John Denson was a kinsman to both John Wesley Hardin and Jim Miller. And he apparently helped the latter with some of his illegal activities. But that proved to be Denson’s undoing. Miller wanted Barney Riggs (photo) dead and arranged to have Denson and Bill Earhart carry out the hit. They went to a Pecos, Texas saloon where Riggs was subbing as the bartender. He’d gotten word that the pair were planning on killing him. Riggs killed Earhart with one shot, then chased Denson from the premises and shot him in the back of the head as he ran.

True West May/June 2025
In This Issue:
Features
- Historic Hotels of the American West
- A Journey Through Wyoming’s Outlaw History
- A Journey Through Washington’s Wild Frontier
- Blazing The Oregon Trail
- Journey Through Time
- Did Brigham Young Order a Massacre?
- Mountain Meadows Scapegoat John D. Lee VS. A Firing Squad
- Mormons in the Movies
- An Indigenous Consultant Ensures Accuracy
- The Battle Axe And A Raw Deal
- Showdown: Bridger VS. Brigham
- The Mountain Man and the Mormon Moses
- The Ghosts of Mountain Meadows
- The War Before the War
- Mountain Meadows