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Old West outlaw and gunslinger John Wesley Hardin was born May 26, 1853, in Bonham, Texas. Rumored to be so mean he once shot a man for snoring, Hardin was shot to death in El Paso on August 19, 1895. Despite his killing of over forty people, Hardin had a reputation as a gentleman among those who knew him, and he always claimed he never killed anyone who didn't need killing....

I wrote the following just for the hell of it. I wrote it in the same spirit that this outlaw took lives. Not that I would ever take lives like he did. I'm just killing these stanzas with reckless abandon. BTW, I don't have a gun anymore--don't need one: I think I can run faster than most bullets out there.

The Ballad of John Wesley Hardin, 1853-1895

Born in the world, little John Wesley,
Blessed with a child: his parents so happy,
Born to this world, little John Wesley,
Suckled sweetly by momma and fondled by pappy.

A Sunday school child was little boy Johnny,
A bright shining child and the son of a preacher,
A Sunday school child was little boy Johnny,
With the Word of our Lord, the Good Bible, his teacher.

But the times became tough in post-Civil War Texas,
And times became tough for young Johnny the lad,
The times became hard in post-Civil War Texas,
As the black man was freed and the South's pride was had.

And little boy Johnny grew, toughened, to manhood,
Little boy Johnny grew, quickly, a man,
Little boy Johnny grew, roughened, to manhood,
With a heart angry and despert, he viewed the South Land.

Then one day in Washington County John shot an old black man,
One day in Washington County in a moment of rage,
Without word of warnin’ John shot that old black man,
Death's hands on twin six guns from that moment engaged.

And then on to Horn Hill and Kosse and Waco,
And then down along the Old Mexico way,
With twin guns a'blazing and fingers a'vibrant,
He felled every man who got in his way.

O, what's it like to kill a man, John Wesley Hardin?
What's it like to kill a man, to gun a man down?
What's it like to kill a man, John Wesley Hardin?
Forty men dead at age twenty-one!

Every lawman now was after John Hardin,
Lawman and bounty hunter--Hardin: Dead or Alive,
Every lawman now was after John Hardin,
With a finger ready on the trigger of a Colt .45 .

And though on the run, Hardin continued his killing,
Sheriffs Reagon and Helms he fiercely cut down,
Though on the run, Hardin kept up the blood-spilling,
Passing from one to another Dixie town.

But in Pensacola Junction, Rangers trapped Hardin ,
Texas Rangers caught Hardin in ‘77,
They took him and tried him with no doubt of outcome,
And John was sentenced 25 years to old Huntsville prison.

Now in Huntsville John spent the long years a'studying,
In Huntsville John spent the years studying law,
And as 15 years passed and John Wesley was pardoned,
He signed up and passed the Texas State Bar.

And he became a lawyer in the town of El Paso,
But practicing law in El Paso town,
John was not the same man he was before prison,
And he boozed now, and bragged, and carried recklessly on.

And one day he drew a quarrel with Young Johnny Selman,
No gunplay, just words, over a young saloon gal,
One day he drew a quarrel with Young Johnny Selman,
As he carried about in his derelict ways.

Now Old Selman, Johnny's father, feared for his son's life,
Old Selman felt surely that Wes would kill Johnny,
Old Selman, Johnny's father, feared for his son's life,
So he decided himself to take care of Wes Hardin.

And while Wes was dicing one afternoon at a table,
While Wes was rolling dice in the Acme Saloon,
Old Selman burst in with a long ten-gauge shotgun,
And without word of warnin’, he shot Hardin down.

O, what's it like to kill a man, John Wesley Hardin?
What's it like to kill a man, to gun a man down?
What's it like to kill a man, John Wesley Hardin?
Shot in the back, and laid in the ground!