Page 73 - All About History - Issue 12-14

WYATT EARP’S WILD WEST

TOM HORN

1860-1903
Horn was at one time a lawman, scout, soldier, hired gunman, assassin
and outlaw, fluidly shifting from one side of the law to the other. During
his eventful life, Horn reportedly garnered fame for his tracking abilities,
bringing many outlaws to justice and then, once his appetite for blood
became too problematic – he was linked to the unlawful murder of 17
people – he had to turn to mercenary work, fulfilling contract killings
with brutal efficiency. His legacy of murder only came to a close when
he was captured after his killing of a 14-year-old boy in 1901.
KILLS: 35-50
Did he ride off into the sunset? Horn was captured, tried and hanged
in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on 20 November 1903.

JESSE JAMES CHEROKEE BILL

1847-1882 1876-1896
Along with his brother Frank, Jesse led a gang The outlaw actually called Crawford Goldsby was known for his fast and
that robbed banks, trains and stagecoaches. itchy trigger finger. In a period of two years from the age of 18, Bill along
Before turning to crime, Jesse had been a with his gang robbed, pillaged, maimed and killed anyone who stood in
guerilla fighter in the Confederate Army, but their way, with Goldsby earning the reputation of one of the meanest
when the Union triumphed in the American outlaws of the Old West. Goldsby even shot and killed his own brother-
Civil War, he was left disenchanted. James in-law Mose Brown in an argument over a simple bunch of hogs. Despite
famously shot a clerk while holding up the the terror he inflicted, two years later he was caught and imprisoned,
Daviess County Savings Association bank in later going on to hang for his various crimes.
Gallatin, Missouri, living permanently on the KILLS: 7
run along with his gang from the event until
his death. After James’ death rumours spread Did he ride off into the sunset? At the age of just 20, Goldsby was
that he had survived, but there is no evidence hanged as a convicted murderer at Fort Smith, Arkansas.
to suggest this was true. Frank James, on the
other hand, slipped the noose, living to the
age of 72 and dying years later in 1915.
KILLS: 1-5 JIM ‘KILLER’ MILLER
Did he ride off into the sunset? James was 1866-1909
shot through the back of the head by fellow Legend has it that Miller survived more duels than any other person.
outlaw Robert Ford – who hoped to cash in The most famous duel was with Pecos Sheriff George A ‘Bud’ Frazer,
on his bounty – on 3 April 1882. where Miller was set on by Frazer and shot four times in the chest. He
gang rushed him to a doctor where it was revealed he had been wearing
a steel plate under his clothes across his chest, which saved his life. Two
years later, he tracked Frazer down and executed him with a shotgun.
ROBERT CLAY KILLS: 14

ALLISON Did he ride off into the sunset? Miller was dragged from prison and
hanged by a lynch mob on 19 April 1909.

1840-1887
While Allison did not rack up the
largest body count in the Old DALLAS STOUDENMIRE
West, the way in which he killed was
brutal. Allison cut the head off a man and 1845-1882
displayed it on a pole outside a saloon, Stoudenmire was one of the most feared gunslingers of his day, with
hung another publicly after gunning him him ruling the rough and violent city of El Paso, Texas, with an iron fist.
down over a minor disagreement and Shortly after arriving in El Paso, Stoudenmire would be involved in one
executed many others with point-blank of the most famous gunfights of the American Old West – the Four
headshots. On 7 January 1874, Allison Dead in Five Seconds shoot-out. Within one year Stoudenmire had killed
accepted an invitation to eat with a six men in shoot-outs and executed a would-be assassin – the latter
known gunman called Chunk Colbert, sent to hell with eight gunshot wounds.
despite knowing that Colbert was
trying to kill him. While eating the KILLS: 10
meal, Colbert tried to draw on Did he ride off into the sunset? His luck ran out in 1882 when he
Allison, however he was too slow was shot to death in a shoot-out.
and shot through the head by Clay.
KILLS: 6 What were the Frontier’s © Joe Cummings; Corbis; Peter Scott/The Art Agency/ Thinkstock; Map of Arizona by FreeVectorMaps.com
Did he ride off into the sunset? Allison
fell from a wagon and broke his neck on deadliest shoot-outs? Find out at…
historyanswers.co.uk
3 July 1887.

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