John King Fisher
Born and raised in Texas, John King Fisher (1853 – 1884) turned bad at an early age. Aged 15, he was sentenced to two years imprisonment for horse theft but won early release because of his youth. Soon thereafter, he joined bandits who raided across the border into Mexico, and adopted adopting a flamboyant persona, dressing in flashy clothes, such as a black Mexican jacket embroidered with gold, a red sash, a wide sombrero, and sporting silver-plated and ivory-handled pistols.
He styled himself a gunslinger, and proved himself one when a dispute over sharing the loot triggered a shootout during which a teenage Fisher killed three fellow bandits. After the gunsmoke dissipated, Fisher took over as gang leader, and over subsequent months, defended his leadership claim by killing seven more bandits.
In 1872, he bought a ranch on the Mexican border and used it as a base of operations for cattle rustling raids into Mexico. The Texas Rangers eventually raided the ranch and arrested Fisher, but released him upon his promise to cease raiding. He then tried his hand at legitimate cattle ranching, but ranch operations were frequently impeded by his violent temper.
In 1878, he escalated an argument with two Mexican cowboys by crushing the head of one with an iron rod, and shooting the other dead when he tried to draw his pistol. He then shot dead two other Mexicans who had been sitting on a fence and simply watching. Nothing came of it, nor did anything come of other instances when Fisher was arrested for violent acts and attempted murders, only to be released when witnesses refused to come forward or disappeared.
Although a notorious troublemaker, Fisher was liked in the community, and by the 1880s had transitioned from bandit to lawman, serving briefly as acting sheriff of Uvalde County in 1883, during which service he tracked down a stagecoach robbing duo, shooting one dead and bringing in the other. The following year, Fisher went to see a play with a friend in San Antonio, but was killed when a quarrel between his friend and the theater owner ended with Fisher and friend ambushed in their theater box and cut down in a hail of bullets.