Thread by @DavidLambertArt

On Aug 19, 1895, a man came into the Acme Saloon in El Paso & shot Wes Hardin from behind. In his youth, Wes was the deadliest of all Old West gunmen, but had since gone to prison & supposedly reformed himself & become a lawyer. The man who shot him was Constable John Selman...

A virulent racist & anti-Reconstructionist who was willing to kill at the drop of a hat, Hardin amassed a body count between 25 to 50 over a 9 year span, from the age of 15 to his capture at 24. Yet somehow, John Selman, his killer with a badge, was worse. This is his story...

John Selman was born in Madison County, AR on Nov 16, 1839 & moved to Texas in 1858. After his father died in 1861, Selman joined the Confederacy (specifically the 22nd Texas Cavalry). He deserted a little over a year later...

On Aug 17th, 1865 he married Edna Degrafenreid, who he quickly knocked up. Over the years, they would have four children, (including John Selman Jr). They settled in Fort Griffin, Texas, where Selman began working as a deputy for Sheriff John M. Larn...

Fort Griffin was such a lawless place that it was known as the Babylon on the Brazos. Many famous Old West figures frequented it. It's where Doc Holliday met Wyatt Earp. Pat Garrett was a regular. So was Wes Hardin. No one knows if he ever ran into his future assassin there...

But back to John M. Larn. The lawlessness in Fort Griffin had gotten so bad that he started the Tin Hat Brigade, a group of vigilantes known for lynching thieves & leaving shovels & markers below the bodies for whoever wanted to bury them. Of course, he was soon made sheriff...

Larn had a contract w/ a garrison to deliver 3 steers a day, so, w/ the help of Deputy Selman, they began to procure the cattle by any means necessary. See, the activities of the Tin Hat Brigade were less about cleaning up Fort Griffin & more about eliminating the competition...

Ranchers quickly noticed that while their herds were thinning, Sheriff Larn's was staying the same & the jig was up. He was stripped of his position as Sheriff but amazingly no charges were brought against him...

W/O their titles as lawmen, Selman & Larn stepped up the rustling, taking potshots at ranchers to scare them off. One of Larn's shots hit a rancher's arm & he was quickly arrested & shackled in his cell. The Tin Hat Brigade, no longer under Larn's leadership, went to lynch him..

But Larn couldn't be lynched because of his shackles. So the Tin Hat Brigade improvised: they shot him. John Selman decided it was time to leave Fort Griffin for somewhere a bit more safe. He decided on Lincoln County NM, which was currently going through the Lincoln County War..

The Lincoln County War is too complicated to get into, but it was basically a feud between the Dolan/Murphy monopoly & their challengers, who became known as the Regulators. Billy the Kid made his name as a Regulator. John Selman never took a side in the War...

What John Selman *did* do is start a gang called Selman's Scouts. Using the chaos of the Lincoln County War to mask their deeds, they went about terrorizing the countryside, with an emphasis on the Hispanic communities. Rustling, robbery & rape were common activities...

There was no loyalty within the group either. Roscoe 'Rustling Bob' Bryant, one of the Scouts, was killed by his own men. Ed Hart was killed by Selman himself for challenging his authority as leader of the Scouts. Many of their crimes were senselessly cruel...

They would burn down ranches for no apparent reason. Once, the Scouts asked for watermelons at the farm of Cleto Chavez. When Chavez's teenage son Desiderio brought them, the Scouts murdered them both...

A nearby farmer was lucky enough to escape with his life, but Selman's Scouts took everything he had, even the clothes off his back. Literally the clothes off his back. While the Scouts ransacked his place he was forced to run naked through the brush...

Near the Bonito River, the Scouts came across the two young sons of Jose Chavez & a boy with down syndrome named Lorenzo Lucero. When the boys objected to the Scouts rustling their father's horses, all three were shot dead...

Word of their activities spread all the way to Ft Stanton. Col. Dudley wrote to Gov Lew Wallace about the Scouts, calling them "The Wrestlers" (he presumably meant "The Rustlers") hoping the military could intervene. He mentions the murder of a 14 yr old named Gregorio Sanchez...

Anyone who knows anything about the Lincoln County War knows that Col. Dudley was a man of pretty low character, but even he was horrified by the actions of the Scouts. He reported to Gov. Wallace about an incident at the Bartlett Ranch, 11 miles from Ft. Stanton...

At the ranch, there were two married employees who lived in houses not far from the main structure. Selman's Scouts took the wives of the two Bartlett employees, and, according to Col. Dudley, "forced them into the brush, stripped them naked, and used them at their pleasure"...

Sorry for the delay. Allow me to continue: despite what 99% of 70s Westerns tell you, this kind of flagrant sexual violence was almost unheard of in the Old West (not to say it didn't happen, but it went unreported). When word got around, Lincoln County residents were outraged...

The Scouts were hounded everywhere they went & quickly ran out of ammo from all of their scrapes. They once went to a gun shop to procure more bullets, only to be met by a group of Lincoln County War combatants who opened fire on them & chased them all across the countryside...

Juan Patron got together a posse & found the Scouts camped at the Pecos River. Patron's men shot the hell out of the Scouts in a running gun battle, killing several of them. Of those who escaped, 5 were arrested for rustling not long after & jailed. Selman, himself, got away...

After the Lincoln County War was over, Governor Lew Wallace declared amnesty to the combatants. Selman's Scouts were not included in the amnesty. John Selman skedaddled to West Texas, where he caught smallpox...

Catching smallpox seemed to work in Selman's favor. He figured the fresh pockmarks, coupled with the shaving of his trademark beard, would make him unrecognizable. He opened up a butcher shop & started calling himself Capt. John Tyson...

After his wife died, Selman abandoned his children & married a gal named Niconora. He also sent for members of his old gangs from Fort Griffin & Lincoln County. That included Jesse Evans, Billy the Kid's one-time friend & then sworn enemy...

With Selman posing as a butcher, he'd get info from town regarding cattle herds & then report to his gang so they could rustle them. It got so bad the Texas Rangers were sent for & Selman was arrested & thrown in the "bat cave"...

Many Old West towns didn't have jails. Some towns chained prisoners to trees, others shackled them in the Marshal's home. One town would put a prisoner flat on the ground & nail rawhide over him to keep him in place. Bat caves were holes in the ground with wooden bars on top...

After his time in the cold, wet bat cave, Selman was brought by Texas Rangers to Shackleford County to stand trial...but Shackleford didn't want to deal with him. He was put on a horse & told to leave the county & a few shots were fired in the air to make it seem serious...

Selman next pops up in Chihuahua, Mexico running a saloon. He sent for his kids but only his two youngest sons came, probably because they were too young to work the farm they'd been left on & probably because the farmer didn't want Selman's white daughter to marry a Mexican...

With his sons in tow he went back to New Mexico to prospect for silver. While there, he won a saloon in a card game & actually made a decent profit, but he sunk all of his money into prospecting & after shooting someone in an argument, he left without a dime...

Eventually Selman wound up in El Paso & aligned himself with a shady saloon owner named Jim Burns who ran a joint called the Red Light Saloon. It was known for its "cribs" out back where customers could visit the "crib brides". Basically a bunch of lean-tos with whores in them...

El Paso was another town of vice & violence, especially in the Red Light District & especially in the Red Light Saloon. With an election coming up, Burns was worried that the town would get itself cleaned up & he'd be out of business. So he suggested Selman run for Constable...

John Selman Jr. started working alongside his father, but their relationship was strained. Beyond the abandonment, Selman Sr. had remarried to a 15 yr old girl, making her younger than Selman Jr. Still, Jr. helped his father secure votes...

Jim Burns threw a big party the night before the election & stocked his place with even more girls than usual. John Selman Jr. was told to guard the door & admit any males of voting age, but to not let them leave until they were instructed on how to vote...

John Selman Jr. was handed a club by Jim Burns.

"What's this for?" Jr. asked.

Burns replied, "If any of them try to leave, hit him over the head and make a damn good Democrat out of him."

On November 15, 1892, John Selman Sr. was elected Constable of El Paso, Texas...

If all of that wasn't enough, this is where the story starts getting weird. On April 5th, 1894, a Texas Ranger named Bass Outlaw got drunk in town & started trouble. Outlaw was his actual last name, his 1st name is alternately written as Baz, Bazzell, Baselle & Basil...

Baz was considered a brave Ranger & a Southern gentleman, but when he got drunk he was violent & belligerent. He had a few killings to his name & had a tricked out Colt with a cutdown barrel & removed trigger so that fanning the hammer was the only way to fire it...

His drinking had gotten him fired from the Rangers & he was sulking in town, threatening to murder a judge who he had perceived as slighting him. John Selman Sr. was friends with Baz so he told him to go home & sleep it off. Baz refused so they went to Tillie Howard's brothel...

Baz demanded his favorite girl but Tillie informed him that she was currently with a client & that he'd have to wait. Enraged, he started throwing furniture & Tillie blew her police whistle. Selman tried to calm him but Baz ran out the back door where a gunshot rang out...

Texas Ranger Joe McKidrict heard the shot & went to see what was wrong. He saw Baz who was a close friend of his. Since he didn't fear the former Ranger, Joe approached Baz & told him to put the gun away. Instead, Baz shot him in the face. Joe McKidrict was 23...

Selman rushed outside & Baz fanned 2 shots into his thigh. Before collapsing, Selman sent a bullet into Baz's chest an inch above his heart. Startled, Baz jumped the picket fence & went to hide in an alley. There he collapsed into the arms of Texas Ranger Frank McMahan...

Figuring him mortally wounded, McMahan took Baz to a saloon where he placed him on a cot in one of the rooms. Baz told McMahan, "Gather my friends around me for I know I must die." No one came. He had shot & killed his closest friend earlier that night. He died on April 5th, 1894

Back to Wes Hardin. After getting out of jail, he tried to go straight. His children were grown & his wife was dead. He had studied law & become a lawyer with his own practice in the Wells Fargo building. He also married a 16 yr old beauty named Callie Lewis...

Unfortunately his law practice failed, with his 1 client being Killin Jim Miller, the only gunman with a body count comparable to Hardin's. As for his marriage, it lasted 10 days. For over a year Hardin stayed out of gambling halls & saloons, but these failures brought him back..

Not long after reverting to his old ways of drinking & gambling, Hardin was hired by Beulah M'Rose, whose Polish Cowboy husband Martin was imprisoned in Juarez, Mexico. Beulah claimed that he was wrongfully jailed & $1800 he had from the sale of his ranch was taken from him...

Hardin was immediately smitten with Beulah & agreed to take the case. He also started taking Beulah to bed. While he seemed to be doing what he could to get Martin out of jail & back in the States, in reality it was the last thing he wanted. Hardin began planning a conspiracy...

Hardin was actually successful getting Martin M'Rose freed from jail, but Martin couldn't come back to the US because he had a $250 bounty on his head for rustling. He started meeting with Marshal George Scarborough on a plan to get into Texas and get his wife back from Hardin...

On June 21, 1895, Martin, dressed like a Mexican, meets with Scarborough who leads him across the bridge between El Paso & Juarez. Waiting for him is Marshal Jeff Milton, Texas Ranger Frank McMahan & some say Constable John Selman Sr. They shoot Martin to death...

Rumors start swirling that Hardin hired the lawmen to murder Martin M'Rose & Hardin himself drunkenly admitted as much in a saloon one night. Enraged, Scarborough forced Hardin to recant his statements in the newspaper. The past-his-prime gunfighter complied...

While Hardin went away on business, Beulah got drunk & disorderly. She was also carrying a gun within city limits. John Selman Jr. disarmed her & threw her in jail. When Hardin heard about it he went to Selman Jr., pistol whipped him & threatened his life...

Enraged, Selman Sr met Hardin in the Acme Saloon & they argued. It almost came to violence right then but Hardin was unarmed.

"Go & get a gun" Selman said.

Hardin replied "I’ll go & get a gun & when I meet you I’ll meet you smoking & make you shit like a wolf around the block."

At 11 that night, Hardin stood at the bar next to the front door of the Acme Saloon. He rolled dice for drinks with a local grocer.

“Hoss piss on you” Wes Hardin yelled

“Shake again” the grocer said

“You have four sixes to beat” Hardin replied

Seconds later, gunfire erupts..

It's generally accepted that John Selman Sr shot John Wesley Hardin in the back of the head. Selman claimed that Hardin could see him in the mirror above the bar & turned & went for his pistol before being shot. Some historians believe Selman *did* shoot Hardin in the forehead...

Their reasoning being that the bullet hole above Hardin's eye is more consistent with an entrance wound than an exit wound. Either way, the bullet exited Hardin's head & shattered the bar mirror. Hardin fell & Selman shot him twice more in the chest & blew off his pinkie finger..

Selman Sr. was ready to pump more shots into Hardin's body, but Selman Jr. rushed in to stop his father.

"Don't shoot anymore. He's dead!" Selman Jr. cried.

He was right. On August 19th, 1895, John Wesley Hardin, attorney at law, was dead.

Selman Sr stood trial for murder, but it ended in a hung jury. It was pretty clear that Hardin's murder was premeditated, but even though he'd "reformed" he was still considered dangerous. His many card shooting displays on the streets of El Paso proved his aim was still good.

John Selman Sr. was released on bond to await a retrial. On April 4th, 1896, John Selman Jr. was thrown in jail in Juarez for trying to abscond with a Mexican girl he'd fallen in love with. George Scarborough came into El Paso the following night & Selman Sr. met with him...

Ironically, Selman Sr wanted Scarborough to help break his son out of the Juarez jail, much like the poor Martin M'Rose who they'd had a hand in killing years earlier. Selman was drunk as hell & spoke with Scarborough in an alley about the plan. From there, things go south...

Scarborough claimed they agreed on a time for the jailbreak & Selman invited him to have a drink. When Scarborough declined, Selman shouted, "You goddamn son of a bitch! I'm going to kill you!" & pulled his pistol. More likely, Scarborough wasn't wild about the jailbreak idea...

Either way, Scarborough put 4 bullets in Constable John Selman Sr.'s body, killing him. He was arrested because no gun was found on Selman's person.

It was April 5th, 1896, exactly two years to the day after Selman's killing of Baz Outlaw.

Before Scarborough's trial, a known thief named Cole Belmont was arrested & Selman's gun was found in his possession. He claimed to have witnessed the shooting & taken the pistol before anyone arrived on the scene. Who knows if that's true or if Scarborough forced a confession...

Scarborough was acquitted & moved to Deming, New Mexico where he helped capture famous female bandit Pearl Hart. He also began tracking members of the Wild Bunch, including Will Carver...

On April 1st, 1900, Scarborough tracked down Wild Bunch members George Stevenson & James Brooks & engaged in a gun battle. Scarborough killed one of the bandits, but was hit in the leg & had to have it amputated. He died 4 days later...

That means:

On April 5th, 1894, Baz Outlaw was killed by John Selman.

On April 5th, 1896, John Selman was killed by George Scarborough.

On April 5th, 1900, George Scarborough died from gunshot wounds sustained in an April 1st shootout with Wild Bunch members.

Oh yeah, Will Carver, the Wild Bunch member George Scarborough was hunting when he was shot on April 1st, 1900?

He was ambushed & shot to death on April 1st, 1901.

Thanks if you read this far. I didn't mean for it to go this long but I guess I got carried away. If you have any questions regarding photos let me know. Most are of the people & places mentioned in the thread, but some were added just as illustrations...

Also, a minor correction, Col. Dudley didn't write to Gov. Wallace for help stopping Selman's Scouts, but rather to his superiors & Gov. Axtell. Axtell was removed from office because of his mishandling of the Lincoln County War. Gov. Wallace was his replacement.

Resurrecting this thread because I've just read up on George Scarborough's son, George Edgar Scarborough (known as "Ed"). His story is appropriately insane...

https://twitter.com/DavidLambertArt/status/1351688141178978304?s=20

Ed Scarborough was born in 1879 & by 18 was joining his father's posse of manhunters (known as Scarborough's Rangers) doing missions hunting down outlaw bands like The Black Jack Ketchum Gang & The Wild Bunch...

After his father was killed in 1900, Ed distinguished himself as a lawman & was one of the 1st Arizona Rangers (attached pic is an Arizona Ranger, but not Ed). He even tracked down Tod Carver, one of the men suspected of killing his father...

Unfortunately, Tod Carver was released due to lack of evidence. This was a bad time for Ed. While tracking cattle thieves in New Mexico's Hachita Mountains he was the victim of a violent attack...

While camping out, Ed was awakened in the middle of the night by a noise in his bedroll. Panicked, he struck at the object moving beneath his blankets & felt an animal's jaws clamp down on his wrist. He jumped out of bed & violently shook the animal loose. It was a huge skunk...

The skunk lunged at Ed, who grabbed his pistol & fired at it, scaring it off. Ed returned to bed, closed his eyes & was immediately attack by the skunk again. He opened fire & the skunk ran off again. Ed closed his eyes & yes, the skunk attacked him a third time...

This time Ed shot the skunk with a Winchester & killed it. Worried about rabies, he went all the way to El Paso to receive a "mad stone" treatment. Many contemporaries said that Ed's behavior became increasingly erratic after the skunk attack...

During his time as a lawman, Ed shot & killed a few outlaws & was garnering a reputation almost on par with his famous father. In March 1904, while working as a constable in Douglas, Arizona, he met his greatest enemy since that relentless skunk: a young man on a bicycle...

Rube Shields rode into town on his bike & was doing tricks in front of the wet goods store for a crowd of people when Ed got upset.

"Get off the highway, young feller" Ed shouted.

"Don't bother me, please," said the boy. "I'm doing a difficult trick."

Ed fumed with rage...

"Don't talk back to me," Ed roared. "I'm the constable here, and I won't stand for any foolishness. Jump!"

Then Ed pulled his pistol & began firing at Rube's tires. The crowd looked on in terror while Ed laughed & Rube ducked down to avoid being shot...

During his fit of hilarity, Ed didn't notice that Rube had turned suddenly on his wheel, put his head down, thrown all his strength into the pedals & was heading right towards him. Rube smashed directly into Ed & knocked him over...

Rube jumped from the bike, grabbed Ed by the throat, took his gun away from him, & then, according to a contemporary newspaper, "taking his time about the matter and proceeding skillfully" Rube kicked Ed "into a state of utter submission"...

To make matters worse, the Justice of the Peace arrested Ed & fined him for firing his gun in town. The Justice of the Peace let Rube go. To quote the same news article, "(Rube) is now the hero of the hour and (Ed) goes around looking like a broken man with a secret sorrow"...

Ed's downward spiral continued. Having lost his job as Constable for the bike incident, Ed decided he needed to make some fast money.

On August 20, 1904, Ed--dressed as a woman--robbed the Harvey House Restaurant in Deming, NM of $24...

Confident in his disguise as a woman, Ed stayed in town after the robbery & soon after returned to the Harvey House Restaurant for breakfast, this time dressed as a cowboy. During the robbery, he failed to disguise his voice so at breakfast he was instantly recognized & caught...

The case dragged on for years with no deposition. Eventually, in 1915, Ed murdered a man in Arizona & was tried & convicted. While in prison, his wife left him for a railroad conductor. Ed vowed to escape & get revenge on his wife & her new lover...

1 yr later, Ed escaped from prison...

But he didn't go after his wife or her lover. He went to Mexico where he started a ranch.

After his mother died in 1949, cross-dressing, bike-shooting, skunk-fighting George Edgar Scarborough disappeared from the historical record.

Thanks for reading this post-script. Soon I'll be posting about Wyatt Earp's time in Hollywood & the only director to actually have the real Wyatt Earp appear in one of his films. Decades later this director made a famous Wyatt Earp biopic...and no, it's not John Ford.

Oh yeah, since the Black Jack Ketchum Gang got a mention in this thread, I figured I'd repost the tale of Black Jack Ketchum's ignoble end:

https://twitter.com/DavidLambertArt/status/1338604392111513600?s=20