John Wesley Hardin
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John Wesley Hardin (May 26, 1853—August 19, 1895) was an outlaw and gunfighter of the American Old West. He was born in Bonham, Fannin County, Texas. When Hardin went to prison in 1878, he claimed to have killed 42 men. [1] Hardin's criminal career resulted not only in the deaths of his victims but also in the deaths of his brother Joe and two cousins who were hanged by a lynch mob seeking revenge for a Hardin killing.
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[edit] Early life
His father, James G. Hardin, was a Methodist preacher and circuit rider. His mother, Elizabeth, was described by him as being "blonde, highly cultured, and charity predominated in her disposition." Hardin's father travelled over most of central Texas on his preaching circuit, until 1869, eventually settling in Sumpter, Texas, in Trinity County. Here he taught school, and established an institution that John Wesley and his brother, Joe G. Hardin, would later attend.
Hardin was born in Bonham, Texas in 1853, and was named after the founder of the Methodist faith.
When Hardin was about 14 (some sources say 12) another child taunted him as the author of some graffiti on the schoolhouse wall, a "paean" to a girl in his class. Hardin attacked the boy with a knife, and before they could be separated, he stabbed the boy twice.
At the age of 15, Hardin challenged Mage, an ex-slave of his uncle, to a wrestling match, during which he badly scratched Mage's face. The following day, Mage hid by a path and attacked Hardin with a large stick as he rode past. According to Hardin in his autobiography, he fired three warning shots but was then forced to shoot Mage. Historians state that Hardin shot Mage three times in the chest after warning him to back off. Mage died three days later. Although the shooting could be claimed as a clear case of self-defense according to the laws of the day; more than a third of the State Police of Union-occupied Texas may have been ex-slaves, and that as a "Johnny Reb" had killed an ex-slave, Hardin believed that he had little hope of a fair trial. Hardin went into hiding. The authorities found where he was hiding and sent three Union soldiers to arrest him, but his brother Joe warned him. Instead of running Hardin chose to fight.[2][3]
"I waylaid them, as I had no mercy on men whom I knew only wanted to get my body to torture and kill. It was war to the knife for me, and I brought it on by opening the fight with a double barrelled shotgun and ended it with a cap and ball six shooter. Thus it was by the fall of 1868 I had killed four men and was myself wounded in the arm."
[edit] Life on the run
As a fugitive, Hardin traveled throughout Texas evading the law. He was arrested several times, but managed to escape again and again.
In an incident four weeks after the fight, Hardin was playing cards with Jim Bradley in Towash, Hill County, Texas, Hardin was winning almost every hand, which angered Bradley, who threatened to "cut out his liver" if he won another. Hardin excused himself and left. Later that night Bradley went looking for Hardin, and upon seeing him, fired a shot which missed. Hardin drew both his pistols and fired, one shot striking Bradley's head and the other his chest. Dozens of people saw this fight and from them there is a good record of how Hardin used his guns: his holsters were sewn into his vest, with the butts pointed inward across his chest. He crossed his arms to draw. Hardin claimed this was the fastest way to draw and he practiced every day.
Hardin's next fight was a month later in Horn Hill, Limestone County, Texas, where he killed a man in a gunfight after an argument at the circus. Less than a week after this incident, in Kosse, Hardin was escorting a saloon girl home when he was accosted by a man demanding money. He threw his money on the ground and shot the would-be thief when he bent to pick it up. It was to be a year before he killed again.
After the last of these incidents, he found refuge among relatives, the Clements family. They informed him that by getting into the growing cattle market he could make money in Kansas. This would allow him to get out of Texas long enough for things to cool down. So Hardin took up work with the Clementses, gathering cattle for Jake Johnson and Columbus Carol. He would then begin his trip to Kansas. On his way, Hardin is reputed to have fought Mexican vaqueros, Indians, and cattle rustlers among others. At the end of his trip in Kansas came one of the most famous confrontations between Hardin and the law.
[edit] Arrest and escape
Hardin was arrested in January 1871 for the murder of Waco, Texas, City Marshal L.J. Hoffman,[4] which he claimed not to have committed. Unable to persuade a judge of his innocence, he was held temporarily in a log jail in the town of Marshall, awaiting transfer to Waco. While locked up, he bought two useful items from a fellow prisoner: an overcoat against the winter cold, and a revolver. Thus he was ready when a Captain Stokes of the state police and a guard named Jim Smolly tied him on a horse with no saddle to convey him to Waco for trial. Hardin was wearing the overcoat when they arrived. Under it, tied to his shoulder with twine, was the handgun.
One night while the three men were camping en route, Stokes went to procure some fodder for the horses, and Hardin was left alone with Smolly. Smolly began to taunt and beat his 17-year-old charge with the butt of a pistol. Hardin then burst into tears and huddled against his pony's flank. Hidden by the pony, Hardin slipped his hand into his coat and untied the string that held his gun. He shot Smolly dead and ran. Later he "convinced" a blacksmith to remove his shackles.
A few days later, several of Hardin's relatives were gathering at Gonzales, in south Texas, for a drive up the Chisholm Trail to Abilene, Kansas. They persuaded a rancher to hire Hardin as a trail boss for his herd. Toward the end of the drive, a Mexican herd crowded in behind Hardin's and there was some trouble keeping the herds apart. Hardin exchanged words with the man in charge of the other herd. Both men were on horseback. The Mexican fired, putting a hole through John Wesley's hat. Swift to retaliate, Hardin found that his own weapon, a worn-out cap-and-ball pistol with a loose cylinder, would not fire; he dismounted, managed to discharge the gun by steadying the cylinder with one hand and pulling the trigger with the other, and hit the Mexican in the thigh. A truce was declared and they went their separate ways. However, Hardin borrowed a pistol from a friend and went looking for the Mexican, this time shooting him through the head. A general fire fight between the rival camps ensued. The Mexicans suffered all the casualties. Six vaqueros died in the exchanges - five of them shot by Hardin.
[edit] Abilene
The Bull's Head Tavern, in Abilene, Kansas, had been established by gambler/gunman Ben Thompson with businessman and gambler Phil Coe. These two gamblers painted a picture of a bull with a large erect penis as an advertisement for their establishment. Citizens of the town (described by Dee Brown as "prudish") complained to Abilene's Marshal "Wild Bill" Hickok. When Thompson and Coe refused to take down the bull, Hickok altered it himself. Infuriated, Thompson exclaimed to Hardin, "He's a damn Yankee. Picks on Rebels, especially Texans, to kill." Hardin simply replied, "If Wild Bill needs killin', why don't you kill him yourself?".
By all accounts, despite Hardin's having been a dangerous man, he seemed to have, at the very least, respected Hickok. Later that night, Hardin was confronted by Hickok, who told Hardin to hand over his guns, which Hardin did. Hickok did not arrest Hardin, for reasons unknown, though it was later claimed that Hickok had no knowledge of Hardin being a wanted man. Hickok did advise Hardin to avoid problems while in Abilene.
[edit] Second encounter with "Wild Bill" Hickok
In Abilene, Kansas, Hardin again met Wild Bill Hickok, at the time the cattle town's reigning peace officer. Hickok took an indulgent attitude toward the young Hardin. He drank with Hardin, whored with him and gave him advice, and at one point, when a gang of Hardin's Texas pals and relatives got into trouble, disarmed them but left Hardin his weapon, presumably to allow him to either protect his friends or to keep them in line.
For his part, Hardin was fascinated by Wild Bill and reveled at being seen on intimate terms with such a celebrated gunfighter.
At the American House Hotel, where Hardin had put up for the night, it is alleged that he began firing bullets through a bedroom wall and the ceiling above him, simply to stop the snoring of a stranger in the next room. The first bullet merely woke the man; the second killed him. Remorseful, and in the silence, Hardin realized that he was about to plunge into deep trouble with Wild Bill Hickok. Still in his undershirt, he exited through a window and ran onto the roof of the hotel portico—just in time to see Hickok arriving with four policemen, having been alerted by other guests. "I believe," Hardin said later, "that if Wild Bill found me in a defenseless condition, he would take no explanation, but would kill me to add to his reputation."
Cat burglar style, Hardin leaped from the roof into the street and hid in a haystack for the rest of the night. Towards dawn he stole a horse and made his way back to the cow camp outside town. The next day he left for Texas, never to return to Abilene. In his autobiography, Hardin claimed that following this shooting and some thirty miles from Abilene he ambushed lawman Tom Carson and two other Deputies at a cowboy camp but did not kill them, he only forced them to remove all their clothing and walk back to Abilene. Years later Hardin made a casual reference to the episode. "They tell lots of lies about me," he complained. "They say I killed six or seven men for snoring. Well, it ain't true, I only killed one man for snoring."
[edit] Sutton-Taylor feud
About this time Hardin turned up in southeast Texas, in the area around Gonzales County, reuniting with his Clements cousins, who were allied with the local Taylor family, who had been feuding with the rival Sutton family for several years. Already notorious, Hardin was wounded by a shotgun blast in a Trinity City gambling dispute on August 7, 1872. After recovering, he resumed his depredations.
Hardin's main claim to fame in the Sutton-Taylor feud was the killing of Jack Helm,[5] a former captain in the Texas State Police who was the sheriff of DeWitt County, Texas. For years, Helm had been allied with the Suttons. On the afternoon of May 17, 1873, in Albuquerque, Texas (Albuquerque was on the Clear Fork of Sandies Creek two miles south of the junction of Gonzales, Wilson, and Guadalupe counties in Gonzales County),[6] when Hardin and Jim Taylor were at the blacksmith having a horse shod, Helm advanced on Taylor with a knife, only to be cut down by Hardin with a shotgun blast.[7] As Helm writhed on the ground, Taylor marched over with his pistol drawn and emptied it into Helm's head.
The next night, Hardin and other Taylor supporters surrounded the ranch house of Sutton ally Joe Tumlinson. A shouted truce was arranged and both sides signed a peace treaty in Clinton, Texas (DeWitt County). Within the year, war once again broke out between the two sides, culminating when Jim and Bill Taylor gunned down Billy Sutton and Gabriel Slaughter as they waited on a steamboat platform in Indianola, Texas on March 11, 1874. Ironically, Billy Sutton was set to leave the area forever at the time of his killing.
[edit] Surrender and escape
In August 1872, John Wesley was shot by Phil Sublett with a shotgun after Sublett had lost his money to Hardin in a poker game. Two buckshot had ripped through Hardin's kidney and for some time it looked like he would die. Hardin now decided he wanted to settle down and made a sickbed surrender in Gonzales, handing his guns to Sheriff Reagan and asking to be tried for his past crimes "to clear the slate." When Hardin learned how many murders they wanted to charge him with he changed his mind. A relative smuggled in a saw and Hardin escaped after sawing through the bars of a window.[8]
On May 26, 1874, Hardin, Jim Taylor, and others were celebrating Hardin's 21st birthday in Comanche, Texas when Hardin spotted Brown County, Texas, Deputy sheriff Charles Webb. Hardin asked Webb if he had come to arrest him and when Webb replied he hadn't, invited him into the hotel for a drink. As he followed Hardin inside Webb drew his gun, one of Hardin's men yelled a warning and Hardin spun around while drawing his own guns. In the ensuing gunfight, Webb was shot dead.
After a lynch mob was formed, Hardin's parents, wife, brother and cousins were immediately taken into protective custody; however, a group of Brown County men broke into the jail and hanged Hardin's brother Joe and two of his cousins.[9] It is claimed that the ropes were deliberately too long, as grass was later found between their toes, in order to cause death through slow strangulation.
Shortly after this Hardin and Jim Taylor parted ways for the final time.
Jim Taylor was killed on December 27, 1875. Jim Taylor's cousin William Taylor was found guilty of murder in the second degree in 1875 and sentenced to 10 years.[10] He escaped from Indianola during a September 17, 1875 cyclone and was tried in Indianola and Texana twice on a charge of killing Sutton and was acquitted.[11] On November 17, 1875, William Taylor shot and killed Cuero ex-town marshal Reuben Brown, who had once arrested Taylor.[citation needed]
[edit] Capture, later life, and death
Catching Hardin was no easy matter. The Texas Rangers caught up with Hardin when undercover Ranger Jack Duncan intercepted a letter that was sent to Hardin's father-in-law by his brother-in-law (outlaw Joshua Robert "Brown" Bowen). The letter mentioned Hardin's whereabouts as on the Alabama and Florida border under the assumed name of James W. Swain. Hardin was arrested on a train in Pensacola, Florida by Texas Rangers and a local authority. The lawmen went on board the train to effect Hardin's arrest. When Hardin realized what was going on, he attempted to draw his gun but got it tangled in his suspenders. Texas Ranger John B. Armstrong shot and killed one of Hardin's friends, knocked out Hardin, and arrested two others. Hardin's problems with his suspenders probably saved some lives that day including his own.
Hardin was tried for the killing of Deputy Charles Webb and was sentenced to Huntsville Prison for 25 years. Hardin was stubborn, sullen, and vicious the first five years in prison; this period was hallmarked by several failed escape attempts which were aptly punished. However, Hardin then began to adapt to prison life and ultimately used prison as an opportunity to better himself. He read theological books, was superintendent of the prison Sunday school, and studied law. Hardin was also plagued by recurring poor health in prison; the wound he received from Sublett became infected in 1883 and Hardin was bedridden for two years. Another event that marred Hardin's prison term was the death of his wife, who died on November 6, 1892.
Hardin was released from prison on February 17, 1894 after serving nearly 16 years of his 25-year sentence and being behind bars for 17 years since his capture. He promptly returned to Gonzales, TX--a 41 year old widower who had three children that did not even know what he looked like. Within a year of release, two significant events occurred in Hardin's life. [12] First, he passed the state's bar examination, obtaining his license to practice law. Second, he met, fell in love with, and married a 15 year old girl named Callie Lewis. However, the marriage did not work out, and it quickly ended. Neither Hardin nor his wife ever disclosed why the marriage failed so abruptly. Ill feelings about his failed second marriage probably contributed to Hardin's desire to move west.
El Paso lawman John Selman, Jr., arrested Hardin's friend, the widow M'Rose (also spelled Mroz), for "brandishing a gun in public." Hardin confronted Selman, and the two men had a verbal dispute. On being told of the argument, John's 58 year old father John Selman, Sr., who was a constable, approached Hardin on the afternoon of August 19, 1895 and the two men exchanged words. Later that night, Hardin went to the Acme Saloon, where he began playing dice. Shortly before midnight Selman walked in and saw Hardin with his back to him, and shot him in the back of the head, killing him instantly. As Hardin's body lay on the floor, Selman fired three more shots into him. Selman was arrested for the murder and stood trial where he claimed he had fired in self defense. A hung jury resulted in his being released on bond. However, Selman was killed in a shootout on April 6, 1896 by US Marshal George Scarborough. Selman and Scarborough had been playing cards and got into an argument. Both exited to the alley and shot it out, after which Scarborough returned alone. Scarborough was arrested for murder as no gun was found on Selman. However, just before his trial a thief was arrested and it was discovered he had Selman's gun. He stated he had seen the shooting and stolen the gun before the crowd arrived. Scarborough was then released.
On April 5, 1900, four years after he shot John Selman, Scarborough was mortally wounded in a gunfight with two robbers.
[edit] Hardin and the law
Prior to his killing of Deputy Sheriff (and ex-Texas Ranger) Charles Webb in May 26, 1874[13] and his arrest in July 23, 1877, Hardin had at least five confirmed clashes with the law:
- On January 9, 1871 he was arrested by Constable E.T. Stokes and twelve citizens in Harrison County, Texas on a charge of four murders and one horse theft. (In the Texas State Police arrest report for 1870–1871-he is listed as "Hardin, J.R.".) On January 22, 1871 Hardin killed Texas State Police Private Jim Smalley and escaped {Hardin was being taken to McLennan County Texas on a murder charge in the death on January 6, 1871 of Waco City Marshal Laban John Hoffman- a murder charge Hardin claimed not to have committed}.
- On October 6, 1871 in Gonzales County, Texas State Policemen Green Paramore and John Lackey tried to arrest Hardin who killed Paramore and wounded Lackey.
- On September 1872 he surrendered to the Sheriff of Cherokee County, Texas; he escaped in October 1872.[14]
- June 17, 1873 Joshua "Brown" Bowen was broken out of Gonzales County Texas jail by his brother-in-law John Wesley Hardin {Bowen was charged with killing on December 17, 1872 Thomas Holderman and also killing a man named Phillips and a freeman named Rob Taylor; Hardin was implicated in Holderman's death as well. Texas Governor Edmund J. Davis offered a $600 reward for Bowen's capture.[15] Brown was hanged in May 1878}
- On August 1, 1873 he was involved in the killing of Dewitt County Sheriff John M Helms and in May 1873 of a J.B. Morgan of Cuero, Texas. (Letter from DeWitt County, Texas Museum citing Metz's work). (These killings happened during the Sutton-Taylor Feud. In 1892 Hardin plea bargained and served a 2 year sentence for killing of Morgan).
- In April 1895 Hardin believed he was being cheated in an El Paso dice game and took back the $95 he had lost at gunpoint. Two weeks later he surrendered and was charged with "unlawfully carrying a pistol", fined $25 and had the gun confiscated.
- At least six accomplices and two relatives of Hardin also had clashes with the law:
- On June 5, 1869 two accomplices {Taylor Faction} killed a Texas Sherriff.[16]
- On August 19, 1871 an accomplice {Hugh Anderson} was involved in the Kansas "Newton Massacre" aka Gunfight at Hide Park
- On June 9, 1874 an accomplice killed a Texas Deputy Sheriff.[17]
- On February 28, 1876 an accomplice {Taylor faction} killed a Texas Posseman.[18]
- On September 23, 1878 a friend of Hardin killed a Texas City Marshall.[19]
- On March 28, 1898 Hardin's brother killed a Texas deputy sheriff.[20]
- On August 1, 1906 Hardin's cousin by marriage killed a police officer.[21]
[edit] Hardin and unconfirmed claims
Like his contemporary fellow outlaw Bill Longley, in several cases where Hardin claimed to have been involved in killings, the reports either cannot be confirmed or prove to be nonexistent. For example:
- His claims to have shot three Union soldiers in 1868 and one of two soldiers killed in 1869 in "Richland Bottom"-the other killed by his cousin "Simp Dixon";[22] see summary of Reports for the Fifth Military District August 1867-September 1868 in which four soldiers were killed and four are wounded from the U.S. 6th Cavalry Regiment from "Executive Documents Printed by order of the House of Representatives" 1868–1869, plus a reference to one soldier injured and a Deputy Sheriff[23] killed in 1869 in the Lee-Peacock feud (see supplement in March 1868 report against Lee's band) +plus a report of 2 soldiers of the US 4th Cavalry killed 1867; in none of these records is Hardin named as a suspect nor do they agree with his claims. Likewise according to one account his cousin "Simp Dixon" was not killed by soldiers but was a victim of the "Lee-Peacock" feud.[24]
- His claim that that after his 1871 arrest he escaped, killing a guard named Jim Smalley, and killed three men named Smith, Jones, and Davis in Bell County, when they arrested him for an alleged killing; he also made another claim that in September 1871 in Gonzales County he killed one man named Green Paramour and wounded another named John Lackey who tried to arrest him and then forced an African-American posse which had come after him for those two shootings to flee from there back to Austin after he killed three of them. There are no contemporary newspaper accounts from either Bell County (Letter from Bell County Texas Museum which stated that only account of alleged triple killings in Bell County is from Hardin-no contemporary newspaper account) or from Gonzales County to confirm these triple killings. He also claimed that after recovering in Trinity City Texas in July{?}/August 1872 from being wounded by Phil Sublette; either, according to different versions he gave at different times, he killed two members of the Texas State Police or merely drove them off.
- He claimed that May 1, 1874 he knocked down a black man and shot another black man and then was part of a mob that burned a {Texas?Florida?} jail where a black prisoner named "Eli" was killed.
- He claimed that after his brother had been lynched after Sheriff Webb's killing that he drove off 17 Texas Rangers after having killed one of them on July 1, 1874. Roll of Honor for Texas Rangers for this year has 4 died; Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP) lists 2 killed in a skirmish July 12, 1874 with Native Americans;[25] while the Texas Ranger website lists an additional Ranger killed in same skirmish and the other as having died 1874-no remarks on how or where he died.[26] According to ODMP researchers Hardin killed 4 lawmen {Smalley, Paramore, Helms and Webb} and no Texas Rangers.
- His alleged killing of two Pinkerton National Detective Agency Agents on the Florida-Georgia border sometime between April and November 1876 after a gunfight with a "Pinkerton Gang" who had been tracking him from Jacksonville, Florida. Hardin claimed that he had been tipped off to this "Pinkerton Gang" by Jacksonville local law officers. This never happened - the Pinkerton Detective Agency never tracked or pursued John Wesley Hardin. (Letter from Pinkerton National Detective Agency Archives)
- His claim that on election night, November, 1876 he and a Jacksonville, Florida policeman named Gus Kennedy were involved in a gunfight with Mobile, Alabama policemen in a saloon in which one was wounded and two killed; that Hardin and Kennedy were arrested but later released - this also never happened. (Letter from Mobile, Alabama library).
- Ultimately, it is hard to say just who is telling more of the truth, Hardin or the agents of law enforcement. Clearly, the law enforcement officials were not fond of being embarrassed by such episodes and were much more likely to hold themselves up as the good guys and demonizing all so called "outlaws". At the same time Hardin appears to have used the 'truth' in a variety of ways, at times to enhance his own reputation as a gunfighter and at times to excuse his deeds.
[edit] Hardin in popular culture
| Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (December 2007) |
- Johnny Cash wrote and recorded a song about Hardin entitled "Hardin Wouldn't Run". It relates some of the true events of Hardin's life, including his murder at the Acme Saloon.
- Four Sixes To Beat - The Tale of a Killer by [Bruce N. Croft] is a classic historical fiction novel first published in 2004, a fictional tour of Hardin's life in the wild west.
- Western novelist J. T. Edson uses Philip José Farmer's Wold Newton family theory to insert John Wesley Hardin into his novels as the paternal nephew of Ole Devil Hardin and cousin of Dusty Fog, the protagonist of Edson's "Floating Outfit."
- The actor Richard Webb (1915-1993) played Hardin in a 1954 episode of Jim Davis's syndicated western television series Stories of the Century.
- A 1959 episode of Maverick, "Duel at Sundown," has the character of Bart Maverick posing as "John Wesley Hardin" to stage a fake gunfight against his brother Bret, in order for him to avoid a real gunfight with a local tough, played by a pre-fame Clint Eastwood. As Bret and Bart ride out of town, they meet a stranger who wants directions to meet the "fake" John Wesley Hardin. The stranger is none other than the "real" John Wesley Hardin.
- Many people came to know of Hardin through the TV ad for Time-Life Books "Old West" series.[original research?] During the description of the book The Gunfighters the famous claim is made, "John Wesley Hardin...by the time the Texas Rangers caught up with him, he'd killed forty-three men, one just for snoring too loud."
- Hardin was among the outlaws mentioned in the song "Rhymes of the Renegades", by Michael Martin Murphey.
- James Carlos Blake wrote The Pistoleer, a novel about Hardin published in 1995.
- "Here's to John Wesley Hardin" is a song composed by Moondog, released on his album "H'art Songs" in 1979.
- There is a musician, Wesley Stace, who uses the pseudonym John Wesley Harding, which was Bob Dylan's misspelling of the name.[27]
- Has been played by John Dehner in the 1951 film The Texas Rangers, Rock Hudson in the 1953 film, The Lawless Breed, Jack Elam in the 1970 film Dirty Dingus Magee, Max Perlich in the 1994 film Maverick, and Randy Quaid in 1995 TV mini-series Streets of Laredo.
- Hardin's autobiography was published posthumously in 1925 by the Bandera printer, historian, and journalist J. Marvin Hunter, founder of Frontier Times magazine and Frontier Times Museum.[28]
- There is also a reference to him in the 2008 book "The Book with No Name".
[edit] References
- ^ Marohn, Richard C. 1995. The Last Gunfighter: John Wesley Hardin. College Station, TX: Creative Publishing Company. 320 p.
- ^ Martin, George (1975). Guns of the Gunfighters ISBN 0822700956.
- ^ Outlaws and Gunslingers By Alton Pryor. Stagecoach Publishing, 2001. ISBN 0966005368
- ^ City Marshal Laban John Hoffman. - Officer Down Memorial Page
- ^ http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/SS/jcs3.html
- ^ Dunn, Roy Sylvan. - Albuquerque, Texas. - Handbook of Texas Online. - Texas State Historical Association.
- ^ Hardin, John Wesley. - The Life Of John Wesley Hardin.
- ^ John Wesley Hardin & The Shootist Archetype. - Legends of America.
- ^ Marohn, Richard C. 1995. The Last Gunfighter: John Wesley Hardin. College Station, TX: Creative Publishing Company. 320 p.
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=YloEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA394&dq=William+Sutton+killed+1874+at+Indianola+Texas&lr=&ei=jgeRR9XaGo_kiQGu3emuBw#PPA388,M1
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=YgBkoOJ5ntIC&pg=PA53&dq=William+Taylor+killed+William+Sutton&lr=&ei=GwqRR831E4XoiQHylOCbBw
- ^ Metz, Leon C. 1998. John Wesley Hardin: Dark Angel of Texas. University of Oklahoma Press. 337 p.
- ^ http://www.odmp.org/officer.php?oid=13915
- ^ http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/HH/fha63.html
- ^ http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/governors/west/coke-hardin-1.html
- ^ Sherriff A.J. Jacobs, Goliad County Sheriff's Office
- ^ Deputy Sheriff Jabez C. Pierson, Bosque County Sheriff's Office
- ^ Dewitt County Sherriff's Office
- ^ City Marshal Charles Powers, Wortham Texas Police Department
- ^ Deputy Sheriff John Turman, Kimble County Sheriff's Office
- ^ Police Officer Ben C. Collins, United States Department of the Interior - Bureau of Indian Affairs
- ^ http://www.rootsweb.com/~txnavarr/county_history/the_1860_1872_period_in_navarro_county_history.htm
- ^ Collin County Texas Deputy William C Hall
- ^ http://womackfiles.com/genealogy/showmedia.php?mediaID=612.
- ^ ODMP on Privates Glass and Bailey
- ^ Texas Ranger Website
- ^ http://www.johnwesleyharding.com/home.html
- ^ "Wayne Gard, "John Marvin Hunter"". tshaonline.com. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/HH/fhu35.html. Retrieved on July 8, 2009.
[edit] Sources
- 1878 indictment/trial of Hardin for Webb's killing
- John Wesley Hardin from the Handbook of Texas Online
- Query with additional links on Hardin killings-Reference only
- Gunfighter: The Autobiography of John Wesley Hardin, by John Wesley Hardin, reprinted by Creation Books, 2001.
- John Wesley Hardin Collection Texas State University
- "The Old West- The Gunfighters." by TIME-LIFE BOOKS with text by Paul Trachtman
- "The Feud that Wasn't" James Smallwood {2008 book on Sutton-Taylor Feud {Reference only}}





