The folks at Wild West Magazine put out a special edition called 10 Greatest Gunfighters, and, as a historian of the American West, I had to pick the thing up. It lists the famous gunmen and includes a biography of each one. I didn’t read them in great detail because I already know the stories and the articles seemed to rehash the same old mixture of myth and reality.
Because it is difficult to separate myth from reality, I will not recount the lives of these men here. Instead, here is the list of who they consider to be the ten greatest gunslingers with a few facts about them included. I hope that you will use this as a base to explore the depth of their lives.
Wild Bill Hickok
Real Name: James Butler Hickok
Birth: May 27, 1837 in Homer, Illinois
Death: August 2, 1876 Deadwood, Dakota Territory
Death Fact: Hickok was shot while playing poker and, according to legend, was holding Ace’s and 8’s. Those cards are now known as Dead Man’s Hand.
Bat Masterson
Real Name: William Barclay Masterson
Birth: November 26, 1853 in Henryville, Canada East
Death: October 25, 1921 in New York City
Death Fact: Masterson became a sports writer and died after writing a column.
Billy the Kid
Real Name: William Henry McCarty, Jr.
Birth: Unknown – many believe he was born in New York City in 1859.
Death: July 14, 1881 in Fort Sumner, New Mexico
Death Fact: The Kid was shot by Pat Garrett, sheriff of Lincoln County, but many people believe that it really didn’t happen.
Johnny Ringo
Real Name: John Peters Ringo
Birth: May 3, 1850 in Greensfork, Indiana
Death: July 14, 1882 in Turkey Creek Canyon, Arizona
Death Fact: Ringo was found under a tree with a bullet hole in his temple.
Bill Longley
Real Name: William Preston Longley
Birth: October 6, 1851 in Mill Creek, Texas
Death: October 11, 1878 in Giddings, Texas
Death Facts: Longley claimed to have killed 32 people and was executed by hanging.
Jesse James
Real Name: Jesse Woodson James
Birth: September 5, 1847 in Clay County, Missouri
Death: April 3, 1882 in Saint Joseph, Missouri
Death Fact: James was shot by Bob Ford while dusting a picture hanging on the wall.
Pat Garrett
Real Name: Patrick Floyd Garrett
Birth: June 5, 1850 in Cusseta, Alabama
Death: February 29, 1908 near Las Cruces, New Mexico
Death Fact: Garrett was killed over an argument about goats.
Clay Allison
Real Name: Robert Clay Allison
Birth: September 2, 1840 in Clifton, Tennessee
Death: July 3, 1887 on his ranch near Pecos, Texas
Death Fact: Allison fell off a wagon and suffered a broken neck when a wheel rolled over him.
Doc Holliday
Real Name: John Henry Holliday
Birth: August 14, 1851 in Griffin, Georgia
Death: November 8, 1887 in Glenwood Springs, Colorado
Death Facts: Holliday died of tuberculosis at the Hotel Glenwood.
Kid Curry
Real Name: Harvey Alexander Logan
Birth: 1867 in Richland Township, Iowa
Death: June 1904 near Parachute, Colorado
Death Fact: Logan shot himself rather than being captured by a posse.
SBI: A Thinning Crowd 