News: Now in the library; "Genealogy of the Cooke and Cook family". New under the Moments in Time section: my "I Love Me Wall". (purely self-indulgent, I know.)
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Wild Wild West

Wild Wild West

The Wild Wild West


Matches 1 to 8 of 8    » Thumbnails Only     » Slide Show

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1
Wild Bill Hickock
Wild Bill Hickock
Folk hero of the Wild, Wild West. He fought and spied for the Union Army during the Civil War. He was the first to ever become involved in a quick draw gun fight. Apart from the legends, he is thought to have killed six or seven men in gun fights. He killed several more while working as a lawman.

He had a short career as an actor. That ended shortly after he shot a spotlight that he didn't want pointed at him. He made a good living as a professional gambler. However his life was cut short when Jack McCall, also known as "Crooked Nose" or "Broken Nose Jack", angry from losing at poker shot Wild Bill in the back of the head.

He was quickly caught and stood trial. He was found not guilty. Fearing for his safety he left Deadwood, South Dakota and ended up in Wyoming. Wyoming authorities refused to recognize the result of McCall's acquittal on the grounds that the court in Deadwood had no legal jurisdiction. He was retried and, when found guilty he was hanged in a public execution. 
 
2
Samuel Colt
Samuel Colt
God made all men, but Samuel Colt made all men equal. 
 
3
Shanghai Pierce
Shanghai Pierce
He was a cattle-man who built an empire. He ended up with one of the largest ranches in the state of Texas. 
 
4
Reverend Endicott Peabody
Reverend Endicott Peabody
Helldorado is a nickname for Tombstone, Arizona created by a disgruntled miner. Reverend Peabody was the only preacher tough enough to tame it. He was there when U.S. Deputy Marshall Morgan Earp was assassinated in March 1882... and for the follow up when U.S. Deputy Marshall Wyatt Earp and his posse, including the notorious Doc Holliday, went on a killing spree that became known as the "Earp Vendetta Ride”.

He wanted to bring the miners into his congregation but, they were a tough sell. He had to challenge their champion boxer to a fight in order to gain their trust. Many feared he'd be killed but, when he took the big man down they became friends. 
 
5
Orin Porter
Orin Porter
He was a lawman in the Utah Territory, he was nicknamed Old Port and The Destroying Angel of Mormondom. He served as bodyguard to Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, and latter Brigham Young.

He killed a number of men as a lawman. Perhaps others while working outside of the law and others in the war between Utah territory and the United States. Legend has it that, he said in 1869, "I never killed anyone who didn't need killing", a quote would be used by actor John Wayne in a movie decades later.

One Christmas Joseph smith said; "I prophesy, in the name of the Lord, you — Orrin Porter Rockwell — so long as ye shall remain loyal and true to thy faith, need fear no enemy. Cut not thy hair, and no bullet or blade can harm thee".

After that he cut his hair only once. After hearing of the balding of Smith's brother's widow due to typhoid fever, he offered his famous long hair to make a wig. 
 
6
Jesse James
Jesse James
So many stories have been told that its almost impossible to separate fact from fiction. During their 15-year crime spree, the James-Younger Gang committed 26 holdups making off with more than $200,000 and killed at least seventeen men. As to which gang member was directly responsible for which kill it is mostly speculation.

Before his life of crime he was a guerilla fighter in the Civil War and he no doubt killed many men during that period.

Who he was has become malleable over the years with his part in history dictated by the morals of the day rather than actual facts. He has been considered a war hero and is often seen as Robin Hood of the west although there is no evidence that the crimes he committed benefited anyone outside of his gang.

In the end he was shot in the back of the head by one of his own gang members, who was going to try and collect the bounty that was placed on his head. 
 
7
Joseph Henry Loveless.
Joseph Henry Loveless.
Joseph was a bootlegger who was accused of murdering his wife with an axe. He broke out of Jail and vanished. In 1991 a family looking for arrowheads found dismembered human remains in a cave. In 2019 using DNA and forensic genealogy the body was determined to be Joseph.  
 
8
Calamity Jane
Calamity Jane
The Most Notorious Woman in the Wild West. She was a frontierswoman, sharpshooter, and storyteller. Today it is hard to separate the myth from the reality.