Barney Riggs: The Deadliest Gunfighter You've Never Heard Of

The Wild West Extravaganza

Wild West Josh

History, Education

4.8 • 833 Ratings

🗓️ 29 October 2025

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Barney Riggs was one of the Old West’s most notorious and controversial gunfighters. Born in Arkansas in 1856, Riggs moved to Texas as a child, where violence quickly became a family tradition. At just 18, he killed a friend in what was called an accidental shooting. By his twenties, Riggs was in Arizona, working as a cowboy, stealing horses, and allegedly committing multiple murders. After being convicted of murder and sentenced to life at Yuma Prison, Riggs won a full pardon by saving the warden’s life during a bloody escape attempt. He returned to Texas, where he continued his violent ways, becoming embroiled in the infamous Frazer-Miller feud and serving as a deputy under a controversial sheriff. Repeated arrests, deadly shootouts, and family drama followed Riggs until his tragic demise in 1902. Merch! https://wildwestextramerch.com/ Buy Me A Coffee! https://buymeacoffee.com/wildwest Check out the website! https://www.wildwestextra.com/ Email me! https://www.wildwestextra.com/contact/ Free Newsletter! https://wildwestjosh.substack.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, I'm Gene Chatsky, long time Today Show financial editor, author of Women with Money and host of the Her Money podcast.
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0:32.5	That's Fix with two Xs.
0:34.9	All right.
0:36.3	Today we'll be discussing Barney Riggs, a lesser-known gunfighter who was so
0:40.6	vicious that even the noted assassin Jim Miller gave him a wide berth. Originally from Arkansas,
0:46.3	Barney killed his first man in Texas when he was still a teenager. He then disguised himself in
0:50.6	women's clothing and fled to to Arizona where he continued killing.
0:58.2	Matter of fact, it was Barney's violent tendencies that would earn him a life sentence over at the Yuma prison.
0:59.9	Sentence that was ironically cut short on account of Barney killing yet again.
1:03.8	Only this time to save the warden.
1:06.1	And despite being given a full pardon and pinning on a badge, Rick just couldn't seem to keep
1:10.7	himself out of trouble. Make no mistake about it, the man was absolutely fearless when he came to gunplay. Barney never backed down from a fight, and he damn sure knew how to keep his cool when the bullets started flying. It was the rest of his life that was a total disaster. And in the end, it was Riggs'owned temper, as well as his many vices, that proved to be his
1:29.6	final undoing.
1:31.4	But hey, enough with the preamble.
1:32.9	Let's go ahead and get things started.
1:34.6	My name's Josh, and this is the Wild West extravaganza.
1:51.6	Barney Kemp Riggs was born in Arkansas on December 18, 1856.
1:55.9	Family would head to Texas not long thereafter and settle in Bell County.
	...

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