Few names from the American frontier carry the fearsome reputation of John Wesley Hardin. He was remembered as one of the most dangerous outlaws of the Old West, a man whose name spread terror along the Texas border through robberies, murders, and shootings.
Hardin was born in 1853 near Bonham, Texas. His father, James Gibson Hardin, was a Methodist preacher and a former circuit rider, while his mother, Mary Elizabeth Dixon, was described in Hardin's own autobiography as a highly cultured woman with a strong charitable streak.
The family moved frequently as his father traveled through Central Texas on preaching tours. They eventually settled in Sumpter, Trinity County, Texas, in 1859, at a time of great social and political upheaval as Texas edged toward joining the United States.
Hardin's early life was shaped by his family's wandering lifestyle and the turbulent politics of the era. While attending his father's school in 1867, he had a violent encounter with another student, Charles Slaughter.
Slaughter accused Hardin of writing graffiti on a school wall and insulting a female classmate. Hardin denied it and claimed Slaughter was the real culprit. When Slaughter attacked him with a knife, Hardin defended himself by stabbing Slaughter with the same weapon. The wound was so severe that Slaughter nearly died, and the incident almost got Hardin expelled.
In November 1868, the 15-year-old Hardin entered a wrestling match with Major, a former slave of his uncle. The next day, Major was said to have ambushed Hardin, shouting at him and brandishing a stick. Hardin claimed he defended himself by shooting Major five times with a pistol. Major died three days later, and two other men were injured.
Fearing his son would not receive a fair trial in the Union-occupied state, Hardin's father ordered him into hiding. Authorities eventually found his location and sent three Union soldiers to arrest him. Warned by his brother Joseph, Hardin chose to confront his pursuers and killed all three with a gun.
Knowing he could not return home, Hardin traveled with the outlaw Frank Polk in the Pisgah area of Navarro County, Texas. During their journey, Polk killed a man named Tom Brady. A group of soldiers from Corsicana pursued the pair, but Hardin escaped while Polk was captured and imprisoned.
While in Pisgah, Hardin briefly taught school and claimed to have won a bottle of whiskey by shooting a man in the eye. He also testified that he and his cousin Simp Dixon each killed a soldier in a confrontation. In addition, he allegedly killed a black man in Leon County, Texas.
On January 5, 1870, in Towash, Hill County, Texas, Hardin was playing cards with Benjamin Bradley. Hardin won nearly every hand, which angered Bradley and led to a threat. That night, Bradley found Hardin and fired a shot that missed. Hardin then shot Bradley dead with both of his pistols.
Witnesses described Hardin's quick-draw technique, using a holster sewn into his vest with the pistol pointed inward across his chest. Hardin admitted to killing two men in Hill County and testified that he caught two members of a 15-man pursuit party, took their weapons, and told them to wait for him at Jim Page's place.
He allegedly killed another man on January 20 in Horn Hill, Limestone County, Texas, after an argument at a circus. A few days later in Coy, Texas, Hardin shot dead a pimp who demanded money from him and a prostitute he was with.
In January 1871, Hardin was arrested and charged with the murder of Waco, Texas, lawman and police chief John Hoffman. Hardin denied the crime but was held in a wooden cell in Marshall Township while awaiting transfer to Waco for trial. While in prison, he bought a revolver from another inmate.
Two Texas State Police captains, Edward T. Stakes and Jim Smolly, were assigned to escort Hardin to Waco. According to Hardin, they tied him to a saddleless horse for the journey. While camping along the way, Hardin escaped when Stakes went to buy hay.
Left alone with Smolly, the 17-year-old Hardin testified that Smolly began taunting him and hitting him with the butt of his pistol. Hardin shot Smolly and fled on horseback, crying as he rode. While hiding beside the animal, he testified that he was captured by three men named Smith, Jones, and Davis in Bell County, Texas. He killed all three with their own guns after they became drunk and careless, then escaped again.
On July 4, 1871, a Texas trail owner named William Corin was killed on the Cottonwood Trail, 40 miles south of Abilene, by an unnamed Mexican fleeing south. The Mexican was then killed by two cowboys at a restaurant in Seward County, Kansas. On July 20, Hardin admitted to being involved in the fatal shooting of the Mexican.
Bull's Head Tavern in Abilene, Kansas, was founded by former attorney Ben Thompson and gambler Phil Coe. They advertised by painting a bull with a large erect penis on the side of their establishment. Residents complained to town sheriff Wild Bill Hickok, and when Thompson and Coe refused his request to remove it, Hickok painted over it himself, angering Thompson.
Thompson tried to provoke Hardin by shouting that he was a "damn Yankee" and urging him, as a Rebel and a Texan, to kill Hickok. Hardin apparently respected Hickok and replied that if Bill needed killing, Thompson should do it himself. Later that night, Hardin confronted Hickok, who told him it was illegal to carry a gun in town and ordered him to hand it over.
To Hickok's surprise, Hardin bent down, picked up his revolvers from the holster, and handed the guns to Wild Bill. He then quickly coiled them into his arms, and suddenly Wild Bill was looking directly at the muzzles of the weapons. Both men backed off, and Hickok advised Hardin to avoid trouble.
While in Abilene, Hardin met Hickok again while herding cattle in August 1871. This time, Hickok allowed Hardin to bring his pistol into town, something he never allowed anyone else to do. Hardin was fascinated by Wild Bill and enjoyed being seen closely with such a famous gunman.
Hardin alleged that when his cousin Mannen Clemens was jailed for the murder of two cowboys, Joe and Dolph Shadden, in July 1871, Hickok arranged for his escape at Hardin's request. The encounter between Hickok and Hardin at the pub is also based on historical accounts. Hardin was known for violent behavior and as a notorious gunman, while Hickok was a legendary figure of the Wild West. Despite their differences, the two shared a mutual respect.
In the early months of 1872, Hardin lived in Central South Texas, specifically in Gonzales County, where he married Jane Bowen and befriended her brother, a herder. During his stay, he reconnected with cousins allied with the Taylor family, who were feuding with the Suttons.
On August 7, 1872, at the Gat Saloon in Trinity, Texas, Hardin was shot by Phil Sublet, whom he had defeated in a poker game. Sublet fired a shotgun and hit Hardin's kidney twice. For a while, it looked as though Hardin might not survive.
While recuperating, Hardin decided he wanted to clean up his life and turn himself in to Sheriff Reagan of Cherokee County, Texas, for his past crimes. When he learned how many murder charges Reagan planned to bring against him, he changed his mind.
Hardin escaped from the Gonzales County Jail in November 1872 after a relative gave him a saw to cut the bars of his cell window. Despite being guarded by six men, he escaped, and a $100 reward was offered for his capture.
In May 1873, two men, Jim Cox and Jake Chrisman, were killed by the Taylors at Tumlinson Creek. Hardin was recovering from a gunshot wound at the time and did not confirm or deny reports that he commanded the attacks. He said only that he did not have time for such matters and that it was not his responsibility.
Hardin's most notorious actions during the Sutton-Taylor Feud involved his participation in the murder of two lawyers believed to be allied with the Sutton family. On July 18, 1873, in Cuero, Texas, Hardin killed Deputy Sheriff J.B. Morgan, who worked under Sheriff Jack Helm, a former Texas State Police captain who led the Sutton forces. Later that day, Hardin killed Helm in the town square of Albuquerque, Texas.
In June 1873, while on the run, Hardin helped his brother-in-law Joshua Bowen escape from the Gonzales County Jail. Hardin was also involved in the murder of Thomas Holderman during this time.
In 1878, Hardin was put on trial for the murder of Webb and was sentenced to 25 years in prison at Huntsville. On June 5 of that year, he entered the penitentiary. A year later, Hardin and 50 other inmates were caught trying to tunnel into the prison armory. Despite several escape attempts, he remained in prison until February 14, 1892, when he was found guilty of another manslaughter charge stemming from the earlier shooting death of J.B. Morgan and received an additional two years.
During his time in prison, Hardin wrote an autobiography in which he claimed responsibility for multiple murders, though there is little evidence to corroborate many of those claims. After serving 17 years of his 25-year sentence, Hardin was released on February 17, 1894, at the age of 40.
He returned to his hometown of Gonzales, Texas. Later that year, on March 16, he was pardoned. On July 21, he passed the state bar exam and obtained a license to practice law.
According to a 1900 newspaper article, shortly after his release from prison, Hardin committed negligent homicide by betting $5 that he could, with the first shot, knock a Mexican man out of a box of soap the man was sunbathing on. He won the bet, and the man died from the fall rather than the shot.
John Selman Jr., a lawyer from El Paso, arrested a widow named M. Rose, a part-time prostitute and acquaintance of Hardin, for swinging a gun in public. Hardin confronted Selman Jr. about the arrest, and some claim he hit him with a pistol during their argument.
On the afternoon of August 19, 1895, Selman Sr. approached Hardin, and the two exchanged harsh words. That night, Hardin went to the Acme Saloon in El Paso to play dice. His last words were reportedly "four sixes to beat."
Just before midnight, Selman Sr. entered the pub and shot Hardin in the head from behind, killing him instantly. Selman Sr. fired three more shots at Hardin as he lay on the floor. Hardin was buried the next day at Concordia Cemetery in El Paso.
Selman Sr. was arrested for murder and testified that he acted in self-defense, saying he saw Hardin reaching for his pistol as he entered the pub. Despite his claims, the jury hung, and Selman Sr. was released on bail pending a retrial. Before the retrial, however, Selman Sr. was killed in a gunfight with United States Marshal George Scarborough on April 6, 1896, during an argument after a game of cards.
Hardin's death at the hands of John Selman Sr. shed light on the violent and unpredictable nature of the Old West. The case also highlighted the prominent role played by gunmen and outlaws in the lawless territories of the late 1800s.