Johnny Ringo sounds like a gunfighter…but…Having a catchy “gunfighter” name was almost a sure way to immortality. Henry McCarty might never have become famous as “Henry the Kid.” Nor would James Butler Hickok have done as well with a name like “Wild James.” Arguably, the greatest gunfighter moniker of them all was Johnny Ringo—his real name, of course. But the name and reputation weren’t indicative of his prowess. Ringo was involved in two killings, and in both cases the victim was unarmed.

True West March/April 2025
In This Issue:
Western Books & Movies
More In This Issue
- Truth Be Known
- What Has Taught Me: Deb Goodrich
- Earp, Cowboy Songs & Prairie Hygiene
- Trails of the Old West
- The Frontier Characters of South Dakota
- The Bowie Knife
- The Kindled Flame 1835
- King of the Scatterguns
- Selling the Mythic West and the Real West
- A Gut Punch Turns into a Miracle Reprieve
- The Beginnings of the Bird Cage
- Frontier Colossus