John Wesley Hardin | COMPILATION

The Wild West Extravaganza

Wild West Josh

Education, History

4.8 • 667 Ratings

🗓️ 17 July 2024

⏱️ 145 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In November of 1868 – at just the tender age of fifteen – John Wesley Hardin killed his first man. And, a few weeks later, he’d kill yet again; this time, three soldiers who came looking for him. Fearing a hangman’s noose, Wes struck first, dispatching two troopers with a shotgun and finishing the third with an old cap and ball colt. And you better believe the hits just kept on coming. Before it was all said and done, Hardin would be responsible for anywhere between twenty to possibly as many as fifty killings, each of which – according to him – were justifiable. But how true is that? Was John Wesley Hardin a persecuted hero or a homicidal killer? How’d the son of a minister become one of the deadliest gunmen of the Old West? And did he REALLY kill someone just for snoring? Also discussed are Wild Bill Hickok, the Bloody Bender family, the Sutton-Taylor Feud, and John Selman Sr. *This is a compilation of a previously released series. My apologies to those who've already heard it, but I experienced a few setbacks this past week due to a dadgum hurricane! Do not despair, brand new content is coming your way next Wednesday!* Check out the website for more true tales from the Old West https://www.wildwestextra.com/ Email me! https://www.wildwestextra.com/contact/ Buy me a coffee! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wildwest Free Newsletter! https://wildwestjosh.substack.com/ Bill Longley | The Deadliest Gun in Texas - https://www.wildwestextra.com/bill-longley-the-deadliest-gun-in-texas/ Wild Bill Hickok - https://www.wildwestextra.com/wild-bill-hickok/ Shootout at Hide Park aka Newton Massacre - https://www.wildwestextra.com/the-newton-massacre/ The Life of John Wesley Hardin by John W. Hardin - https://www.amazon.com/Life-John-Wesley-Hardin/dp/1545102228/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2N2NHCZI3QKV5&keywords=john+wesley+hardin+books&qid=1704831121&sprefix=john+wesley+hardi%2Caps%2C223&sr=8-1 John Wesley Hardin: Dark Angel of Texas by Leon Metz - https://www.amazon.com/John-Wesley-Hardin-Angel-Texas/dp/0806129956/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2N2NHCZI3QKV5&keywords=john+wesley+hardin+books&qid=1704831176&sprefix=john+wesley+hardi%2Caps%2C223&sr=8-3 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	In November of 1868 at the tender age of 15, John Wesley Hardin killed his first man.
0:06.4	And a few weeks later, he'd kill yet again. This time, three soldiers who came hunting after him.
0:12.0	Fearing a hangman's noose, West struck first, dispatching two of the troopers with his shotgun
0:16.5	and finishing off the third with an old cap and ball colt. And believe me, when I say, the hits just
0:21.8	kept on a-coming. Before it was all said and done, Hardin would be responsible for anywhere between 20
0:27.2	to possibly as many as 50 killings, each of which, according to him, were justifiable. But how true is that?
0:34.8	Was John Wesley Harden a persecuted hero or simply a homicidal killer?
0:39.7	How the son of a minister turned out to be one of the deadliest gunmen of the Old West?
0:44.4	And did he really kill someone just for snoring?
0:47.3	My name's Josh and you're listening to the Wild West extravaganza.
1:08.1	John Wesley Hardin was born near Bonham, Texas on May 26, 1853.
1:13.5	His father James, a Methodist preacher, was with folks back in them days referred to as a circuit rider. Rather than tending his own congregation, the Reverend Hardin would move extensively
1:18.6	throughout the state of Texas, helping to open and close churches and sometimes even schools.
1:24.1	He'd moved the family down to Polk County when John Wesley was still a baby, and just a few years later, move yet again.
1:30.7	This time settling just outside the now goes town of Sumter, not too far from present-day Grovedon, Texas.
1:37.5	And it is there in Sumter where young West Hardin would spend the next several years.
1:42.0	In many ways, John enjoyed a normal childhood. He received an
1:45.6	average, if not above average, education, while also spending a good deal of time out in the woods,
1:50.8	just hunting and fishing and otherwise having a good old time. Be that as it may, Hardin did seem
1:56.0	to have a propensity towards violence even at an early age. Once, while attending school, West pulled a knife on a
2:02.1	teacher. On another occasion, he put the blade to use during a brawl that saw him nearly kill one of his
2:07.0	fellow classmates. And of course, we can't discuss violence to John Wesley Harden without also
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