THE AMERICAN FRONTIER The prostitute queen of Virginia City How Winchesters saved the Texas Rangers What you can learn from a Western gravestone HistoryNet.com Wyatt Earp’s gunfight of the century THE LIFE AND LYNCHING OF KILLIN’ JIM MILLER Showdown at the O.K.Corral ..$5.99 U.S. OCTOBER 2012 WILD WEST OCTOBER 2012 VOL. 25, NO. 3 O.K. CORRAL • KILLIN' JIM MILLER • WESTERN GRAVES • RUSSIANS IN CALIFORNIA • TEXAS RANGERS WITH WINCHESTERS WEIDER HISTORY GROUP Introduce your family to Texas, circa 2012. To plan your own ® Texas adventure or to order your FREE Texas State Travel Guide, Accommodations Guide and Texas Map, visit Travel Tex.com. © 2012 Offi ce of the Governor, Economic Development and Tourism. FEATURES BOB STINSON Tombstones in Tombstone, Arizona, are a big deal on Boothill, as photographed by Bob Stinson (for more grave matters, see P. 48). Cover 28 Fatal Mix-up on 40 The Lynching of Story Fremont Street Assassin Jim Miller By Roger Jay By Ellis Lindsey The participants in Tombstone’s For a quarter century “Killin’ Jim” had famous gunfight near the O.K. Corral gotten away with murder for hire, but had welcomed a war of words, but in Ada, Okla., in 1909 his string of good when it came to letting bullets fly, fortune ran out at the end of a rope. they were reluctant warriors. 48 Where Legends Rest 36 The Day In the West Rangers Relied Pictorial by Bob Stinson The spirit of the wild frontier graces On Winchesters the gravesites of notable Western By Wayne R. Austerman personalities, from Doc Holliday to Tom Comanche and Kiowa warriors Horn, Buffalo Bill Cody to Warren Earp. outnumbered his Texas Rangers 4- to-1, but Sergeant Edward Cobb and his men had Model 1866 Winchesters. 56 Missions, Sea Otters ON THE COVER: Nicholas Eggenhofer rendered an earlier Gunfight And California Indians at the O.K. Corral painting for Stuart Lake’s 1931 Wyatt Earp biog- raphy Frontier Marshal but left Doc Holliday out of the picture. By Daniel J. Demers Doc (holding shotgun) stands beside the three Earp brothers in While Spain sought to Christianize Eggenhofer’s second version, done for the 1955 reprint shown on the California Indians, Russia’s our cover. In both versions the opposition includes five men— the McLaury brothers, the Clanton brothers and Billy Claiborne, interest in the region was purely though Claiborne was leaving when the shooting started. (Image: commercial, notably the harvesting National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, via Lee A. Silva) of sea otter and seal furs. OCTOBER 2012 WILD WEST 1 DEPARTMENTS 4 Editor’s Letter 25 Art of the West 6 Letters By Johnny D. Boggs In his bronzes and paintings Maurice Turetsky 8 Roundup captures Billy the Kid and other key figures The Wild West History Association honors from the Lincoln County War. Lone Star State author Bill O’Neal for his Wild West article “Texas: Gunfighter Capital 26 Western Enterprise of the Frontier.” Plus author Ellis Lindsey’s 8 By John Koster 25 “Top Ten” myths about Killin’ Jim Miller. Weather was more daunting than the Indians, but nothing could stop the transcontinental 14 Interview telegraph, completed in less than four months. By Johnny D. Boggs An expert on historic Americana, Wes Cowan 64 Reviews discusses his love of history and antiques and the Jim Miller biographer Ellis Lindsey looks at founding of Cincinnati-based Cowan’s Auctions. books about the West’s most proficient hired killer. Plus reviews of Butch Cassidy, My Uncle 16 Westerners and other new books and a DVD review of A meeting of three celebrated creative minds the first season of the TV classic Maverick. of the West—C.M. Russell, William S. Hart and 14 26 Will James—occurred in Los Angeles in 1924. 74 Ghost Towns By Dave Lauterborn 18 Gunfighters and Lawmen Masons founded this eastern Sierra Nevada By Thomas Cobb gold-mining town, but it took a jumpy 16-year-old Arizona’s deadliest gunfight involved the Power from nearby Bodie to trigger its boom. brothers, not the Earp brothers or Clanton brothers or McLaury brothers, and went off 37 years after 76 Collections the far more famous fight near the O.K. Corral. By Linda Wommack Pawnee Bill was a showman second only to 20 Pioneers and Settlers 18 Buffalo Bill, and his Oklahoma museum and 76 By Dennis Goodwin ranch are showplaces for artifacts and buffalo. Miss Julia Bulette once sat proud and pretty atop a horse-pulled fire truck in Virginia City, Nevada, 78 Guns of the West but in January 1867 someone murdered her in bed. ByLeeA.Silva This particular Single Action Army Colt revolver 22 Indian Life was likely used at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. By Dennis Sumrak The destruction of the Navajos’ peach orchards 80 Go West! in Canyon de Chelly added insult to injury during If a tree falls in Sequoia National Park, the Army’s brutal 1864 scorched-earth campaign. 22 everyone hears it. 80 Visit our NEW WEB SITE www.WildWestMag.com for these great exclusives: Onlineextras October 2012 WWHA Article Winner The Wild West History Association (WWHA) honors Bill O’Neal’s article “Texas: Gunfighter Capital of the West” (October 2011 Wild West) with its 2012 award for best Western history article. More on Maurice Turetsky The New Mexico artist’s work reflects his obsession with Billy the Kid. “The last painting I did,” he says, “was the death scene of Billy the Kid, and I thought, ‘That’s the end.’ But then I went back to the theme of Billy the Kid. I’ve got some more ideas on Billy.” Showgirls and Graves www.WildWestMag.com Author-photographer Bob Stinson writes of this unusual pictorial feature: “One of my life’s biggest passions is Western history, and Discussion: How do you feel about vigilante (read “mob”) action I am drawn to old cemeteries. I came up with the idea of taking pictures at gravesites of Western icons and adding sex appeal.” in the Wild West? Was it ever justified? Specifically, was it justified in the case of Jim Miller, aka “Killin’ Jim” and The Real O.K. Corral Story “Deacon Jim”? Miller had gotten away with murder one way An interview with Jeff Guinn, author of The Last Gunfight: or another for a quarter century before some 40 citizens of The Real Story of the Shootout at the O.K. Corral—And Ada, Oklahoma, took him out of jail and hanged him in 1909. How It Changed the American West. 2 WILD WEST OCTOBER 2012 $'9(57,6(0(17 &RPH H[SHULHQFHWKHULFK KLVWRU\RI.DQVDV )URP SLRQHHUV WUDYHOLQJ WKH 6DQWD )H 7UDLOWKURXJK IRU DQ ROG :HVWHUQPRYLH7KH)URQWLHU0LOLWDU\6FHQLF WKH ´%OHHGLQJ .DQVDVµFRQÁLFWOHDGLQJWRVWDWHKRRGWR %\ZD\³WUDFLQJ HDUO\ EDWWOHV RYHU VODYHU\³LV D PXVW WKH ZLOG IURQWLHU GD\V RI 'RGJH &LW\DXWKHQWLFH[SHUL IRU KLVWRU\EXIIV HQFHV DQG FKDQFHV IRU GLVFRYHU\ DZDLW 'HWRXU WR OLYHO\ GRZQWRZQV OLNH +D\V· +LVWRULF 7DNHWKH7UDLOVWR$GYHQWXUHDQGGLVFRYHUWKHOHDG &KHVWQXW 6WUHHW 'LVWULFW DQG HQMR\ IURPVFUDWFK PHDOV LQJ SODFHV WKDW VKDSHG WKH VWDWH DQG WKH DQG XQLTXH VKRSV 2UKDYH OXQFKLQDQ QDWLRQ 6HH WKH IDPRXV -RKQ %URZQ HDWHU\ DORQJ 0DVVDFKXVHWWV 6WUHHW LQ PXUDOV LQ WKH 7RSHND&DSLWRODQGYLVLW KLVWRULF GRZQWRZQ /DZUHQFH VLWH RI WKH VLWH RI %URZQ·V3RWWDZDWRPLH0DV 4XDQWULOO·V5DLGRQ$XJXVW VDFUH LQ )URQWLHU IRUWV DERXQG LQ )RXUGLVWLQFWVHDVRQVWUDQVIRUP.DQ .DQVDV VXFK DV )RUW /HDYHQZRUWKDQG VDV· ODQGVFDSH DQG RSSRUWXQLWLHVFRPH )RUW 5LOH\ KRPH RI WKH 86 &DYDOU\ ZLWK HDFK RQH +LNH ÀVK ERDW KXQW 0XVHXP DQG WKH &XVWHU +RXVH DQG ELNH LQ VWDWH SDUNVPDQ\ZLWK 7HQ E\ZD\V WUDYHUVH PLOHV ELJ ZDWHU DQG GUDPDWLF ODQGVFDSHV$QG WKURXJK IULHQGO\ FRPPXQLWLHV DQG \RX·OO ÀQG DOO VRUWV RI FRPIRUWDEOHORGJ PHPRUDEOH VFHQHU\IURPHFRORJLFDOO\ LQJV DQG FDPSJURXQGVDORQJWKHZD\ LPSRUWDQW ZHWODQGV WR UHGURFN EXWWHV 9LVLW 7UDYHO.6FRP WRGD\ WR RUGHU WKDW ZRXOG PDNH WKH SHUIHFW EDFNGURS \RXU IUHH.DQVDV9LVLWRUV·*XLGH KansasThere’s no place like TravelKS.com . 800.2Kansas, ext. WW Immerse yourself in the myths, truths and romance of the “Old West.” Civil War sites, frontier outposts, cow towns and working ranches – history lives in Kansas. EDITOR’S LETTER A Notice from the Editor ‘Miller Time’Meant Blood Would Flow; Dear Subscriber, Some of you have recently reported sus- How Many He Shot We Just Don’t Know picious phone calls or offers in the mail to renew your subscription to Wild West When it came to bushwhacking for pay, Killin’ Jim led the way magazine. Your uneasiness may be justi- fied. While still rare, fraudulent mailings and phone calls are increasing. We have 1910 El Paso newspaper called Miller the minister of anything but death? confirmed that criminal organiza- him“the worst and most dan- Sure there was hardened Texas killer tions are attempting to represent gerous of all the badmen,” John Wesley Hardin, but his Methodist themselves as the Weider History A and a New Mexico lawman preacher daddy named him at birth for Group, asking for a check or credit card who knew him said he was the founder of Methodism—long before number to renew your subscription. “the most dangerous man in the West.” there was any method to J.W.’s madness. They take your money but cannot deliver Ellis Lindsey, who writes about this “per- As for Miller’s madness, it does have the subscription. sonification of a psychopath” in this very religious undertones. “Miller used reli- issue (P.40) and is working on his biog- gion as a device,” author Lindsey says. It These simple guidelines can help you raphy, agrees. For a quarter century Lind- seems in July 1884 Jim attended a revival avoid becoming a victim: sey’s subject killed men, mostly for pay, meeting in central Texas, slipped away until April 19, 1909, in Ada, Oklahoma, while the preacher was preaching, rode Before renewing, check your mailing when a mob (of good citizens, it can be in the dark back home, put two loads of ֡ label.