in Prescott, driving various stages and cutting wood. He eventually landed a position as a night watchman, patrolling the wild Whiskey Row, and engaged in a running gunfight in which his sure-shooting skills won him some renown in the town.

Doc rode into Prescott with Wyatt in early November, but stayed in town as Virgil and Allie left for Tombstone with Wyatt and Mattie. Before leaving, however, Virgil was given a Deputy Marshal position to be used in scaling back the cowboy’s outlaw activity along the Arizona-Mexico border. Again we can see the significance that Virgil held as compared to Wyatt who traveled to the new destination simply to mine and run a stage line; in short, to be an entrepreneur.

While in Tombstone Virgil continued to prove himself as more than just a sidekick brother. He led the team in the takedown of the outlaw cowboys at the O.K. Corral gunfight, and was savvy and quick acting when, after the first big Tombstone fire, he stopped lot-jumpers from pirating other businesses claims; proving a valuable asset to the town and it’s business community. On top of these policing duties in Tombstone, some historians theorize that Virgil and Wyatt were on the border, under the authority of the Deputy Marshals badge, participating in the takedown of Old Man Clanton and the cowboy rustlers.

After Tombstone Virgil continued to serve in various degrees of law enforcement, though he was considerably stymied by the left arm torn apart by ambushing back-shooters in Arizona. He met a long lost daughter in the Portland area at the turn of the century, showing the kind of man he was to go and spend time with her and investing so much to get to know her in these later days. It should also be noted what kind of a loving and supportive wife Allie was, as well, to send Virgil along and encourage his relationship building efforts. The couple never had kids of their own, and Virgil was always thrilled to know he had a daughter, and made the most of his time with her.

In fact, after a short time in Goldfield, Nevada, where Virgil was acting as a local law enforcement officer again, he caught pneumonia and died on October 19th, 1905. After his death his body was shipped up to Oregon and he was buried in the cemetery next to where his daughter lived. She was eventually buried next to him.

Virgil was a classic character of the west, having both dark elements of his past, as well as notable turns taking a stand for what was right. He loved his wife and they stayed together from the time they met in the early 1870’s. He loved his daughter and sent her pictures and letters, making every effort to get to know her as best he could. And finally, he was a good brother. He and Wyatt worked together as practically kids in the 60’s, then planned their move to Tombstone together in the 70’s, and were even together briefly in Nevada when Virgil finally died in the early 1900’s.

Though his adventures may not have been as robust as Wyatt’s, Virgil deserves, in every way, to be remembered when considering the men who formed the west.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2 is finally out, or at least it finally came out last fall. I picked it up within a few days of its release and figure it’s about time I say something about it here for the blog. The new world of Red Dead Redemption 2 is extremely vast and impressive. I haven’t yet made it far into the game, as work and responsibilities keep me from completely indulging myself the way I would like to, but at about 20% of total game completion it’s enough to speak on the matter.

Most everything that was present in the original game remains for the sequel, just in updated form . The guns are great, the horses are awesome, and the clothing options are almost so much it’s overwhelming. In fact I would say if this game had any drawbacks at all it is that with so many options for clothing, for food, and for other such lifestyle choices that it can be a bit distracting from the adventure. This will probably come down to personal preferences for different gamers. On the one hand, you can really get sucked into living in the west, having to buy food, stay healthy, bond with your horse, feeding it and cleaning it as well as taking care of yourself , shaving, exercising, and doing chores .

All of these elements are mind blowing and downright amazing for anyone who wants to get a feel of living in the Old West, but at the same time, it sometimes feels like things are not moving in the same thrilling way that they were in the first game. This might just be a problem for someone like me who is totally enamored with the Old West lifestyle, and therefore I may spend a lot more time focusing on these little details than the average player. But, however you want to do it, the game certainly allows for your own personalized style of play.

One of the other things about the game that is a lot of fun is the fact that John Marston, who was the central character of the first red dead game, is a part of the outlaw gang in this follow up. Most of the characters involved with your gang are pretty well fleshed out and varying so it doesn’t end up feeling like a cheesy cliché. Around the camp you’re required to help out and to contribute, so this adds an extra dynamic to the game that wasn’t there in the first Red Dead. Whether it’s doing chores, or taking on jobs (such as robbing trains), and then contributing to the camp fund, you have to keep up relations and be a good part of things or opportunities to expand won’t come your way.

One of the issues I have with this camp mentality is the fact of some of the crimes that must be performed and I don’t really like being forced to commit as a player. The real outlaws of the West are certainly romanticized and fun too think about, but there are a few small missions in the game that I don’t like being a part of, and I do wish there was more choice in that.

One of the better improvements of the game is the horse selection and development. You’re required to bond with your horse and to feed it and keep it clean and by doing so your horse will become easier to ride and faster for you. This sort of application in the game helps to establish and feel the frontier nuances. And when it comes to taking care of yourself, if you don’t eat regularly, making sure to eat plenty of healthy food, you will see a general decrease in your characters abilities. Your health will go down faster, your ability to aim and shoot with precision will diminish, and your overall ability to complete game challenges gets more difficult. This is probably a fairly safe path for the game designers to go since I don’t think anyone has ever seen or heard of an overweight gunfighter.

If anyone is on the fence, though I doubt at this stage of things anyone is, I can safely recommend buying Red Dead Redemption part 2. It is another fantastic dive into the old frontier and will provide hours and hours of playability as well as more and more hours of re-playability.