Jim Courtright of Fort Worth: His Life and Legend

307 Pages·2004·3.89 MB·English

by  Robert K. DeArment

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—Continued from front flap—
provoked with gambler Luke Short.
Nobody is sure to this day what was "Longhair Jim" has never known his own "biopic," his own
behind that feud, but Courtright was
honored with the longest funeral proces- theme song, or a group of Hollywood writers to put words in
sion Fort Worth had ever seen.
his mouth long after the fact. Probably never will. He will have
The myth of Courtright as legendary
gunfighter was built in two previous biog-
to be content with a first-rate scholarly biography.
raphies, one by a novelist and the other
ROBERT K. DEARMENT
by a Franciscan priest. After exhaustive
—Richard Selcer,Hell's Half Acre
research into contemporary newspapers Isaiah Timothy “Longhair Jim” Courtright
and other accounts and close study of operated on both sides of the law and
the previous two books, historian Robert became a legend in his lifetime and after
DeArment deconstructs the myth of his death. One of the most colorful char-
Longhair Jim and then reconstructs the acters from the wild and woolly days of
gunfighter as a real human being, com- Fort Worth’s Hell’s Half Acre, Courtright
plex, flawed, often courageous, usually was at various times city marshal, deputy
both honorable and dishonorable. sheriff, deputy U.S. marshal, private
detective, hired killer, and racketeer.
Today, he is almost forgotten, either as
A T A a gunfighter or a lawman, except in Fort
BOUT HE UTHOR
Worth, Texas.
Robert K. DeArment has made a lifelong Little is known about Courtright’s
study of the establishment of law on the early life, though he apparently served in
American frontier and the gunfighters, the Union Army during the Civil War.
outlaws, and lawmen who were part of But when he got to the West, Courtright
that story. He is the author of numerous seemed to attract trouble. He was involved
books and articles and a member of in a shootout during the 1886 railroad
Western Writers of America, Inc., the strikes and was accused of murder in
Western Outlaw-Lawman History New Mexico. Deputies were sent to Fort
Association, and the National Association Worth to take him to New Mexico to
for Outlaws and Lawman History. He stand trial, and his escape from them,
has been honored for his writing by both complete with guns hidden under a
WOLA and NOLA. restaurant table, is one of Fort Worth’s
He makes his home in Sylvania, most colorful stories. Finally, he was
Ohio. killed in a shootout that he apparently
—Continued on back flap—
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Timothy Isaiah “Jim” Courtright
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T C U P R E S S F O RT W O RT H
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Copyright ©2004 by Robert K. DeArment
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
DeArment, Robert K., 1925-
Jim Courtright of Fort Worth : his life and his legend / by Robert K.
DeArment.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-87565-292-1 (alk. paper)
1. Courtright, Jim, 1845-1887. 2. Peace officers--Texas--Fort
Worth--Biography. 3. Frontier and pioneer life--Texas--Fort Worth
Region. 4. Fort Worth (Tex.)--Biography. 5. Outlaws--Texas--Fort
Worth Region--History--19th century. 6. Violence--Texas--Fort Worth
Region--History--19th century. 7. Fort Worth Region (Tex.)--History--
19th century. I. Title.
F394.F7D43 2004
363.2'05'092--dc22
[B97.4/53
2004003697
Cover and text design by Bill Maize; Duo Design Group
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C O NT E N TS
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Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
CHAPTER 1
The Legend and the Legend Makers 1
CHAPTER 2
Marshal of Panther City 17
CHAPTER 3
Policing the Bloody Third 45
CHAPTER 4
TheTexas DetectiveBureau and theHunt for SamBass 69
CHAPTER 5
“A Clash of Giants” 83
CHAPTER 6
Lake Valley Marshal 107
CHAPTER 7
The American Valley Murders 127
CHAPTER 8
The Great Escape 153
CHAPTER 9
The Fugitive 173
CHAPTER 10
The Battle of Buttermilk Switch 193
CHAPTER 11
Enter Luke Short 203
CHAPTER 12
Death of a Gunman – Birth of a Legend 217
Afterword 237
Notes 245
Bibliography 267
Index 275
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