Jim Courtright (gunman)

Courtright was born in Sangamon County, Illinois, in the spring of 1845, the son of Daniel Courtright. He had four older sisters and one younger brother. He was reported to have practiced shooting frequently. Allegedly, he lied about his age and enlisted in the Union Army during the American Civil War.. He served under General John A. Logan for whom he once took a bullet and thus earned Logan's admiration. He was rootless and traveled around often until he finally settled in Fort Worth in north Texas. While in Fort Worth, Courtright was at various times a jailer, city marshal, deputy sheriff, deputy U.S. Marshal, hired killer, private detective, and racketeer. During his travels, Courtright had developed a reputation as being fast with a gun. He married Sarah Weeks and taught her how to shoot. They held shooting exhibitions for which they charged admission, and later performed as part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. == Lawman career ==

Courtright and his wife arrived in Ft. Worth in 1876. He ran for office as the first elected city marshal against four other men, and won by three votes. He liked to wear his hair long and wore two revolvers with their butts facing forward. It was generally believed that he murdered several unwilling business owners who would not pay into his protection racket. Daniel H. McAllister, a Deacon in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, had been until a few days before the manager of Casey's ranch. When he learned of the murders, he informed the authorities, who promptly called for Moore and his fellow posse members' arrest. Courtright and McIntire initially acted as lawmen and arrested the others who had taken part in the murders, but when the grand jury convened, they learned that the two men had also taken part. Moore escaped arrest, and before Courtright and McIntire could be apprehended, they took off for Mexico on horseback, finally ending up on June 1 in El Paso, Texas, where they found safety among a number of former Texas Rangers who knew them both. Courtright sent for his wife and children who had been in Los Angeles. McIntire also summoned his wife and the two families headed to Ft. Worth, where they successfully fought extradition to New Mexico, claiming the two men were "Mexicans" and they had been performing their duties as lawmen. == Forms detective agency ==

Secure in Ft. Worth, in 1884 Courtright tried once again to form a detective agency. In New Mexico, two men were tried and acquitted of the murders, and authorities renewed their effort to bring Courtright to justice. == Courtright vs Short ==

Luke Short was a gunfighter, gambler and bar owner who had drifted down to Fort Worth from Dodge City, Kansas. While in Dodge City, Short had dabbled in gambling, and became friends with several other noted Old West figures, such as Bat Masterson, Jim Masterson and Wyatt Earp, who had also become friends with Courtright. In Fort Worth, he managed the White Elephant, a saloon/gambling house. Words were passed, and evidently Courtright, who had been drinking considerably, had made some indication about Short having a gun. Short assured Courtright he was not armed, although he was. In 1907 Masterson published his own, more neutral account of the events that unfold, in which he stated that it was Jim Courtright, who called for Luke Short to meet him in the street for a confrontation, while carrying a "brace of pistols" of his own. Masterson described what followed: Courtright was shot three times: Once in the thumb; once in the right shoulder, and once in the heart. Investigations on the gunfight concluded that while it was Courtright who went for his pistol first, it was Short who ultimately outdrew and killed him. Courtright's inability to fire off a shot was due to a number of possible scenarios; one was that his pistol got caught on his watch chain for a second as he drew it, and another was that his pistol broke when one of Short's bullets struck it and his thumb. Another is that Courtright's .45 Colt in his right hand had jammed because a bullet prevented the gun chamber from moving. == Aftermath and legacy ==

Short was tried for the shooting, but it was ruled justified self defense, and the charges were dismissed. The gunfight gained notoriety due to the reputation of both men. Unfortunately for Courtright, that fame was posthumous. == In popular culture ==

In 1955, the half-hour syndicated television series Stories of the Century, starring Jim Davis as railroad detective Matt Clark, aired the Jim Courtright story, with Robert Knapp in the title role and Wally Cassell as Luke Short. In 1958, Karl Swenson was cast in an historically inaccurate portrayal of Courtright on the ABC/Warner Brothers western series, Colt .45, starring Wayde Preston. In the episode entitled "Long Odds", Swenson plays a grandfather visiting his 10-year-old grandson Billy, played by child actor Paul Engle. Billy has told his friends of his grandfather's prowess with a gun, but the elderly Courtright now shuns a confrontation with the gunfighter Cherry Lane, played by Robert J. Wilke, amid accusations of cowardice. The real Courtright was dead at thirty-nine and likely had no grandchildren. In the Colt .45 episode, Swenson was fifty when he portrayed Courtright. In 2021, the character of Jim Courtright was played by actor Billy Bob Thornton in the television series 1883, a spin-off of Taylor Sheridan's hit show Yellowstone. == References ==