Ending a Feud

Mather vs. Nixon came to a sudden end.

Dodge City stalwarts Tom Nixon (photo) and “Mysterious” Dave Mather had a beef with one another. It started in 1883, when they ran competing saloons. The next year, city fathers removed Mather as a deputy marshal, replacing him with Nixon. That July, the pair came upon each other on a city street; Nixon opened fire but missed and Mather escaped. Three days later, Mather shot and killed Nixon with four bullets to the back. He was acquitted.