Doc Holiday's mystery shotgun: October 26, 1881 OK Corral

Jim McDougall · 9th August 2019, 10:01 PM

Richard, David and Wayne, thank you guys!!!!
Great perspective and much appreciated.
As someone who is not a 'shooter' it helps to see the pragmatic side of the aspects of these guns.

Still holding to the idea of the Wells Fargo gun from Virgil to Doc, the material I have been finding reveals mostly;
1. There were no 'standard' Wells Fargo shotguns, nor were they accordingly
marked or stamped. The only instance perhaps possible for such practice
may have been their headquarters areas in California, but no records thus
far that I can find. I'm awaiting the book "Company Property" by James
Bartz (1993) hoping for some info.

2. Another source says local agents bought their own guns from hardware
stores, but then suggests they had store mark guns Wells Fargo?? Why?
It was not as if they were outfitting an army, there were not that many
'messengers' and they only rode with Wells Fargo express boxes, not
on every stage (Well Fargo used private coach lines to convey boxes).

3. There seem to be no official records or inventory reflecting purchase
nor issue of guns for agents or messengers, so thus far no example
with clear provenance to compare to. The only references or examples
address the volume of 'fakes' to the point I have yet to find reference
to an authentic Well Fargo gun of any kind.

Again, I have not found any corroborating record of Holliday ever using or 'favoring' any shotgun, and as far as I know the only reference I have ever seen toward a WW Greener was in "True Grit" with John Wayne. The cut down 10 gauge Meteor would be a beast to hold onto, and certainly was never a coach gun. The notion of a swivel also seems nonsense, and Doc threw the gun down after firing both barrels, so what did he do, take time in a blazing 30 second close range fire fight to unfasten it?

Still searching for more on Wells Fargo gun markings, and as seen in the photo I posted earlier, Wells Fargo used wagons for shipments, and on these the 'messengers' (as many as 4 to 6) had not only coach guns but rifles.

One reference said Wyatt called coach guns 'street howitzers', and it is known he used one in his vengeance ride after the OK Corral. This suggests he may have been as other lawmen who often used these in duties in town, and they were not just used on 'coaches'.

9th August 2019, 10:01 PM	#9
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 9,785	Richard, David and Wayne, thank you guys!!!! Great perspective and much appreciated. As someone who is not a 'shooter' it helps to see the pragmatic side of the aspects of these guns. Still holding to the idea of the Wells Fargo gun from Virgil to Doc, the material I have been finding reveals mostly; 1. There were no 'standard' Wells Fargo shotguns, nor were they accordingly marked or stamped. The only instance perhaps possible for such practice may have been their headquarters areas in California, but no records thus far that I can find. I'm awaiting the book "Company Property" by James Bartz (1993) hoping for some info. 2. Another source says local agents bought their own guns from hardware stores, but then suggests they had store mark guns Wells Fargo?? Why? It was not as if they were outfitting an army, there were not that many 'messengers' and they only rode with Wells Fargo express boxes, not on every stage (Well Fargo used private coach lines to convey boxes). 3. There seem to be no official records or inventory reflecting purchase nor issue of guns for agents or messengers, so thus far no example with clear provenance to compare to. The only references or examples address the volume of 'fakes' to the point I have yet to find reference to an authentic Well Fargo gun of any kind. Again, I have not found any corroborating record of Holliday ever using or 'favoring' any shotgun, and as far as I know the only reference I have ever seen toward a WW Greener was in "True Grit" with John Wayne. The cut down 10 gauge Meteor would be a beast to hold onto, and certainly was never a coach gun. The notion of a swivel also seems nonsense, and Doc threw the gun down after firing both barrels, so what did he do, take time in a blazing 30 second close range fire fight to unfasten it? Still searching for more on Wells Fargo gun markings, and as seen in the photo I posted earlier, Wells Fargo used wagons for shipments, and on these the 'messengers' (as many as 4 to 6) had not only coach guns but rifles. One reference said Wyatt called coach guns 'street howitzers', and it is known he used one in his vengeance ride after the OK Corral. This suggests he may have been as other lawmen who often used these in duties in town, and they were not just used on 'coaches'.