Tombstone of Outlaw Rattlesnake Dick
If I’ve learned anything from the ordeal with my brother it’s that a lie will spread around the world before truth makes it around the block, and that truly evil people never die, they simply remarry. Which leads me to the Old West…the saga of the Western bad man contains many precarious escapes from execution or from death in battle. Frequently stories exist that such-and-such a bad man is still alive. Indeed, Curly Bills, Billy the Kids, and Jesse Jameses have popped up from nowhere in many places. These fabricated bad men “came back” are not always without grounds –some of them did come back! Ygenio Salazar, a Spanish explorer and a McSween fighter under Billy the Kid in the climatic fight of the Lincoln County war; Herbert M. Tonney, a Woodsdale warrior in the Stevens County (Kansas) war; and a Texas soldier named Sheppard, who drew one of the black beans in the Mier expedition (major battle at Cuida Mier on December 26 and 27, 1842 which ended with a costly Mexican victory)– all three of these men were shot down with bullets clear through their bodies in several places, fell on the field of battle, and feigned death. In each case their enemies inspected the bodies, ruthlessly kicking each to see if life was extinct; the ruse succeeded in saving the lives of three men, who escaped in the dark of the night. The next day, however, after the Mexicans had shot down the Texans who drew the black beans, Sheppard’s body was missing and he had left a trail of blood. So the ruthless Mexicans tracked him down and killed him, just when a wild new hope for freedom and escape had found birth in poor Sheppard’s tormented brain. However, Salazar and Tonney lived for many years after their escapes; and they thanked their lucky stars they were not detected. Gunfighter Bill Longley lived through his first hanging. Even after three doctors examined his dead body after the second hanging and pronounced him thoroughly deceased, there were many Texans who believed he was the devil incarnate and would return at any minute to descend upon their “holy-roly” meetings, marking his devastating course with death-dealing six gun slugs. Young Roy Bean was hanged my jealous California Mexicans and left for dead; they returned and found the rope but no Bean, who had been rescued by a pretty senorita. Likewise, Jesse James’ stepfather was hanged by Kansas jayhawkers and left for dead, but was rescued by friends just before expiring. There are many Californians even today who believe that Joaquin Murrieta was not killed by Ranger Harry Love in his surprise attack on the desperado’s camp. There were three Murrietas. Now, who can say which was or were killed? So convincing was the news that Polk Wells, a daring Western desperado, had been killed by a posse that his wife married a Mr. Warnica. When Polk reappeared in the flesh before his wife and their friends, they were greatly astonished. Postcards signed “Jesse James” were sent to all of Jesse’s friends saying that he was still alive, probably for no other reason than to cause a sensation. When things like these actually happened, it becomes more easily understood why many people in the Old West superstitiously believed that a bad man sometimes “comes back” from the dead.
