Dallas Stoudenmire
Dallas Stoudenmire (1845-1882) was an Old West gunman and lawman, who gained fame for a brief gunfight that was later dubbed "Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight". Although lesser known than many famed men from the Old West often dubbed gunfighters, his fame is becoming more promenient and catching up. Hollywood briefly considered a movie of him, but it has yet to materialize. Stoudenmire had a deadly and feared reputation in his day, and was involved in many more gunfights than most of his better known counterparts, to include Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson and Doc Holliday.
Early life
Dallas Stoudenmire was born on December 11, 1845 in Aberfoil, Alabama. Shortly after the U.S. Civil War began, he attempted to enlist into the Confederacy when he was 15 years old who stood 6 feet in height, his officers discovered his true age and was quickly discharged from military service. He reenlisted twice more and eventually remained in the military for the remainder of the Civil War. According to records, he stood 6'4" and had been shot and injured multiple times. He had two bullets still lodged in his body for the remainder of his life.
After the war, he moved to Texas and joined the Texas Rangers, with whom he served for at least three years. He had a reputation of being stunningly handsome, a sharp dresser and a gentleman around ladies. But when intoxicated, he was extremely dangerous and had a quick temper, becoming known for shooting first and asking questions later. He was also known for his habit of wearing two guns, and being equally accurate when shooting with either hand. He disappeared briefly, between 1874 and 1878, and possibly resided in Mexico for a period of time as he was able to speak Spanish fairly well. He is known to have worked during his the years following the Civil War as a sheep farmer, wheelwright, proprietor, merchandiser and carpenter.
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 was hired shortly thereafter.
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. He was asked to take the city jail keys from a deputy marshal and town drunkard, Bill Johnson. While intoxicated, Johnson mumbled that he would give the keys to him after he figure out which keys were his own, but Stoudenmire demanded for the keys right away. The marshal physically turned him upside down and grabbed the keys. Johnson was badly humilitated.
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 "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 folded 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 that were alleged to have been stolen from their ranch in Mexico. The missing cattle belonged to a wealthy Mexican rancher who hired the armed posse to locate them. El Paso County Constable Gus Krempkau accompanied the Mexican cowboys in locating the two young youths. Their bodies were discovered at the ranch of Johnny Hale, a rancher and cattle rustler, in the Upper Valley about 13 miles northwest of El Paso.
The two bodies were recovered and brought back to town. Records indicated that these young Mexican cowboys were in that vicinity in an attempt to locate the stolen cattle. It was not clear who had killed them, but it was likely that Hale and his men had rustled the cattle in question, then killed the young Mexican cowboys when they trailed 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 among Americans about the Mexicans being heavily armed within the city limit, but at the same time tensions were high among the Mexicans, who wanted justice for their two young men who had been killed. Constable Krempkau was fluent in Spanish and was inquired to interpret for the judge. An inquest was held in court. The court was adjourned and the crowd dispersed. The Mexicans, bringing the two bodies, quietly rode back to Mexico.
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 a 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 his gun with his left hand, 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 then 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 effect 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 vendetta's were common.
After the gunfight, assassination attempts on his life
Three days after the gunfight, on April 17th, 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 resented Stoudenmire's beating him in public only a few days before. That same day, Johnson, who was drunk, confronted Stoudenmire, firing a blast from a shotgun at him. Stoudenmire immediately fired at least eight times at Johnson, shooting his testicles off. Johnson died shortly thereafter.
This started a feud between Stoudenmire and the Manning's. Within six days of his having started his job as town Marshal, Stoudenmire had killed four men, one being killed accidentally. Between the April 17th, 1881 killing of Johnson and the following February, Stoudenmire killed another six men in shootouts during arrest situations, and the cities violent crime rate dropped dramatically. His reputation as both a lawman and a gunman increased to the status of legendary.
On February 14th, 1882, James Manning murdered Stoudenmire's brother-in-law, Stanley "Doc" Cummings, later claiming that an argument ensued, and that Cummings pulled a pistol. There were no witnesses. Manning was acquitted in a mock 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 Mannings acquittal, causing many to avoid coming into town, or visiting saloons for fear of running into 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 US 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, whereas the Mannings were born and raised in El Paso, meaning they had many friends in the civilian population, as well as in high places of 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 27th, 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.
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 drunk, while standing out in the street, 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 barbers 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 the El Paso's Mason Lodge #130. His wife then had his body shipped to Columbus, Texas for burial. All funeral expenses were paid for by the Mason's Lodge #130. [1] The actual location of his grave remained a secret, and has since been long forgotten, with any one 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.