This is a list of Old West gunfights. Gunfights have left a lasting impression on

American frontier The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of United States territorial acquisitions, American expansion in mainland North Amer ...

history; many were retold and embellished by

dime novel The dime novel is a form of late 19th-century and early 20th-century U.S. popular fiction issued in series of inexpensive paperbound editions. The term ''dime novel'' has been used as a catchall term for several different but related forms, r ...

s and magazines like ''

Harper's Weekly ''Harper's Weekly, A Journal of Civilization'' was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humor, ...

'' during the late 19th and early 20th century. The most notable shootouts took place in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, and

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 ...

. Some like the

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral The gunfight at the O.K. Corral was a thirty-second shootout between lawmen led by Virgil Earp and members of a loosely organized group of outlaws called the Cowboys that occurred at about 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 1881, in ...

were the outcome of long-simmering

feud A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one part ...

s and rivalries but most were the result of a confrontation between

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so that anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them ...

s and law enforcement.

List

Bellevue War The Bellevue War was a shootout between a posse led by Sheriff W. A. Warren and Thomas Cox against a group led by W. W. Brown that took place in Bellevue, Jackson County, Iowa Territory, on April 1, 1840. A large mural made by local artists comm ...

, April 1, 1840, Bellevue, Iowa Territory *

Broderick–Terry duel The Broderick–Terry duel (subsequently called "the last notable American duel") was fought between United States Senator David C. Broderick, of California, and ex-Chief Justice David S. Terry, of the Supreme Court of California, on September 13 ...

, September 13, 1859,

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

* Wild Bill Hickok–Davis Tutt shootout, July 21, 1865,

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...

Gunfight at Hide Park The Gunfight at Hide Park, or Newton Massacre, was the name given to an Old West gunfight that occurred on August 19, 1871, in Newton, Kansas, United States. It was well publicized at the time, but since has received little historical attention, ...

, August 19, 1871,

Newton, Kansas Newton is a city in and the county seat of Harvey County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 18,602. Newton is located north of Wichita. The city of North Newton is located immediately north and e ...

* Goingsnake massacre, April 15, 1872, Tahlequah, Indian Territory * Lampasas Gunfight, June 7, 1877,

Lampasas, Texas Lampasas ( ) is a city in Lampasas County, Texas, United States. Its population was 7,291 at the 2020 census. It is the seat of Lampasas County. Lampasas is part of the Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood metropolitan statistical area. History ...

* Battle of Blazer's Mill, April 4, 1878, Mescalero, New Mexico Territory * Battle of Lincoln, July 15–19, 1878, Lincoln, New Mexico Territory *

Long Branch Saloon Gunfight The Long Branch Saloon gunfight, on April 5, 1879, was an altercation that took place between Frank Loving and Levi Richardson at the Long Branch Saloon in Dodge City, Kansas. Both men were gamblers who frequented the saloon. Background Fran ...

, April 5, 1879,

Dodge City, Kansas Dodge City is the county seat of Ford County, Kansas, Ford County, Kansas, United States, named after nearby Fort Dodge (US Army Post), Fort Dodge. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 27,788. The c ...

* Variety Hall Shootout, January 22, 1880, Las Vegas, New Mexico Territory * Luke Short-Charlie Storms Gunfight, February 25, 1881, Tombstone, Arizona Territory *

Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight The Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight was a famous gun fight that occurred on April 14, 1881, on El Paso Street, in El Paso, Texas. Witnesses generally agreed that the incident lasted no more than five seconds after the first gunshot, though a ...

, April 14, 1881,

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

, October 26, 1881, Tombstone, Arizona Territory *

Trinidad Gunfight Frank Loving (1860 – April 21, 1882), sometimes called "Cockeyed" Frank Loving, was an Old West gambler and gunman. He was involved in two well-publicized shootouts of the day. Early life Loving was born in Jackson County, Missouri, and later m ...

, April 16, 1882,

Trinidad, Colorado Trinidad is the home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Las Animas County, Colorado, United States. The population was 8,329 as of the 2020 census. Trinidad lies north of Raton, New Mexico, and s ...

* Vaudeville Theater Ambush, March 11, 1884,

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

* Hunnewell, Kansas Gunfight, August 21, 1884,

Hunnewell, Kansas Hunnewell is a city in Sumner County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 44. History Hunnewell was founded in 1880. It was named for Boston financier and railway owner H. H. Hunnewell. Hunnewell serv ...

Frisco shootout The Frisco shootout was an Old West gunfight that began on December 1, 1884, involving lawman Elfego Baca. The shootout happened in Reserve, New Mexico, and stemmed from Baca's arrest of a cowboy, Charlie McCarty, who had been shooting into the ...

, December 1, 1884, Reserve, New Mexico Territory * Tascosa Gunfight, March 21, 1886,

Tascosa, Texas Tascosa, sometimes called Old Tascosa, is the former capital of 10 counties in the Texas Panhandle. The town emerged briefly in the 1880s as an economic rival of Dodge City, Kansas. Located in Oldham County northwest of Amarillo, Tascosa is now a ...

* Luke Short-Jim Courtright Gunfight, February 8, 1887,

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

* Tewksbury's Ranch shootout, September 1887, Pleasant Valley, Arizona Territory * Owens-Blevins Shootout, September 1887, Holbrook, Arizona Territory * Tunnel Saloon Gabriel-Phy shootout, May 31, 1888, Florence, Arizona Territory *

Battle of Cimarron The Battle of Cimarron was a famous gunfight that occurred on January 12, 1889, during the Gray County War, between the people of Cimarron, Kansas, and a group of lawmen led by Bill Tilghman. The gunfight, which lasted several hours and resulted ...

, January 12, 1889,

Cimarron, Kansas Cimarron is a city in and the county seat of Gray County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,981. History Cimarron was first settled in 1878. It took its name from a fork in the Chisholm Trail whic ...

Wham Paymaster robbery The Wham Paymaster robbery ( ) was an armed robbery of a United States Army paymaster and his escort on May 11, 1889, in the Arizona Territory. Major Joseph W. Wham was transporting a payroll consisting of more than US$28,000 in gold and silver ...

, May 11, 1889, near Fort Thomas, Arizona Territory * Battle of Coffeyville, October 5, 1892,

Coffeyville, Kansas Coffeyville is a city in southeastern Montgomery County, Kansas, Montgomery County, Kansas, United States, located along the Verdigris River in the state's Southeast Kansas, southeastern region. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

* Battle of Stone Corral, June 11–12, 1893,

Visalia, California Visalia ( ) is a city in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley of California. The population was 141,384 as per the 2020 census. Visalia is the fifth-largest city in the San Joaquin Valley, the 42nd most populous in California, and 192nd in ...

* Battle of Tres Jacales, June 30, 1893, Tres Jacales, Chihuahua *

Battle of Ingalls The Battle of Ingalls was a gunfight on September 1, 1893 between United States Marshals and the Doolin-Dalton Gang, during the closing years of the Old West era, in Ingalls, Oklahoma. The Doolin-Dalton Gang had been involved in a number of tra ...

, September 1, 1893, Ingalls, Indian Territory * Skeleton Canyon shootout, August 12, 1896, Nogales, Arizona Territory * Blackwell gunfight, December 4, 1896, Blackwell, Indian Territory *

Shootout on Juneau Wharf The Shootout on Juneau Wharf was a gunfight between Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith, Frank H. Reid, and Jesse Murphy that took place on Friday, July 8, 1898, at approximately 9:15 p.m. in Skagway, District of Alaska, in the United States. ...

, July 8, 1898, Skagway, District of Alaska * Hot Springs Gunfight, March 16, 1899,

Hot Springs, Arkansas Hot Springs is a resort city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Garland County. The city is located in the Ouachita Mountains among the U.S. Interior Highlands, and is set among several natural hot springs for which the city is n ...

* Columbus shootout, March 16, 1899,

Columbus, Texas Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Colorado County in southeastern Texas. The population was 3,699 as of the 2020 census. It is located on the Colorado River. The Colorado County Courthouse is listed on the National Register of Histori ...

Shootout at Wilson Ranch The Shootout at Wilson Ranch resulted in the final and most famous hanging in the history of Tombstone, Arizona. On April 7, 1899, the brothers William and Thomas Lee Halderman were confronted by two lawmen at a ranch located in the Chiricahua ...

, April 7, 1899, Pearce, Arizona Territory *

Fairbank train robbery The Fairbank train robbery occurred on the night of February 15, 1900, when some bandits attempted to hold up a Wells Fargo express car at the town of Fairbank, Arizona. Although it was thwarted by Jeff Milton, who managed to kill "Three Finger ...

, February 15, 1900, Fairbank, Arizona Territory * Moab Shootout, May 26, 1900,

Moab, Utah Moab () is the largest city and county seat of Grand County in eastern Utah in the western United States, known for its dramatic scenery. The population was 5,366 at the 2020 census. Moab attracts many tourists annually, mostly visitors to th ...

* Battleground Gunfight, October 8, 1901,

Fort Apache Indian Reservation The Fort Apache Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation on the border of New Mexico and Arizona, United States, encompassing parts of Navajo, Gila, and Apache counties. It is home to the federally recognized White Mountain Apache Tribe of th ...

Arizona Territory The Territory of Arizona (also known as Arizona Territory) was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of ...

* Gunfight at Spokogee, September 22, 1902, Dustin, Indian Territory * Canyon Diablo Shootout, April 8, 1905, Canyon Diablo, Arizona Territory *

Shootout in Benson The Shootout in Benson was one of the last great gunfights in the Old West. On February 27, 1907, the Arizona Ranger Harry C. Wheeler attempted to detain a man named J. A. Tracy in the town of Benson, Arizona, Benson, Arizona. Tracy resisted arre ...

, February 27, 1907, Benson, Arizona Territory * Naco Gunfight, April 5, 1908,

Naco, Sonora Naco is a Mexican town in Naco Municipality located in the northeast part of Sonora state on the border with the United States. It is directly across from the unincorporated town of Naco, Arizona. The name Naco comes from the Opata language and ...

* Shootout at Sonoratown, May 15, 1911, near Ray, Arizona Territory * Gleeson Gunfight, March 5, 1917,

Gleeson, Arizona Gleeson is a ghost town situated in southeastern Cochise County, Arizona, United States. It has an estimated elevation of above sea level. The town was first settled as Turquoise in the 1870s in what was then the Arizona Territory, then later re ...

Power's Cabin Shootout The Power's Cabin shootout, or the Power Brothers shootout, occurred on February 10, 1918, when a posse attempted to arrest a group of miners at their cabin in the Galiuro Mountains. Four men were killed during the shootout, including three law ...

, February 10, 1918,

Galiuro Mountains The Galiuro Mountains are a large sky island mountain range of southeast Arizona, United States. It is a northerly mountain range in the Madrean Sky Islands region of southeast Arizona, northern Sonora in northwestern Mexico, and the extreme ...

List

See also