Did most Old West lawmen always carry guns?
Allen Pogue
Flagstaff, Arizona
Most Old West lawmen went unarmed, much of the time. Marshal Tom “Bear River” Smith, of Abilene, Kansas, typically used his fists, not firearms. Coffeyville Marshal Charles T. Connelly had to find a gun to fight the Dalton Gang when they tried to rob two city banks.
Movies show frontier lawmen carrying guns at all times, but in most places, especially small towns, the lawmen were also responsible for other jobs,

October 2016
In This Issue:
Features
Western Books & Movies
More In This Issue
- The First Woman to “Despise” Polygamy
- The Explosion
- John Bozeman’s Legacy
- Frank Hamer’s Recuperation in Pecos
- Legendary Lady of the West
- Struggling for a Dream
- In Frederic Remington’s Aiding a Comrade, what is the name of the holder that carries two of the men’s rifles on the front of their saddles?
- Pancho’s Pension
- Building Your Western Library
- Gambling with Men’s Lives
- A River of Life
- Yellowstone’s Early Explorer
- Virgil’s Sixgun
- Mogollon Rim
- A Formidable Foe
- Road to Destiny
- George Parsons: Tombstone Insider
- The Noble Trickster
- A Holdup for the Ages
- The Storied Hashknife
- What do you have to say about my favorite movie cowboy, Lash LaRue?