Top Gunfights of the Old West

the old American West is full of colorful characters and tons of interesting stories today we're going to be discussing one of the staples of the American West the gun battle for the gun fight these are the top gun fights of the American Old West Wild Bill Hickok versus Davis Tutt jr. July 21st 1865 Springfield Missouri the Lion House in Springfield Missouri was the site of the most famous and one of the few prearranged quick-draw duels in the Old West it started out as a heated drunken card table quarrel some say that it was a dispute over a watch that led gambler Dave Tut into this fatal mismatch with Wild Bill Hickok others say it was over a prostitute either way the short decisive two-shot battle in the town square the following July evening at 6:00 p.m. would turn Hickok into a legend it turned Tut into a body lying face down on the road the two men were about 75 yards apart from each other with cap and ball revolvers when Hickok said Dave don't come any closer most certainly a difficult shot with any civil war-era peace pipe snapped off the first shot and missed Hickok took a split second longer steadied his gun with his left hand carefully aimed and hit Tut in the chest and just like that it ended the fast draw duels were extremely rare in the Old West but this one had a major influence on Hollywood where they've been a staple in many Western films one difference though is how Hickok proved that accuracy always takes precedence over speed alone Harry Morse versus Juan Soto May 10 1869 and then a gargantuan cross-eyed burly bandido named Juan Soto Morse received a tip that Soto was hiding out in the Sausalito Valley high in the Coast Range of Central California near Hollister this led Moore's and a group of law men to the clearing of adobe's they split up and more centered one of them with a posse member named Theodore Winchell inside they found Soto lounging at a table with some women and some compadres Morse then drew as Smith and Wesson and a spectacular gunfight for the ages ensued complete with pistols and rifles at close range but Soto didn't budge at all he just sat there menacingly Morse ordered Winchell to cuff the heavy outlaw Winchell responded by losing his nerve and quickly fleeing out the door in terror leaving Morse short-handed two of Soto's thugs grabbed the sheriff while Soto rose to his feet and struggled to draw his pistols somehow Morse managed to exit the Adobe without being shot by Soto who pursued him with his pistol in hand outside Morse miraculously dodged several shots from Soto who was now armed with three five shooters the dramatic battle had Morse's men believing that their partner was hit ultimately Morris would prevail with a hundred plus yards shot two solos head killing him this cemented Morse's reputation as the best known peace officer and man hunter on the Pacific coast newton general massacre August 20th 1871 Newton Kansas Newton Kansas located about 25 miles north of Wichita logged its wildest year in 1871 in its short existence as the end of the track rail head on the Chisholm Trail and the unfriendly us getting of Cowboys and rail head workers in the West on August 11th a hot headed railroad Foreman and part-time lawman mike.mccluskey got into it with a hard-drinking Lone Star gambler known as William Bailey over some election results the fistfight between the two men and the red front saloon turned into a gunfight outside McCluskey shot first killing Bailey and fleeing now Bailey's horde of Texas Cowboys promised revenge on McCluskey if he ever returned about an hour after midnight on August 20th McCluskey returned Bailey's Avengers led by a cowboy named Hugh Anderson found the man at the table in Perry Tuttle's dance hall you are a cowardly son of a [ __ ] Anderson told McCluskey and I will blow the top of your head off Anderson fired low hitting McCluskey in the net down went McCluskey furiously firing slugs several more Cowboys then opened fire along with the young friend of McCluskey's named Jim Riley who emptied his barrel into the smoky scene it was the ultimate saloon fight in the place exploded with crossfire all the black power emitted clouds a white smoke that filled the saloon making the visibility difficult the final toll when the smoke and utter chaos had cleared was five dead and six wounded mike.mccluskey would live until the following morning claiming just before his death that his real name was Arthur Delaney Northfield bank raid September 7th 1876 Northfield Minnesota this day became the second worst day of Jesse James's life about 2:00 in the afternoon the legendary outlaw rode into the little town south of Minneapolis called Northfield he was accompanied by his gang which consisted of his brother Frank the younger brothers and a couple other sturdy outlaws they intended it to be an easy off the radar money grab at the First National Bank instead a martyred bank clerk refused to open the safe the alarm was raised and the mobilized towns folk brought the fight to the james-younger gang in a devastating shootout which wiped out much of the game the citizens had no idea who these guys were but it would come out later and shock them this gunfight stands out because it was everyday citizens who took on the most notorious feared and accomplished gang of Outlaws to ever ride in the Old West and they defeated him Jesse and Frank James narrowly escaped this one but the loss of the youngers led to the outlaws association with the four brothers this would ultimately lead to the worst and last day of Jesse's violent life there is little doubt that there is a direct correlation between Northfield and the end of Jesse James Luke short versus long hair Jim Court right February 8 1881 Fort Worth Texas this clash between two gun fighters was sparked by a fairly mundane dispute over gambling hall kickbacks Luke Short was a dapper gambler and saloon keeper hood once dealt for the house at the Oriental saloon in Tombstone he recently sold a stake in Fort Worth's elephant saloon Timothy Isaiah long hair Jim Kortright was an ex Fort Worth marshal who was back in Cowtown running a detective agency that was little more than a gas tortion operation when Kortright approached short about protection money for the white elephant short told him where to go the town's fault then started talking about something brewing between the two men and it was the beginning of a classic gunfight scene straight out of the movies on the fateful night a drunken Kortright entered town and called out Shore the two men stood face to face at close range outside of the white elephant the fight was well documented and short took off court rites Tom on the first shot unable to [ __ ] his pistol Kortright tried to switch hands too late short had already shot him two times in the chest but the duels aftermath wasn't short on ironing the building Kortright fell against when he died was the target practice spot called the shooting gallery the two men are buried just a few feet apart in Fort Worth's Oakwood Cemetery El Paso gunfight April 14th 1881 El Paso Texas one of the most famous instant blood baths of the era was dubbed as a for dead and five seconds gunfight this was triggered by murders in El Paso Texas of two young Vaqueros who had been tracking a herd of stolen Mexican cattle a large angry Mexican posse was seeking an invest gation in a search would lead to the bodies of the missing farmhands at the ranch of Johnny Hill and well-known cattle thief this led to an inquest with the El Paso constable Gus creme cow serving as a Spanish interpreter later on at a saloon it also led to some heated words between prim cow and Hills friend George Campbell who was an ex city marshal who suddenly grabbed one of Campbell's pistols and fatally shot creme Cal from a few feet away Dallas Stoudamire who was El Paso's new marshal heard the ruckus from a nearby restaurant and joined the fray with his Colt 45 s raised student Myers first shots missed Hale killing a Mexican bystander his next fatal shot hit Hale square in the head Stoudamire then turned his pistol on Campbell who had exited the saloon claiming it wasn't his fight and pumping three bullets into his stomach for dead in five seconds or so and it was Stoudamire first week on the job gunfight at the OK Corral October 26 1881 Tombstone Arizona Territory fate was definitely on the side of the law on October 26 1881 Virgil and Morgan Earp along with her brother Wyatt and friend Doc Holliday gunned down the Clanton and McLaury brothers in the back lot behind the OK Corral during a brief and pitiless encounter when all was said and done in about 30 seconds three cowboy ruffians lay dead while Virgil Morgan and Holliday were wounded to varying degrees the only one unscathed was Wyatt earth and has long been debated over who was right and who was wrong and who shot first regardless Sheriff John behan of Cochise County witnessed the shootout and charged the IRB's and Holliday with murder a month later a judge cleared them of any wrongdoing the famous shootout has been immortalized in many stories books and movies in Hollywood it's almost as much American folklore as George Washington and the cherry tree Wyatt outlived his peers and was eager to have the 20th century audience that would redeem his story and boost him to have his own reputation as a premier gunfighter in the American West nevertheless he has forever sealed his place in the Old West Frisco shootout December 1st 1884 Frisco now called reserve in New Mexico a bold 19-year old New Mexican named el fuego Baca armed himself with a pair of six-shooters and a phony kids badge he then took it upon himself to arrest a drunken cowboy named Charlie McCarty who was busy shooting at the feet of Mexican citizens in the small town of Frisco to make them dance next McCarty's foreman joined by a gang of buddies domain and McCarty's release Baca gave them 3 seconds to leave and then began firing killing the foreman and leading to a mob of cowboy men to return the next morning Baca took cover in a tiny Hut hunkering in the recessed dirt floor half below the ground he got off some shots while weathering an assault that allegedly sprayed the hut with four thousand bullets 367 alone were in the door the day siege turned in tonight and then today once again when it was over for cowboy assailants would be dead and Baca was very much alive cooking breakfast in the back or so the story goes the siege finally ended with bakas negotiated surrender under sheriff's supervision he faced a couple of murder trials got to acquittals and went on to a long prosperous life as an attorney school superintendent and a politician KC ranch standoff April 8th 1892 Johnson County Wyoming the remote KC ranch was the site of a valiant standoff between a local homesteader Nate champion and a large band of hired gunmen the Battle of Wyoming's Johnson County war was a messy highly symbolic engagement between small farmers and wealthy ranchers it would ultimately involve the US Cavalry intervention at the Maine ta ranch siege site under the town of Buffalo there were many fatalities in the Johnson County War and most all were ambushes and outright assassinations however Nate champion who was high up on the cattle Baron's Rustler hit-list managed to hold off 50 or so invaders for an entire day while cornered in the tiny cabin with a dying friend a pistol and a rifle during a frigid night a group of hired guns and a ranch foreman for the powerful Wyoming stock Growers Association had surrounded champions cabin he captured two innocent trappers on the property and picked off champions partner Nick Ray who had ventured outside the following morning to look for them champion dragged the fatally shot ray back inside the cabin held off the murderous siege for hours while nursing his dying friend at the same time he jotted notes in a later retrieved diary he also enabled enough time for the alarm in a counter-attack Posse to be raised in Buffalo the invaders already knew they had to give champion a little room he had already been attacked by half a dozen stock detectives out to get him the previous November he single-handedly fended them off with one gun when they busted into his cabin that was how his legend began and Kacie was how it ended they had set the cabin on fire and it forced him to escape later that afternoon champion bolted for a nearby ravine and ran straight into mortal enemy fire the cabin is long gone now but the town of Casey remains a testament to the Wyoming's most famous holdout champion became known as the bravest man in Johnson County the Dalton raid October 5th 1892 Coffeyville Kansas the Dalton Gang had been so successful in their outlaw ways that they decided to do something that no other gang had before robbed two banks at the same time during the daylight however it wasn't fully thought out the Dalton Gang had picked a town that the Dalton's were known in and they had horrible fake beard disguises they hitched their horses up way too far away from the banks due to construction on the road in front of them the quick-thinking banker in one Bank told the gang that the safe was on a timer and it wouldn't open for ten more minutes this was a complete lie it did allow the counts folk to gather weapons and ammo at the local hardware store so they could fight back and that's exactly what they did the gun battle lasted for 12 minutes and bullets were flying everywhere when it was over for Dalton gang members were dead and one was severely injured with 23 gunshot wounds 3 town citizens were dead along with the town marshal four other citizens were wounded the Dalton raid went down as one of the biggest disasters of the American West bottom line don't rob banks in Coffeyville Kansas Battle of Ingles September 1st 1893 Engels Oklahoma Territory this incident has been described as being the deadliest battle ever fought between the Old West outlaws and the deputy US Marshals the short but vicious affair left three federal law men plus two town's citizens dead making it one of the greatest law enforcement debacles at the tail end of the Old West era it began when the members of the recently assembled Doolin Dalton Gang aka the Wild Bunch were discovered hiding out in the tiny town of Ingalls Oklahoma Territory this was about one year after the famous shootout in Coffeyville Kansas where the Dalton Gang was annihilated during the double bank robbery attempt one of the Dalton brothers not involved bill hadn't learned a thing from his brothers life of crime he teamed up with Bill doolan's gang they were a group of Cowboys that turned to robbing trains and banks on a briefly quiet morning a surprise posse of heavily armed deputy marshals and other law entered Engels in three covered wagons no words were exchanged when the gang member George bitter Creek Newcombe exited the town saloon and narrowly missed the first gunshot a fatal Hill of retaliatory bullets thrashed the lawman while all but one of the sharp shooting dueling gang members escaped the battle was won but the war would soon be lost within a few short years the dueling gang were all hunted down and killed this has been the top gun fight battles of the American Old West thank you for watching I hope you learned something and we'll see you guys next time [Music] you

Channel: RhettyforFun

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Keywords: Old West, American West, Cowboys, Outlaws, Bandits, Criminals, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Dalton Gang, Doolin Gang, Bill Hickok, James-Younger Gang, Jesse James, Frank James, Cole Younger, Elfego Baca, Morgan Earp, Virgil Earp, Northfield, Minnesota, O.K.Corral, Arizona, Oklahoma, Ingalls, Kansas, New Mexico, California, Wyoming, Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma Territory, Arizona Territory, Tombstone, Frisco, El Paso, Fort Worth, Wild West, Stories, Tales, Lawmen, 1800's, West, Frontier, 19th Century

Id: _XokXXlgOUw

Length: 18min 19sec (1099 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 20 2020