List of Old West gunfighters

Last updated

This is a list of Old West gunfighters, referring to outlaws or lawmen, of the American frontier who gained fame or notoriety during the American Wild West or Old West. Some listed were never gunfighters. The term gunslinger is a modern, 20th-century invention, often used in cinema or other media to refer to men in the American Old West who had gained a reputation as being dangerous with a gun. A gunfighter may or may not be an outlaw or a lawman. An outlaw had usually been convicted of a crime, such as Black Bart, but may have only gained a reputation as operating outside the law, such as Ike Clanton. Some of those listed may have also served in law enforcement, like Marshal Burt Alvord who subsequently became an outlaw, and some outlaws like Johnny Ringo were deputized at one time or another. Some of the gunfighters listed included professionals, scouts, businessmen, and even doctors.

Contents

Outlaws

The majority of outlaws in the Old West preyed on banks, trains, and stagecoaches. Some crimes were carried out by Mexicans and Native Americans against white citizens who were targets of opportunity along the U.S.–Mexico border, particularly in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California.

For example, Pancho Villa was a bandit from Durango, Mexico who also conducted cross-border raids into New Mexico and Texas. Some individuals, like Jesse James, became outlaws after serving in the Civil War. Some were simply men who took advantage of the wildness and lawlessness of the frontier to enrich themselves at the expense of others. Some outlaws migrated to the frontier to escape prosecution for crimes elsewhere.

Lawmen

Law was present, if spread thin, in the American Old West. It was usually present on three levels: the Deputy U.S. Marshal, the county sheriff, and the town marshal or constable. Sometimes their jurisdictions overlapped which could lead to conflicts like those between Deputy U.S. Marshal Virgil Earp and Cochise County, Arizona Sheriff Johnny Behan. When an outlaw committed a crime, the local sheriff or marshal would usually form a posse to attempt to capture them. Rewards were posted for outlaws which encouraged citizens to capture or kill them for the reward, leading to the profession of bounty hunter – people who would find and capture/kill those with a bounty placed on their head by the law.

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

Y

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific Mail Steamship Company</span> American shipping company (1848-1949)

The Pacific Mail Steamship Company was founded April 18, 1848, as a joint stock company under the laws of the State of New York by a group of New York City merchants. Incorporators included William H. Aspinwall, Edwin Bartlett, Henry Chauncey, Mr. Alsop, G.G. Howland and S.S. Howland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Museum (theatre)</span>

The Boston Museum (1841–1903), also called the Boston Museum and Gallery of Fine Arts, was a theatre, wax museum, natural history museum, zoo, and art museum in 19th-century Boston, Massachusetts. Moses Kimball established the enterprise in 1841.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Matthews (architect)</span>

James Matthews was a prominent 19th-century architect in northern Scotland who also served as Lord Provost of Aberdeen from 1883 to 1886 during which time he enacted an important city improvement plan. His work as an architect is largely in the Scots baronial style.

Messager des sciences historiques, published in Ghent from 1839 to 1896, was the most important Belgian history journal of the 19th century. Most of the contents related to the history of the medieval Low Countries. The initial editorial team was made up of Jules de Saint-Genois, Constant-Philippe Serrure, Philip Blommaert, Auguste Voisin and Auguste Van Lokeren, with some involvement from Frédéric de Reiffenberg and Antoine Schayes.

References