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John Wesley Hardin Kills Sheriff

August 23, 1877 climaxed probably the most dramatic manhunt in the Old West. Although John Wesley Hardin had killed a number of men, on May 26, 1874 Hardin kills Sheriff Charles Webb in Texas and killing a lawman couldn’t be overlooked. Hardin was told that Webb wanted to kill him and capture his friend Jim Taylor. The encounter between Hardin and Webb was brief – a few words between the two men, an exchange of bullets, then Webb fell dead near the door of the Jack Wright Saloon. Hardin was wounded but escaped. For three years Hardin was able to elude the Texas Rangers by using an alias and keeping a low profile. He also moved to Florida.

But, the Rangers discovered where he was, and even though they had no authority in Florida, sent John Armstrong after him. Acting on a tip, Armstrong spotted Hardin in the smoking car of a train stopped at the Pensacola station. Local deputies were stationed at both ends of the car, and the men burst in with guns drawn. Hardin reached for the gun holstered under his jacket. The pistol caught in Hardin’s fancy suspenders, this allowed Armstrong time to club Hardin with his long-barreled .45 pistol instead of having to shoot him.

They spirited Hardin back to Texas on the next train. Hardin was tried and found guilty of killing Sheriff Webb and sentenced him to life in the Texas state prison at Huntsville. He served 15 years before the governor pardoned him.

January 4, 2025 | Categories: Old West History | Tags: John Wesley Hardin Kills Sheriff | Comments Off on John Wesley Hardin Kills Sheriff

Phoebe Ann Moses, aka Annie Oakley

This month we’ll be celebrating the birthday of Phoebe Ann Moses … If you don’t know who she is by the picture, it’s “Little Sure Shot,” Annie Oakley. Annie began trapping before age 7, and shooting and hunting by age 8, to support her siblings and her widowed mother. She sold hunted game to locals in Greenville, such as shopkeepers Charles and G. Anthony Katzenberger, who shipped it to hotels in Cincinnati and other cities. From the time she shot a squirrel for the family’s stew pot at the age of eight, she knew she had a special talent.

We all know about her talent, but what most people don’t know about is the love she and her husband had for each other, Frank Butler. Frank Butler was also a sharpshooter with his own traveling show. On Thanksgiving in 1876 they had a match, and Phoebe Ann Moses beat Frank. By June of the next year they were married in Oakley, Ohio. Phoebe Ann changed her name to “Annie Oakley”, and, as they say, the rest is history.

Even though over the years, Annie Oakley’s popularity far outdistanced her husband’s, Frank’s love for Annie grew even more. And they were always together. After injuries from a train accident and later an auto accident she retired, and Annie and Frank moved to Greenville, Ohio. Annie Oakley died in 1926 at the age of 66. Frank Butler was so devastated that he stopped eating and died 18 days later.

August 30, 2024 | Categories: Old West History | Tags: aka Annie Oakley, Phoebe Ann Moses | Comments Off on Phoebe Ann Moses, aka Annie Oakley

Kevin Costner Epic “Horizon: An American Saga”

The Western film genre has been eulogized since at least the early 1950s, but while it may occasionally falter in popularity, it’s never truly gone away. And this summer, Kevin Costner returns it to its proper place in the American cinematic firmament with his four-part Kevin Costner epic “Horizon: An American Saga”. Costner not only stars in the film, but he also returns to the director’s chair for the first time since 2003’s “Open Range” and co-wrote the script with Jon Baird.

The film co-stars an ensemble cast consisting of Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Giovanni Ribisi, Jena Malone, Abbey Lee, Michael Rooker, Danny Huston, Luke Wilson, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jeff Fahey, Will Patton, Tatanka Means, Owen Crow Shoe, Ella Hunt, Jamie Campbell Bower and Thomas Haden Church.

Described as a two-part event, the film is scheduled to premiere at the 77th Cannes Film Festival on May 19, 2024, with Chapters 1 and 2 scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States on June 28, 2024 and August 16, 2024, respectively, by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Kevin Costner first commissioned Horizon as a single film in 1988, and later approached Walt Disney Pictures with the project after the release of his 2003 film Open Range. It was announced in January 2022 that Costner was set to direct and produce the film, a passion project for him, in addition to starring. It began casting in February. In April, Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema joined the production to distribute. In a June interview, Costner stated he plans to make four movies out of the premise, and was looking to cast over 170 speaking roles.

In August, Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jamie Campbell Bower, Luke Wilson, Thomas Haden Church, Jena Malone, Alejandro Edda, Tatanka Means and Michael Rooker were cast in the film. Isabelle Fuhrman, Ella Hunt, Jeff Fahey and Tom Payne would be amongst numerous casting announcements made throughout September. In October, Will Patton, Owen Crow Shoe and Danny Huston were added to the cast.

Filming of at least the first installment began on August 29, 2022 in southern Utah, concluding in November. Filming of the second installment began by May 2023, before concluding in the summer of that year.

May 15, 2024 | Categories: Film & TV | Tags: Kevin Costner Epic | Comments Off on Kevin Costner Epic “Horizon: An American Saga”

Old West Vigilantes

One of the aspects of the Wild West that has always intrigued me was the Old West vigilantes. I can understand the frustration with how many times crime was running rampant, with towns popping up ahead of the town’s infrastructure…which included the law.

And even in more developed towns, the law was handicapped because of the number of lawmen, the territory they had to cover, the technology and even that sometimes the lawmen were also the outlaws.

Probably the most amazing aspect of the vigilantes is that they were usually known by everyone…sometimes pictures were taken…yet I’m not aware of any vigilante being tried for his actions.

Why am I talking about this at this time? This is the birthday of one of the most famous Old West vigilantes, John X. Beidler or just “X” as he was known by everyone.

He was a leader of the Montana vigilantes. Unlike most vigilantes, who tried to remain unknown, X relished the notoriety. He was the principal hangman for at least five of the vigilante’s victims, and he survived several narrow escapes in his relentless pursuit of dangerous men.

After Montana was rid of “The Innocents”…the name of the outlaw gang…the vigilantes disbanded. As an old man X fell on hard times and lived off the charity of people who remembered his service as a vigilante.

When he died in Helena, Montana, in 1890, his death certificate listed his occupation as “Public Benefactor.”

January 13, 2024 | Categories: Old West History | Comments Off on Old West Vigilantes

The James Gang’s Northfield Raid

The movies show frontier town folk as being meek and easily intimated. But this was not so. These were people who were tough enough to brave the trip to the frontier, as well as being tough enough to endure frontier life. And after 1865 many were ex-soldiers. A good example of the toughness of the frontier people is the James Gang’s Northfield Raid that took back in 1876 on September 7.

The James-Youngers were the “cock of the walk.” They were robbing everything in sight. And even though the famous Pinkerton Detective Agency was after them, the Pinkertons were stymied at every turn. So, the gang decided to go to Northfield, Minnesota and rob a bank there.

At the First National Bank, they demanded the money from the vault and Joseph Lee Heywood, the bank clerk on duty, was killed when he refused to open the safe. When the townspeople were alerted they attacked the robbers, defending their town and their savings. In the melee that followed, Nicholas Gustavson, a Swedish town resident, was killed, as were gang members Clell Miller and William Stiles.

The pursuit of the gang went on for weeks and covered 400 miles. The Youngers were eventually captured at Madelia, Minnesota, in another gun battle, in which gang member Charlie Pitts was killed. The three Younger brothers were tried in Faribault, found guilty of murder, and sentenced to life in the state prison at Stillwater.

The citizens of Northfield surrounded the bank and shot the robbers as they tried to escape. The result was that, with the exception of Jesse and Frank James, the gang was either shot up in Northfield or was captured by a posse some two weeks later.

It seems there was another gang known as the Daltons who had a similar problem in Coffeeville, Kansas.

September 7, 2023 | Categories: Old West History | Tags: James Gang's Northfield Raid | Comments Off on The James Gang’s Northfield Raid

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