A Good Man With a Gun
Jeff Milton, Louis L'Amour, & a Wild West Calendar
I grew up reading Louis L’Amour.
Bendigo Shafter, The Shadow Riders, Flint, and Last of the Breed all hold a special place in my heart, as do Mr. L’Amour’s short stories. But, I think the book that has stuck with me the most over the years is L’Amour’s nonfiction (and semi-biographical) Education of a Wandering Man.
There’s a portion of the book where Mr. L’Amour was walking through Arizona’s Stein’s Pass, when he hitched a ride with an old man he described as “neatly dressed and wearing a white hat, a white mustache, and perhaps the sharpest eyes I had ever seen in years.”
The pair stopped at Bowie for breakfast, and a waitress asked the old man if he “had a prisoner,” to which he replied, “he’s a friend.” And when Louis inquired as to whether or not he was the law, the old man replied, “In a way.”
Later, as they continued their journey, the old man spoke of knowing both John Wesley Hardin and the man who killed him, stating that he had been a Texas Ranger and even the Chief of Police of El Paso.
It wasn’t until he let Louis off on a corner in Tucson that he finally introduced himself. “If you’re up this way again, son, look me up. I enjoyed the talk. You just ask for Jeff Milton. Folks will know me.”
Jefferson Davis Milton, described by his biographer as a “good man with a gun,” was born in Florida on November 7, 1861. He headed West as a teenager, started working cattle, and by the time he was 20, was already a Texas Ranger.
In the years to come, Milton would find work as a deputy U.S. Marshal, customs inspector, a Sheriff’s deputy under the legendary John Slaughter, and even the El Paso Chief of Police.
His most storied gunfight, however, occurred at an Arizona train station in February of 1900.
Several bandits attempted to rob the train, but Milton—now working as an Express Agent—put up a fierce resistance. Despite being shot in the arm, he held off the bandits and even managed to kill one of ‘em in the process.
I haven’t covered Mr. Milton on the podcast yet, but I’d like to in the future. He really was one of the last of the old-time gunfighters. Milton grew up brushing shoulders with the likes of John Wesley Hardin and John Selman, yet lived long enough to see the end of World War 2 and watch John Wayne on the big screen. And I will never cease to find that fascinating.
Odds & Ends
I don’t know about you, but these last few months have really flown by. I keep thinking it’s still August, so now I’m rushing to get my rifle sighted in for hunting season and stock up on candy for the trick-or-treaters!
In addition to posting new episodes of the podcast and developing new designs for the merch store, I’ve also been working on a special product I think you might find interesting. I’m calling it the Legends and Outlaws Calendar.
The Legends and Outlaws Calendar is an 11 x 8.5 in wall calendar that includes traditional holidays (Christmas, Fourth of July, etc) as well as notable dates from the Old West—everything from Billy the Kid’s escape from Lincoln, the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the death of Wild Bill Hickok, Chief Joseph’s surrender, and dozens more. Each month also includes a full-page historical photo. My favorite, pictured above, is Sitting Bull wearing sunglasses.
Not to toot my own horn, but I do think the vintage-inspired design really makes the calendar ideal for your home, office, ranch, or even classroom. It’s a unique, limited-edition gift for cowboys aficionados, frontier history buffs, or anyone looking to keep track of the date in style.
If you’re interested, the calendars can be purchased at https://wildwestcalendar.com/
That’s all I’ve got for today. Thank you so much for your continued support!
Until next time, adios.
Cowboys era has so much aura
I, too, value my copy of L’Amour’s “Education of a Wandering Man.” One of my favorite boyhood reads was (and still is) J. Evetts Haley’s “Jeff Milton: A Good Man with a Gun,” University of Oklahoma Press (1948) with Harold Bugbee’s pen and ink illustrations.