Buckskin Frank Leslie was a famous gunslinger of the Wild West. He was born on March 18, 1842, and he died sometime after 1920. He was known for his fringed buckskin jacket and his reputation as a deadly gunfighter.
Leslie became famous in Tombstone, Arizona, for killing two men in self-defense. He married the widow of one of his victims eight days after killing her husband.
Following their divorce, Leslie shot and killed a woman he lived with at his ranch while drunk and in a fit of jealousy. He was sentenced to life in prison but only served six years before he was pardoned.
Leslie was last listed in the U.S. Federal Census on January 27, 1920, in Sausalito, California. No public records of him have been found after this date, and it is not known when he died.
Early Life
There is no consensus on the details of Leslie's early life. In 1913, he wrote on his marriage certificate that he was born as "Nashville Franklyn Leslie" near San Antonio, Texas, to Bernard Leslie from Virginia and Martha Leslie from Kentucky.
However, the Tombstone Daily Prospector reported on July 15, 1889, that he was born in Galveston, Texas, in 1842 to Thomas Kennedy and Martha Leslie.
The story reports that he took his mother's last name after a falling out with his father. It is unclear which account is accurate, as neither source provides any supporting evidence.
Life Out West
Leslie was first recorded in San Francisco in 1878, where he worked as a barkeeper in Thomas Boland's saloon at 311 Pine Street. He lived at 732 Howard Street. In 1879, he was listed as a "bookkeeper" at Kerr & Jurado's Saloon & Billiard Room.
However, it is possible that this was a typo for "barkeeper," as he was again listed as a barkeeper in the same establishment the following year.
He was living at 746 Folsom Street at this time. In mid-1880, he moved to Tombstone, Arizona.
Upon arrival in Tombstone, Leslie worked at the Cosmopolitan Hotel and filed several mining claims. However, he spent most of his time gambling and having an affair with a married woman named Mae Killeen.
Her husband, Mike, was jealous and threatened to shoot Leslie if he caught him with his wife. One day, Mike found Leslie and Mae on the porch of the Cosmopolitan Hotel and confronted them. Leslie shot and killed Mike in self-defense. The killing was ruled justifiable, and Leslie married Mae one week later.
After the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Wyatt Earp and his brothers, who were friends with Leslie, moved into the Cosmopolitan Hotel, feeling safer there than in their homes.
Leslie soon earned a reputation as a dangerous man. He pistol-whipped a man outside the Oriental Saloon, and he was suspected of murdering John Ringo, even though law officers could not prove it. After the Earps left Tombstone, Leslie got into an argument with Billy Claiborne, a survivor of the O.K. Corral gunfight.
The Killing of Billy Claiborne
On November 14, 1882, a drunk Billy Claiborne went to the Oriental Saloon and started using insulting and abusive language to Buckskin Frank Leslie, who was tending bar. Leslie asked Claiborne to leave, but Claiborne refused.
Leslie then grabbed Claiborne by his coat collar and escorted him out of the saloon. As Claiborne was leaving, he shook his finger at Leslie and said, "That's all right, Leslie, I'll get even on you."
A few minutes later, two men told Leslie that Claiborne was waiting outside to shoot him. Leslie stepped outside and saw Claiborne hiding behind a fruit stand with a rifle.
Leslie tried to talk Claiborne out of shooting, but Claiborne raised his rifle and fired, missing Leslie. Leslie then drew his pistol and fired back, hitting Claiborne in the chest.
Claiborne fell to the ground and said, "Don't shoot again; I am killed." Leslie did not shoot again, and Claiborne died a few minutes later.
The coroner's inquest concluded that Leslie shot Claiborne in self-defense.
Later Years and Personal Struggles
When the Apache uprisings began in the mid-1880s, Buckskin Frank Leslie again worked for the U.S. Army as an Indian scout. He served on at least two separate occasions.
After returning to Tombstone, Leslie's marriage to Mae began to fall apart. In 1887, they divorced after seven years of marriage. Mae claimed that one of the reasons for the divorce was Leslie's habit of wanting to shoot her silhouette in the wall as she stood there, proving yet again his excellent shooting skills.
After working as a bartender in the Oriental Saloon, Buckskin Frank Leslie met a young singer and prostitute named Mollie Williams at the Bird Cage Theater. The two began living together and quickly became involved in a violent relationship. On July 10, 1889, the violence escalated when Leslie shot Mollie in the head. The murder was witnessed by another man named James Neil, who Leslie then turned on and shot as well. Though Mollie died, Neil survived and later testified against Leslie.
Buckskin Frank Leslie was sentenced to life in prison for murdering Mollie Williams. He was sent to the Yuma Territorial Prison on January 9, 1890, where he became convict number 632. Upon arrival, Leslie was drunk and could barely walk.
Less than three months later, Leslie joined five other convicts in an unsuccessful escape attempt. He was sent to solitary confinement for his role in the escape.
After being released from solitary confinement, Leslie became a model prisoner. He worked as a pharmacist in the prison infirmary and was known for his perfect conduct.
In 1893, a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle interviewed Leslie. The reporter described Leslie's life in prison as not being hard. He did not wear prison garb and was not confined to a cell at night.
Superintendent Gates said that Leslie was the best-behaved prisoner in the penitentiary and the most useful. In case of sickness, the physician would diagnose the case, and Leslie would fill the prescription and administer the medicine.
His drugstore was known for its neatness.
Disappearance
After serving just seven years in prison, Buckskin Frank Leslie was granted parole with the help of Belle Stowell, a young divorcee. The couple married in Stockton, California, on December 1, 1896. They went on a lavish honeymoon to China before returning to the United States and settling down.
In 1904, Leslie traveled to Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush. He later moved to San Francisco, where he ran a pool hall in Oakland in 1913. The 1920 census shows him living in a lodging house in Sausalito, California. He was 77 years old, unemployed, and single.
Leslie disappeared from public records in 1922. Some believe he may have died in San Francisco in 1930. His death remains unconfirmed.