The Original Wild West Showdown

On July 21, 1865, in the market square of Springfield, Missouri, Wild Bill Hickok shot and killed Davis Tutt in what is regarded as the first true Wild West showdown. An excerpt from the article:

"Whatever the source of the enmity, the Hickok-Tutt feud finally boiled over on July 20, 1865. That night, Hickok was playing poker at the Lyon House hotel when Tutt confronted him about a $35 debt from a previous card game. Hickok countered that the sum was only $25 and said he had a “memorandum” in his jacket pocket to prove it, but Tutt was unconvinced. He snatched Hickok’s beloved Waltham pocket watch off the felt and declared he would hold it as collateral until the debt was settled. When Hickok protested, he also threatened to flaunt the timepiece in the town square the next day. A seething Wild Bill warned that Tutt wouldn’t manage the stunt unless “dead men can walk.”

Hickok and Tutt spent most of the next day arguing over the watch and the poker debt, but according to witnesses, neither man seemed particularly eager to “slap leather” against the other. The former pals even tried to settle the dispute over a glass of whiskey before Tutt grew frustrated and stalked away. Sometime around 6 p.m., Tutt reappeared near the Springfield courthouse wearing Hickok’s watch. Wild Bill walked out to meet him from across the town square, his hand dangling next to one of the Colt Navy revolvers strapped to his sides. “Dave,” he warned, “Don’t you come across here with that watch.” Tutt ignored him and began sauntering in Hickok’s direction, his hand hovering over his own gun. “Dave, don’t come any closer!” Hickok shouted. As the two men inched to within 75 yards of one another, they suddenly drew their pistols and took aim."