History of the Old West
Famous Gunfights of the Old West

Throughout the history of the Old West, countless gunfights occurred on dusty or muddy streets throughout the areas considered to be the west.  The most notable and well known gunfights took place in the states of Arizona, New Mexico, Kansas and Texas.  They each varied in what led up to them. 

Some were simply the result of the heat of the moment, others were the result of long standing feuds, while others were between outlaws and lawmen.  There were also various other reasons that resulted in gunfights. 

Some of these shootouts would become famous, while others simply faded into history with only a few accounts of them left today.  

• Gunfighter and Gunslinger
• What is fact?  What is fiction?
• The Myth of the Gunfight

• The Gunfighter: Outlaw, or Lawman?

• Famous Gunfights of the Old West

• List of Famous Historical Gunfighters

Listed below are some of the more notable and remembered gunfights that did receive wide acclaim:

• Wild Bill Hickok and David Tutt shootout, July 21, 1865, Springfield, Missouri

• Gunfight at Hide Park, August 19th, 1871, Newton, Kansas

• Going Snake Massacre, April 15th, 1872, Tahlequah, Oklahoma

• Variety Hall Shootout, January 22nd, 1880, Las Vegas, New Mexico

• Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight, April 14th, 1881, El Paso, Texas

• Gunfight at the OK Corral, October 28th, 1881, Tombstone, Arizona

• Fisher, Thompson Ambush, March 11th, 1884, San Antonio, Texas

• The Frisco Shootout, Elfego Baca December 1st, 1884, Reserve, NM

• Luke Short-Jim Courtright Gunfight, February 8th, 1887, Fort Worth, Texas

• Owens, Blevins Shootout, September, 1887, Holbrook, Arizona

• Coffeyville Shootout, October 5th, 1892, Coffeyville, Kansas

• Moab Shootout, May 26th, 1900, Moab, Utah