With some time on my hands over the holiday I pulled a book that came out 3 or 4 years ago off the shelves, and was re reading it, and thought some folks here might enjoy it.
David Martello Ballew was better know by his nickname, "Bud".
Elmer D McInnes & Lauretta R. McInnes wrote a great book about him, entitled "Bud Ballew; Legendary Oklahoma Lawman".
Ballew served as a Deputy Sheriff in the teens and twenties,of Carter County Oklahoma, under Buck Garrett, himself a bit of a famous lawman.
Ballew was involved in numerous gun scrapes in his life that produced several fatalities. Never one to back away from a fight he supposedly increased his odds of survival by wearing a steel breast plate.
He was not wearing this insurance in his final gunfight on May the 5th 1922 in Wichita Falls, Texas. Ballew, in town for the big rodeo, was hooping it up and strongly under the influence of whiskey. He caused several disturbances including pulling his revolver around town before the Police arrived.
Wichita Falls Chief of Police J. W. McCormick, a former Texas Ranger Sgt., and two other city Officers found Ballew in a Domino parlor. McCormick ordered the ex-Deputy Sheriff to surrender his weapons, and then one of the other city Officers reached out to take them and Ballew made a motion to draw, McCormick shot first, and not being under the influence of whiskey, was able to hit Ballew 5 times killing him.
Ballew had two revolvers on him when he was slain. A Colt SAA nickle plated,engraved, and marked with 6 notches under the barrel. The second revolver was a 4 inch Smith & Wesson Triple lock with jig bone handles.
These notches were real.
A good book about another early gunman...........
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