Dallas Stoudenmire
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Dallas Stoudenmire (1845-1882) was an Old West gunman and lawman, who gained fame for a brief gunfight that was later dubbed the "Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight". Although lesser known than many others from the Old West called gunfighters, his name is becoming more prominent. Hollywood briefly considered a movie of him, but it has yet to materialize. Stoudenmire had a deadly reputation in his day and was involved in more gunfights than most of his better known counterparts, who included Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson and Doc Holliday.
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[edit] Early life
Dallas Stoudenmire was born on December 11, 1845 in Aberfoil, Alabama, one of the 9 children of Lewis and Elizabeth Stoudenmire. Shortly after the U.S. Civil War began, Dallas enlisted in the Army of the Confederacy, even though he was only 15 years old. He was already 6 feet tall, but his officers soon discovered his age and he was discharged from military service. He reenlisted twice more and eventually was allowed to serve as a private in Company I, 45th Alabama Infantry Regiment. According to surviving records, he was 6'4" by the war's end and had been wounded numerous times. He carried two bullets in his body for the remainder of his life.
Following the war, Stoudenmire drifted west and joined the Texas Rangers, with whom he served for atleast three years. He had a reputation for being handsome, a sharp dresser and a gentleman around ladies. But when intoxicated, he could be extremely dangerous and had a quick temper. He was known for his habit of wearing two guns and being equally accurate with either hand. He disappears from the records between 1874 and 1878, and possibly resided in Mexico for a period of time. At any rate, he was able to speak Spanish fairly well. He is known to have worked during the years immediately after the war as a sheep farmer, wheelwright, proprietor, merchandiser and carpenter.
[edit] Lawman career
He resurfaced when he served as a town Marshal for Socorro, New Mexico. While employed there, his brother-in-law and El Paso, Texas resident, Stanley "Doc" Cummings, convinced him to take up a job as town Marshal in El Paso. The city was seeking to hire an outsider with a "rough reputation". At that time, El Paso was a remote and lawless boomtown. Stoudenmire traveled to El Paso and as soon he got off the train, he was hired shortly thereafter. This is the beginning of the end of a wild and violent El Paso and beginning of his fame that followed.
Marshal Stoudenmire started his tenure on Monday, April 11, 1881. Stoudenmire was the sixth town marshal in eight months for El Paso when he took over the job. The City Council asked him to take the city jail keys from a deputy marshal and town drunkard, Bill Johnson. Witnesses alleged that Stoudenmire approached an intoxicated Johnson asking for the jail keys. Johnson mumbled that he would go home and figure out which keys were his and that of City's. Stoudenmire became impatient and demanded him to hand him the keys right away. Johnson delayed when the marshal physically turned Johnson upside down and grabbed the keys then was thrown to the ground. Johnson was badly humiliated in public.
On Thursday, April 14, 1881, only 3 days into his new job, Stoudenmire became involved in one of the most famous gunfights in Old West history, called the "Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight". This gunfight was well publicized in newspapers in cities as far away as San Francisco and New York City. The events that unfolded into the gunfight began a mile south, at the Rio Grande which divided the U.S. and Mexico. Roughly 75 heavily armed Mexican cowboys galloped into El Paso. The Mexicans were on a quest for two missing young Mexican cowboys, Sanchez and Juarique, plus thirty missing cattle stolen from the ranch in Mexico just across the river. The missing herds belonged to a wealthy Mexican who hired an armed posse to locate and recover them. El Paso County Constable Gus Krempkau was asked by the Mexican leader to accompany and lead them to a possible location. Constable Krempkau agreed. The two slain bodies were discovered near Johnny Hale's ranch about 13 miles northwest of El Paso. Hale was a ranch owner and a cattle rustler.
The two bodies were recovered and brought back to town. Records indicated that the young Mexican cowboys were in that vicinity in an attempt to locate the stolen cattle. Two American cattle rustlers, Pervey and Fredericks, were accused of the double murders after they were overheard bragging about the killings when they found the two young Mexican cowboys trailing the herd to Hale's ranch.
A large crowd gathered in El Paso, including John Hale and his friend, former town Marshal George Campbell. There was animosity and worries among Americans about the Mexicans being heavily armed within the city limit and the possibility of the armed Mexicans becoming dangerously violent. At the same time tensions were very high among angry Mexicans who demanded justice for the killings of two slain young men. Constable Krempkau was fluent in Spanish and was required to interpret for the judge. An inquest was held in court. The two Americans were formally charged with the murders and immediately arrested. They were scheduled for trial at a later date. The court was adjourned and the crowd dispersed. The armed Mexicans transported the two corpses and quietly rode back to Mexico for burial.
[edit] Four Dead In Five Seconds Gunfight
Constable Krempkau went to a saloon next door to retrieve his rifle and pistol (in actuality a revolver). A confrontation erupted with ex-City Marshal George Campbell over comments allegedly made by Campbell about Krempkau’s interpretations and his friendship with the Mexicans. John Hale, who was allegedly unarmed, was heavily intoxicated and upset with Constable Krempkau’s involvement in the investigation. Hale pulled one of Campbell's two pistols and yelled, "George, I've got you covered!". He shot Krempkau, who then reeled backward. Slumping against the saloon door, Krempkau pulled out his own pistol.
At this moment Marshal Stoudenmire, who was eating dinner at the "Globe Restaurant" across the street, ran out onto the street and pulled out his .44 Colt pistols. While running, Stoudenmire fired once, but the wild bullet hit an innocent Mexican bystander who tried to run from the erupting incident. John Hale sobered up and jumped behind a thick adobe pillar. As Hale peeked out, Stoudenmire fired and this time the bullet pierced Hale between his eyes killing him instantly.
When Campbell saw Hale go down, he exited from cover with his pistol drawn yelling that it wasn't his fight. Constable Krempkau, still conscious and thinking Campbell had shot him, quickly fired his pistol at Campbell before losing consciousness. The first bullet fired by Krempkau struck Campbell's gun and broke Campbell's right wrist, the second hit him in the foot. Campbell screamed and scooped up his gun with his left hand, as Stoudenmire whirled and fired a fatal shot. Campbell dropped his gun, grabbed his stomach and toppled onto the dusty street. Stoudenmire walked slowly toward Campbell and glared down at him; in agony, Campbell yelled, "You big son of a bitch, you murdered me!" Stoudenmire said nothing. Then Campbell emitted a piercing scream and expired. The street fell silent as the gunsmoke drifted away.
This gunfight made Stoudenmire a legend, but it eventually had deadly consequences. Although his reputation as a gunman would continue to increase with later gunfights, he had few friends in El Paso, whereas both Campbell and Hale had many. This would greatly affect events that would play out over the following months, and eventually Stoudenmire would stand alone in his own defense of his actions that day. As often was the case, a shooting being justified meant very little in towns of the Old West, and vendettas were common.
[edit] After the gunfight; assassination attempts on his life
Three days after the gunfight, on April 17, 1881, James Manning, he and his brothers having been friends to Hale and Campbell, convinced former Deputy Marshal Bill Johnson to assassinate Stoudenmire. Johnson was known to have a profound resentment of Stoudenmire for publicly humiliating him. That same night, Johnson, heavily intoxicated, squatted behind a large pillar of bricks with a loaded double barreled shotgun and waited. A while later, Johnson heard the voices of Stoudenmire and "Doc" Cummings. Johnson's legs started to wobble and he fell backward, accidentally firing two shotgun blasts into the air. Stoudenmire quickly pulled out his pistols and fired at Johnson eight times severing off his testicles. Johnson died shortly thereafter.
This started a feud between Stoudenmire and the Mannings. Within six days of his having started his job as town Marshal, Stoudenmire had killed four men, one being killed accidentally. Between the April 17, 1881 killing of Johnson and the following February, Stoudenmire killed another six men in shootouts during arrest situations and the city's violent crime rate dropped dramatically. His reputation as both a lawman and a gunman increased to the status of legendary.
On February 14, 1882, James Manning murdered Stoudenmire's brother-in-law, Stanley "Doc" Cummings, in self-defense which escalated from an earlier argument that evening. Manning claimed that Cummings pulled his pistol and verbally threatened to kill him outside the saloon when an innocent bystander involuntarily interrupted as he walked by. Cummings whirled and growled, "Now, are you not one of his friends?" The bystander denied this and squealed his innocence. Cummings, distracted by the bystander, allowed him to go only provided that he walked with his arms up in the air. Cummings then turned and realized that Manning had gone back inside the saloon. Cummings entered and again verbally threatened to kill him. Manning left the bar briefly and appeared in the hallway. Armed with his pistols, Manning snapped, "We will settle this for now and all." In an instant, gunfire crackled from both sides; gunsmoke clouded the saloon. Cummings lay dead.
Manning was acquitted in a trial that contained a large number of local residents who were friends with the Mannings. This enraged Stoudenmire. Unfortunately for El Paso, Cummings was the only man who had been able in the past to control Stoudenmire's temper. He began to publicly confront those responsible for James Manning's acquittal and caused many to avoid coming into town or visiting saloons for fear of running into an enraged Stoudenmire.
Despite his prowess and expertise with handguns, and his effectiveness as a lawman, Stoudenmire was still an outsider. He was well respected by the Texas Rangers and the U.S. Marshals. However, locally he had several things against him. He was not from El Paso, had no family there short of his own family and his now deceased brother-in-law; the Mannings had been in El Paso longer and had many friends in the civilian population as well as in high places of the city government. Stoudenmire had only two things in his favor; he had lowered El Paso's violent crime rate more than any who came before him, and people feared him.
On May 27, 1882, the town council announced they were firing Stoudenmire. He walked into the council hall, drunk, and dared them to take his guns or his job. They did not, and attempted to calm him by telling him he could keep his job as Marshal. However, after sobering, he resigned from his position on his own on May 29th, 1882, and became a proprietor of the "Globe Restaurant", which formerly belonged to Cummings. He was then appointed to serve as Deputy U.S. Marshal for Western Texas and New Mexico Territory.
[edit] Service as US Marshal, feud continues
For a few short months, Stoudenmire served well as a Deputy US Marshal. However, his feud with the Mannings was far from over. The Mannings, mainly "Doc" Manning, James Manning, and Frank Manning, were careful to never confront Stoudenmire alone. Despite their hatred of him, he had shown his expertise with a gun on several occasions. On one instance, while standing out in the street, a drunken Stoudenmire mocked them, daring them to come outside and fight him. They refused, and remained inside a saloon while other residents attempted to convince Stoudenmire to go and sleep off his intoxication. Eventually he tired, called the Mannings cowards, and left.
On September 18th, 1882, the Mannings and Stoudenmire met in a local saloon, to form what they would call a "peace treaty" to end the feud. James Manning, believing things were settled, left. "Doc" Manning, however, began arguing with Stoudenmire over the events that had led up to the feud. As Stoudenmire turned slightly away, "Doc" Manning drew his pistol and fired, hitting Stoundenmire in his left arm. A second round barely penetrated Stoudenmire's skin due to it hitting papers that were folded heavily and contained in his shirt pocket. Nonetheless, that second shot knocked Stoudenmire down. As he fell outside the doorway, he pulled one of his pistols with his right hand and shot "Doc" Manning in the arm. As Stoudenmire was firing, James Manning came from behind Stoudenmire and fired two rounds, one hitting a barber's pole, and the other hitting Stoudenmire behind the left ear, killing him. "Doc" Manning then commenced to beating Stoudenmire over the head with his own gun, before being restrained by James Manning. The Mannings stood trial for the murder, but were acquitted, again with a jury made up mostly of people who were friends to the Mannings.
The Mannings continued to live in El Paso, and soon their killing of Dallas Stoudenmire was all but forgotten. On July 11th, 1883, Assistant City Marshal Thomas Mode was killed while investigating a disturbance at a local brothel. Frank Manning was appointed to replace him, but only kept the job temporarily as he was deemed too weak for the position, often failing to arrest friends or acquaintances.
A funeral ceremony for Stoudenmire was held at El Paso's Masonic Lodge #130. His wife Isabella then had his body shipped to Columbus, Texas for burial. All funeral expenses were paid for by the Masonic Lodge. The actual location of his grave remained a secret, and has since been long forgotten, with anyone knowing the actual location having long since died.
Marshal Dallas Stoudenmire has been credited with helping to successfully tame a wild and violent town into a civilized society. The El Paso Police Department has often acknowledged and honored Stoudenmire for his accomplishments.
