John Wesley Hardin killed his first man when he was just 15, and went on to kill as many as 44 as a gunfighter and outlaw in the Wild West during the late 19th century.
American Stock Archive / Getty ImagesJohn Wesley Hardin always maintained that he never killed anyone who did n’t demand violent death .
By his own account , John Wesley Hardin was a piece more often sinned against than a sinner himself .
A gentlemanly gambler who made most of his money reckon on horses or apportion in oxen , Hardin left his mark on account as one of the Wild West ’s most skilled gunmen , kill at least 21 humanity in duels and ambuscade between 1868 and 1877 . Hardin himself , however , put that act closer to 44 .
American Stock Archive/Getty ImagesJohn Wesley Hardin always maintained that he never killed anyone who didn’t need killing.
Of of course , a man with that many kills is truss to make some enemy along the way of life — especially if he ’s catch a $ 4,000 amplitude on his head teacher , spends his days gaming and drunkenness , and takes another man ’s wife as his lover .
This is the story of John Wesley Hardin , one of the most infamous outlaws of the Western frontier .
John Wesley Hardin’s Early Life And First Kill
Born on May 26 , 1853 , to John Gibson Hardin and Mary Elizabeth Dixon , “ Wes ” Hardin was think to be a sermoniser . His parents name him John Wesley after the founder of the Methodist branch of Protestantism , but it seemed that he was n’t meant for the clerical lifestyle .
grant toOld West , Hardin witnessed his first murder at the age of 8 . By 9 , all he want to do was get together the Confederate Army , and by his own explanation , he committed his first act of violence while he was still in schooling , jab a schoolfellow after a fight over a little girl .
In 1868 , John Wesley Hardin was 15 years old , and he kill his first man .
Public DomainHardin wrote an autobiography of his life in which he confesses to more murders than he was officially found guilty of.
Hardin was wrestling with a former enslaved piece who choke by the name of Maje . The fight got heated , and they were separated , but Hardin refused to leave with the grievance , ostensibly , unsettled .
Public DomainHardin wrote an autobiography of his life sentence in which he confesses to more murder than he was formally found guilty of .
burden up his horse , Old Paint , Hardin overran Maje on the route and accused the man of being a coward . He nibble up a joint and began beat Maje with it , and when Maje run off , Hardin shot him , not intending to kill the man . But when he pick up up to Maje , the freedman was cough up blood .
Public DomainUnfortunately, Hardin’s wife died while he was in prison, and his children wanted nothing to do with the reformed criminal.
That ’s how Hardin described the incident , at least . Another reading of the upshot recorded by a Freedmen Bureau Agent claim that Hardin shot Maje simply because he fend up for himself . Whatever the verity may be , Hardin ’s spirit of crime and violence was only start .
John Wesley Hardin’s Life As A Gambler And A Gunman
Officially , Hardin realize a living as a cattleman and a gambler , but for one reason or another , he obtain himself at odds with a fairish issue of people — and tons wound up dead because of it .
After the incident with Maje , Hardin fled to his brother ’s mansion 25 miles north in Sumpter , Texas , where , according to theTexas State Historical Association , he claimed to have kill four Union soldier who were attempting to arrest him .
Three years later , in 1871 , he travel to Abilene , Kansas , and kill seven more people along the way . He also manage to get the draw on the famous marshal , Wild Bill Hickok — a effort many attribute to Hardin ’s unequaled cross - draw method acting , keeping his guns in shoulder holsters rather than at his side .
Bettmann/Getty ImagesA photograph of John Wesley Hardin after he died.
Along the way , he married a unseasoned woman named Jane Bowen , and the duo had a Word and two daughters . alas , a category was n’t enough cause for Hardin to settle down .
He claim in his autobiography that he never killed anyone who did n’t merit it , but another story he recounted casts some dubiousness on that claim .
One dark , while Hardin was stay on at a hotel in Abilene , a gentleman named Charles Couger was snore loudly in the room next door to his . Hardin pound up on the paries , but the human did n’t awaken up .
To prove and awaken the man , Wes open fire his gun and dash a bullet through the wall . When the snore block up and the man made no other phone , Hardin realized he had aimed too low — and shot the man numb .
Public DomainUnfortunately , Hardin ’s married woman died while he was in prison , and his children want nothing to do with the reformed crook .
However , the incident that solidify John Hardin ’s berth in history came in 1874 , on his 21st birthday .
observe a big profits at the horse airstream , Hardin and a few familiar got fantastically intoxicated and drew the ire of Comanche , Texas , deputy sheriff Charles Webb . The two got into a duel , and Hardin won .
The murder reportedly enraged the town so much that they lynched Hardin ’s comrade and first cousin , forcing him to go on the run and a $ 4,000 bounty to be place on his head .
Wes Hardin’s Years In Prison Changed Him — But Not Enough
It took six year for the jurisprudence to catch up to Hardin . By 1877 , he was living under a new name , J.H. Swain , with his wife ’s kinsperson in Pensacola , Florida .
A mathematical group of Texas Rangers led by John Armstrong had managed to track him down and happen him on a rider gearing car with a few of his friends . Hardin recognized Armstrong directly and run to draw his gun — but it got caught in his gallus .
One of Hardin ’s friends fired a shot at Armstrong , blasting his hat right off his top dog . In response , Armstrong shot the man through his heart .
With nowhere to fly the coop and his throttle still stuck , Armstrong and his men finally caught their man .
grant toEncyclopedia Britannica , they took him back to Austin where he was try on for the slaying of Charles Webb and sentence to 25 years in prison in September 1877 .
And although he made multiple escape attempts , Hardin also interpret up on theology and police and even became super of the prison house ’s Sunday School .
Unfortunately , his endeavor to lead a decent life did n’t quite pan out out .
Bettmann / Getty ImagesA photograph of John Wesley Hardin after he die .
In 1895 , Hardin was act as a defense attorney for Martin Mroz , a cows stealer who had fled to Mexico . While work out Mroz ’s suit , Hardin take an interest in his client ’s wife , and soon enough , the two became lover .
Mroz base out about the thing and sought to render to El Paso from Mexico , enlisting the help of lawman George Scarborough to get across .
Unfortunately for Mroz , Scarborough twice - crossed him , and Mroz was gun down by several lawmen at the border . It was rumored that Hardin hired the men to assassinate his client before he could get revenge .
But on Aug. 19 , 1895 , one of the lawmen imply in Mroz ’s murder , John Selman , feel Wes Hardin in the Acme Saloon in El Paso — and shoot him in the back of the head .
Some have argued Selman ’s slaying was a result of not being paid for kill Mroz , others say that Selman and Hardin had been postulate in a long and acid feud .
In either caseful , John Wesley ’s Hardin biography ended that sidereal day in the Acme Saloon , but his legacy has live on .
After reading about John Wesley Hardin ’s life outside the law , read about another Wild West icon : Calamity Jane . Or , learn aboutnine outlawswho wreaked havoc all across the frontier .
