This is John Wesley Hardin's OOM Russian he used to shoot Deputy Charles Webb in a fair fight in Comanche, TX, May 26, 1874. Hardin served 17 of a 25 year sentence in the State Penitentiary for the killing.
I thought it would fun to try some different setups. Also pictured are the holster, belt and belt buckle. I don't believe the belt has ever been photographed before.
Was this the man he shot for snoring?
I kid. I kid.
When I was a little boy there was a TV commercial selling some Time/Life book series about the old west and the narrator always said “John Wesley Harding, He was so mean he once shot a man for snoring!”
I suspect Hardin was very capable with either hand. However, this gun was worn on his right hip. The grip faced forward and the gun was Calvalry or twist drawn.
Was this the man he shot for snoring?
I kid. I kid.
When I was a little boy there was a TV commercial selling some Time/Life book series about the old west and the narrator always said “John Wesley Harding, He was so mean he once shot a man for snoring!”
Great photos by the way!
Hardin was sleeping in a room in Abilene, Ks., the man in a room next to him kept snoring very loudly, so Hardin got mad & fired a shot through the wall into the next room, which happened to hit the man & killed him. Hardin fled Abilene as Wild Bill Hickok was city marshal at the time.
I suspect Hardin was very capable with either hand. However, this gun was worn on his right hip. The grip faced forward and the gun was Calvalry or twist drawn.
Hardin carried 2 revolvers much of the time he was notorious for, in a vest made special for them, doing a cross draw to remove them, which was how he was arrested on the train when he tangled his arms trying to draw them on a possee.
Hardin carried 2 revolvers much of the time he was notorious for, in a vest made special for them, doing a cross draw to remove them, which was how he was arrested on the train when he tangled his arms trying to draw them on a possee.
In Marohn's book The Last Gunfighter, Marohn talks about the capture on the train by the Texas Rangers and that his Colt .44 got caught in his suspenders. But he quotes Texas Ranger Captain John Armstong as saying "Hardin could not draw it readily because it was strapped onto his suspenders." Not in a vest.
Marhon also quotes Carl Longuemare. Carl was a teenager in El Paso who would visit Hardin often to deliver the newspaper and also collect the fee for the paper. Hardin liked the boy and would let him watch him practice drawing. Carl recalled "he carried his weapons in shoulder holsters, concealed under his coat....He drew his right pistol with his right hand, the left with his left hand, in a sort of curving overhand motion that seems clumsy in the telling. But when Hardin did it, the weapons appeared in his hands with what almost seemed sleight-of-hand."
I was fortunate enough to attend his Estate sale and auction preview on October 16, 1996 at Butterfield & Butterfield in San Francisco of all places. It was beyond amazing.
Dr. Marohn had a huge collection of documents, guns, cards, and even the death bullet of the late John Wesley.
Towards the end of his life Hardin preferred double action revolvers like the Colt Lightning/thunderer and also the Smith & Wesson 44 double action in 44WCF. The 44 Smith & Wesson is what he was carrying the night he was killed in the Acme saloon.
John Wesley Hardin would shoot playing cards for money and demonstrate his shooting skills. His cousin was the notorious "Killin" Jim Miller see photo...He was a proven killer for hire and often wore a metal breast plate to protect himself in gun fights. It saved his life a few times....But he was ultimately killed by town vigilantes that were sick of his murdering and had a hanging party in an old barn. I guess the steel breast plate didn't help him there. He's the one in the left of the photo still wearing his hat, hanging with his murdering buddies
A little more details on Jim Miller to close the loop relative to Hardin. My father John H. Wilson was one of the founding members of S&WCA and originally purchased the Hardin gun from Roy Sherrill because he knew the story all his life. My sister published a biography of our father based on tape recorded interviews and I will attach a few pages to give the relationship with our family and Jim Miller. My grandfather, Pat Wilson, was a contemporary of Jim Miller and it started with fights over land near Pecos, TX. Our land in that area is still in the family today. Jim Miller was not a blood relative of Hardin but was married to Hardin's cousin Sallie. So the attached is sort of from the horses mouth, so to speak.
I still have my prices realized sheet from the 1996 Auction and Hardin's guns sold for quite a bit.
Engraved 41 Thunderer :Hardin used to Rob the Gem saloon(he claimed to get his losses back) sold for : $112,000
Inscribed 38 Lightning given to him by Jim Miller along with a personalized watch( for saving his neck in court for a murder that he committed) $189,500
WOW very cool guys, thanks for sharing. This is the part of collecting that makes it all worth while.
Where/how did you acquire the gun? The back story is sometimes very fascinating.
Here is a little bit of the story. I displayed at the 2018 NRA Annual Meeting in Dallas where this pistol received an NRA Silver Medal and the holster was awarded a Special Recognition award which is given to non-gun items. So, Jim asked if we would do an interview there for NRA TV. I was quite nervous!