Flying lead!

[ZVP]

I've been reading up on the Old West Gunfights lately in a book called "Draw" by James Reasoner. A good read!
I bought another actually written by Bat Masterson Called "Famous Gunfights of the Western Frontier" and I'm chompin at the bit to get one finished and start another!
It's almost funny how much lead gott hrown around without hitting anyone or at least connect with the intended target. Knowing full well the fear and stress such situations create, I can see why all the misses!
Apparently getting the "Drop" on your opponent then firing, a good many if not most first shots missed!
What gets me is the actions of the bystanders. Rather than run far and fast they stay dangerously close just to watch the action. In almost every occurance, innocent bystandrs got hit or killed.
Me?
I'd RUN!
Someone will tell you what you missed...
The accounts within these books are as accurate as can be reserched and written up likewise.
Having never been to Toumbstone I don't know why but I have read of 2 non connectec gunfights that happened in front of the Newspaper Office! What a convience!
Maybe the area in front of the Office is prime shoot-out geography?
Anyhow for under $10 (shipped) these books are great reads for any Old West fan. Amazon is full of books about the sport/hobby of CAS and some good history books too! Just the thing for light Summer reading.
ZVP

[Noz]

There is an old story of two drunken cowboys, each with two guns and an imaginary offence.

They proceeded to the stree and did the classic walk down. They each emptied their guns, threw their arms around each other and swore eternal friendship and went back into the bar for another drink.



Read some of the accounts of police gunfights. Many bullets thrown for no effect.

[Hardcase]

The past few months, I've been spending my precious Saturdays at the Idaho Historical Archives doing family research. Looking through the microfilms of the District Court in Boise County from around 1867 through about 1875, there were quite a few shootouts. Not the classic Main Street cowboy kind, of course, just the two guys with guns and a grudge.

I can't find any cases where both men were armed and anybody was found guilty. Not a one. It looks to me like all the juries were interested in finding out was whether both men had a gun. If they did, then it was a fair fight and the ruling was self defense.

William McConnell, in his book on early Idaho history, claims that not a single man was punished for murder in the first ten years that Idaho was a territory. That is, I should say, punished by a jury...

Oh, and in almost all of the court cases that I scanned through, the weapons of choice were Colt's .36 caliber Navy revolvers.

[Southron]

What's this I hear about people in the Old West standing around and watching gunfights! HA! Let me tell you about the "New South."

Approximately ten years ago a fella that had taken a shine to a teenage girl kidnapped her from her home in front of her parents. Like any self-respecting Georgia redneck, he was driving his new Pick-um-up truck.

The girl's very frantic parents call the cops, tell them what happened and gave them a complete description of the Redneck's Pick-um-up-truck-including the tag number.

Cops spot Pick-um-up-truck and HIGH SPEED CHASE STARTS in the "Shopping Mall District" in the edge of town by the Interstate.

The Redneck, probably planning on running into a Wal-Mart store and disappearing into the crowd, turns off road to swerve into the edge of a Wal-Mart parking lot.

The High Speed Turn (along with the truck's high, Gonzilla 'Mud Boggin" Tires) was a bit much, because the Pick-um-up-truck rolls over several times on edge of the Wal-Mart parking lot, ending up, UPSIDE DOWN!

Cop cars roar into the Wal-Mart parking lot with sirens and blue lights going.

Redneck, hanging upside down by his seat belt and shoulder harness in his Pick-em-up-truck starts blazing gunfight with cops.

The Cops, for some silly reason, start returning the fire.

HALF OF THE CUSTOMERS AND MOST OF THE STAFF IN WAL-MART RUN OUT OF THE BUILDING AND INTO THE PARKING LOT, TO STAND AROUND AND WATCH THE GUNFIGHT!

Cops ventilate Redneck-who expires hanging upside down in his Pick-um-up-truck.

The kidnapped girl who was hanging upside down in the truck's passenger seat during the gunfight is unharmed and AMAZINGLY, not one spectator was hit by a stray bullet!!!!

(1) Moral of this story? Gunfights at Wal-Mart stores in de SOUTH will always gather a crowd!!!

(2) The West "Wasn't Wild" until a bunch of Redneck Southerner's got out there before and after the War of Northern Aggression!

[Hardcase]

Good lord, Southron, that was nuts!

(2) The West "Wasn't Wild" until a bunch of Redneck Southerner's got out there before and after the War of Northern Aggression!

There's more than a germ of truth there, at least in my neck of the woods. During the Boise Basin gold rush of the early to mid 1860s, the majority of men in the area were Southern boys. During the Civil War, when news came into town of a Confederate victory, they'd whoop it up in the Miner's Exchange until some Yankee would be fool enough to open his mouth...then the fighting would commence. And just the opposite for Union victories, although there were not quite as many Yankees as there were Rebels.

The Pioneer Cemetery in Idaho City is big - very big - and most of the graves are from fellas who were either slower to draw or worse of aim (or Chinese without the money to send their bodies back home.)

And, just to top things off, since Idaho became a territory with the stroke of Abraham Lincoln's pen, all of the judges and state officials were appointed by the Union. But the sheriffs and local officials were elected...by the Southern majority. So the sheriff tended to not arrest the Southerners and the Judges tended to dismiss the charges against the Northerners. The prison above Elk Creek in Idaho City was a decidedly lonely place for many years.

I'm pretty sure that Idaho is not unique in that regard. Reading history books written in the early 1900s about the West and its political development is almost like reading about the Keystone Kops of government service - it's hilarious!

[bedbugbilly]

The "gawking" really doesn't surprise me at all . . . after working as a firefighter and working ambulance . . . . I guess it's part of "human nature" . . . they aren't thinking about the harm that could come to them . . . they want to "see the action". No different that people slowing down to view an accident as they drive by.

Great thread by the way! I'be been to Tombstone several times . . . can't answer the question of "why in front of the newspaper office" . . . but any street in Tombstone could accomodate a shoot out. It's an interesting town and if you ever get the chance, it is well worth the trip. Some shops for the tourist for sure but they do have a nice bus tour that takes you around and points out the historical places. It is interesting to see the places you've read about and I highly recommend a lunch break in "Big Nose Kates" saloon - great food and great entertainment. The folks in Tombstone are just plain "good people".

To the OP - thanks for the post . . . I'm going to pick those books up as they sound like a good read!

[bedbugbilly]

Hardcase - I forgot to mention that I "winter" in the "Confederate Territory of Arizona" - this "northern boy" fits right in there . . . and at times, it seems like it is still like the "old west"! A great state with lots of old west history . . . by the way . . . 2012 is the centennial of Arizona's statehood . . . .

[OutlawJoseyWales]

That was too funny.

But won't you be considered racist for posting this?
Just kiddin'

I'm old south and totallly understand and believe it.

OJW