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Marshal, appointed by the Attorney General a Sheriff elected to office by the county residents, a Marshal appointed by the City Council, or a deputy, constable, ranger, or peace officer hired by a superior officer or authority. There were various types of lawmen in the Old West. What the lawmen and the outlaws had in common, besides their gun handling skills, was their willingness to risk their lives to enforce the law or to commit a crime. This was not always the case however, some were known to have been good men, such as Bat Masterson, Heck Thomas, and Bill Tilghman. But, even a young Bill Tilghman was once charged with stealing when he was a young man and so was Wyatt Earp. Unlike the old movies, where the outlaw was always a grizzled, mean, and murdering road agent and the lawman was a calm, steely-eyed, honest man, the reality was that the two types were often very much the same. Just a few of these men included Tom Horn, Burton Alford, J.J.
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There was a fine line in the Old West as to the skills and nerve required to be a gunfighter, a lawman, or an outlaw, and, those lines often became tangled with some men playing each role at different times in their lives. In other cases, before the establishment of “official” organizational law, communities turned to Vigilantism. This often led them to employ men who were known to be expert in the use of firearms. However, honest people were also moving to the west and over time, they determined to rid their towns and areas of the lawlessness. In these places, saloons, dance houses, and brothels, easily outnumbered legitimate other businesses, and in many cases, the towns were under the control of less than decent citizens. Some settlements were quickly known for violence and for attracting the seedier elements of society, such as Las Vegas, New Mexico El Paso, Texas the mining camps of across the West and the cowtowns of Kansas. There were no laws, no courts, and little or no government, and because of this, it easily lured numerous criminals, some of who were escaping punishment for other crimes, some who wanted to take advantage of its having no laws, and probably a few who wanted to start over. Living in the American West was not easy at that time. Some hunted for gold some, who had the means, started businesses, others became cowboys, and those with sharp gun handling skills became gunfighters. And then, the question of what to do once they got there.
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With many men without opportunities for jobs, their homes and lands in ruins, family members killed or missing, and few skills, with the exception of gun handling, they headed westward in search of new lives. The gunfighter era was an outgrowth of the Civil War.
#OSKETCH OF OLD WEST GUNFIGHT PROFESSIONAL#
The wild and lawless period in the West lasted for about 70 years, with the first shooting incident by a person who could be considered a professional gunman taking place in Texas in 1854.