Quotes and Words of the Old West

Words of the West

"The deceased came to his death at the hands of an unknown party who was a damned good pistol shot." - Judge Roy Bean

“Bill Hickok was regarded as the deadliest pistol shot alive as well as being a man of great courage. The truth of certain stories of Bill’s achievements may have been open to debate but he had earned the respect paid to him.” - Wyatt Earp

"You sons of bitches. Give my love to Mother." - Francis "Two Gun" Crowley, bank robber and murderer, just before he was electrocuted in 1931.

Judge Roy Bean's Jersey Lilly Saloon and Courtroom

in Langtry, Texas , 1837.

This image available for photographic prints HERE!

"It was considered the most dangerous route in the Hills, but as my reputation as a rider and quick shot was well known, I was molested very little, for the toll gatherers looked on me as being a good fellow, and they knew that I never missed my mark." -- Calamity Jane

Hey, you damn sonofabitch cowboy. Go get a gun and get to work. - Doc Holliday to Ike Clanton, the day before the infamous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

"Tombstone is a city set upon a hill, promising to vie with ancient Rome in a fame different in character but no less important." -- John Clum in his first editorial in the Tombstone Epitaph

After robbing a bank, Henry Starr walked three miles out of town and was eating supper at a farmer's house when the telephone rang. When the farmer answered it, he turned to Starr and said, "The sheriff says the bank was held up and he wants to know if I've seen a suspicious character out this way." To this, Starr responded: "Tell him the robber is at your house eating supper and for him to come on out and get me." With that, he finished his meal, paid for it, and left.

"The United States court opened at Fort Smith last week, with many cases on the docket. This court has the most extensive jurisdiction of any in the United States. More prisoners are tried and convicted here of serious offenses than at any other court in this country, and more people are hanged here than at any other place in the Union. Here also resided the most noted executioner in American, George Maledon, who has hanged more people than any other man now in the business and never did a "bad job". Maledon seems to take pride in his profession. Launching a man into eternity appears to have no more effect on his nervous system than caster oil on a graven image." -- The Fort Smith Elevator, October 23, 1891

Fort Smith Hanging

Fort Smith Hanging, courtesy Fort Smith National Historic Site

Kit Carson, photo courtesy Library of Congress.

This image available for photographic prints HERE!

"I was a young boy in the school house when the cry came, Injuns! I jumped to my rifle and threw down my spelling book, and thar it lies." -- Kit Carson

"The wonders of the Grand Canyon cannot be adequately represented in symbols of speech, nor by speech itself. The resources of the graphic art are taxed beyond their powers in attempting to portray its features. Language and illustration combined must fail." -- John Wesley Powell

No cowboy ever quit while his life was hardest and his duties were most exacting. -- J. Frank Dobie, A Vaquero of the Brush Country, 1929

"I rob banks for a living, what do you do?" -- John Dillinger

“I have no more stomach for it.” – Tom Horn when he resigned as a lawman.

The more ignorant you are, the quicker you fight. - Will Rogers

"I never killed unless I was compelled to." - Belle Starr

"Surrender had played out for good with me." - Jesse James

"After being so bad I could hear the angels singing." -- Lillie Langtry

"I still have a clear vision of that dignified figure walking down Allen Street." -- John P. Clum, Tombstone Epitaph editor, speaking of Wyatt Earp.

"Charity covereth a multitude of sins." -- The Creede, Colorado preacher who presided over Bob Ford's funeral and unable to think of anything good to say about him.

''People thought me bad before, but if ever I should get free, I'll let them know what bad means.''-- Billy the Kid

"Is that what you call giving cover?" -- Butch Cassidy

"Shoot first and never miss." - Bat Masterson

"At my age I suppose I should be knitting." -- Poker Alice

Surrender had played out for good with me. -- Jesse James

Dr. Holliday and Mr. Austin, a saloon keeper, relieved the monotony of the noise of firecrackers by taking a couple of shots at each other yesterday afternoon. The cheerful note of the six-shooter is head once more among us." - Dallas Weekly Herald

"Now look, that damned cowboy is President!" -- Senator Mark Hanna referring To Theodore Roosevelt after McKinley's assassination in September, 1901.

"Wild Bill [Hickok] was anything but a quarrelsome man yet I have personal knowledge of at least half a dozen men whom he had at various times killed." -- Buffalo Bill Cody

This dern grits is burned, but that's the way I like it. -- Bone Mizell, thinking quickly to avoid violating the rule that cowboys didn't complain about the food.

Continued Next Page

Doc Holliday

This image available for photographic prints HERE!

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From the Rocky Mountain General Store

Saloon Style Tin Signs - Decorate with saloon-like decor with these nostalgic tin signs. Find saloons, restaurants, liquor and beer, including Budweiser, Coors, and more. All signs are made of heavy gauge metal and have rolled edges for safe handling. Great for hanging or framing!

The Old West is not a certain place in a certain time, it's a state of mind. It's whatever

you want it to be.

-- Tom Mix