A Wonderfully Cool Man

November 14, 1882.

Buckskin Frank Leslie (photo), tending bar, throws Billy Claiborne out of Tombstone’s Oriental Saloon for using abusive language. But the Kid–who ran from the empty lot just before the OK Corral gunfire started–isn’t done. He threatens to kill Leslie, who is a noted pistoleer. Two men tell Leslie about the threats. Frank steps outside and Billy–dead drunk–tries to shoot him with a rifle. He misses. Leslie puts a fatal bullet into Claiborne’s chest. Diarist George Parsons writes, “Frank didn’t lose the light of his cigarette during the encounter. Wonderfully cool man.”