The term “gunfighter” is used heavily in discussions of the wild west. This is despite the word being a general phrase meant to describe a number of professions and lifestyles on the western frontier. Back in the old west, “gunfighter” could mean ranchers and cowboy archetypes you see in artistic representations of the time period.
It could also relate to polar opposites. Both lawmen and outlaws alike were forms of gunfighters, always armed and ready for a show, either for the greater good or the selfish bad. Gunfighters were also men, and sometimes women, who were otherwise members of everyday industries, such as farmers or teamsters, the drivers of wagons, stagecoaches and after the turn of the 20th century, automobiles.
Even folks stuck with the labels of “con man” and “gambler” were referred to generally as gunfighters, people who could defend themselves when their vice of choice led them into murkier waters. Of all the professions spanning all the industries, the most fascinating subgroup of gunfighters was the bounty hunters, men dispatched by both the government and powerful entities who venture out across the land in search of a man or woman who owes someone else money or other goods.
While bounty hunting wasn’t as popular a career as many Hollywood films and tales of the wild west suggest, it was a way for some of the most experienced and isolated gunfighters to make a living, while using their talents to the best of their abilities. To cover these intriguing and incendiary figures of western frontier lore, here’s the next video in our series of both famous and infamous bounty hunters, continuing with the legendary Pinkerton Detective and bounty hunter, Charles Siringo.
0:00 Introduction
1:57 Early Life and Career
10:12 Pinkerton’s Finest Bounty Hunter
20:15 The Final Pages
Music produced by CO.AG: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcavSftXHgxLBWwLDm_bNvA/videos
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I appreciate your coverage at length, instead of a 5 to 10 minute bare outline of this formative era. – props.
The improvements y'all have been showing since the beginning is so fun to watch happen in real time! Will be honored to say I was one of the first subscribers one day when you hit 1 mil
Really good video.
What could make a Southerner join the Pinkertons on the first place boggles the mind. Be nothing but trouble. A man cannot live well in two worlds.
Siringos life is proof of this.
His books are top notch. He was a hellava man for sure. Pinkerton or not.
The old bounty hunter ! had the street smarts of the 1800s
I think a good follow up to this is a famous gunslinger. I’m certain there are similarities but also differences to both gunslingers and gunfighters.
I LOVE those new section titles. They look like something out of an old book!
Sounds like guy I'd like to meet and swap a few stories with.