Shootist with a Smile

Pink Higgins and the “miracle birth.”

Those who lived by the gun in the Old West were called “shootists, gunman, badmen or pistoleer.” Gunfighter was a 20th century term. Such men could be as tough and ruthless as the situation demanded. They could also have a wry sense of humor.

Case in point: In 1874 John Calhoun Pinkney “Pink” Higgins, a rancher in Lampasas County, Texas killed a cow thief named Zeke Terrell. Afterwards, he gutted the cow and put Zeke inside, then stitched up the cow’s belly. He went into Lampasas and explained to the law that a miracle had taken place: “A cow gave birth to a man.”