John Wesley Hardin Fugitive From Injustice By: Gary Yarbrough

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John Wesley Hardin Fugitive From Injustice By: Gary Yarbrough


If one were to take a poll and ask the average American to name a few of the the most notorious Old West gunfighters, most would name Wild Bill Hickok, Wyatt Earp or Billy the Kid. Occasionally one may hear Clay Allison, Doc Holliday or even Johnny Ringo. But rarely will John Wesley Hardin, the deadliest and most successful gunfighter of them all, be mentioned.

The reasons Wes Hardin's name is less familiar to most of us today is because Wes was unabashedly politically incorrect. The spin doctors, therefore, relegated Wes to the Orwellian "memory hole" and opted to extol other less qualified characters as the preeminent gunfighters of Old West fame, notably, Wild Bill Hickok and Wyatt Earp.


James Butler Hickok, a.k.a. Wild Bill, in available published accounts is credited with no more than fifteen kills. Of that number more than a few were unarmed men. The first three men Hickok killed were unarmed men. The first man was was shot and killed through a curtain partition because Hickok was terrified to face him. He had tormented Hickok for months about his feminine features and called Hickok an hermaphrodite on numerous occasions.

Wyatt Earp killed less than ten men. Contrary to Hollywood's version of the Wyatt Earp saga, there is only one body in Dodge City's Boothill Cemetary that is attributed to Wyatt Earp's six-gun. Earp was a con man and a horse theif, running a protection racket in the town where he was sherrif. There was evidence to suggest that the Earps and Doc Holliday were the actual stagecoach robbers in Tombstone, Az. Earp was convicted of claim-jumping in Eagle City, Idaho in 1880 and later arrested in Los Angeles for fleecing J. Y. Patterson out of $25,000 in a bunko scam.

The total body count of Hickok, Earp and Billy the Kid combined do not top John Wesley Hardin's confirmed forty-two kills. Contrary to the historical revisionists' claim that "John Wesley Hardin was so mean, he once shot a man just for snoring," Hardin stated, "I never killed a man wantonly or in cold blood." Neither Hickok nor Earp could make that claim! In defense of this accusation Wes Hardin warned, "It is never wise to accept the word of a stranger or the newspapers."

So, who was John Wesley Hardin? And why has he been vilified, black-balled and slighted?

John Wesley Hardin was a rebel with a cause, a valiant defender of the South and a hero of the White race. The second son of James G. Hardin, a teacher and curcuit riding Methodist preacher, John's mother, Elizabeth, was also a teacher. And yet his detractors claim that Wes Hardin was illiterate!

John Wesley was born on May 26, 1853 in Bonham, Fannin Co., Texas and named after the founder of the Methodist Church. His grandfather, Benjamin Hardin, was a member of the Texas Congress before the first Union. John Wesley's great uncle, Augustine Hardin, was a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. Hardin County, Texas is named after another great uncle, Judge William Hardin. The Hardin family was as big as Texas and prominent in Texan history.

Wes Hardin's first brush with the law came when he was only fourteen. A school-house bully by the name of Charles Slotter had sullied the name of a girl Wes was sweet on, by writing disparaging remarks about her on the wall of the outhouse and blaming Wes for the deed. When Wes confronted the culprit, a fight ensued. The bully was severely stabbed with a knife. Wes was arrested, charged, tried and acquitted of this incident. The judge and jury praised Wes and clained the bully got what he had coming to him.

In contrast to Hardin, who respected women, Hickok once kicked a woman in the face because she jilted him. Phil Coe, a Texan who witnessed the deed, soundly beat Hickok to a bloody pulp and was later murdered by Hickok in the streets of Abilene.

Wes Hardin killed his first man at the age of fifteen. A huge ex slave named Mage touted that he could whip any two White men in a wrestling match. When beaten by Joe and Wes Hardin, Mage became vengeful and stated he would kill Wes when he saw him again; Wes went home and armed himself. On the following day Wes was confronted by Mage on the road. Mage was carrying a club and tried to pull Wes from his horse. When the horse shied and reared, Wes shot Mage twice. Incredibly, the huge negro continued to grab for Wes. Four shots later Mage still did not go down, but Wes was able to ride away and return with help for the injured assailant. Mage survived for two days and claimed that Wes was a liar and had murdered him.

This incident of November 1868 was during the Reconstruction Era following the Civil War. For a White man to be tried anywhere in the South for the death of a Black man meant certain conviction and a sentance to prison or hanging. Wes Hardin understood the reality, stating, "All the courts were then conducted by bureau agents and renegades who were the inverterate enemies of the South and administered a code of justice to suit every case in gross injustice to Southern people. To be tried at that time for killing a Negro meant certain death at the hands of a court backed by Northern bayonettes. Thus, willingly, I became a fugitive, not from justice, be it known, but from injustice and misrule of the people who had subjugated the South."

Hardin's father had this to say in a letter to one Charles Morgan, "Not until the courts of Texas are again halls of true and impartial justice will I encourage my son to stand himself before their judgement."

Thus began John Wesley Hardin's career as an outlaw and a gunfighter. By Wes Hardin's reasoning, if the Yankees' rule was to be the law in Texas, then his only choice was to be an outlaw.

Texas was occupied by Union soldiers and the State Police were appointed by Governer Edmund Davis, himself an appointee of the Northern aggressors. The State Police was composede of carpetbaggers and scalawags from the North, half the force consisted of freed Negroes. According to Wes, "Instead of protecting life, liberty and property, they frequently destroyed it." Wes made a vow to never be taken at the point of a gun.

After the death of the Negro Mage, a posse of three Union soldiers spotted Wes and gave chase. Wes outran them and set up a hasty ambush. When the soldiers entered the trap Wes killed two of them point blan with a shotgun; the third, a Negro, fled on horseback. Wes chased him and jokingly demanded, "Halt, in the name of the Confederacy!" The Negro snapped a shot at Wes and died for his effort.

John Wesley Hardin had no respect for and gave no quarter to anyone seeking his arrest. Of the forty-two confirmed kills attributed to Wes, more than half served law enforcement capacity: soldiers, posse members, State Police, Texas Rangers and Pinkerton detectives. Seven of those were Negroes. Wes killed two other Negroes, a rapist and a rioter, two Indians and seven Mexicans. Five of the Mexicans he killed at one time, on horseback, in a charge that Quantrell's Raiders would have envied.

Following the deaths of Mage and the three man posse, Wes Hardin tried to avoid any more bloodshed and went to live with relatives in Navarro Co., Texas.. There he taught school until he was informed that the authorities were notified of his whereabouts. Again, seeking to avoid trouble and his arrest, Wes joined friends on a cattle drive up the Chisholm Trail to its northern most point, Abilene, Kansas, where the marshall was none other than the legendary "Wild Bill" Hickok. Hickok was widely known for his hatred and mistreatment of Texans, however, Wes intended to make his acquaintance. News of Hardin's arrival preceded him up the Chisholm Trail. It was on this drive that Wes killed the five Mexicans at the Arkansas River crossing. Word of this incident worried Hickok, as it takes a bit of skill to kill five men in open, armed combat. When the two gunfighters eventually crossed paths in an Abilene saloon Hardin tried to goad Hickok into a gun fight by telling him that he heard that Wild Bill was a "Texan-hating Yankee son-of-a-bitch" and that the world would be better off without him, adding that Wild Bill "preferred killing Texans to Mexicans and Niggers." Hickok, aware of Hardin's intent. responded saying, "Folks will believe what they want to believe" and offered to buy Hardin a drink.

The ordinance banning the wearing of firearms within city limits was not strictly enforced. The law was applied arbitrarily as a means to levy and collect fines from people who could be intimidated into doing so. Over a few left-handed drinks Bill and Wes became friendly toward one another, as much as two gun-slingers could be friends, anyway.

Hardin's cousin Joe Clements had been arrested by one of Hickoks deputies and Wes asked Hickok to release him. Hickok said he would. Before retiring for the evening Hickok asked Wes to help keep the rowdy Texas cattle hands in line while they were in Abilene; to this Wes agreed. But when Hickok said, "You might also do me a favor by not wearing them guns in town," Hardin turned and walked away.

The following day while making his rounds, Hickok approached the Bull's Head Saloon, the Texans' favorite hang-out. Hickok noticed a cowboy amble inside.. A moment later Hardin walked out, dressed to the nines amd packing twin .44 caliber Colts on his hips. The windows and doors of the saloon immediately filled with grinning Texan faces. Hickok, also dressed to the nines, hailed Hardin a little distance from the saloon. "I thought we had an understanding about them pistols, Little Arkansas?" Little Arkansas was the nick name given to Wes after he killed the five Mexicans at the river crossing. Hickoks deputy moved behind Wes, levelling a double-barrel shotgun at Wes's back. Hardin remarked that he was on his way out of town. Appeased, Hickok turned to leave. A loud rebel yell erupted from the Bull's Head Saloon. Startled, Hickok swung around and pulled a Navy Colt. Hardin, distracted by the yell also, looked back at Hickok to find himself looking into the barrel of a gun. Hickok told Hardin to hand over his guns butt first. Wes drew his guns and held them out butt first, but placed his index finged in both trigger guards and rolled and cocked his pistols in a flash and stuck them in Hickok's face. A roar of cheers came from the Bull's Head patrons, as hardin told Hickok to drop the Navy Colt. Naturally, Hickok refused. The two gunfighters were in a Mexican stand-off. Hickok told Hardin to holster his guns and leave town. Wes told Hickok he was not going to allow Hickok to shoot him in the back. Hickok put his gun away. The Texans yelled for Hardin to "Kill the son-of-a-bitch!" But Hardin holstered his guns and calmly walked away. This occurred in November 1871 when John Wesley Hardin was only 18 years old. Hickok would later become an alcholic and opium addict, going blind from gonorrhea.

In August of 1872 Wes killed a police officer and wounded another after an attempt to arrest Wes for the reward money offered on him. One year later, Sheriff Charles Webb tried to back shoot Wes after offering to buy Wes a drink.. When Wes turned to enter the saloon, Webb pulled his gun and fired one round which grazed Hardin's ribs. Hardin spun and killed Webb.

The decade of the 1870's was a time of great turbulence and violence in the Southwest and especially in Texas. Under Reconstruction law, Yankee, Negro and mob rule plagued the land. John Wesley and friends openly opposed Negro, mob rule and tyranny in general. Wes later wrote, "In putting down Negro rule in Gonzales I made many friends, and made it a thing of the past for a Negro to hold office in that county." Jack Helms was sheriff of DeWitt and Gonzales counties in 1873. He was, also, a captain of a vigilante mob. Before killing Helms, Wes told him, "You have made life, liberty and property uncertain. You have been killing men long enough. I know you belong to a legalized band of murdering cowards, and have hung and murdered better men than yourself."

Eventually a mob took Hardin's family and relatives hostage, including his wife, Jane, and a newborn daughter, Molly, forcing Wes to leave Texas. He fled to Florida, where he was later reunited with Jane, who gave birth to their second child, John W. Hardin Jr.

In 1874 Hardin's brother Joe, a lawyer, was lynched by a mob. Their parents and his younger brother, Jefferson Davis Hardin, moved to Navarro County, Texas. Wes was eventually captured in Florida in 1878, ten years after the killing of the Negro Mage. He was extradited to Gonzales, Texas to stand trial for killing the back-shooting sheriff, Charles Webb. At that time in Texas a man accused of murder could not testify on his own behalf. Hardin's witnesses were either dead or wanted themselves by the authorities. The best defense Wes had was a witness for the prosecution who testified that Webb had fired first, then fired again just as Hardin's bullet struck him. It was not known if Wes had actually killed Webb, since others had riddled Webb with bullets as he fell to the boardwalk.

The presiding judge was prejudiced because John's older brother Joe had beaten him in a land dispute years before. Five of the jurors were participants in the mob lynching of Joe Hardin. Wes was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison, he was twenty-six years old.

In the Texas State Prison at Huntsville John Wesley read constantly. Between escape attempts, bull-whippings and isolation, Wes studied algebra, geometry, history and theology. Since prison informants and a ball and chain made it impossible to escape, Wes became a model prisoner. He was superintendant of Sunday school and president of the debating society. Wes became interested in and studied law. After fifteen years, nine months and twelve days John Wesley Hardin was pardoned. He passed the Texas State Bar exam and opened a law office in El Paso, Texas. His devoted wife died one year prior to his release from prison.

Wes was murdered on August 19, 1895 by Sheriff John Selman, who walked into the Acme Saloon and shot Wes in the back of the head as he was rolling dice. Selman was charged with murder but acquitted and he resumed his duties as an officer of the law. Ironically, several months later Selman was killed in a gunfight with a United States Deputy Marshal.

John Wesley Hardin's record and character must not be black-balled and slighted in truth. He was just an honest man in an unjust and corrupted land. Though Hardin was an outlaw rebel, he never stole a penny in his life, nor wronged anyone who was not trying to wrong him. It is not difficult to understand why Hardin's true life story is suppressed, however, nor why Hickok and Earps stories have been romanticized and exaggerated. Both were Northerners from Illinois. Both were loyal to the Union and both were officers of the "law," which was corrupt and unjust. The truth is, the North must have been hard-pressed for heroes to glorify these two contemptible wretches.

John Wesley Hardin was a patriot and the king of pistoleers, a true Aryan hero. In his own words: "I was always a very child of nature, her ways and moods were my study. The man who does not exercise the first law of nature- that of self-preservation- is not worthy of living and breathing the breath of life."

Quotes from "The Life of John Wesley Hardin" as written by himself, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK 1961