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.
Handy With A Gun...! 