Old West Shootout

Anyone who has made a serious study of Western history knows that the middle of the street, showdown gunfight is mostly a creation of pulp magazine writers and Hollywood filmmakers. There remain a few sketchy details of gun fights that might have been. Of all the stories, the most well-known gun fight may be the Wild Bill Hickok, Davis Tutt dual in July of 1865. Reportedly the combatants were 75 yards from each other and carefully drew, aimed and fired, one time, at the same moment. Hickok reportedly rested his gun across his left forearm to steady it before firing. Tutt’s shot missed while Hickok’s struck Tutt in the ribs. Tutt died a few minutes later and Hickok was arrested and later acquitted. Hickok’s killing of Tutt in Springfield, Missouri would make Hickok a Wild West legend, but this fight was far from typical.

Hickok

Most old west gunfights - and there were not very many, involved several men, or were more killings than any kind of fair fight. One such fight took place in the rough and tumble Wyoming mining and ranching town of Hartville in 1883. A cowhand named Ed Taylor called Bad Man Taylor by most was shot and killed in a favorite main street saloon. The shot, fired with a rifle through a window, did not give Taylor a chance to draw and fire, dime novel style. Onlookers believe Bad Man Taylor became a target after ambushing another cowboy a month earlier shooting him in the leg.

Today Hartville still has a number of false front buildings

Note: The one fact that most stands out, for me, is that the Hickok-Tutt fight took place a distance of 75 yards. I have a tough time hitting anything from 75 feet, let alone 75 yards. My thought is that they stood far enough from each other that each felt reasonably safe, but could keep their reputations intact by shooting at each other.  Not sure if Hickok was that good of shot or just lucky or unlucky in this case.

Not sure how long since somebody called this place, near Hartville, home

Random Thoughts on the Sundance Kid

Harry A. Longabaugh is a tough name to pronounce and not very memorable. But when he stole a horse, saddle and a gun in northeast Wyoming and got himself tossed in jail in Sundance, Wyoming, he became a legend, the Sundance Kid. The movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid did not hurt his popularity either. It might be that Butch and Sundance would be little more that footnotes in Wild West history if not for the movie. We would still love them in Wyoming and Utah but the rest of the country may have enough of their own bad guys to celebrate.

So who was the Sundance Kid anyway? His friend Butch Cassidy is much better known as leader of the Wild Bunch and as an all around character of the old west. So why was Harry (the Sundance Kid) Longabaugh famous, was it only because he hung out with Butch?

Born in Pennsylvania in 1867 he came west (probably first to Colorado) as a teen and later ended up in north eastern Wyoming. By age twenty his outlaw career had started and ended. A year and a half later he was released from the Sundance jail and returned to life working on a ranch. Either bored with the life of a cowboy, or needing adventure he was implicated in a train robbery three years after his release (1892) and then another five years later. Maybe he was just supplementing his meager ranch wages but more than likely he was an outlaw and had gotten away with more than local people knew about at the time. These robberies may have been as part of Cassidy’s wild bunch.

I suspect, like many of the outlaws of the old west, he lived two different lives. Part of the time he was a hard working ranch hand, raising, feeding and taking care of stock, riding fence and spending time with locals in town when he had a chance. But he had a wild streak, one that left him less than satisfied with this life. It could have been money, might have been a need for adventure, or he may have been in it for the thrill of the chase. Whatever it was, his unsettled feelings may have led him to an on and off life of crime, sometimes with months or years between hold-ups.

After the Winnemucca National Bank, Nevada hold up, Butch and Sundance took off for South America with the Pinkerton Detectives right behind. The story ends there, or does it? Were they killed in the famous shootout with the San Vicente police in Bolivia in 1908? Most avid readers of western history hope not. Stories say he and Butch came back to America, living in Utah, Wyoming or elsewhere for many years. We may never know for sure, but we really hope they were a lot like Redford and Newman in the movie.

Great Day For A Ride

Such a great day in Wyoming today I decided to go for a ride. I know, I know, you’re thinking, that old guy rides. Well indeed I do. But today I should have stayed home.
The ride was going fine and then for no reason at all—I was lying on my side hurting bad. Not sure if I was bucked off or fell, maybe a loose saddle? I hope to figure it out soon and I will keep you-all posted. Now where was I, oh yes on my side and hurting. Well sir, I am an old guy but when it really hurts I sometimes cry. And I started, softly at first, and then I am afraid, a little louder, anyway loud enough for someone to hear. Within seconds the store manager (K-Mart) helped me up, dusted me off and said, “take it easy ol’ timer, if you’ll quit your whimpering I’ll put another quarter in the horse and you can have a free ride on the store.
I feel better now—sorry for the lame joke, but it’s Friday and I can stay up late and post crazy stuff.

Thinking About Home and Wild Bill Hickok

The legend of Wild Bill Hickok began just outside my hometown at a place called Rock Creek station. (Southeast Nebraska) It was here that Wild Bill, by his own account, killed single handedly, nine members of a blood thirsty, cut throat McCanles Gang. Dime novels of the day led to it being called the greatest one man gunfight in American history. A battle Hickok survived with eleven bullet wounds.
What a story – how much of it is true –probably not much.
• Hickok became famous later and the facts changed after he became bigger than life. History forgot that he was charged with murder and released after a trial lasting a few minutes.
• Also his nickname changed from Duck Bill to Wild Bill, likely at his insistence, maybe at the point of a pistol if you insisted on calling him Duck Bill
• There never was a McCanles gang although David McCanles himself was a bully and not liked or missed by many.
• People who saw Hickok soon after the battle reported he had no wounds after the fight.
Anyway, so goes the tight line separating truth from fiction in the old west. Wild Bill went on to become a legend throughout the west. Including right here in Wyoming where he spent some time.