Cochise County Cowboys
Did they really wear red sashes?
I recently stated that the Cowboys of Tombstone fame did not wear red sashes and that Tombstone scriptwriter, Kevin Jarre, was inspired by Wild Bill Hickok.
Turns out that’s only partially correct.
Shoutout to listener Mark, who brought this next little tidbit of information to my attention.
According to historian Jeff Morey, Kevin Jarre got the idea for the red sashes “from Tombstone resident John Pleasant Gray, as quoted by Paula Mitchell Marks, in And Die in the West: ‘Gray remembered [Billy] Leonard as ‘a man much above his fellow rustlers in intellect and education.’ Leonard performed a service for [Gray]…and received in payment a copy of a book chronicling the life of Wild Bill Hickok. The delighted Leonard gathered his fellow rustlers around and then spent the rest of the day reading to them, with the result that Hickok was ‘the hero, henceforth, of the rustlers.’”
Full disclosure, but I have not yet read And Die in the West. If this is true, however (and I have no reason to doubt that it is), then it would appear as if some of the Cowboys of Tombstone fame did indeed wear red sashes.
The more you know…
Red sashes were definitely period accurate, but not necesarily Tombstone accurate. I have no doubt that a few of the Cowboys may have donned sashes, but it certainly wasn’t a requirement or even the standard uniform.
Just in case you missed it, the most recent episode of The Wild West Extravaganza was all about Newman “Old Man” Clanton. We followed him from Texas to Tennessee, discussed his time as a soldier during the Civil War, his move to California and then Arizona, his association with other outlaws like John Kinney and Curly Bill Brocius, and finally, his untimely demise just two-and-a-half months prior to the gunfight at the Ok Corral.
Also discussed was the formation of the Oklahoma panhandle, the fate of Billy the Kid’s guns after his death, and why trusting a fart may not alwasys be the wisest of strategies!
The Holidays are upon us
Thank you all for sticking with me throughout 2025! I hope you and yours have a wonderful Christmas and a very happy New Year!