Elijah Gardner, known as Lige Gardner, (c. 1846 – c. 1901) was a

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

gunfighter Gunfighters, also called gunslingers (), or in the 19th and early 20th centuries gunmen, were individuals in the American Old West who gained a reputation of being dangerous with a gun and participated in gunfights and shootouts. Today, the te ...

sketched in the book titled ''Pages from a Worker's Life'' by

William Z. Foster William Zebulon Foster (February 25, 1881 – September 1, 1961) was a Political radicalism, radical American labor organizer and Communism, Communist politician, whose career included serving as General Secretary of the Communist Party US ...

Early life

Gardner was born in 1846 at

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to an

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Southern family. His family owned a plantation with slaves, but lost everything in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. Gardner was described as "slight of build and dark-complexioned" in appearance.

Life as a gunfighter

The family migrated to Texas after the Civil War. Gardner married and fathered five children, being a farmer. He then learned he had

Bright's disease Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that are described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in the urine, and was frequently accompanied b ...

and would often boast, "If I've got to cash in I might as well take along some of my enemies". Gardner's reputation as a gunman led to the killings of "two white men and several Negroes", according to

Notoriety

Gardner hired out his skills with a gun to the

Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

railroad in the winter of 1901 in Eastern Texas, which was described as "tough country" where holdups were frequent. It was in the town of Echo, Texas near

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where Foster noted Gardner's reputation as a gunman. He described Gardner as the "most hard-boiled boss" and that "gun in hand, he terrorized the Mexican laborers". The last note that Foster made concerning Gardner was after the gunfighter had pistol whipped a cook for insulting his complexion. Lige Gardner most likely died from his illness in later years.

References

''Pages from a Worker's Life'' by William Z. Foster {{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, Lige Gunslingers of the American Old West 1840s births 1900s deaths