29. The American West Lawman Who Survived an Ungodly Number of Gunfights
In a law enforcement career that lasted for nearly half a century, Frank Hamer survived 52 gunfights, was wounded 23 times in the line of duty, killed between 53 and 70 men, and was declared dead not once, nor even twice, but four times. To put that in perspective, if we add up all the gunfights that Old West legends Wyatt Earp, Wild Bill Hickok, and Billy the Kid took part in, the total comes to a possible maximum of 21 gunfights.
Emphasis should be placed on the word “possible” when it comes to Earp, Hickok, and the Kid, because some of those legendary figures’ gunfight accounts rest on shaky grounds. But if we accept all known accounts as true, Frank Hamer still went through more than twice the combined number of gunfights that three of the Old West’s most famous characters had participated in. And his tally of up to 70 killed men made him deadlier than just about any Wild West gunfighter.