Short Stuff: Johnny Ringo | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

[music]. >> Hey, and welcome to the Short Stuff. Josh, Chuck, Jerry in for Dave. And we. are quick on the draw here on Short. Stuff. Pew pew pew. That's not lasers, though. You can draw a laser. Ask Ask Han Solo. Oh, okay. Uh good point, but not in the Old West. unless it's Westworld, I guess. Uh cuz we're talking about the Old West. and we're talking about a a lesser-known. Old West gunslinger by the name of.

Johnny Ringo. Yeah, not Johnny Angel, Johnny Ringo. Although you can substitute his name for. that um for Johnny Angel in the song if. you sing it in your head. I bet you. could. He is um he was uh. at the time very well known. He was an. outlaw. He was one of those cowboys. He. was the He was a hired gun. He was a. mercenary, uh which I guess is a hired. gun. He also um ran. gangs that were known to murder and that. kind of stuff, but he wasn't like a bank. robber.

He wasn't um a train robber even. He. just seems to have been a guy who just. kind of made his way from town to town, ended up in kind of famous situations, and did nefarious things here or there. just enough to make a name for himself. Yeah, he was uh born in May 1850 in what. is now Green Greens Fork, Indiana. Sure. Shout out to Greens Fork. And eventually got um tangled up like. you said he could sort of found himself. getting tangled up with various more.

famous people. Um that included early on. the Younger brothers. who were, you know, led by Jesse James. and Frank James, the bank robbing group. Uh but he was uh had a pretty well awful. incident happen to him that uh when he. was a teenager that seemed like it. really kind of shaped the rest of his. life, and how could it not? Absolutely. He uh his his parents and. his brothers and sister were all on the. trail to move from Missouri to. California. and partway through.

Martin Ringo was. I'm not sure what he was doing with his. rifle or shotgun. I saw both, but it. went off when it happened to be pointing. up at his head from his chin. And he died instantly obviously in a. very gruesome way right in front of. Johnny. And. you can basically explain the rest of. Johnny Ringo's life from that incident. because. it doesn't matter if it's 1850, 1050, 2050,

if your son sees his dad die in that. manner, that's going to to shape your. life pretty much single-handedly. Yeah, for sure. He was obviously traumatized. They had to you know, they were moving. like you said to California. So they. just had to kind of keep going. They. buried him along the road kept that. wagon train going. And by that age, he was he was a pretty. good shot himself. He was pretty good. with a quick draw, good with a rifle. They landed in San Jose, his mom and his. brothers and sisters. And he was there till about 1870 when he.

moved to Mason County, Texas. where he kind of fell in with a a bad. gang of cattle rustlers. Yeah, it almost. seems like so he was 20 then. It seems. like he just basically moved to Texas to. look for trouble and he found it very. quickly. There was a Texas Ranger, well. a former Texas Ranger turned outlaw. named Scott Cooley. And they just kind of hit it off pretty. quickly. They became friends and this is. where Johnny Ringo really kind of. started to become known as a like a.

outlaw gunslinger. Yeah, for sure. because Mason County, you know, if you've ever seen like um. The Three Amigos, you know, had Germans. in it and you kind of don't really think. about the Old West having like you know, British people and German people, but. they did. In fact, Mason County was. mainly colonized by German and British. descended cattle people. And the tensions between them for were. were pretty rough between those groups. They were often accusing one another of.

stealing their stock and taking their. cows and rustling horses. And then in. 1875 it really. sort of launched when a couple of the. Brits, including a guy named Tim. Williamson, were pulled out of jail by. these Germans and killed in retaliation. for a cattle theft. Yeah, and they were. being transported by a deputy sheriff. named John Worley. And these these Germans, assumed Germans. who killed Tim Williamson and took some.

other guys and and hung them and shot. them. Scott Cooley, who was friends with. Tim Williamson and some of the other. guys, he assumed that John Worley had. allowed this to happen. That he was. basically in on it. So this kicked off. what became known as the Mason County. War or the Hoodoo War. And the first victim in this war after. Williamson was John Worley, who was. killed by. Scott Cooley. Who not only killed him. but scalped him.

August 10th, 1875. That feels like maybe it's time for a. break. I think so. All right, we'll be. right back with more on Johnny Ringo. right after this. >> [music]. [music]. [music].

>> All right, so when we left you the. Hoodoo War had kicked off. John Worley had been killed and scalped. This is 1875 and Ringo was a part of. this war and you know, it seems like he. was sort of. just a side man supporting his buddy. Cooley and whatever he wanted. He was. friends with the guys in his gang. He. was part of the gang essentially and. when a guy named Moses Baird who was a. part of the gang was killed in that.

Hoodoo War about a month later in. September of that year. Ringo went on the attack big time. shot two of the guys that he suspected. was involved in the murder. guy named Dave Dowell and another guy. named James Cheney. went to their houses and shot him and he. actually went to jail for this one but. because it was the Old West he escaped. not too long after. Right. So I mean. like he's really starting to build on. his his legend as a black hat outlaw, right?

He spends the next few years moving. around looking for new. cattle wars. New Mexico, Arizona, Texas. He was known to do things like he. pistol-whipped and then shot a man who. he offered a drink to and the guy. refused. He murdered another man that he saw. harassing a woman, robbed a poker game. that he had just left because the the. players wouldn't loan him any money so. he could stay in and keep playing but. his his I guess that if anybody has. heard of Johnny Ringo.

it's because of he crossed paths his. association. with the guys from the OK Corral in. Tombstone, Arizona Doc Holliday and. Wyatt Earp and Virgil Earp. You can't. forget Virgil. Yeah, I mean. if you see the movie Tombstone you were. probably yelling like guys we've heard. of Ringo. He was in the movie. It was Michael Biehn, right? Yeah, John Connor's dead. Yeah, that's. right. So. Ringo didn't like these guys. He didn't. like Holliday and Earp either Earp.

and eventually they did like a real Old. West. sort of high noon showdown in the middle. of the town streets and it was it was. pistols were going to be drawn for sure. but a local constable came in, intervened, and. nothing happened at that point. But, that was about a year before Johnny. Ringo would be found dead against a. tree. Yeah, and I have never understood what. that I'm your huckleberry meant. So, I. looked it up. Do you know what it means? Uh I've never seen Tombstone, believe it.

or not, all the way through. I haven't. either. I just know that that Val Kilmer. says that. Yeah, that's a that's a hole for me, for. sure. He says, "I'm your I'm your. huckleberry." And what I guess that was. an old-timey way at the time of saying. like I I'm the man for the job. I can do. this. And I guess he was saying, "I'm. the man who can. kill you, essentially, or take you down, or at least gunfight you." Oh, okay. So, at any rate, um he didn't fight Doc. Holliday and Wyatt Earp. He wasn't there. at the famous gunfight at the OK Corral.

Apparently, he was out of town that day, and I'm sure he was quite upset when he. came back to town and found out what had. happened, cuz he definitely would have. been on the side of the other guys. Um. and like you said, all that happened. about a year before he was found dead um. just outside of Tombstone um up against. a tree on July 14th, 1882, and a single. gunshot wound to his head, and a Colt uh. .45 revolver in his hand. So, it seemed. like it was probably a pretty clear-cut.

case of suicide. He'd been known to um. have been. deep in the drink at the time, was very. depressed, and he'd given a uh um an. interview to the Tombstone Epitaph. newspaper just before his death that he. said that he was going to be run down or. killed at some point, and a local. historian named Bob Boze Bell said that. he certainly sounded down in the. interview. So, it it you could make a. pretty good case that it was suicide. Yeah, uh you know, other people say it. was probably uh you know, in the movie,

at least, it was Val Kilmer, it was Doc. Holliday. And that historian uh Bell was. like, "You know, everyone thought pretty. much this was a suicide until that movie. came out. There were of course whispers that it. could have been Holliday and Earp and. the gang, but it was really that movie that kind. of solidified it in the minds of. people because, you know, it was a big. Hollywood movie." Yeah, but there's some. problems with that. One, Doc Holliday. was almost certainly in Pueblo County,

Colorado a few days before Ringo's death. and after because he had to appear in. court in his on the record as having. been there. It's a 1,500 mile trip in 3. days that I guess you could make, but. that seems like a lot of trouble to go. out of your way when Doc Holliday could. have just killed him basically at any. time. And then Wyatt Earp, he did claim credit. for him, right? Yeah, he for sure did, but this seems to be one of those things. where I and I think this kind of. happened a lot in the Old West where it.

was a badge of honor and and you could. claim that you murdered someone when you. didn't at all. Mhm. And that seems like. it had some pretty big holes like the. account of his killing. wasn't it didn't line up with like how. the body was found and he also recanted. later and was like, "You know, I didn't. really kill that guy.". Yeah, and there's another piece of. evidence that just kind of at least it's. circumstantial that was. written later by Doc Holliday's common. law wife Big Nose Kate Cummings.

And not only does it kind of support the. idea that he died by suicide, it also. really. paints him as a tragic figure. If you'll indulge me, will you, Chuck? Yes. So she So Kate Cummings wrote, "Ringo was a fine man any way you look. at him. Physically, intellectually, morally, he was 6 ft tall, rather slim. in build, although broad shouldered, medium fair as to complexion with gray. blue eyes and light brown hair. Okay, so. far so good. His face was somewhat long.

Okay, he was what might be called an. attractive man. So, she describes him. physically as basically handsome and. then she says, "His attitude toward all women was. gentlemanly. He must have been a. gentleman born. Sometimes I noticed. something wistful about him as if his. thoughts were far away on something sad. And he would say, 'Oh, well.' and sigh. Then he would smile, but his smiles were. always sad. There was something in his. life that only he himself knew about. He. was always neat, clean, well-dressed, showed that he took good care of.

himself. He never boasted of his deeds, good or bad, a trait I have always liked. in men. John was a loyal friend and he. was noble, for he never fought anyone. except face-to-face. Every time I think. of him, my eyes fill with tears.". Yeah, I mean, that sounds like a guy who. was haunted by seeing his father blow. his own head off by accident. Absolutely. And I think it says a lot that that was. Doc Holliday, his sworn enemy's wife, who wrote that about him. Yeah, for.

sure. So, that's Johnny Ringo. Uh, kind of a. murder mystery, but not necessarily and. uh, any way you slice it, one of the. unsung outlaw [music]. bandits of the Old West. That's right. Chuck said, "That's right." which means. short stuff is out. Stuff You Should Know is a production of. iHeart Radio. For more podcasts from. [music] iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart. Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever. you listen to your favorite shows.