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.

 

 

 

Who Is Wild Bill Hickok?

Between Wyatt Earp and Wild Bill it’s tough to say who was the most prominent gun-carrying lawman of the old west. One distinction between the two men is that Wyatt didn’t become the legendary character among his peers that Wild bill had become during his own lifetime. He was certainly known and had a reputation (the degrees of which can be saved for another, more complete discussion another time), but he was never the praised folk hero that Hickok was.  And while Wyatt has become the more popular cultural figure of recent generations, there is no doubt that Wild Bill was the preeminent gunman of his time.

Having started his career primarily as a scout for the US Army, he earned a reputation for fearlessness and proficiency. Some stories are unverifiable, such as the incident where he allegedly took on a wild bear (though he did suffer an unknown attack that had him convalescing in a near death state), and others are well documented like his impressive shot across the courtyard that took down the antagonistic Davis Tutt.

Regardless of which stories are true and which are not, he was a striking and commanding figure; many people have noted as such in their various journals and recollections. Helpful to his branding was the friendship he had with Buffalo Bill. There’s something about the bonds of battle between two men that increases the interest and sympathies. To wit, Wyatt and Doc, Bat and Luke Short, Butch and Sundance; there’s just something about two legends who are bound together, even if the legend may be stretched a bit from the reality.

Avoiding a full biography on the man, it can summarily be said that he was foremost among his peers, and the embodiment of the quintessential frontier lawman. Even Wyatt Earp, according to Stuart Lake, claimed to have learned early valuable lessons from Wild Bill while a young man in Kansas City.

Who Is Mysterious Dave Mather?

There was a lot of reasons for Dave Mather to be coined Mysterious, and it’s telling that he was known by this name even while he was alive and running in the wild ‘n wooly circles. Some say it was because of the way he would stay so tight-lipped, some say it’s because no one knew for sure where he came, but for those of us reading about him today, it’s mostly about the fact that he just disappeared and no one knows where he went (though there was a claim in 1988 about his disappearance, but that’s in the timeline).

He seemed to be a good shot, and at times served as an honorable lawman, but yet also spent plenty of time as a shifty desperado. He appears to have been contemporary to Dodge City with Bat and Wyatt, but even that is not certain, and he could have even been involved in posses from Las Vegas out looking for Billy the Kid and his group of ne’er do wells. But even this is only surmising and not at all a certainty. Everything about him is hard to nail down; he just didn’t make it easy on us today.

What really makes Mysterious Dave Mather interesting is that he spent time in many of the significant towns and areas, but seems to be overlooked, which we may have to assume is the way he would’ve wanted it. He was most likely in Dodge during the late 70’s, and then again around the time of the Dodge City Peace Commission. He was in Las Vegas at the time of Doc Holliday and Billy the Kid, and he was in El Paso at the time of Dallas Stoudenmire; by some reports even possibly serving as a deputy. He was certainly prolific in his western travels and escapades, but yet he always seems to fly under the radar.

The timelines are drawn from information gathered from Colin Rickards book Mysterious Dave Mather published in 1968, and from Jack DeMattos book Mysterious Gunfighter, published in 1989.