Wyatt Earp...

I just binge-watched "Wyatt Earp and the Cowboy War" on Netflix.

It was very well done.  Well acted, characters well fleshed out, storyline tight, especially when it was done on the cheap.  And as a semi-expert on the Old West, it gets my seal of approval.

This multi-part series told the complex story of Earp's arrival in Tombstone.  He brought in his brothers and proceeded to assume duties as the sheriff.  But the "Cowboys" were the local gang.  And they weren't going to play by Earp's rules.  The whole thing resulted in the famous shootout at the O. K. Corral.  A 30-second period which is rooted in infamy.

But if you've seen this series, you know two things: Life in the Old West was challenging, and gunfights were incredibly rare.  Murders weren't rare, but facing one another at High Noon on Main Street for a "Who's quicker on the draw?" contest almost never happened.  Most often people were just shot in the back.  I can only find 12 instances of High Noon style gunfights in the entire period 1850 - 1895.  And the last, as many may know, was between Wild Bill Hickcok and a gambler named Davis Tutt in Springfield, Missouri in the Spring of 1895.

Seems Tutt took Wild Bill's prized pocketwatch in a poker game one night and refused to let Bill buy it back the next morning.  The arguing back and forth culminated in a famous gunfight.  On the Town Square.  Tutt was on one side of the Square, Hickcok on the other.  75 yards away.  An unheard of distance for a face-to-face gunfight. 

Now, it should be known that Wild Bill was real handy with a firearm.  In fact, he packed a pair of 1836 Navy Model Colt .36 caliber revolvers.  And he went through an elaborate process every morning upon wakening.  In fact, it was so famous it drew crowds.  And since the powder in these "cap and ball" revolvers could get damp, and possibly misfire, Bill would whip out both pistols and empty them into targets.  And then carefully load them again just in case.  With the crowd watching every step of the way.  And this particular morning was just such a case... 

Tutt walked out of the Mercantile Building at about 11:00.  Wild Bill stepped out from the Standard Bar.  They faced each other down.  Wild Bill yelled to Tutt to give him back his watch.  Tutt's response was to draw and fire first.  The bullet whizzed by Bill's head.  Wild Bill then drew and steadied his Colt Navy over his other arm, aimed, and fired.  He put a ball right between Tutt's 4th and 5th ribs.  Blew up his heart.  From 75 yards.  

Tutt dropped in the spot where he stood.

I doubt I could make that shot, using today's best weapons and ammunition, and I'm a professional.  Wild Bill earned his reputation.  And Tutt earned an early grave.  As did so many of both Earp's and Hickok's enemies throughout their storied lives.  They earned their reputations fairly.  

I've said this before but it's worth recalling.  Do you know what a cowboy would say if he happened to bump into a dusty cowpoke while stepping up to the bar in the Long Branch Saloon?  He'd say, "Excuse me, Sir!"  Because that other cowboy was armed.  And so was everyone else in the bar.  

Because an armed society is a polite society...