Lot 240
Hardin, John Wesley. Attractively framed with one of Hardin's original business cards from El Paso, where he became an attorney after giving up his life as an outlaw, as well as a photo reproduction of Hardin. Only about a dozen of these Hardin signed cards with bullet holes exist. Overall Size: 13¼ x 13½". (1853-1895) Schoolteacher, farmer, cowboy, businessman, convict, lawyer -- and the most dangerous western gunman.
Rare Card Signed ("John W. Hardin"), Sextodecimo, n.p., 1895. Signed horizontally across the lower middle of the playing card, the Jack of Clubs. Fine, even allowing for the bullet holes right thru the center of the Jack's heart!
Rumor has it that the fastest draw in the west would throw a card into the air, and shoot to kill, as it were, before it fell to earth. Fact is that Hardin killed 15, or 21, or 40 men with his six-guns, before dying of a bullet through the head - shot from the back, of course, at the age of 42, the very year he signed and dated this card.
Estimated Value $4,000 - 6,000.
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| Realized $5,060 |
