El Paso, Texas. This city has many nicknames. Among these are the Sun City, the 915, and El Chuco. Respectfully, these nicknames are about the more than three hundred days of sunlight the city receives a year, the city’s area code, and the word Pachuco, which is the word for old-school Latinos in zoot suits. When thinking about this city many folks have plenty of differing opinions. Among these many can agree that while it tends to be warm and dry year long, at times the weather can spur out of control. The drivers here at times are very subpar while on the road, and that in general for El Paso being such a big city it is among the safest in the nation. However, many, including myself, are not fully aware of the city’s good and evil history. Despite it being known as one of the safer big cities, El Paso for a time was nothing more than a lawless boomtown riddled with crime of all sorts with gambling and prostitution as the epicenter of business in the town. Infamously known as the six-shooter capital, the murder rate was astonishingly high, almost out of control. The nickname six-shooter capital, among gambling, prostitution, and a skyrocketing rate of murder, does not fit well with the image of what a safe city is supposed to be or, instead, what occurred during that time. This all changed in April 1881 when the city hired a new town marshal named Dallas Stoudenmire, a lawman and a gunfighter. Stoudenmire was involved in and survived many gunfights in his time. Little would he know that just a few days after being hired, Stoudenmire’s fame and legacy would be cemented with a brief gunfight later dubbed the “Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight.”
Image caption: Dallas Stoudenmire (Courtesy of FastilyClone, Wikimedia Commons)
Dallas Stoudenmire was born to Lewis and Elizabeth Stoudenmire in Aberfoil, Bullock County, Alabama on December 11, 1845. Despite being underage, Stoudenmire enlisted for the Confederate Army in 1862 though it did not take long for his officers to find out his actual age and discharge him. Twice more he reenlisted, though eventually he was allowed to serve as a Private of Company F, of the 45th Alabama Infantry Regiment. After the war, Stoudenmire was wounded many times to the extent that he carried two bullets that were lodged in his body for the remainder of his life. Afterwards, records indicate that around 1867, Stoudenmire moved westward to the town of Columbus, Texas where it was rumored that by then he had killed several men. However, many locals would describe Stoudenmire as a handsome and sharp-dressed individual with a penchant of being very popular among females. Conversely, he possessed a very quick temper made worse when he was intoxicated. It was at this time that he had the habit of carrying two guns and being just as precise and accurate with shooting from either hand. Other surviving records indicate that he was employed as a carpenter, wheelwright, sheep farmer, and even a merchandiser after the Civil War, although unfortunately, from the years of 1874 and 1878, nothing much was known during this time as he “disappeared” from the records though it may be suspected that he lived in Mexico during that time frame.
He managed to resurface as records indicated that he accepted the position of town marshal of Socorro, New Mexico. It was at this time that his brother-in-law and El Paso, Texas resident Stanley “Doc” Cummings convinced Stoudenmire to accept the job position of town marshal at El Paso. As stated, El Paso was a lawless remote boomtown in desperate need of a new town marshal as crime was spiraling out of control. Stoudenmire listened and accepted this new job. Little would we know as current residents of the city that this move would be the end of one era and the beginning of another. The days of the wild and lawless six-shooter capital were quickly numbered, and the beginning of Dallas Stoudenmire’s legacy and fame would begin from this point.
Stoudenmire began his tenure as the new town marshal on April 11, 1881; by then, he was the sixth town marshal in a span of only eight months. The city council first tasked him to retrieve the city jail keys from former town marshal Bill Johnson, who also happened to be the town drunkard. According to nearby witness testimonies, Stoudenmire approached and asked the intoxicated Johnson for the keys; the drunk mumbled that he had to go home to figure out which keys were his and which were the city’s. An impatient Stoudenmire again demanded the keys, though Johnson continued his delay. Living up to his tough and uncompromising reputation, Stoudenmire physically turned Johnson upside down and personally retrieved the keys himself, leaving the drunken former deputy marshal publicly humiliated.
Three days later, a sequence of events unfolded that led to the famous “Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight.” It all started when the Manning brothers, future rivals of Stoudenmire, crossed the Mexican border and stole thirty heads of cattle with the intention of selling the animals and collecting the cash for themselves. Before pursuing the task of selling the cattle, the Mannings kept the stolen animals at the ranch of their closest friend, John Hale. Hale, like the Mannings, was very influential and powerful within the city. Immediately, the owner of the stolen cattle contacted the authorities. As the owner sent two farmhands to track the animals, the Texas Rangers were notified and started an investigation by Ed Fitch. The trail led the farmhands to the ranch of John Hale. When Fitch arrived, he discovered the murdered bodies of two Mexican farmhands. Not long after, Fitch took two farmhands from Hale’s ranch in custody as it was reported that a nearby witness overheard the duo bragging and boasting about murdering the two Mexican nationals. The furious owner of the cattle gathered a posse of seventy-five heavily armed men and marched into El Paso to seek justice for their deceased comrades. The posse quickly descended on Hale’s ranch to take justice into their own hands. However, after some deliberation, the Mexican men opted for a more diplomatic approach and wanted the legal system to intervene. From there, they met a local constable, Gus Krempkau. Krempkau brought in Hale’s accused farmhands before a judge for an inquest, and, since the Constable was fluent in Spanish, he served as the designated translator for the armed posse for whatever the judge needed to state.
The situation reached a boiling point as a large crowd gathered in El Paso to hear the proceedings. As the two accused farmhands were standing before the judge, tensions were on the rise as among the crowd was present John Hale and close friend and previous town marshal, George Campbell. At one end of the spectrum, Hale, Campbell, and their allies were quick to shout out loud insults and racial slurs at the Mexican posse, claiming overall superiority over the Mexicans, and implying that the killings of the Mexican farmhands was not only justified, but also a good thing. At the other extreme, the heavily armed posse were still angrily seeking justice for their two fallen companions. Immediately, the judge found the two farmhands from John Hale’s ranch guilty of murder and ordered their immediate arrest, scheduling a trial for a later date. With the court now adjourned, each side went their separate ways. Calm down, the armed Mexicans took their two deceased friends back to the Mexican side of the border for a proper burial.
After the court proceedings, constable Krempkau went to Keating’s saloon, where he stumbled upon George Campbell. Furiously, Campbell stood up and yelled at the Constable, “Any American that is a friend of Mexicans ought to be hanged!” as he was claiming that Krempkau was not only helping the Mexicans overall but were accusing a couple of white American men of a terrible crime. Following the confrontation, Constable Krempkau briefly left the tavern to retrieve his firearms. As he returned, the Constable stumbled upon John Hale, the owner of the ranch where the two deceased Mexican farmhands were found and a close friend of George Campbell. Like Campbell, the drunken John Hale was profoundly up- set at the Constable for assisting the Mexicans. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back as the combination of resentment, bravado, and confrontation served as a catalyst for one of the most legendary gunfights in the history of not only the city of El Paso but the entire Old West.
<Image caption: George W. Campbell and Jim Manning, 1881 (Courtesy of Legends of America)<
The immediate aftermath of the shootout made several enemies in town for Stoudenmire, especially the Manning brothers, who were very close friends of the deceased Campbell and Hale. On the evening of April 17, 1881, the Manning brothers hired none other than former town marshal and drunkard Bill Johnson to assassinate Stoudenmire. Johnson needed little convincing for the deed, as he held a deep grudge and personal vendetta against Stoudenmire for publicly humiliating him a few days prior; this was the perfect opportunity to seek retaliation.
That same evening, armed with a fully loaded double-barreled shotgun, Johnson, who was intoxicated, took cover behind a large pillar of bricks, and waited for his opportunity. As he heard the voices of Stoudenmire and his brother-in-law Stanley “Doc” Cummings, Johnson was so inebriated that he lost his balance and fell backwards, accidentally firing both barrels in the air. Unfortunately, for Johnson both shots were nowhere near his intended target. Alerted by the failed ambush Stoudenmire swiftly readied his pistols. Reports indicated that Stoudenmire fired a total of eight shots intended for Johnson. Stoudenmire was so accurate that not only was he able to land all eight shots he fired but also one of the bullets he fired severed Johnson’s testicles, essentially castrating the drunken man. After receiving the hail of bullets, Johnson would no longer trouble Stoudenmire as the former rapidly bled to death on the scene. With the death of the would-be assassin they hired, the feud between the Manning brothers and Stoudenmire further intensified. As for Stoudenmire, between the killing of Bill Johnson and the following February, the famed law man and gunfighter killed another six men during situations of arrest. In turn this led to a sharp decline in the crime rate of El Paso and increasing Stoudenmire’s legacy. Unfortunately for Stoudenmire, his feud with the Manning brothers worsened due to the killing of his brother-in-law “Doc” Cummings. The events unfolded on Valentine’s Day 1882 after an argument had drastically escalated between Cummings and one of the Manning brothers, James. It all started when Manning claimed Cummings pulled out a pistol and threatened to kill James outside of a saloon. Just as an unrelated bystander walked by, Cummings held the scared man at gunpoint and interrogated him, “Now, are you not one of his friends?” The man maintained his innocence as Cummings allowed him to go provided he held his hands up in the air, but, by this point, he lost sight of James.
Reentering the saloon would be the death of Stoudenmire’s brother-in-law as once again he threatened James with death; this time, however, the Manning brother snapped, and both men exchanged bullets with each other. However, James would emerge as the victor as one of his bullets hit Cummings, causing him to collapse on the street. Stoudenmire reacted harshly to the news as he heard that James Manning was found innocent at the trial on the grounds of self-defense, though it was proven that the jurors were all either close friends or acquaintances of Manning. In a fit of rage, Stoudenmire began to confront those responsible for the acquittal of James Manning. Despite being respected by the Texas Rangers and U.S. Marshals, Stoudenmire still had many things against him. First, he was still seen as an “outsider” by the local population, and second, unlike him, the Manning brothers had been established in town much longer. They had many known contacts between the general population and the city government. Only two things worked in favor of Stoudenmire: he managed to lower the crime rate of El Paso significantly, and many feared him. He was feared so much that when the town council announced his firing, the drunken Stoudenmire barged into the council hall and blatantly waved his guns around, taunting and daring the council members to take away his job or his guns. In hopes of calming him down, the council members allowed Stoudenmire to keep his guns and job; however, once sobered up, he resigned on his account two days later.
Many months later, in an attempt to settle their feud, the Manning brothers and Stoudenmire agreed to meet at a local tavern. At first, everything appeared to go smoothly; however, an argument based on rumors and lies escalated between James Manning and Dallas Stoudenmire to the point that both men drew their guns. Stoudenmire was struck first in the arm, followed by a second shot that hit him in his shirt pocket. The shot would have been fatal had it not been for the thick stack of papers he had folded up inside his pocket. However, the momentum was strong enough to make Stoudenmire fall backwards on the ground. While on his back, he tried to recover and defend himself, but by then was bested by James who managed to dart around Stoudenmire and fire right behind his ear, killing him instantly.
As stated previously, many, including myself, are not aware of El Paso’s history. It is very interesting to think that our city’s past was very different from what the present is. What was once known as the six-shooter capital and a safe haven for thugs and other criminals became no more when the city hired a new man for the job, an outsider. After a few days on the job new town marshal Dallas Stoudenmire cemented his fame and legacy with the well-known “Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight.”.
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Before Dallas Stoudenmire accepted the position as marshal of El Paso, there existed no authority except that of the six-shooter, and very little precedent for a peace officer to follow. No one before had held the job for more than a couple of months. Yet, within two years, with the help of Jim Gillett, his young deputy, Stoudenmire had cleaned up the town, a task that earned him many enemies and, in the end, death. This is the story of Dallas Stoudenmire-auburn-haired, fiery-eyed, six-foot, two-inch gunfighter, container of laughter, liquor, and death-during the two tumultuous years in the early 1880’s when he served as almost the only law north of the Rio Grande and west of Fort Worth.
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