Gun Control in the Old West

  In popular imagination, the Old West of the 1880s is often pictured as a lawless frontier where everyone carried a gun at all times. But for many Western towns trying to establish order and attract families, business, and investment, gun control was not only present--it was taken seriously.  Places like Dodge City, Tombstone, and Deadwood adopted local ordinances that restricted the carrying of firearms within town limits. Visitors were often required to check their weapons with the sheriff or at a saloon upon entering town, a practice that reflected a broader desire to reduce violence in rapidly growing communities.

 These measures weren't driven by abstract political ideology so much as practical necessity. Frontier towns were filled with a mix of cowboys, miners, merchants, and travelers, many of whom were armed and living in close quarters. Disputes could quickly escalate into deadly encounters if weapons were readily at hand. By enforcing gun restrictions in populated areas, local authorities aimed to prevent spur-of-the-moment violence, especially in saloons where alcohol and tempers mixed freely. Lawmen like Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson became known not just for gunfights, but for enforcing these rules and maintaining a semblance of peace.

 

For Western readers today, the history of gun control in the Old West offers a more nuanced picture than the myth suggests. Firearms were certainly a part of daily life on the frontier, especially for hunting, ranching, and self-defense in remote areas. Yet within town limits, many communities recognized the need for boundaries. Rather than representing a contradiction, this balance reflected a practical understanding of freedom and responsibility--one shaped by the realities of life in a developing and often unpredictable landscape. 

Till next time.

Sandra

 Available at Amazon 

Legendary Female Gambler Kitty Leroy

The thrill of the wild west didn’t just belong to the men. There were plenty of women who were as skilled in cards and guns as Bat Masterson and Doc Holiday. One such female who thrived on the edge of danger, and died young, was Kitty Leroy.

Kitty was born in Michigan in 1850. She began dancing at the young age of ten and by 14 was a professional in the dance halls and saloons. During this time, dancing wasn’t her only passion. She learned to handle knives and guns, becoming more proficient than most men. Her first husband, whom she married at the age of 15, was the only man in their town willing to let her shoot an apple off his head. But Kitty grew restless with small town life and longed for bigger and better things. Her husband didn’t share her desires, so she left him and headed west in search of fortune.     

Game of Faro

Kitty landed in Dallas, Texas and continued with her dancing career, but soon gave it up for dealing Faro. She became an accomplished gambler and continued mastering her skills with guns and knives. It was during this time she took to dressing in men’s clothes and married her 2^nd husband at the age of 20. They moved to California in the hopes of opening a saloon, but Kitty left him for husband number three. This marriage was extremely short. Legend dictates she challenged him to a fight but he refused to fight a woman. She donned her man’s clothes and challenged him a second time. Again, he refused so she shot him. When he didn’t die instantly, she sent for a preacher and married him while he lay on the ground. He died a few days after.

Deadwood

Kitty left California and made her way to Deadwood in 1876, traveling in a wagon party with Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane. Once in Deadwood, she found work as a prostitute in Mollie Johnson’s brothel. Shortly after gaining employment with Mollie, she opened the Mint Gambling Saloon and married her 4th husband, a German prospector who struck gold. His money dried up fast and so did her interest with him. Arguing became second nature for them until the night she hit him over the head with a bottle and tossed him out, effectively ending their marriage.  

Alone again, Kitty continued managing her saloon and her girls, earning a good profit. On June 11, 1877, she married for the last time to prospector and gambler Samuel R. Curley. Kitty’s marriage to Samuel was also steeped in violence. He was extremely jealous of her, and with reason. She continued with her promiscuous ways, including having an affair with her ex-husband and one with Wild Bill, or so rumor suggests. Samuel shot and killed Kitty on the night of December 6, 1877 then killed himself. They were laid to rest together the next day.

   Somewhere in Kitty’s colorful 28 years, she had a daughter. At the time of her death, Deadwood newspapers printed her estate was left to her daughter, Kitty Donally. 

Guns of the Wild West by Susan Horsnell

"Unsurprisingly, the American "Wild West" was tamed by nothing other than the gun"

This month I thought I would take a look at some of the guns found in the "Wild West".

First up we have the Deringer Pocket Pistol

An original Philadelphia Deringer made by Henry Deringer. This was the pocket pistol
 used by John Wilkes Booth in the Abraham Lincoln Assassination.

A deringer is generally the smallest usable handgun of a given calibre. They were frequently used by women, because they were easily concealable in a purse, a muff or, in their stockings.
Derringers are not repeating firearms, this would have added significant bulk to the gun, defeating the purpose of easy concealment.
The original cartridge derringers held only a single round, usually a pinfire or rimfire .40 calibre cartridge, with the barrel pivoted sideways on the frame to allow access to the breech for reloading. The famous Remington derringer design doubled the capacity, while maintaining the compact size, by adding a second barrel on top of the first and pivoting the barrels upwards to reload. Each barrel then held one round, and a cam on the hammer alternated between top and bottom barrels. The Remington derringer was .41 short calibre and achieved wide popularity. The .41 Short bullet moved very slowly, at about 425 feet per second. It could be seen in flight, but at very close range, such as at a casino or saloon card table, it could easily kill. The Remington derringer was sold from 1866 to 1935.

Next is the Colt Single Action Army

Commonly known as the "Peacemaker."
Introduced in 1873, no Colt revolver has earned greater fame than the Single Action Army®, The Peacemaker®. In design and performance, in line and form, no more sculptural and practical Colt has ever been created. Movies serve as constant reminders of the role this equalizer played in winning the West.
Large numbers of look-alikes have never been able to replace the real Colt.
Records on the SAA Revolver are a Who's Who of action-oriented Americans of the late 19th and early 20th centuries including Buffalo Bill Cody, Theodore Roosevelt, Judge Roy Bean, Pawnee Bill Lilly, Captain Jack Crawford, Pat Garrett and General George Patton.

How about a gun that won't fit in your pocket or a holster?
The Gatling Gun

A hand-driven machine gun, the Gatling gun was the first firearm to solve the problems of loading, reliability, and the firing of sustained bursts. It was invented by Richard J. Gatling during the American Civil War, and later used in the Spanish-American War, but was supplanted by advanced weaponry soon after. Years later, the technology behind the gun was re-introduced by the U.S. military, and new versions of the gun are still in use today.
The gun is named for its inventor, Richard Jordan Gatling, a physician. Gatling neatly divided his sympathies during the Civil War. While trying to sell machine guns to the Union, he was an active member of the Order of American Knights, a secret group of Confederate sympathizers and saboteurs.
The conservatism of the Union army chief of ordinance and the unreliability of early models of the gun frustrated efforts to sell it to the U.S. Army. But Gatling soon improved on the original six-barrel, .58 caliber version of the gun, which fired 350 rounds a minute, by designing a ten-barrel, .30 caliber model, which fired 400 rounds a minute. The U.S. Army adopted the Gatling gun in 1866, and it remained standard until it was replaced in the early twentieth century by the Maxim single-barrel machine gun.

This one's a rifle -
The Burnside Carbine

In 1857, the Burnside carbine won a competition at West Point against 17 other carbine designs. In spite of this, few of the carbines were immediately ordered by the government, but this changed with the outbreak of the Civil War, when over 55,000 were ordered for use by Union cavalrymen. This made it the third most popular carbine of the Civil War; only the Sharps Carbine and the Spencer Carbine were more widely used. They saw action in all theatres of the war. There were so many in service that many were captured and used by Confederates. A common complaint by users was that the unusually shaped cartridge sometimes became stuck in the breech after firing.
By using ordnance returns and ammunition requisitions, it has been estimated that 43 Union cavalry regiments were using the Burnside carbine during the 1863-1864 period. Additionally, 7 Confederate cavalry units were at least partially armed with the weapon during this same period.
Five different models were produced. Toward the end of the Civil War, production was discontinued when the Burnside Rifle Company was given a contract to make Spencer carbines instead.

There are many more guns which were used. These are only a very small sample.

Until next month.

Stay Safe,
Sue


Susan Horsnell - Western Romance Author

Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/Susan-Horsnell/e/B00BXR5FMM

Blog:
http://susanhorsnell.com

Website:
http://horsnells.wix.com/susan--1