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The Notorious Men of the Wild West

Khalid Elhassan December 4, 2019 32 min

1. Wyatt Earp’s Vengeance

Statue in the Tucson Depot, at the spot where Wyatt Earp, in the company of Doc Holliday, killed Frank Stilwell. Wikimedia

Stillwell was seen fleeing the scene of Morgan Earp’s shooting, and Wyatt Earp formed a posse to hunt the suspects. Soon thereafter, Wyattlearned that Stillwell planned to murder his other brother, Virgil, in Tucson when the train carrying him and Morgan’s coffin to California stopped there. Wyatt formed an escort to accompany Virgil, and on March 20^th, 1882, spotted Stillwell and two associates waiting in ambush near Tucson’s train station.

Stillwell and his friends ran for their lives when they spotted Wyatt, but Stillwell stumbled. By the time he got back on his feet, Wyatt Earp was upon him. “I ran straight for Stilwell,” he later recounted. “It was he who killed my brother. What a coward he was. He couldn’t shoot when I came near him. He stood there helpless and trembling for his life. As I rushed upon him he put out his hands and clutched at my shotgun. I let go both barrels, and he tumbled down dead and mangled at my feet.“

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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading

History Extra – How wild was the Wild West?

Charles C. Chaney Index Page – John King Fisher: Texas Gunslinger, Outlaw, and Lawman

Daily Beast – The Secret Story of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’s Last Tango

Encyclopedia Britannica – Butch Cassidy

Historic Nebraska – Sam Bass and the Big Springs Robbery

History Junkie – Charlie Bowdre Facts

History Net – Clay Allison: Good Natured Holy Terror

Indiana Genealogy Trail – Jackson County Indiana: The Legend of the Reno Gang

Legends of America – New Mexico Bad Boy Clay Allison

Legends of America – James Miller, Hired Killer of the Old West

Legends of America – Reno Gang & the 1^st Big Train Robbery

National Geographic History Magazine, January 17^th, 2019 – Jesse James: Rise of an American Outlaw

Northfield Historical Society – The Bank Raid

Spartacus Educational – Frank Reno

Texas State Historical Association – Fisher, John King

Texas State Historical Association – Hardin, John Wesley

True West Magazine, May 2^nd, 2008 – Brazen Bill Brazelton Shot to Blazes

True West Magazine, January, 2016 – Charlie Bowdre’s Wardrobe Malfunction

Wikipedia – Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch

Wikipedia – Frank Stilwell

Wikipedia – Union Pacific Big Springs Robbery

Wild West Org – Wild West Outlaws and Lawmen

The Grunge – The Crazy Real-Life Story of John Wesley Hardin

History Net – Deacon Jim Miller: Killing in Deacon’s Clothing

History Collection – 5 Deadly Gunfighters of the Old West

Texas Hill Country – Man in the Long Black Coat: Jim Miller, the Old West’s Deadliest Psycho

History Collection – America’s First Serial Killers and Many More Deadly Historic Figures

True West Magazine – Did John Miller Was Killed Pat Garrett?

The Ada News – 1909: Four Men Lynched, No One Convicted

The Oklahoman – Ada Citizens Recall Tales of Hangings

Daily Telegraph – Reno Gang’s Great Train Robbery of 1868

History Collection – Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’s Escapades, and Other Lesser-Known Historic Events

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.