Any Publicity is Good Publicity?

John Denson showed a newspaperman what he thought about his writing.

John Denson was the cousin of John Wesley Hardin and kin to Killin’ Jim Miller, but he had his own reputation. In June 1894, Denson shot and killed Con Gibson in Eddy, New Mexico (now Carlsbad; see picture). The victim was going to testify in a murder case against Miller. The local newspaper covered the shooting; Denson objected to the way they wrote up the story. He tracked down editor William H. Mullane and nearly beat him to death with a club. The law arrested Denson—who was fined just $5 for the incident.