This is a list of Old West gunfights. Gunfights have left a lasting impression on American frontier 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 state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

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, Ke ...

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 th ...

, Oklahoma, and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. Some like the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral were the outcome of long-simmering feuds and rivalries but most were the result of a confrontation between outlaws and law enforcement.

List

* Bellevue War, April 1, 1840, Bellevue, Iowa Territory * Broderick–Terry duel, 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, August 19, 1871, Newton, Kansas * 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, April 5, 1879,

Dodge City, Kansas Dodge City is the county seat of Ford County, Kansas, United States, named after nearby Fort Dodge. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 27,788. The city is famous in American culture for its history as a wild frontier town ...

* 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 ...

* Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, October 26, 1881, Tombstone, Arizona Territory * Trinidad Gunfight, April 16, 1882, Trinidad, Colorado * 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 ser ...

* Frisco shootout, 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. Accord ...

* 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 resulte ...

, January 12, 1889, Cimarron, Kansas *

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, United States, located along the Verdigris River in the state's southeastern region. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 8,826. Coffeyville is the most popul ...

* Battle of Stone Corral, June 11–12, 1893, Visalia, California * Battle of Tres Jacales, June 30, 1893, Tres Jacales, Chihuahua * Battle of Ingalls, 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, April 7, 1899, Pearce, Arizona Territory * Fairbank train robbery, 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 ...

* 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 ...

, Arizona Territory * 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 * 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, 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 ...

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See also