During the later
days of the Wild West, the most talked-about, one-on-one gunfight happened on a
Fort Worth boardwalk. Contrary to
Hollywood depictions, such gunfights were a rarity. Gunfighters did not meet at a designated hour
in the middle of a deserted street. More
often, they dueled abruptly after their whiskey infused passions fell to their trigger
fingers. On February 8, 1887, Tim “Long-Hair”
Courtright and Luke Short brought their pistols to bear in a gunfight for the
ages.
Luke Short’s
life was a history book of the Wild West.
He held interest in the West’s most famous saloons: the Oriental, in
Tombstone, Arizona, the Long Branch Saloon in Dodge City, Kansas, and the White Elephant in Fort Worth,
Texas. He also loved to gamble in those
saloons while donning the finest in men’s wear - top hats included. Born in 1854, the Arkansas native worked on cattle
drives to Kansas and served as a U.S. Army scout during the war with the Sioux
Indians. He also sold liquor to those
same Indians he was fighting. Making
sales from the back of a wagon, Short became widely known for his fine tasting
whiskey, which was usually tainted.
Tiring of the cowboy life and sleeping on the open ground, he turned to
professional gambling to make a living.
Starting with the Colorado mining town of Leadville, Short traveled the
circuit of Wild West professional gamblers seeking saloons with loose spending
customers. A life of gambling led to a
life of gunplay, something Short had a deadly talent for. While in Tombstone, he killed a drunken Charlie
Storm with two shots from his pocket revolver.
In 1883, Short and his wife settled down in Fort Worth. He became business partners with Bill Ward
and Jake Johnson, the owners of the White Elephant Saloon. Short would manage the gambling
operations. Because of his reputation, he attracted big
name gamblers that drew public attention.
While Short
skirted the law, Tim Courtright enforced it as a city marshal and self-proclaimed
private detective. Like Short, he served
as an army scout during his youth. In
1875, he and his wife Sarah moved to Fort Worth where he tried his hand at
farming. After three years, the farm
failed; Courtright was forced to find a new occupation. He became a city jailer then was elected city
marshal by a mere three votes. Courtright
served as Marshal for three terms before traveling to New Mexico. He was accused of murdering two squatters
while serving as a deputy. Courtright
managed to escape arrest. He came back
to Fort Worth and opened a detective agency; it was actually a front for his protection
racket.
Being a
popular cowtown, Fort Worth naturally attracted all the seedy elements trail
drivers and local businessmen sought.
Those elements gave birth to “Hell’s Half Acre;”a huge red light
district that encompassed two and a half acres south of the Tarrant County courthouse.
Further north of the courthouse, the
establishments were more polished, but still offered the popular vices, namely
gambling, prostitution, liquor, and cock fights. Societal norms aside, the vices generated a
hefty bottom line. What was needed was
law enforcement that kept the peace without shutting down any red light
enterprises. With his two-holstered
pistols (butts facing forward),
Courtright kept the peace while leaving the gamblers alone. In one evening alone, he jailed up to thirty unruly
cowpokes. Not content to be just a low
paid, standup marshal, Courtright sought a piece of Fort Worth’s gambling
operations. In return for payment, he
offered gambling halls, like the White Elephant, his brand of protection. Certainly no stranger to tough guy
assertions, Luke Short told him to get lost.
The White
Elephant had progressed from a mere saloon and billiard hall to an elegant
gentlemen’s club. During its heyday, it
offered the finest dining in Fort Worth, complete with a cigar factory out back. Upstairs, Short’s gambling rooms were
constructed of the finest mahogany and graced with crystal lighting
fixtures. The rosewood and ivory faro
tables were described as “works of art.”
In addition to the many felt gaming tables, cockfighting pits lured combative
fowls from miles around. The most
popular attraction was a Luke Short inspired form of lottery called Keno. Unlike
the other games, Keno required no skills, just luck, and it paid big. Unfortunately, Keno was easy to rig compared
to other games and was often the target of public outrage, usually from those
that lost their money. Included among
the outraged was “The Law and Order Society.”
Its members demanded the removal of the game or else they would burn
down the White Elephant. Fort Worth’s “Keno
Craze” made huge profits for the White Elephant owners. Tim Courtwright wanted a piece of the profits
and a piece of Luke Short as well.
Courtright
pushed his way into the White Elephant and loudly demanded to see Short, who was
having his shoes shined. Short went
outside to find his business partner, Jake Johnson, and Courtright waiting for
him. Johnson was trying to smooth things
over, but to no avail. Short and
Courtright walked several yards down the street from the White Elephant to the
appropriate frontage of a shooting gallery.
Courtright pulled out his six-
shooter. Short, however, beat him on the
draw. He killed Courtright with four
shots. Short was arrested and spent the
night in jail. Among those who
witnessed the gunfight was Short’s friend from Dodge City, the legendary
Sheriff William “Bat” Masterson. Known
for his abusive, short tempered demeanor, Courtright was not a popular man. Nevertheless, he had a considerable number of
uptown Fort Worth supporters; they wanted to lynch Short that evening. Wearing his famed six guns, Masterson guarded
Short’s jail cell himself. No sane
person would dare challenge the guns of Bat Masterson. Short was later acquitted on the grounds of
self-defense. Courtright was buried
after one the largest funeral processions in Fort Worth history.
