Gunfighter List – Page 13 – Legends of America (original) (raw)
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Jim Taylor (1852-1875) – The son of Pitkin Taylor, Jim swore revenge on the Sutton faction when his father died in 1873 during the Sutton-Taylor feud. He quickly assumed his father’s leadership role and aimed for Sutton faction leader, William Sutton. On April 1, 1873, he led a band of men to a Cuero, Texas saloon and shot at Sutton through the door, wounding him. He again tried to kill him in June, but Sutton was able to escape. In July, Jim Taylor and John Wesley Hardin shot down Jack Helm. Finally, when Sutton, along with his wife and friends, Gabriel Slaughter and his wife, tried to leave the country by boarding a steamer at Indianola, Texas on March 11, 1874, the two men were shot down by Jim and his brother, Billy. Retaliation from the Sutton group continued until December 27, 1875, when Jim was charged by a Sutton posse in Clinton, Texas and he was killed. After his death, the feud finally began to lose its steam.
John “Jack” Hays Taylor (1842-1869) – A gunfighter, Jack was the son of renowned Texas Ranger Creed Taylor. Though Jack inherited his father’s talent with guns, he didn’t follow in his footsteps as a hero.
Phillip G. Taylor, aka: Do’boy (1843-1871) – A gunfighter and son of Creed Taylor, Phillip was with his brother, Jack, when he killed to cavalry soldiers at Fort Mason, Texas.
Pitkin Taylor (18??-1873) – A gunman and brother to renowned Texas Ranger, Creed Taylor, Pitkin led the Taylors in the Sutton-Taylor feud which began in 1868. The Sutton faction, many of which were lawmen, had been aggressive in killing off the Taylors and Pitkin’s death would be no different. Typical of the methods often utilized by the Sutton group, they tricked him into coming out of his house in October of 1872. Hiding in a cornfield, Sutton sympathizers lured him out the door by ringing a cowbell. When Pitkin came out of the house he was shot and seriously wounded. Though he initially survived, he died six months later. His son, Jim Taylor, swore revenge upon his killers, further fueling the feud.
William “Billy’ Taylor (18??-1875) – The son of Pitkin Taylor and brother of Jim Taylor, Billy fought with other family members in the Sutton-Taylor feud, especially after his father was killed. On March 11, 1874, Billy and his brother Jim killed William Sutton and Gabriel Slaughter as they tried to flee Texas on board a steamship bound for New Orleans. Billy was later arrested for the crime and jailed in Indianola but when that seaside town was hit with a hurricane on September 15, 1875, the prisoners were let out in order to spare their lives. Though they were ordered to return, they didn’t. Later that year, Billy’s brother Jim was killed by a Sutton posse in Clinton, Texas on December 27, 1875, and the feud was soon over. in 1877, Taylor was arrested and was placed in an Austin, Texas jail, along with other notorious inmates which included John Wesley Hardin, Johnny Ringo, and members of the Sam Bass Gang. He was later released and in 1878 found himself in jail again in Cuero, Texas charged with horse theft, assault, and forgery. However, either the charges were dropped or he received a short sentence because he was said to have been in Kimball County in 1881. Afterward, he moved to Indian Territory, where family members said he became a lawman and was killed in the line of duty.
Kyle Terry – A Texas gunman, Terry killed Henry Williams in February 1886 in Houston, Texas, shotgunned Ned Gibson on January 21, 1888, at Wharton. Volney Gibson shot and killed Terry on January 21, 1890, in Galveston.
Edwin “Ed” Tewksbury (18??-1904) – A gunman and lawman, Edwin moved with his family to the Pleasant Valley of Arizona in 1880 where they raised cattle. Some years later, with his father, John, and brothers, James and John, Jr., they began to raise sheep, which to the local cattlemen, was abominable. The Tewksburys quickly found themselves at odds with the Hash Knife cowboys and the nearby ranching family of the Grahams. The cowboys believed that sheep ruined grazing land for cattle and began to ambush the Tewksburys. The feud between the two factions became known as the Pleasant Valley War. The first time, when several cowboys tried to sneak up on the Tewsburys at their camp in 1887, Edwin spied them, shouted a warning, and Jim Tewsbury shot and killed one of them. Later that year, on September 2, their camp was ambushed again and John Tewsbury, Jr. and a man named Bill Jacobs were killed. The hostilities in the area soon ended; however, years later, John Graham was shot and fatally wounded on August 2, 1892, near Tempe, Arizona. Before he died the next day, he stated that the shooters were Ed Tewksbury and John Roades. The two men were arrested but eventually were acquitted. Later, Edwin became a constable in Globe County, then deputy sheriff of Gila County. He died of natural causes in Globe, Arizona.
James “Jim” Tewksbury (18??-1888) – Brother of Edwin Tewksbury, Jim was also involved in the Pleasant Valley War against opposing cowboys. After the Grahams offered a 500rewardforthedeathofanysheepherderanda500 reward for the death of any sheepherder and a 500rewardforthedeathofanysheepherderanda1,000 reward for the deaths of the patriarch, John Tewksbury and his son, John, Jr., Jim got actively involved in the feud. The Tewksburys were forced to move their herds from camp to camp and when several cowboys planned to ambush them, Jim killed one of the Hash Knife cowboys. On August 10, 1887, eight cowboys retaliated by storming his home. In the ultimate gunfight, cowboys Hampton Blevins and John Paine were killed, and three others wounded. Though the feud was winding down, Jim did not survive long, as he died of consumption the following year.
Ben Thompson
Benjamin “Ben” Thompson, aka Shotgun Ben (1843-1884) – Thompson was a gunfighter, gambler, and lawman of the Old West. At the age of 15, he wounded his first man, in an argument about his shooting abilities. After fatally shooting a teamster in an argument in May 1865, he fled to Mexico. He later returned and was killed along with his friend King Fisher on March 11, 1884, in San Antonio, Texas.
William “Texas Billy” Thompson (1845-1888) – Brother to more famous gunman Ben Thompson, Billy was described as “mean, vicious, vindictive and totally unpredictable.”
John Y. Thorton – A member of the John Kinney Gang during New Mexico’s Lincoln County War. He died of natural causes in Roswell, New Mexico on August 16, 1919.
Frank Thurmond – A gunman, Thurmond shot and killed Dan Baxter in August 1881 in Deming, New Mexico.
Thomas Tate Tobin (1823–1904) – Frontiersman, mountain man, and gunman, Tobin was shot and wounded by Kit Carson’s son, William. Though Tobin survived, he never really recovered. He died in 1904.
Tom Tucker – A cowboy, lawman, and gunman in the Pleasant Valley War in Arizona, Tucker later joined Oliver Lee in his feud in Tularosa, New Mexico.
Ben Turner – A gunman employed by the Horrell brothers in the Horrell-Higgins feud in the 1870s. He was gunned down by angry citizens in December 1873.
Marion F. Turner – A gunfighter in the Lincoln County War of New Mexico and Lincoln County Deputy Sheriff. He was indicted with John Jones for the murder of Alexander McSween on July 19, 1878, but was later given amnesty and was thought to have moved to California
Davis “Dave” Tutt (1839-1865) – Tutt was born in Yellville, Arkansas, and because of his father’s involvement in the Tutt-Everett Feud, he became experienced with gunfighting at an early age. He joined the Confederate Army in 1862, working as a wagon master. When he was released, he went to Springfield, Missouri, where he primarily “worked” as a gambler. In July of 1865, he met Wild Bill Hickok while playing cards in the same saloon. One day when they played, Hickok lost at the gaming table, and when Bill couldn’t pay up, Dave Tutt took Hickok’s gold pocket watch for security. Hickok growled that if Tutt so much as used the timepiece, he would kill him. However, on July 21, 1865, the two met in the public square, and Tutt proudly wore the watch for all to see. This insult, of course, led to a gunfight. At a distance of about 75 yards, the two faced off. Tutt’s shot missed, but Hickok’s hit the other man in the chest. The wounded man stumbled for about twenty feet before falling to the ground dead. Dave Tutt’s body was buried in the Springfield City Cemetery but was later moved to the Maple Park Cemetery, where it is today. The site is marked with a gravestone showing a carved pocket watch, playing cards, and pistols.
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