Real-life Wild West duels Wild Bill Hickok after killing Davis Tutt in a duel. Harpers New Monthly Magazine, February 1867 Although the image of two gunslingers with violent reputation squaring off in a street in a duel; where both draw his pistol and try to kill the other is a Hollywood invention, Wild West duels, though rarely, did occur in real life and as such not entirely a myth contrary to many beliefs. The most famous and well-recorded duel occurred on 21 July 1865. Wild Bill Hickok and Davis Tutt quarrelled over cards and decided to have a gunfight. They arranged to walk towards each other at 6 p.m. Wild Bills armed presence caused the crowd to immediately scatter to the safety of nearby buildings, leaving Tutt alone in the northwestern corner of the square. When they were about 50 yards apart, both men drew their guns. The two fired at the same time, but Hickoks shot hit Tutt in the heart, while Tutts shot missed. This was the first recorded example of two men taking part in a quick-draw duel. The following month Hickok was acquitted after pleading self-defense. The first story of the shootout was detailed in an article in Harpers Magazine in 1867, and became a staple of the gunslinger legend.[20] Doc Holliday himself has been to five one-on-one pistol duels. At one point, Holliday was seated in a saloon in Las Vegas, New Mexico. One of the women who worked there had an ex-boyfriend named Mike Gordon who had just been discharged from the Army. Gordon wanted her to stop working. When she told him to leave her alone, he became angry, went outside the saloon, and started shooting out the windows with his pistol. As bullets went through the saloon, Doc unflinching, holstered his Colt Peacemaker revolver, and walked outside. Gordon then started shooting at him but misses. Holliday then draws his pistol and shot Gordon at long range with one shot. He then went back to his saloon. Gordon died the next day and Holliday fled.[29] Doc Holliday has also been credited at wounding and shooting a pistol off of saloon owner Milt Joyces hand when he tried to brandish it at Holliday. Another well-known duel in the American West happened in Fort Worth, Texas, and was known as the Luke Short-Jim Courtright Duel. Timothy Isaiah Longhair Jim Courtright was running the T.I.C. Commercial agency in Fort Worth, which provided protection to gambling dens and saloons in return for a portion of their profits. At the same time, Luke Short, a former friend of Courtrights, was running the White Elephant Saloon and Jim was trying to get Short to utilize his services. But the Dodge City gunfighter told Courtright to go to Hell, that he could do any gunslinging that was necessary to take care of his business. On February 8, 1887, the two quarreled, and with Bat Masterson at Shorts side, Courtright and Short dueled in the street. They drew their pistols at close range, and Short fired first, blowing off Courtrights thumb. Courtright attempted the border shift, a move where a gunfighter switches his gun to his uninjured hand, but he was too slow. Short shot him in the chest, killing him.[30] The Long Branch Saloon Shootout, involving Levi Richardson, a buffalo hunter, and Cockeyed Frank Loving, a professional gambler, happened on April 5, 1879. Richardson had developed some affection for Lovings wife Mattie, and the two began to argue about her. In the saloon, Frank sat down at a long table, Richardson turned around and took a seat at the same table. The two were then heard speaking in low voices. After the conversation, Richardson drew his pistol, and Loving drew his in response. The Long Branch Saloon was then filled with smoke. Dodge City Marshal Charlie Bassett, who was in Beatty & Kelleys Saloon, heard the shots and came running.[31] Both men were still standing, although Richardson had fired five shots from his gun and Lovings Remington No. 44 was empty. Deputy Sheriff Duffey threw Richardson down in a chair and took his gun, while Bassett disarmed Loving. Richardson then got up and started toward the billiard table, when he fell to the floor with a fatal gunshot in the chest, as well as a shot through the side and another through the right arm. Frank Loving, who had only a slight scratch on the hand, was immediately taken to jail. Two days later, the coroners inquest ruled that the killing had been in self-defense and Loving was immediately released.[32] On March 9, 1877, gamblers Jim Levy and Charlie Harrison argued over a game of cards in a saloon in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Levy challenged Harrison to take it outside, Harrison agreed, and the two squared off in the street. Western novelist James Reasoner claims in a recent issue of Esquire that this was the most Hollywood showdown. During the duel, Harrison shot wild, while Levy took more careful aim and shot him. He then approached the dying Charlie and shot him again. Many accounts claimed that Harrison fired at Levy while sprawled on the ground, but contemporary opinion held that Levy had shot the man while he was down. Harrison died 13 days later.[33] In January 7, 1874, notorious gunman and murderer Clay Allison killed a fellow gunman named Chunk Colbert in Colfax County, New Mexico when both sat down together for dinner. During their meal, Colbert suddenly tried to draw his pistol to shoot Allison; however, the barrel struck the table. Allison then drew his own revolver and fired one shot, striking Colbert in the head. Asked why he had accepted a dinner invitation from a man likely to try to kill him, Allison replied, Because I didnt want to send a man to hell on an empty stomach.[34] Not as well known today but famous in his time was the dapper, derby-wearing train robber Marion Hedgepeth, who despite his swell appearance, was a deadly killer and one of the fastest guns in the Wild, Wild West. William Pinkerton, whose National Detective Agency had sought to capture Hedgepeth and his gang for years, noted that Hedgepeth once gunned down another outlaw who had already unholstered his pistol before Hedgepath had drawn his revolver.[35] In June 2011, a soldier named Sgt. Brent McBride played a game of quick draw with his fellow soldier and roommate; Sgt. Matthew Gallagher. The incident happened in their small trailer-like room in Al Kut, Iraq. During the game, McBride drew his pistol and shot Gallagher in the head at close range. Sgt. Brent McBride pleaded guilty at a Fort Hood, Texas, court martial in March 2012 to involuntary manslaughter.[36]
Posted on: Tue, 13 May 2014 09:59:34 +0000
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