Gunslinger’s Record

In many ways, life in the Old West was simpler and more peaceful, but when men mixed booze and gambling, tempers could flair. On January 4, 1870, a young man of just 16 years, named John Wesley Hardin got into a dispute with a man named Benjamin Bradley. The dispute was over a card game, and before it was over, Benjamin Bradley lay dead in the street, and John Hardin was a wanted man.

Hardin wasn’t the first man to end up in this predicament, and he wasn’t the most famous either. Far less famous than Billy the Kid, Jesse James, or Wyatt Earp, John Wesley Hardin is, nevertheless, believed to hold the gunslinger’s record for killing the most men in the shortest period of time. Bradley wasn’t even Hardin’s first kill. From the time Hardin first killed in 1868 until he shot his last victim ten years later, he is known to have murdered more than twenty men.

Hardin’s background as the son of a Methodist preacher would not normally have led him in the direction or murder, even though his father was a pro-Confederate, and therefore might have caused him to hold hard feelings toward northerners, but that still doesn’t explain the twenty killings. Nevertheless, he was an angry young man. He grew up in southeastern Texas. There, he learned to handle firearms by hunting and practicing his marksmanship using a target resembling Abraham Lincoln, whom he despised. Hardin’s violent tendencies emerged early when he stabbed a boy in the chest during quarrel over girl. Hardin was only 14 years old at the time of that incident. In 1871 Hardin married Jane Bowen (1856 – 1892). They had three children.

Hardin was a maniacal racist. He killed a former slave who threatened him with a stick. When three soldiers attempted to arrest him for the murder, Hardin shot them and fled to Navarro County, where he secured a position as a teacher in a one schoolhouse. His students were known as bullies who intimidated a series of teachers. Hardin discovered that carrying a revolver to class earned him the respect of even the most defiant scholars. Despite his gainful employment, Hardin was incapable of staying out of trouble. He claims that he went the tiny town Towash, Texas on Christmas Day 1869, seeking some companionship and a good game of cards. According to the East Texas Historical Journal, however, a contemporary El Paso newspaper places the date as January 4, 1870. Either way, Hardin apparently argued with James Bradley over a card hand.

According to Hardin’s account, that day, the two men faced each other on a deserted street in Towash, where Bradley fired at Hardin, but missed. Hardin then killed Bradley with two shots, one to the head and one to the chest. According to the news report, Hardin noticed money missing after the game and went out searching for another player named Moore. Along the way he met Bradley and shot him. It may never be known which of the killing stories is true, but one thing is known for sure, Hardin left town and did not return.

Although never tried for this murder, Hardin was later imprisoned for a shooting in 1878 and served 14 years. During his years of incarceration, his beloved wife passed. When Hardin finally emerged from prison in 1892, he declared himself changed man. He abandoned the violent ways of his youth and endeavored to live a peaceful life, raising his three children in Gonzales, Texas. Hardin’s past caught up with him three years later when a gunslinger shot him in the back in an El Paso bar. The killer was apparently trying to enhance his own fame as a gunman by killing the deadliest man in Texas.