The Most Unforgettable Quotes Ever Uttered By Icons Of The Wild West

Who said two pistols were better than a double six in a dice game? Which individual preferred Hell to Texas? And who claimed there were two Bibles in Tombstone? They’re actually all words spoken by some of the most iconic figures of the Old West. So, from Jesse James’ philosophy on life to Calamity Jane’s views on the booze, we’ve dug out 40 startling quotes from that era.

40. General Sherman rates Texas

“If I owned Hell and Texas I’d rent out Texas and live in Hell.”

After helping the Unionists to victory in the American Civil War, General William Tecumseh Sherman was sent on a mission to Texas. His orders were to observe what the French were up to in Mexico. Apparently, Texans gave him a less than fulsome welcome to their territory, and that prompted his withering words about the state.

39. Charles Goodnight on cowardice

“Cowards never lasted long enough to become real cowboys.”

According to the National Cowboy Museum, Texas rancher Charles Goodnight was the man who invented the chuck wagon – an essential element of cross country cattle drives. But he also found time to consider the weaknesses that were fatal to the cowboy. Cowardice, Goodnight declared, was a fatal flaw for anyone who dreamed of a life on the range.

38. Judge Wells Spicer on Tombstone, Arizona

“Tombstone has two dance halls, a dozen gambling places and more than 20 saloons. Still, there is hope, for I know of two Bibles in town.” 

It was in 1881 that Judge Wells Spicer gave this trenchant view of the infamous town of Tombstone, Arizona. That very year also saw the much-storied Shootout at the O.K. Corral. In fact, the judge conducted the hearing that exonerated Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday for their part in the deadly incident. Considering the levels of violence in Tombstone, you’d have to wonder if a pair of bibles was enough!

37. Judge Roy Bean on watermelons and men

“You can’t tell how good a man or a watermelon is ‘til they get thumped.”

Although he became a justice of the peace later in life, Roy Bean wasn’t always on the right side of the law. For example, he killed “at least two men in duels,” according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. His judgments could be eccentric to say the least. Bean is said to have fined a man $40 for harboring a concealed firearm. The miscreant in question was actually dead.

36. Lille Langtry on living short and sweet

“I’m not afraid. I never liked long last acts.”

Probably best remembered as one of Edward VII’s many lovers, Lillie Langtry also had strong links with the Wild West era. She toured America as a vaudevillian and actress 13 times – starting in 1882. While critics panned Langtry’s stage performances, her notoriety because of the British royal associations meant that she attracted large audiences. And this quote gives a flavor of her devil-may-care attitude to life.

35. Billy the Kid describes his loyalties

“I wasn’t the leader of any gang. I was for Billy all the time.”

As best we know, Billy the Kid was born Henry McCarty in New York City around 1859. After moving west to New Mexico, the Kid cemented his reputation as a deadly gunman – killing up to nine people. As per this quote, Billy wasn’t a gang leader. His loyalty was to one man alone: himself.

34. William ‘Canada Bill’ Jones reveals his gambling morality

“It’s immoral to let a sucker keep his money.”

William Jones plied the card tables of the Mississippi River steamers and by all accounts was highly successful in his trade. His tactic was to play the part of a naive country hick. So convincing was his performance that he habitually lightened the wallets of even experienced card sharps. Judging by this quote, Canada Bill believed this to be a moral duty.

33. Poker Alice expresses her love of poker

“At my age, I suppose I should be knitting. But I would rather play poker with five or six ‘experts’ than eat.”

Alice Ivers Tubbs loved poker despite – or perhaps because of – the fancy boarding school she attended as a youngster. Her background gave little clue to this future career as a card-playing demon, though. Poker Alice’s father was a traditionalist school teacher from England. And she picked up her card skills in the silver mining territory of Leadville, Colorado.

32. Jesse James’ life philosophy

“Never expect a handout and never wait for anybody to hand you anything.”

Infamous outlaw Jesse James was born in Kearney, Missouri, in 1847. He went on to become a profligate robber of trains and banks in the Wild West – playing a key role in the violent James-Younger Gang. Strangely, his father was a Baptist minister. But as this quote shows, he was hardly filled with the spirit of Christian charity.

31. Bob Younger’s comments on the Northfield Raid

“We are rough men and used to rough ways.”  

It was in 1876 when the James-Younger gang rode into Northfield, Minnesota. Yet the men hadn’t dropped in to see the sights – they were there to rob the First National Bank. But the bandits met with unexpected armed resistance from the doughty townsfolk. Two of the gang were shot dead and an equal number wounded. The survivors fled; one of the wounded was Bob Younger, and he was captured and sentenced to life behind bars.

30. The Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper comments on the Colfax County War

“Cimarron is in the hands of a mob.”

The episode known as the Colfax County War happened in 1875, and much of the action was centered on the city of Cimarron. The conflict arose from a dispute of land ownership. It involved certain citizens from the locale trying to oust squatters from parts of Colfax County. Tactics included hiring gunmen to intimidate the settlers – hence the alarming comment made in The Santa Fe New Mexican.

29. Bat Masterson’s advice on gunfighting

“Never run a bluff with a six-gun.” 

Bartholomew “Bat” Masterson worked for a time as a buffalo hunter and followed that with a spell as a scout during the Plains Indian Wars. But then he turned to a mixed life as a gunslinger and – perhaps improbably – a sheriff in Dodge City, Kansas. In fact, Masterson was only involved in two serious gunfights. But his reputation eclipsed the truth – a frequent enough phenomenon in the Old West.

28. One of General Custer’s men gave his frank opinion of the great man

“He is universally despised by all the officers of his regiment – excepting his relatives and one or two sycophants.”

Famous for his last stand at the Battle of Little Bighorn, George Custer was far from universally popular with his own men. In his 2015 volume – The Real Custer: From Boy General to Tragic Hero – James S. Robinson quoted the words of one disillusioned cavalryman. The anonymous soldier does not mince his words in this estimation of Custer.

27. Henry Starr celebrates the bandit life

“I love it. It is wild with adventure.”  

Part Cherokee, Henry Starr’s pedigree as a bank robber was confirmed by another aspect of his ancestry. His aunt was the outlaw Belle Starr – famously known as the Bandit Queen. Starr evidently relished his life on the wrong side of the law. But there’s a cruel irony in this quote. That’s because not long after he said these words the outlaw was dead – shot as he robbed the People’s National Bank in Harrison, Arkansas.

26. Josephine Sarah Marcus gives her view of Tombstone, Arizona

“The grimly humorous phrase about our town was that Tombstone had ‘a man for breakfast every morning.’”

Actress Josephine Sarah Marcus captured the febrile atmosphere of everyday life in Tombstone with her bleak words. And, since the performer married one of the main protagonists in the O.K. Corral shootout – Wyatt Earp – Marcus was in a good position to know what she was talking about. The pair shared a colorful life together for 47 years until Earp’s death in 1929.

25. Calamity Jane

“I figure, if a girl wants to be a legend, she should go ahead and be one.”

Martha Jane Cannary – much better known simply as Calamity Jane – is indeed one of the leading legends in the pantheon of famous Wild West characters. This remarkable woman’s life story is festooned with tales of heavy drinking, derring-do and her love for Wild Bill Hickok. How many of the Calamity Jane stories are factually true is open to question. But that her legend lives on is not in doubt.

24. Calamity Jane faces her fate

“Leave me alone and let me go to hell by my own route.”

In 1903, aged 51 Calamity Jane was facing the consequences of a dissolute if exciting lifestyle. She would soon be dead; a liking for hard liquor was her downfall. Jane’s life had encompassed a spell with the 7th Cavalry, prospecting for gold and driving mules. She also performed in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. The cowgirl ended her days in a bawdy house in Belle Fourche, South Dakota, working as a cook.

23. Wyatt Earp’s verdict on the O.K. Corral shootout

“For my handling of the situation at Tombstone, I have no regrets. Were it to be done again, I would do it exactly as I did it at the time.”

Wyatt Earp, his brothers Virgil and Morgan, plus Doc Holliday made up one side at the O.K. Corral in 1877. Ranged against them were five members of the Clanton-McLaury gang. Once the smoke had cleared after a 30-second burst of gunfire, two Clantons and a McLaury lay dead. The Doc, Virgil and Morgan were wounded. But in the aftermath, it seems Wyatt Earp was sure he’d been in the right.

22. Wild Bill Hickok shares his wisdom

“Whenever you get into a row be sure and not shoot too quick. Take time. I’ve known many a feller slip up for shootin’ in a hurry.”

Known to his mother as James Butler Hickok, Wild Bill was born in 1839 in what is now South Dakota. He built his swashbuckling reputation as a lawman, a teamster and a fighter on the Unionists side in the Civil War. Despite the undoubtedly good advice contained in this quote, Hickok died at the hands of a paid assassin in 1876 as he played poker.

21. Bill Longley’s words as he was about to meet his end

“I see a good many enemies around, and mighty few friends.”

During his time as a deadly Wild West gunslinger, William Preston Longley took many names but was best known simply as Bill Longley. Said to have first killed a man at the age of 16, the avowed racist went on to kill a number of freed slaves after the Civil War’s end. Eventually, there was a $1,000 bounty on his head, and he was eventually captured and hung. Before his death came the quote; it’s little wonder that this vicious man had few friends.

20. Wyatt Earp on Wild Bill Hickok

“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.”

Wild Bill Hickok was of course a legendary figure in the Wild West – a reputation that was only enhanced by his touring show. But just how much of the legend was based on truth rather than well-embroidered tales? Wyatt Earp clearly thought that perhaps not all of the Hickok stories were entirely factual. Yet it seems he was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt on the grounds that enough stories were true.

19. Sitting Bull – straight-talking to a U.S. general

“You come here to tell us lies. Go home where you came from.” 

Sitting Bull was likely at the end of his tether when he spoke these words to the U.S. Army’s General Alfred Terry. By that time, the great Native American Sioux chief had retreated to Canada where he was accompanied by some 4,000 of his followers. When Sitting Bull met Terry, the general tried to persuade him to return to the reservation in America. The response was an emphatic “no.”

18. Wyatt Earp’s top tip on gunfighting

“Fast is fine, but accuracy is everything.”

Wyatt Earp had occasion to use his firearms in highly dangerous circumstances more than once. There was, of course, the Shootout at the O.K. Corral in 1881. And another incident occured when Earp and his brother Warren tracked down men they believed responsible for killing one of their siblings: Morgan. That time the outlaws shot dead two men. So, Earp’s advice came from personal experience.

17. Bat Masterson ruminates on ice

“There are many in this old world of ours who hold that things break about even for all of us. I have observed, for example, that we all get the same amount of ice. The rich get it in the summertime and the poor get it in the winter.” 

Bat Masterson may be best remembered as a violent gunslinger, but it seems that the man was also something of a social commentator. In this quote, he considers the gulf between rich and poor – with particular reference to ice. Although the wealthy and the broke both get equal amounts of ice, Masterson believed, the circumstances were very different.

16. Belle Starr reflects on her life

“I regard myself as a woman who has seen much of life.”

It has to be said that Belle Starr had every right to speak these words given her colorful experiences over the years. Myra Belle Shirley was born in 1848 and rose to notoriety thanks to her banditry in Oklahoma Territory and Texas. In fact, although the outlaw was indicted several times, she served only one nine-month jail sentence for horse theft.

15. Tom Horn explains his resignation as a lawman

“I have no more stomach for it.”

Tom Horn had a checkered career that included spells as a miner, army scout and cowboy. He also signed up with the Pinkerton Detective Agency, which commissioned him to hunt down bandits preying on trains and banks. But as this quote shows, Horn eventually tired of this role. Then the man set himself up as a freelance gun for hire, though that didn’t end well. In 1903 he was hanged after a murder conviction.

14. Davy Crockett gives up on Tennessee

“Y’all can go to hell. I am going to Texas.”  

After a rough and ready upbringing in Tennessee, Davy Crocket went on to serve as a representative in the state congress. From there, he won election to the U.S. House of Representatives – but lost his seat in 1835. Apparently sick of politics, Crocket spoke these famous words. And of course he did indeed travel to Texas where he died at the Alamo.

13. John Wesley Hardin gives due warning

“I take no sass but sarsaparilla.”

John Wesley Hardin first killed a man during the lawless chaos that gripped parts of the South in the aftermath of the Civil War. And he was just 15 years old. Estimates of the number who died at his hands over the following years range from 20 to 40. Then a 14-year prison sentence for murder intervened in his criminal activities. Although Hardin subsequently settled down, he was himself the victim of an angry gunman in 1895.

12. Daniel Boone gets nostalgic

“I was happy in the midst of dangers and inconveniences.”

Daniel Boone won fame as a frontiersman thanks to his pioneering exploration of the remoter parts of America in the 18th century. Despite his trail-blazing, Boone never became a wealthy man and in later life worked as a surveyor. Although this quote is undated, Boone presumably said these words when the invigorating days of his groundbreaking adventures were behind him.

11. General George A. Custer makes a mistake

“The Seventh can handle anything it meets.” 

The Seventh refers to the U.S. Army’s Seventh Cavalry, which in 1876 was under the command of George Custer. As he approached the large Sioux and Cheyenne camp by the Little Big Horn River in that year, the general could have halted and waited for reinforcements. But with fatal over-confidence he decided not to. The carnage of Custer’s Last Stand then followed.

10. Tom Horn meets his end

“You’re the sickest looking lot of sheriffs I ever seen.”

Notorious gunman Tom Horn finally met the fate many believed he richly deserved in 1903. He was convicted in Wyoming of the murder of a 14-year-old boy: rancher’s son Willie Nickell. There are historians who believe that Horn may have been framed and wrongly convicted. That perhaps explains the bitterness of his words as he stood on the gallows in Cheyenne.

9. Belle Starr shares her wisdom

“A pair of six-shooters beats a pair of sixes.”

Despite her gruesome reputation as a dangerous bandit, some researchers believe that Belle Starr’s criminality has been exaggerated and mythologized. Even so, it’s true that she associated with some of the Wild West’s most lethal outlaws – including Jesse James and his brother Frank. Whatever the truth, it’s certainly sound advice; a pair of pistols will always beat a double six in a tight spot.

8. Clay Allison exhibits his compassionate side

“I didn’t want to send him to hell on an empty stomach.”

After fighting for the Confederacy during the Civil War, Clay Allison worked as a cowboy in New Mexico before setting up his own ranch. It’s said that he had suffered a head injury as a child and that may explain his unbridled cruelty. Allison was involved in two brutal lynchings and also earned a reputation as a lethal gunslinger. But he apparently baulked at the idea of killing a hungry man.

7. Mike Fink on a prank gone wrong

“Carpenter, you have spilled the whiskey!”

In his 1993 book, James A. Crutchfield relates an extraordinary story. Apparently for amusement, Mike Fink and William Carpenter were accustomed to shooting cups of whiskey off each other’s heads. On one occasion, Fink fired first and his bullet hit Carpenter in the head – killing him instantly. Despite this fatal accident, it seems that the former’s primary concern was that good whiskey had been wasted.

6. Thomas ‘Black Jack’ Ketchum on his imminent fate

“Can’t you hurry this up a bit? I hear they eat dinner in Hades at 12 sharp and I don’t aim to be late.” 

Thomas Ketchum and his associates – one of whom was the man’s brother – were train robbers. The gang was ruthless in the execution of its trade and Ketchum himself killed a man in Texas. After that, the desperadoes skedaddled to New Mexico, where most of them were arrested including Black Jack. Sentenced to hang, his final words are a choice example of the darkest gallows humor.

5. Annie Oakley reveals her romantic code

“I ain’t afraid to love a man. I ain’t afraid to shoot him either!"

Annie Oakley was a highly skilled sharp-shooter and earned her living on tour with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. One set-up involved her shooting the ash from a cigarette dangling on the lips of Frank E. Butler: her husband. If he ever heard his wife utter the words of this quote, he must have been made of stern stuff.

4. Elijah S. Briant scoffs at danger

“Nothing to fear. Any coward shooting from [a] night ambush will be too nervous to hit me.” 

Born in 1861, Elijah “Lige” S. Briant started out as a school teacher but switched to the life of a lawman. He became sheriff of Sutton County, Texas, at a time when the area was plagued by outlaws. The lawman garnered a reputation for his bravery and continued in the job even after being wounded in a gunfight. Judging by the quote, Briant’s courage was apparently matched by his supreme self-confidence.

3. Chief Red Cloud laments the fate of the buffalo

“Where the Indian killed one buffalo, the hide and tongue hunters killed fifty.”

Mahpiua Luta was a chieftain of the Oglala Teton Dakota tribe – a branch of the Sioux Nation. Known to Westerners as Red Cloud, he was a determined opponent of the spread of prospectors heading for Montana’s gold mines. As this quote indicates, Red Cloud was also an early environmentalist – appalled by the wanton slaughter of the huge buffalo herds.

2. Wyatt Earp challenges Ike Clanton

“You damn dirty cow thief, if you’re anxious to fight, I’ll meet you!”

These words attributed to Wyatt Earp illustrate all too plainly the hostility between Earp and his brothers – plus Doc Holliday – and the Clanton-McLaury gang. As they used to say in the old Western movies, “them’s fightin’ words.” And the trading of insults was soon to explode into violence in Tombstone with the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

1. Billy Clanton tries to get out of fighting

“Don’t shoot me. I don’t want to fight.”

The mythology that has built up around the O.K. Corral Shootout over the years is dense and sometimes misleading. But this quote – if accurate – seems to contradict one of the central foundations of the story: that the Clanton-McLaury Gang was spoiling for a fight. Of course, Billy Clanton’s words may well have been a bluff. Whether they were or not, one thing’s for sure: he was shot dead at the O.K. Corral.