We will shoot down anyone who interferes and if necessary clean the entire town out.
-Jesse W. James
WILD BILL HICKOK:
That I have killed men, I admit, but never unless in absolute self-defense, or in the performance of official duty. I never took mean advantage of an enemy. Yet, understand, I never allowed a man to get the drop on me.
-James B. Hickok -- Wild Bill
NARRATOR:
AFTER THE CIVIL WAR, VAST TRACTS OF THE WESTERN FRONTIER, REMAINED WILD AND UNTAMED. THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO SETTLED THERE HAD TO FEND FOR THEMSELVES AND SURVIVAL OFTEN RELIED UPON USING A GUN. FEW UNDERSTOOD THIS BETTER THAN MIGUEL OTERO WHO AS A YOUNG BOY, GREW UP ON THE FRONTIER.
MIGUEL OTERO:
Everyone, man and boy, carried some sort of weapon at all times -- even a wedding or funeral was no exception. In mere boyhood, my brother and I made use of them in hunting, but at any time they may have saved our lives.
NARRATOR:
WHETHER TO HUNT FOR FOOD OR DEFEND LIFE AND PROPERTY; A CLASS OF MEN EVOLVED, KNOWN FOR THEIR SKILL WITH A GUN. THESE MEN CREATED THEIR OWN RULES OF CONDUCT.
ROBERT UTLEY:
The Code of the West held that a man threatened in either person or property had no duty to retreat any further than the air at his back. It had to do with a man's honor and his dignity and when it was mixed with whiskey it made a volatile combination.
