Today there are many actual figures in the long, colorful history of
the American West whose legacy continues to flourish. Many of them
owe their popularity to Hollywood, but all have been a bit distorted
by our entertainment industry.
Many more well-known figures have been virtually forgotten today.
But in their day they roamed the west with a reputation that
engendered fear and respect. Such was the case with "Little Bill"
Standifer, born J. William "Bill" Standifer (in Lampasas County,
Texas, 1853), "a dark-haired, brown-eyed man of small stature but
large reputation."
1 Bill made his living first as a
gunfighter and then as a lawman. But he was "best remembered for
having been killed."2
At the early age fourteen Bill found employment as a cowboy at a
Texas ranch. While he was out on the range one day he happened to
cross paths with a quartet of cattle thieves. The four rustlers beat
young Standifer and left him for dead. But Standifer not only
survived, he tracked the four down and killed them. Although charged
with murder, he was acquitted by the court.
In 1879 he took another job at the Ike Mullins Ranch, also in Texas.
Once again turmoil developed between Bill and a fellow cowboy, John
McMahon. Again Standifer was beaten, this time with a bullwhip,
survived, and then tracked down his nemesis and killed him.
His next run in was with three soldiers in a Texas saloon, two of
whom he shot and wounded. He was then hunted down by the Texas
Rangers. Again he was found not guilty in a court of law. With his
growing reputation as a gunman, Standifer easily found employment as
a Range Detective (whose primary job was hunting down cattle
rustlers). One writer wrote of this profession that they "carried
his only authority in his holsters."
3 Eventually he was
elected County Sheriff of Crosby County, Texas (1888-1892). After
this stint Standifer returned to his former work as a Range
Detective for the Spur Ranch in Spur, Texas.
Standifer's reputation was enhanced because of incidents such as the
one described by Bill Meader, a former Texas Ranger. According to
Meader, a drunken cowhand was raising a ruckus in a Snyder, Texas
saloon. His celebration was carried to the streets as he began
shooting randomly under the hooves of the horses tied in front of
the saloon and at nearby houses. This is when Standifer stepped in
to confront the troublemaker. He approached the drunk and
demanded that he stop his random shooting, "reminding him that there
were respectable women living in the houses nearby."
4 Now
the anger of the drunk was focused solely on Standifer as bystanders
tensed, anticipating the violent showdown.
Meader wrote:
"Standifer stood calmly as the
drunken cowboy approached."
"Felix," he said, "don't you have a mother and sisters?"
"Yes," Franklin admitted.
"Then," said Standifer, "you don't respect them if you don't
respect the women in that house over there."5
Time seemed to crawl as the drunk, Felix Franklin, pondered
Standifer's words. "Then he turned without a word and went to his
wagon to sleep off his binge."6 This whole scene did not
just impact Franklin, but it seemed that it sobered up the other
cowhands in town that night. Standifer's speech turned the thoughts
of the tough cowboys to their own home, their mothers and sisters.
Over these years trouble began growing between Standifer and a
co-worker on the Spur, a better known gunfighter, John "Pink"
Higgins. It has never been clearly established why the two despised
each other, but both were fired from the Spur and Standifer was
eventually elected Sheriff of Hartley County, Texas. The bad blood
continued to grow between the two, and finally the inevitable
showdown came on October 4, 1903 at Higgins' ranch. "Standifer fired
first, hitting Higgins horse, which then jerked, causing Higgins
first shot to go wild. In the shooting exchange that followed,
Standifer was shot and killed. Higgins horse also died."
7
Higgins, who personally buried Standifer, was cleared of all
wrong-doing in Standifer's death.8
Bill Standifer's grave has been called the "Loneliest Grave in West
Texas."
9
Sheriff, gunman, Range Detective "Little Bill" Standifer and Mom's
Greatgrandfather William Standerfer were both the fourth great grandson of John and
Margaret Skelton Standiford, making them fifth cousins, as the chart
below demonstrates.
| John Standiford and
Margaret Skelton |
| Israel Standiford b.1720 |
James J Standiford b.1715 |
| Benjamin Standiford b.1764 |
Israel Standifer b.1740 |
| Anderson Standifer b.1784 |
Skelton Daniel Standifer
b.1752 |
| James Williamson Standifer
b.1810 |
Archibald Standerfer Sr.-273
b.1775 |
| William Johnson Standifer
b.1833 |
Franklin H. Standerfer b.1820 |
| J. William Standifer b.1853 |
William Standerfer b.1841 |
|
Zacharious I. Standerfer
b.1871 |
|
Mercedes Ruth Standerfer
b.1872 |
|
Mary Jean Ethington b.1928 |
Notes:
1
R. K.
DeArment, THE
PROTECTION MAN: J. William "Bill" Standifer, Old West, Spring
1991; p. 20.
2
Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia, "Bill Standifer."
3
DeArment.
4
DeArment.
5
DeArment.
6
DeArment.
7
Wikipedia.
8
Pink
Higgins: Bringing Peace To The Frontier by Sheriff Jim Wilson,
Handgun Editor, September 23, 2010
9
Standifer's
Thicket.
