Reading Passages; The 10 Deadliest Gunmen of the Wild West

 GUNS & LEGENDS

The 10 Deadliest Gunmen of the Wild West

 

10 Nonfiction Historical Reading Passages

with Reading Comprehension Questions

 

THE ROSTER

1.  Billy the Kid — Lincoln County, New Mexico Territory

2.  John Wesley Hardin — Texas (27 confirmed kills)

3.  Wyatt Earp — Tombstone, Arizona Territory

4.  Doc Holliday — The Tubercular Dentist-Gunfighter

5.  Jesse James — Missouri Outlaw & Folk Legend

6.  Pat Garrett — The Lawman Who Ended Billy the Kid

7.  Tom Horn — Scout, Pinkerton, and Hired Killer

8.  Clay Allison — The Wolf of the Washita

9.  Ben Thompson — England-Born Gambler & Gunfighter

10. Wild Bill Hickok — The Prince of Pistoleers

 

PASSAGE 1 OF 10  ·  NONFICTION

1. Billy the Kid

The Boy Outlaw of Lincoln County

Born: November 23, 1859, New York City, New York

Died: July 14, 1881, Fort Sumner, New Mexico Territory (age 21)

Real Name: William Henry McCarty Jr. (also known as William H. Bonney)

Confirmed Kills: At least 4 confirmed personal kills; often credited with 8–9 total

Preferred Weapon: Colt Single Action Army revolver (.44-40 caliber), Winchester repeating rifle

 

— Reading Passage —

Of all the outlaws who roamed the American frontier in the latter half of the nineteenth century, few have captured the imagination of historians and storytellers quite like Billy the Kid. Born William Henry McCarty Jr. on November 23, 1859, in New York City, he spent his formative years moving westward with his widowed mother, eventually settling in Silver City, New Mexico Territory. His mother's death from tuberculosis in 1874, when Billy was just fourteen years old, left him without a legal guardian and largely on his own in a rough frontier environment.

By his mid-teens, Billy had drifted into petty theft and bad company. His first serious brush with the law came in 1877 when, at the age of seventeen, he shot and killed a bully named Frank 'Windy' Cahill during a saloon confrontation in Arizona Territory. Whether it was self-defense or murder depended on who told the story, but Billy fled before a verdict could be rendered. It would not be his last killing, nor his last escape.

Billy the Kid became deeply entangled in the Lincoln County War of 1878, a violent feud between two competing business factions in southeastern New Mexico Territory. He aligned himself with the Tunstall-McSween faction and fought against the powerful Murphy-Dolan ring, which had the backing of corrupt law enforcement. During this conflict, Billy earned a reputation as a skilled and fearless gunfighter. He was present at several ambushes and shootouts, including the killing of Sheriff William Brady and his deputy on April 1, 1878.

Captured by Sheriff Pat Garrett in December 1880, Billy was tried and convicted of murder in 1881 and sentenced to hang. In one of the most dramatic escapes in frontier history, he killed two guards — James Bell and Robert Olinger — and fled Lincoln County on April 28, 1881. The escape shocked the territory and embarrassed territorial authorities. Governor Lew Wallace, who had earlier offered Billy amnesty only to later renege, reportedly fumed at the news.

Pat Garrett tracked Billy to Fort Sumner, New Mexico, where, on the night of July 14, 1881, he shot and killed him in a darkened room at the home of Pete Maxwell. Billy the Kid was twenty-one years old. Garrett later published a book, 'The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid,' which helped cement the young outlaw's legend. To this day, debate continues about the exact number of men Billy killed — estimates range from four to twenty-one — but historians generally accept at least four confirmed personal kills.

 

— Reading Comprehension Questions —

1. Where was Billy the Kid born?

A. Lincoln County, New Mexico

B. New York City, New York

C. Silver City, Arizona

D. Fort Sumner, Texas

2. What was the name of the first man Billy the Kid killed?

A. Pat Garrett

B. Sheriff William Brady

C. Frank 'Windy' Cahill

D. Robert Olinger

3. What conflict did Billy the Kid become most associated with?

A. The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

B. The Lincoln County War

C. The Johnson County War

D. The Earp-Holliday Vendetta

4. Who shot and killed Billy the Kid?

A. Wyatt Earp

B. Doc Holliday

C. James Bell

D. Pat Garrett

5. How old was Billy the Kid when he died?

A. 17

B. 25

C. 21

D. 30

Answer Key: 1) B   2) C   3) B   4) D   5) C

 

PASSAGE 2 OF 10  ·  NONFICTION

2. John Wesley Hardin

The Most Dangerous Gunfighter in Texas

Born: May 26, 1853, Bonham, Texas

Died: August 19, 1895, El Paso, Texas (age 42)

Real Name: John Wesley Hardin

Confirmed Kills: 27 confirmed kills — the most of any documented gunfighter of the era

Preferred Weapon: Colt Navy revolver (.36 caliber), Colt Single Action Army (.45 caliber)

 

— Reading Passage —

John Wesley Hardin holds the grim distinction of being the most prolific gunfighter of the American West, with at least twenty-seven confirmed kills documented by historians. Born on May 26, 1853, in Bonham, Texas, he was named after the founder of the Methodist Church by his preacher father — an irony that was not lost on those who witnessed his violent adult life. Hardin killed his first man at the age of fifteen in 1868, shooting a formerly enslaved man named Mage during a wrestling dispute on his uncle's farm.

Unlike many of his contemporaries who killed in single dramatic duels, Hardin killed frequently and in a variety of circumstances — some clearly self-defense, others far more ambiguous. He shot lawmen, soldiers, cowboys, and gamblers throughout Texas and Kansas. In 1871, during a cattle drive along the Chisholm Trail, he reportedly shot a man in a Abilene hotel simply for snoring too loudly in the next room. Whether apocryphal or not, the story illustrated the hair-trigger reputation that followed him.

Hardin's most famous confrontation came on May 26, 1874 — his twenty-first birthday — when he shot and killed Deputy Sheriff Charles Webb in Comanche, Texas. Webb had been sent to arrest Hardin and reportedly reached for his gun first, though witnesses disagreed. The killing triggered a manhunt. Texas Rangers and vigilantes pursued Hardin across the South. His family paid a heavy price: his brother Joe and two cousins were lynched by a mob during the manhunt.

Captured by Texas Rangers in Pensacola, Florida in 1877, Hardin was returned to Texas, tried, and sentenced to twenty-five years in prison for the Webb killing. During his sixteen years in prison, he studied law and earned a law degree by correspondence. Released in 1894, he was pardoned by the governor and passed the Texas bar examination. He relocated to El Paso, where he set up a law practice but quickly returned to gambling and drinking.

On August 19, 1895, Hardin was shot from behind and killed in the Acme Saloon in El Paso by constable John Selman. He was forty-two years old. At the time of his death, Hardin had been working on his autobiography, 'The Life of John Wesley Hardin,' which was published posthumously. It remains one of the most fascinating firsthand accounts of frontier violence ever written, though historians note it minimizes many of his most brutal acts.

 

— Reading Comprehension Questions —

1. How many confirmed kills does John Wesley Hardin have?

A. 14

B. 21

C. 27

D. 35

2. How old was Hardin when he killed his first man?

A. 12

B. 15

C. 18

D. 20

3. What did Hardin study and achieve while in prison?

A. He learned to paint portraits

B. He earned a law degree

C. He became a licensed physician

D. He learned to speak three languages

4. Who killed John Wesley Hardin?

A. Pat Garrett

B. Wyatt Earp

C. John Selman

D. A Texas Ranger

5. What happened to Hardin's brother and cousins during the manhunt after the Webb killing?

A. They were imprisoned in Austin

B. They escaped to Mexico

C. They were lynched by a mob

D. They surrendered to Texas Rangers

Answer Key: 1) C   2) B   3) B   4) C   5) C

 

PASSAGE 3 OF 10  ·  NONFICTION

3. Wyatt Earp

The Lawman of Tombstone

Born: March 19, 1848, Monmouth, Illinois

Died: January 13, 1929, Los Angeles, California (age 80)

Real Name: Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp

Confirmed Kills: At least 3 confirmed kills; participated in incidents resulting in several more

Preferred Weapon: Colt Buntline Special (.45 caliber), Colt Single Action Army

 

— Reading Passage —

Wyatt Earp is perhaps the most famous lawman of the American frontier, a figure who walked the line between law and outlaw with equal confidence. Born on March 19, 1848, in Monmouth, Illinois, Earp spent his early adulthood drifting between buffalo hunting, gambling, and police work across Kansas and Missouri. He served as a lawman in Wichita and Dodge City, Kansas, where his willingness to use his revolver as a club — 'buffaloing' unruly cowboys over the head — earned him a reputation for iron-handed order.

Earp arrived in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, in 1879, accompanied by his brothers Virgil, Morgan, and James, as well as his consumptive friend Doc Holliday. The town was booming on silver mining, and tensions simmered between the Earp faction — associated with the Republican, business-minded town establishment — and a loose confederation of rustlers and ranchers known as the Cowboys, led by figures such as Ike and Billy Clanton and Tom and Frank McLaury.

On October 26, 1881, those tensions exploded in the most famous gunfight in Western history: the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. In roughly thirty seconds, Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan Earp, along with Doc Holliday, exchanged fire with the Clanton-McLaury faction in a vacant lot near Tombstone's Fremont Street. Billy Clanton and both McLaury brothers were killed; Virgil and Morgan Earp were wounded; Doc Holliday was grazed. Wyatt walked away unscathed. A subsequent inquest cleared the Earp party of wrongdoing, though the controversy over who drew first has never fully died.

The vendetta that followed was equally bloody. Morgan Earp was assassinated in March 1882, shot through a window while playing billiards. Virgil was ambushed and permanently maimed. Wyatt, given a federal marshal's posse commission, led a ruthless campaign — later called the Earp Vendetta Ride — in which he and his allies hunted down and killed several Cowboys believed responsible for the attacks, including Curly Bill Brocius and Johnny Ringo (the latter's death remains disputed).

Earp outlived nearly every other gunfighter of his era, dying quietly in Los Angeles on January 13, 1929, at the age of eighty. He had spent his later decades mining, gambling, and refereeing boxing matches. His legacy was shaped enormously by Stuart Lake's 1931 biography 'Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal,' a heavily romanticized account that formed the basis for countless films and television programs. Historians have since offered far more nuanced assessments of a man who was, by turns, a skilled lawman, a gambler, a horse thief, and a survivor.

 

— Reading Comprehension Questions —

1. In which two Kansas cities did Wyatt Earp serve as a lawman before Tombstone?

A. Abilene and Dodge City

B. Wichita and Dodge City

C. Wichita and Abilene

D. Hays City and Wichita

2. Approximately how long did the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral last?

A. About 30 seconds

B. About 5 minutes

C. About 15 minutes

D. About an hour

3. What happened to Morgan Earp after the O.K. Corral gunfight?

A. He was arrested by federal marshals

B. He fled to Mexico

C. He was assassinated while playing billiards

D. He died of tuberculosis

4. How old was Wyatt Earp when he died?

A. 62

B. 71

C. 80

D. 85

5. What was 'buffaloing' as practiced by Wyatt Earp?

A. Hunting buffalo for hides

B. Pistol-whipping unruly cowboys over the head

C. Chasing outlaws on horseback

D. A card-cheating technique

Answer Key: 1) B   2) A   3) C   4) C   5) B

 

PASSAGE 4 OF 10  ·  NONFICTION

4. Doc Holliday

The Tubercular Dentist Who Became a Gunfighter

Born: August 14, 1851, Griffin, Georgia

Died: November 8, 1887, Glenwood Springs, Colorado (age 36)

Real Name: John Henry Holliday, D.D.S.

Confirmed Kills: At least 1–3 confirmed kills; credited with several more in various accounts

Preferred Weapon: Nickel-plated Colt revolver, .38 caliber; also favored a large knife

 

— Reading Passage —

John Henry Holliday was not the archetypal frontier gunfighter. He was a trained dentist from Georgia, educated and articulate, who was driven westward by a diagnosis that was, in the nineteenth century, essentially a death sentence: tuberculosis of the lungs. Doctors advised that the dry air of the Southwest might slow the disease. It did — but only enough to give Doc Holliday nearly two decades in which to gamble, drink, and on occasion, kill.

Born on August 14, 1851, in Griffin, Georgia, Holliday graduated from the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery in 1872 and briefly practiced dentistry in Atlanta and Dallas. But his persistent cough, which worsened in the humid Southern air, drove patients away and made the precision work of dentistry increasingly difficult. He turned to professional gambling as a livelihood, drifting through frontier towns including Dallas, Denver, Cheyenne, and Dodge City.

Holliday's most significant friendship was forged in Dodge City in 1876, when he reportedly saved Wyatt Earp's life by drawing his weapon against a group of cowboys threatening the lawman. The two became lifelong friends and allies. In 1881, Holliday followed Earp to Tombstone, Arizona Territory, where he became a central figure in the events surrounding the most famous gunfight in Western history. At the O.K. Corral, it was Holliday — armed with a nickel-plated Colt and a shotgun — who killed Tom McLaury, ending the fight's bloodiest phase in mere seconds.

Holliday was as notorious for his sharp tongue and volatile temper as for his gunplay. He killed Ed Bailey in a card game dispute in Fort Griffin, Texas, in 1878, and was involved in several other shootings across his frontier career. His common-law wife, a Hungarian-born woman known as Big Nose Kate, both loved and feared him. She once orchestrated his escape from jail by setting fire to a shed and holding a guard at gunpoint — a tale that illustrated the extraordinary characters who populated the frontier.

By 1887, the tuberculosis that had defined Doc Holliday's adult life finally caught up with him. He died on November 8, 1887, in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, reportedly remarking upon seeing his own bare feet: 'This is funny' — a reference to his long-held expectation of dying with his boots on in a gunfight. He was thirty-six years old. Though his kill count remains historically uncertain, Holliday's place in frontier legend is secured by the sheer improbability of his life: a dying dentist who became one of the most feared gunfighters in the American West.

 

— Reading Comprehension Questions —

1. What was Doc Holliday's professional training before he became a gunfighter?

A. He was a trained physician

B. He was a trained dentist

C. He was a trained lawyer

D. He was a trained blacksmith

2. What illness drove Doc Holliday westward from the South?

A. Yellow fever

B. Typhoid fever

C. Tuberculosis

D. Smallpox

3. Who was Doc Holliday's most famous companion and ally?

A. Billy the Kid

B. Pat Garrett

C. Jesse James

D. Wyatt Earp

4. What were Doc Holliday's reported last words?

A. 'Tell Wyatt I said goodbye.'

B. 'This is funny.'

C. 'I am not afraid.'

D. 'God have mercy on me.'

5. How did Big Nose Kate help Doc Holliday escape from jail in Fort Griffin?

A. She bribed the sheriff

B. She disguised him as a woman

C. She set fire to a shed and held a guard at gunpoint

D. She paid his bail with gambling winnings

Answer Key: 1) B   2) C   3) D   4) B   5) C

 

PASSAGE 5 OF 10  ·  NONFICTION

5. Jesse James

America's Most Famous Outlaw

Born: September 5, 1847, Kearney, Missouri

Died: April 3, 1882, St. Joseph, Missouri (age 34)

Real Name: Jesse Woodson James

Confirmed Kills: At least 16 people killed during bank and train robberies; personally confirmed kills disputed

Preferred Weapon: Colt Single Action Army revolver (.45 caliber), Smith & Wesson Schofield

 

— Reading Passage —

Jesse James occupies a unique place in American history — an outlaw who was mythologized as a Robin Hood figure even during his own lifetime, despite scant evidence that he ever gave a cent to the poor. Born on September 5, 1847, in Kearney, Missouri, Jesse and his older brother Frank were products of the Missouri-Kansas border wars that preceded and accompanied the Civil War. Their family were Confederate sympathizers, and both brothers rode with the brutal guerrilla fighter William Quantrill during the war, participating in raids of savage violence.

After the war, Jesse and Frank James, along with the Younger brothers, formed the James-Younger Gang and embarked on what became the most celebrated robbery spree in American history. On February 13, 1866, the gang robbed the Clay County Savings Bank in Liberty, Missouri — widely considered the first daylight bank robbery in U.S. history during peacetime. Over the next fifteen years, the gang robbed banks, stagecoaches, and trains across Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Kentucky, and Minnesota.

The gang's most catastrophic failure came on September 7, 1876, during the attempted robbery of the First National Bank in Northfield, Minnesota. Local citizens, tipped off to the robbery, opened fire on the gang in the street. Three gang members were killed and three Younger brothers were captured; only Jesse and Frank escaped. The Northfield disaster effectively ended the James-Younger Gang. Jesse rebuilt with new recruits, but the new gang was less disciplined and more prone to betrayal.

That betrayal came in April 1882. Jesse had been living under the alias Thomas Howard in St. Joseph, Missouri, with his wife and children. Two new gang members, Robert and Charles Ford, had secretly negotiated a deal with Missouri Governor Thomas Crittenden to kill Jesse in exchange for a reward and pardons. On April 3, 1882, while Jesse stood on a chair to straighten a picture on the wall, Robert Ford shot him in the back of the head. He was thirty-four years old.

The ballad 'Jesse James' — written within weeks of his death and sung across the country — turned him into a martyred folk hero: 'That dirty little coward that shot Mr. Howard / Has laid poor Jesse in his grave.' The song cemented the Robin Hood myth. In reality, Jesse James was a ruthless killer and robber whose gang murdered civilians and bystanders without hesitation. He remains one of the most studied and disputed figures of the American frontier.

 

— Reading Comprehension Questions —

1. Which war shaped Jesse James's early violent experiences?

A. The Mexican-American War

B. The Civil War

C. The Spanish-American War

D. The War of 1812

2. What event is considered the first peacetime daylight bank robbery in U.S. history?

A. The Northfield Bank robbery

B. The Glendale train robbery

C. The Clay County Savings Bank robbery

D. The Kansas City Exposition robbery

3. What was the name of Jesse James's alias when he was living in St. Joseph, Missouri?

A. William Anderson

B. Thomas Howard

C. John Davis

D. Henry Brown

4. Who shot Jesse James, and under what circumstances?

A. Pat Garrett, during a midnight chase

B. Robert Ford, shooting him from behind while he adjusted a picture

C. A Pinkerton detective during a raid

D. Frank James, during an argument over money

5. What happened during the James-Younger Gang's attempted robbery in Northfield, Minnesota?

A. The gang escaped with $50,000

B. Three members were killed and three were captured by armed citizens

C. Jesse James was wounded and captured

D. The robbery succeeded but the gang was later ambushed

Answer Key: 1) B   2) C   3) B   4) B   5) B

 

PASSAGE 6 OF 10  ·  NONFICTION

6. Pat Garrett

The Sheriff Who Ended Billy the Kid

Born: June 5, 1850, Chambers County, Alabama

Died: February 29, 1908, Doña Ana County, New Mexico (age 57)

Real Name: Patrick Floyd Jarvis Garrett

Confirmed Kills: At least 4 confirmed kills, including Billy the Kid

Preferred Weapon: Colt Single Action Army revolver, Winchester Model 1873 rifle

 

— Reading Passage —

Pat Garrett occupies a fascinating position in the history of the Wild West — a man who is remembered primarily for a single act: the killing of Billy the Kid. But Garrett was far more than the man who pulled the trigger on July 14, 1881. He was a complex, intelligent, and ultimately tragic figure whose life took a dramatic downward arc after his most famous moment of glory.

Born in Alabama in 1850, Garrett drifted westward after the Civil War and worked as a buffalo hunter, cowboy, and bartender before settling in Lincoln County, New Mexico Territory, in the late 1870s. He was a tall man — nearly six-foot-four — with a quiet, deliberate manner that concealed considerable courage and strategic intelligence. Remarkably, he and Billy the Kid had been friends, or at least friendly acquaintances, before their paths diverged so dramatically.

Elected sheriff of Lincoln County in November 1880, Garrett made capturing Billy the Kid his defining mission. He was methodical where Billy was impulsive, patient where Billy was reckless. On December 19, 1880, Garrett ambushed Billy's gang at Stinking Springs, New Mexico, killing one outlaw and forcing the surrender of the rest, including Billy himself. After Billy's sensational escape from the Lincoln County courthouse jail in April 1881, it was Garrett who relentlessly tracked him down.

The killing of Billy the Kid at Fort Sumner made Garrett briefly famous. He leveraged that fame into a book, 'The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid,' ghost-written with Ash Upson in 1882. But the book sold poorly, and Garrett's post-Kid life was defined by a series of disappointments. He served terms as a Texas Ranger and customs collector, ranched in New Mexico, and tried unsuccessfully to leverage his reputation for political and financial benefit.

Garrett was shot and killed on February 29, 1908, along a road in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, under circumstances that remain disputed to this day. He was fifty-seven years old. The prime suspect was a rancher named Wayne Brazel, who claimed self-defense and was acquitted. Some historians have suggested that a hired killer named 'Killin' Jim Miller was the actual shooter. Pat Garrett died as he had lived much of his later life: with his greatest moment long behind him and his legacy already fading into the endless myth of the West.

 

— Reading Comprehension Questions —

1. What was Pat Garrett's physical description that set him apart?

A. He was short and stocky

B. He was nearly six-foot-four and had a quiet, deliberate manner

C. He had a red beard and a loud voice

D. He was known for wearing a white hat

2. Where did Garrett first successfully capture Billy the Kid?

A. Fort Sumner

B. Lincoln County courthouse

C. Stinking Springs

D. Santa Fe

3. What was the title of the book Pat Garrett wrote about Billy the Kid?

A. 'The Outlaw of Lincoln County'

B. 'The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid'

C. 'Billy the Kid: The True Story'

D. 'Frontier Justice'

4. How did Pat Garrett die?

A. He died of a heart attack in Santa Fe

B. He was shot by Billy the Kid's relatives

C. He was shot along a road in Doña Ana County under disputed circumstances

D. He was killed during a bank robbery

5. What was the relationship between Garrett and Billy the Kid before Garrett became sheriff?

A. They were blood enemies from boyhood

B. They had been friends or friendly acquaintances

C. Garrett was Billy's deputy

D. They had no relationship before the manhunt

Answer Key: 1) B   2) C   3) B   4) C   5) B

 

PASSAGE 7 OF 10  ·  NONFICTION

7. Tom Horn

Scout, Detective, and Hired Killer

Born: November 21, 1860, Scotland County, Missouri

Died: November 20, 1903, Cheyenne, Wyoming (age 42)

Real Name: Tom Horn Jr.

Confirmed Kills: At least 17 men killed; served as a hired range detective (assassin) for cattle barons

Preferred Weapon: Winchester Model 1894 rifle (.30-30 caliber), Colt revolver

 

— Reading Passage —

Tom Horn defies easy categorization. He was an Army scout who helped track Geronimo, a Pinkerton detective, a range detective working for powerful Wyoming cattle barons, and ultimately a hired killer who was hanged for the murder of a fourteen-year-old boy — a crime he may or may not have committed. His life spanned the full arc of the frontier era, from Apache Wars to the organized violence of the cattle industry's last stand against homesteaders.

Born in Missouri in 1860, Horn ran away from an abusive father at fourteen and made his way to the Southwest, where he became a scout and packer for the U.S. Army during the Apache campaigns of the 1880s. He learned to speak Apache and Spanish fluently and played a key role as an interpreter and tracker during the campaign that led to Geronimo's surrender in 1886. His frontier skills were exceptional — he was an expert tracker, marksman, and horseman.

After the Apache Wars, Horn worked briefly for the Pinkerton Detective Agency before transitioning to work as a 'range detective' for the Wyoming Stock Growers Association — a euphemism for a man paid to kill rustlers and anyone else the cattle barons considered a threat. He reportedly charged $600 per kill. Horn operated primarily in southern Wyoming and northern Colorado during the 1890s, and is credited or suspected in the deaths of at least seventeen men during this period, though the exact number may never be known.

Horn's downfall came with the death of Willie Nickell, a fourteen-year-old boy shot from ambush on July 18, 1901, near Iron Mountain, Wyoming. Willie's father, Kels Nickell, was a sheepherder whom the local cattle interests despised. Horn was arrested based largely on a dubious confession obtained by a Pinkerton operative named Joe LeFors, who secretly recorded Horn's boastful remarks during a drinking session. The confession's validity has been debated ever since.

Tried, convicted, and sentenced to hang, Horn maintained his innocence through numerous appeals and several planned escape attempts. On November 20, 1903, the day before his forty-third birthday, Tom Horn was hanged in Cheyenne, Wyoming, using a gallows mechanism of his own inadvertent design. He walked to the scaffold with remarkable composure. Whether he killed Willie Nickell remains one of the most debated questions in Wyoming history — some believe he was a scapegoat for a murder committed by someone else, sacrificed to satisfy public outrage at frontier violence.

 

— Reading Comprehension Questions —

1. What famous Apache leader's surrender did Tom Horn help negotiate?

A. Cochise

B. Sitting Bull

C. Geronimo

D. Crazy Horse

2. What was Tom Horn's reported fee for killing someone as a range detective?

A. $100 per kill

B. $300 per kill

C. $600 per kill

D. $1,000 per kill

3. Who was the victim whose murder led to Horn's arrest and execution?

A. Kels Nickell

B. Willie Nickell

C. Joe LeFors

D. A Pinkerton detective

4. How was Tom Horn's confession obtained by investigators?

A. He confessed voluntarily to a judge

B. He was tortured in prison

C. A Pinkerton operative secretly recorded his boastful remarks during drinking

D. He wrote a written confession and later recanted

5. What languages did Tom Horn speak fluently besides English?

A. French and German

B. Apache and Spanish

C. Cherokee and Comanche

D. Mexican Spanish and Navajo

Answer Key: 1) C   2) C   3) B   4) C   5) B

 

PASSAGE 8 OF 10  ·  NONFICTION

8. Clay Allison

The Wolf of the Washita

Born: September 4, 1840, Wayne County, Tennessee

Died: July 3, 1887, Pecos, Texas (age 46)

Real Name: Robert Clay Allison

Confirmed Kills: At least 12–15 confirmed kills; known for extreme violence even by frontier standards

Preferred Weapon: Colt Single Action Army revolver (.45 caliber)

 

— Reading Passage —

Robert Clay Allison was one of the most feared and unpredictable gunfighters of the frontier era — a man whose violence was characterized not merely by speed or skill, but by a kind of theatrical savagery that unnerved even other dangerous men. Nicknamed 'the Wolf of the Washita,' Allison was known for killing, then celebrating his kills with an unsettling exuberance that suggested something beyond ordinary frontier toughness.

Born in Tennessee in 1840, Allison served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. He was reportedly discharged with a note suggesting he was mentally unstable — a description that squared with his behavior throughout his adult life. After the war, he moved to Texas and then to the Cimarron region of New Mexico Territory, where he became a cattle rancher and quickly established a reputation for lethal violence with minimal provocation.

Among his most notorious acts was the 1874 lynching of a man named Charles Kennedy, who had been accused of murdering travelers at his mountain cabin. Allison participated in dragging Kennedy from jail, killing him, and then decapitating the corpse — carrying the head back to town on a pole. In 1875, he killed a gunfighter named Chunk Colbert during a dinner at a ranch — reportedly while the two were eating a meal, Colbert reached for his gun under the table and Allison drew and shot him first. When asked why he had agreed to have dinner with a man he knew wanted to kill him, Allison reportedly replied that he 'didn't want to send a man to hell on an empty stomach.'

Allison's most documented gunfight came in Cimarron, New Mexico, in January 1876, when he killed Deputy Sheriff Charles Faber during a confrontation in Lambert's saloon. The shooting sparked days of tension in the town, but Allison faced no legal consequences — a reflection of both his local power and the weakness of frontier law enforcement in the region. Throughout his career, he was indicted multiple times but never convicted of any killing.

Unlike most gunfighters of his era, Clay Allison was not killed in a gunfight. On July 3, 1887, he fell from a freight wagon near Pecos, Texas, and the wagon wheel ran over his head, killing him instantly. He was forty-six years old. His death, prosaic and accidental, seemed to many a fitting anticlimax for a man whose life had been defined by extreme and deliberate violence. Yet it also served as a reminder that the frontier, in the end, was indifferent to even the most fearsome reputations.

 

— Reading Comprehension Questions —

1. What nickname was Clay Allison given?

A. The Lion of the Plains

B. The Wolf of the Washita

C. The Terror of Texas

D. The Cimarron Devil

2. What discharge note reportedly followed Allison from his Civil War service?

A. That he was an excellent sharpshooter

B. That he was mentally unstable

C. That he had deserted his post

D. That he was wounded in action

3. What was Allison's reported reason for dining with Chunk Colbert before killing him?

A. He wanted to give Colbert a chance to surrender

B. He didn't want to send a man to hell on an empty stomach

C. He wasn't sure Colbert meant to kill him

D. He was waiting for backup to arrive

4. How did Clay Allison die?

A. He was shot by a rival gunfighter

B. He died of pneumonia in a Pecos jail

C. A freight wagon wheel ran over his head

D. He was hanged in New Mexico

5. What happened to Allison despite being indicted multiple times for killings?

A. He was sentenced to prison but escaped

B. He was never convicted of any killing

C. He paid large fines to avoid prison

D. He fled to Mexico after each indictment

Answer Key: 1) B   2) B   3) B   4) C   5) B

 

PASSAGE 9 OF 10  ·  NONFICTION

9. Ben Thompson

The Gambler-Gunfighter of Austin

Born: November 2, 1843, Knottingley, England

Died: March 11, 1884, San Antonio, Texas (age 40)

Real Name: Benjamin Thompson

Confirmed Kills: At least 8–12 confirmed kills; respected by lawmen and outlaws alike as perhaps the fastest draw of his era

Preferred Weapon: Colt Single Action Army revolver, double-barreled shotgun

 

— Reading Passage —

Ben Thompson holds a unique distinction among the gunfighters of the Wild West: he was born in England. Born in Knottingley, Yorkshire, on November 2, 1843, Thompson emigrated with his family to Texas as a child and grew up in Austin. By the time he reached adulthood, he was fluent in the peculiar frontier grammar of gambling, drinking, and killing. Many of his contemporaries — including Bat Masterson, who had seen his share of dangerous men — considered Thompson to be one of the most naturally gifted pistol fighters who ever lived.

Thompson served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, fought briefly in Mexico with Emperor Maximilian's forces, and returned to Texas in the late 1860s to establish himself as a professional gambler and saloon owner. His first notable killing came in 1868 when he shot and killed his brother-in-law in Austin. Over the following decade, he was involved in numerous shootings, most arising from gambling disputes, personal insults, or the protection of his business interests.

In 1872, Thompson purchased a co-interest in the Bull's Head Saloon in Abilene, Kansas, placing him in the same town as Wild Bill Hickok, then serving as the city marshal. The two famously never drew against each other — a mutual recognition of skill that, in the violent arithmetic of the frontier, was the highest compliment one gunfighter could offer another. Thompson later worked as city marshal of Austin, Texas, from 1880 to 1882, a tenure during which, remarkably, he killed no one.

Thompson's fatal flaw was his relationship with alcohol. Sober, he was a polished, even charming man; drunk, he became reckless and combative. His closest friendship was with fellow gambler and gunfighter King Fisher. On March 11, 1884, Thompson and Fisher visited the Vaudeville Variety Theater in San Antonio, where Thompson had previously killed the theater's proprietor, Jack Harris. The visit ended in ambush — both Thompson and Fisher were shot multiple times by gunmen firing from above the theater's boxes.

Ben Thompson was forty years old when he died. He was shot so many times that the exact number of wounds was debated in the inquest. Like many gunfighters of his era, he was remembered more for the manner of his death than the conduct of his life. But among those who had faced him — or wisely declined to — Ben Thompson was regarded as one of the most dangerous men the frontier ever produced.

 

— Reading Comprehension Questions —

1. Where was Ben Thompson born?

A. Texas

B. Missouri

C. England

D. Ireland

2. Who called Ben Thompson one of the most naturally gifted pistol fighters who ever lived?

A. Wyatt Earp

B. Pat Garrett

C. Bat Masterson

D. Doc Holliday

3. What was notable about Ben Thompson's tenure as city marshal of Austin?

A. He was the youngest marshal in Texas history

B. He killed no one during his time as marshal

C. He doubled the size of the police force

D. He was dismissed for corruption

4. How did Ben Thompson die?

A. He was hanged after a murder conviction

B. He was shot in an ambush at a San Antonio theater

C. He was killed in a duel with King Fisher

D. He died of a heart attack at his saloon

5. What was Ben Thompson's fatal personal flaw according to those who knew him?

A. He was an incompetent gambler who lost his money

B. He trusted strangers too easily

C. His behavior became reckless and combative when drunk

D. He was vain and sought unnecessary confrontations

Answer Key: 1) C   2) C   3) B   4) B   5) C

 

PASSAGE 10 OF 10  ·  NONFICTION

10. Wild Bill Hickok

The Prince of Pistoleers

Born: May 27, 1837, Homer (now Troy Grove), Illinois

Died: August 2, 1876, Deadwood, Dakota Territory (age 39)

Real Name: James Butler Hickok

Confirmed Kills: At least 7 confirmed kills in gunfights; credited with more in disputed accounts

Preferred Weapon: Colt 1851 Navy revolver (.36 caliber), carried butt-forward in a silk sash

 

— Reading Passage —

James Butler Hickok — known to history as Wild Bill Hickok — was the emblematic gunfighter of the American West: supremely skilled, widely feared, and ultimately undone not by a faster draw but by a coward's bullet from behind. Born in Illinois in 1837, Hickok worked as a stagecoach driver, Union Army spy, and scout before his reputation as a deadly shot began to take shape in the frontier towns of post-Civil War Kansas.

Hickok's first celebrated gunfight took place on July 21, 1865, in the public square of Springfield, Missouri, where he shot and killed Davis Tutt in what is often described as the first true 'walk-down' duel of the frontier — two men facing each other at distance, drawing and firing. Tutt, who had taken Hickok's watch in a gambling debt dispute and threatened to wear it publicly, drew first; Hickok shot him through the heart from approximately seventy-five yards. The shot was considered extraordinary by witnesses and helped establish his reputation.

Hickok served as marshal of Hays City, Kansas, in 1869 and Abilene, Kansas, in 1871, earning wages and a reputation for maintaining order through a combination of personal authority and willingness to shoot. In Abilene, he accidentally killed his own deputy, Mike Williams, while firing at a man named Phil Coe during a gunfight — a tragedy that reportedly haunted him. Witnesses consistently noted that Hickok drew and fired with uncanny speed and accuracy, almost always hitting his target in a fatal location.

By the mid-1870s, Hickok's eyesight was failing — likely from a combination of trachoma and the strains of frontier life — and he increasingly preferred to avoid confrontations he could no longer guarantee winning. He joined Buffalo Bill Cody's stage show briefly before heading to the Black Hills of Dakota Territory, where gold had been discovered. He arrived in Deadwood in 1876, playing cards and telling stories of his legendary past.

On August 2, 1876, Hickok was playing poker at Nuttall and Mann's Saloon in Deadwood when a drifter named Jack McCall shot him in the back of the head at point-blank range. McCall, who reportedly had a grudge over a card game, walked up behind Hickok while he sat at the table and fired. Hickok died instantly. The hand of cards he was holding at the moment of his death — two pairs, aces and eights — has been known ever since as the 'Dead Man's Hand.' He was thirty-nine years old. McCall was tried, convicted, and hanged in 1877.

 

— Reading Comprehension Questions —

1. What was Wild Bill Hickok's real name?

A. William James Hickok

B. James Butler Hickok

C. Henry William Hickok

D. John Butler Hickok

2. What is considered the first true 'walk-down' duel of the frontier?

A. The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

B. Hickok's shooting of Phil Coe in Abilene

C. Hickok's duel with Davis Tutt in Springfield

D. Hickok's fight at Hays City

3. What tragedy occurred during Hickok's time as marshal of Abilene?

A. He was wounded in a saloon brawl

B. He accidentally killed his own deputy, Mike Williams

C. He lost a gunfight and was forced to resign

D. He was arrested for corruption

4. What is the 'Dead Man's Hand' in poker, associated with Wild Bill Hickok?

A. Four aces

B. A royal flush

C. Two pairs: aces and eights

D. Three kings and two queens

5. How did Wild Bill Hickok die?

A. He was killed in a duel at high noon

B. He died of a gunshot wound after a long standoff

C. He was shot in the back of the head while playing poker

D. He was ambushed on the road outside Deadwood

Answer Key: 1) B   2) C   3) B   4) C   5) C