James King of William (he gave himself the last part of that name to distinguish himself from other James Kings) was a crusading newspaper editor in San Francisco. One of his articles exposed the prison record of County Supervisor and newspaper competitor James Casey.
On May 14, 1856, Casey walked up to King on a city street and fired a bullet into his chest, inflicting a mortal wound. The

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