John Bull was an English outlaw known for his violent streak. Little is known about him, but is consistently ranked as one of the most underrated gunslingers of the Wild West.
Early Life
John Bull was born in England and eventually migrated to the United States. It is not known when he arrived, but most assume it was during the 1850s.
The first time he is mentioned in history is as a professional gambler who traveled around booming mine towns.
The first time history speaks of him in a gunfight was on August 25, 1862, in the mining camp Gold Creek, located in Montana Territory. He entered the town, stating his name was John Bull, and his companion, a man named Fox, were on the trail of hire thieves who had stolen six valuable horses in Elk City, Idaho.
The thieves, C.W. Spillman, Bill Arnett, and B.F. Jermagin had preceded Bull and Fox in entering the camp by about three days.
Bull and Fox met up with the thieves. They took Spillman with no incident, Arnett was shot and killed instantly, and Jermagin surrendered.
Out of the two that were caught, Spillman was hanged, but Jermagin was able to talk his way out of trouble.
Around 1864, John Bull settled at the silver camp of Austin in the Nevada Territory. Early in 1864, there was a feud in Austin between the Irish and the English. Bull had a fight with an Irishman that lasted 21 rounds before he won.
By 1865, Bull had partnered up with Langford Peel.
Duel with Langford Peel
In 1866, John Bull arrived in Virginia City, Nevada, with his partner in crime, Langford M. Peel. It was during this time that Bull met and became friends with the famous writer Mark Twain.
In 1867, Bull and Peel moved their operations to Belmont, Nevada, and then to Salt Lake City and saw some success. However, the two men began to have issues and separated for a period of time.
By the summer of 1867, the two were working together in Helena, Montana. However, their partnership did not last long, as they began arguing over the same issue at the poker table. Both men jumped to their feet.
Peel slapped Bull in the face with one hand and pulled his gun with the other. Bull raised his hands and shouted, "I am unarmed!" to which Peel responded that he should go arm himself, then return.
Bull retreated to his room, quickly scribbled a makeshift will, and then went back to meet Peel. Peel waited for Bull, but after an hour, he thought that Bull had made an escape, so he left.
Bull returned and went to find Peel. He found him with his girlfriend, prostitute Belle Neil. Peel was escorting his girlfriend to his room when they were confronted by Bull. Immediately, the two men drew their guns, but a shocked Belle Neil locked up Peel's arm.
Bull fired two shots into Peel, putting him face down in the street. Bull then walked up to his once partner and calmly fired a shot into Peel's head and killed him.
The Town Marshal John Xavier Beidler took Bull into custody, and he stood trial. The jury did not convict him, and he was released. He immediately left Helena and traveled to Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Due to Langford Peel's reputation in Cheyenne, he had killed four people. The bull was treated like a celebrity while in Cheyenne.
Later Years
In 1868, Bull met and fell in love with a woman in Utah. The two moved to Chicago and had two children. However, she died from an illness in 1872. Sadly, Bull did not want to raise his children without her, so he placed them in foster homes, headed back to the west in Omaha, Nebraska, and began operating as a gambler.
Shortly before midnight, on July 12, 1873, while in the company of gambler George Mehaffy, Bull and Mehaffy stabbed railroad employee Samual Atwood outside the "Crystal Saloon" in Omaha due to Atwood warning others that Bull was a crooked gambler running a crooked game.
Town Marshal Gilbert Rustin gathered several policemen and went in search of the two men, locating Bull inside "Sullivan's Saloon." When Rustin approached him, Bull produced his pistol, refusing to be arrested, causing Rustin to withdraw.
Bull then ran all the patrons out of the saloon and calmly sat down in a chair, falling asleep. When awakened, he quietly submitted to arrest without resistance.
Atwood was still alive but in serious condition. Thus, a mob of supporters were threatening to hang Bull. Mehaffy, by this point, had also been captured, and both were being held in the local jail.
Atwood, when interviewed, implicated Mehaffy as the one attacker he could identify. Thus, Bull was released. Mehaffy was later freed on bond following Atwood's recovery and again began working with Bull in their gambling arrangement.
Bulls began to move around frequently through the small western towns of the day, often in the company of other gamblers and often taking part in crooked games meant to heist money from unsuspecting amateur gamblers.
He also began dabbling in professional boxing as a promoter.
In 1874, Bull was arrested for armed robbery. In 1875, those charges were dropped. Bull then moved on to Deadwood, South Dakota, in 1876, which was booming. Then, by 1879, he had moved on to Denver, Colorado.
Bull moved from town to town for the next few decades and caused much trouble until he was an old man. He survived being shot four times and many other altercations.
John Bull died in 1929 at the age of 93.