So iconic is the Colt Single Action army that one given to President Theodore Roosevelt as a birthday present fetched $1,466,250 at auction to an anonymous buyer. Dave Allisons life work was in law enforcement. He first went to the mountains with Ashley in 1825. He was well-liked by both Native American tribes and local settlers. Although his career as an Old West lawman was not a lengthy one, he is still remembered for bringing justice to Tombstone, Arizona. Canton was charged with heading a gang of shooters who attacked a group of homesteaders, but he was acquitted. 8. Bass Reeves was an Old West lawman most remembered for his work as a Deputy United States Marshal in Indian Territory, which is now Oklahoma. Before becoming a politician, Tilghman worked as a buffalo hunter, soldier, and lawman. The Rangers were responsible for taking down some of the most infamous criminals in Texas history, "From Wild West train robbers and gunfighters in the 1870s, to bootleggers and gamblers in the. Guns were tools used on the frontier to harvest resources, defend oneself against animals, and to conquer Native Americans. Members of the Cochise County Cowboys, a local gang, caused endless trouble in the area. By the time I had got twenty or thirty yards, about fifteen Indians came for me at full speed of their ponies.'. He started his criminal career at the age of 17, when he stabbed and killed a fellow gambler whom he had accused of cheating him at cards. The messenger gun had the virtue of being loaded with buckshot, so it did not require good aim to use. This six-shooter also became the weapon of choice for those living on the frontier. 1. However, the Colt Navy was the first sidearm which could be properly ascribed to the frontier gunfighter. Indians finally killed him. Smith passed away in 1933, at the age of 77. In 1875, at age 10, wide-eyed Zietz met Col. William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody and by age 12 was a full-fledged member of his hard-riding, straight-shooting band of scouts. One beginner Girl Scout in California sold out her entire cookie inventory when drag queens and gay bar patrons started lining up. Uneducated by the schools and ignorant of all social conventionalities, he possessed a heart overflowing with the milk of human kindness and was generous, honest, and loyal to his friends. As a trader, he was a total failure, and many of his companions considered him partially insane, although a brave, warm-hearted, and generous man. Tom Smith, sometimes known as Bear River Smith, was an Old West lawman and gunfighter. [2] They are also the only recorded 19th-century incident in which Indian scouts turned against the U.S. Army at Cibicue Creek in Arizona Territory. He married a Cheyenne woman, spoke four Indian dialects besides French and Spanish, and ruled like an autocrat in the Indian trade of the Western Plains. the Peacemaker. The West owes much to those hardy men who, usually from mere love of adventure, wandered alone or in small companies across the wilderness, ever in advance of the settlements and the troops, exploring the unknown, tracing nameless rivers, uncovering hidden water holes in the harsh desert, penetrating to every nook and corner of the Great Plains and the mountains beyond, discovering the haunts of Indians, the routes which the wheels of caravans could follow with the greatest safety, the best camping spots, the scattered places where wood and water were sure to be found. He was also an accomplished gambler, spending most of his time playing poker and running gambling establishments. We must end this list with the company we started with. Plenty of honest, honorable, brave men were hired as sheriffs, marshals, and deputies tasked with cleaning up lawless western towns and tracking down ruthless outlaws. He was involved in numerous wars and controversies, and his role as both a hero and a villain is still debated today. Town sheriffs had to collect taxes, campaign for election, watch over the inmates in the town jail, and sometimes even shovel horse manure out of the streets. During this life of constant peril and exposure, one of his most heroic acts occurred while he was bearing dispatches for General Miles from his camp on McClellan Creek to Camp Supply, I. T. The dispatching party consisted of six men. John F. Finerty claimed that "Curley said that Custer remained alive throughout the greater part of the engagement, animating his men to determined resistance, but about an hour before the close of the fight received a mortal wound. It was said that many a western baby cut his first teeth on the sling ring of a Winchester Model 73 carbine. In this capacity, he engaged in several gunfights. As early as 1863, he was employed as a guide and scout for an expedition against the Kiowa and Comanche and later carried dispatches straight through the hostile Indian country between Forts Lyon and Larned. A former land surveyor, soldier, and Texas Ranger, John Coffee Hays, nicknamed Captain Jack, earned a reputation as a tough and rugged lawman. The gun, which features a revolving battery of gun barrels, was hand cranked and could fire off up to 200 rounds per minute. It was not the glamorous career that Hollywood westerns make it out to be. A folk legend of the Old West, James Butler Hickok, better known as Wild Bill Hickok, lived a colorful life. Among those who have sworn this same promise are former First Ladies Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama, successful actresses such as Gwyneth . The Three Guardsmen were selected to clean up the state based on their abilities, experience, determination, and honesty. Famous Lawmen of the Old West 1. As a result, the company sent armed guards armed with these messenger guns. These are among the (nonfiction only, please!) He is known today as one of the Old Wests most respected and accomplished lawmen. As late as 1869, when he was an old man, he was one of General Phillip Sheridans most trusted guides, competent, tireless, and unerring as a bloodhound on the trail. The stories told of his prowess in a fight are numberless, and his friend General Marcy of the United States Army made the old fellow famous in the pages of his books on border life. Jim Bridger began his experience on the Plains with Ashleys great trapping expedition. As their traditions passed into the U.S. Army Special Forces, the crossed arrows became part of their insignia being authorized as branch of service insignia in 1984. According to the National Park Service, because of the way the rifle was loaded, soldiers would find that bullets would jam halfway up the barrel, often resulting in blow-ups of the weapon. Scott would rise to the rank of major general and served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1914 to 1917. The Earp brothers were arrested and charged with his murder. An enduring image of the Old West is that of a lonely stagecoach trundling over the prairie with a surly looking driver clutching a large double barrel shotgun to guard the coachs strongbox. His burial place was at Taos, New Mexico, where he had long made his home. A union scout/spy, frontiersman, buffalo hunter and lawman, Wild Bill was murdered just days after arriving in Deadwood, Dakota Territories in 1876. When I was in about twenty yards of the wallow, he continued, a little old scoundrel that I had fed fifty times rode almost on to me and fired. By daring, endurance, resourcefulness, and constant devotion to duty, these men have endurance, resourcefulness, and constant devotion to duty. From the lonely desperado to the lawman who imposes order with the barrel of a six-shooter, guns are indelibly linked into the popular memory of the Wild West. He worked as a deputy sheriff before becoming the first sheriff of Lincoln County, where he helped establish peace and order to a region beset by violence and anarchy. His legend began to spread when he was only 23. He also wrote a book called The Real Life of Billy the Kid about his experiences as a cop. A man of education, he quickly mastered the different languages of the tribes, but to both Indians and Mexicans, he remained an unsolvable riddle and a terror. (Credit: Public Domain) Christopher "Kit" Carson became a folk hero for his depictions in. Thomas is best recognized for his service as a United States Deputy Marshal in Indian Territory, which is now Oklahoma. Bridger, after a life of wild adventure, transcending fiction, died and was buried at Westport, Missouri. Billy the Kid 5. As Garrett was transporting Billy and his gang back via train, they were set upon by an angry mob determined to get vengeance on the criminals. Including those who accompanied General John J. Pershing in 1916 on his expedition to Mexico in pursuit of Pancho Villa. He also worked as a cop in various cities, including Abilene, Kansas, where he was hired by the mayor to clean up the areas violence and anarchy. The teen's death was nearly identical to the tragedy that befell a 13-year-old boy and a 29-year-old volunteer in July 2016 when high winds caused a tree to fall in their camp. Wild Bill started his adventures as a stagecoach driver and lawman in Nebraska and Kansas. To be a cowboy, first learn to ride a horse. On June 10, 1888, Bat Masterson, Luke Short, Wyatt Earp, and several of the other gunfighters, posed for a photograph outside the Long Branch Saloon that was cleverly titled, "The Dodge City Peace Commission." Related read: 22 Must-See Modern Western Movies from the Last 22 Years 8. Cowboy life in the Old West can best be described as nomadic: were talking true cowboys who drove, You may have watched every episode of Bonanza, died of dysentery playing Oregon Trail, and read all the, There is an indelible image of the cowboy: the wide-brimmed hat whose color hinges on ones ethical alignment., The Conestoga wagon was an icon of Western expansion, but it is often misunderstood. [1] For many Indians it was an important form of interaction with European-American culture and their first major encounter with the Whites' way of thinking and doing things.[2]. A tall, lean man with a 64 frame, Garrett, an Alabama native, moved to New Mexico and in 1880 was elected sheriff. Related read: 8 Reasons Why Black Bart Was a One-Of-A-Kind Old West Outlaw. [14] In 1942 the insignia was authorized to be worn by the 1st Special Service Force. Hickok was involved in several well-known gunfights, including the Rock Creek Station shooting, the McCanles Massacre, and the No.