Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight

The Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight refers to a gun fight that occured at approximately 6pm on April 14, 1881, on El Paso Street in El Paso, Texas in which four men were killed in a small timescale.

Background

The events leading up to the gunfight seem to have started with around 75 Mexicans riding into El Paso looking for two young vaqueros who had been killed. The mercenaries, paid by a wealthy Mexican ranch owner, were looking for two missing farm hands, Sanchez and Juarez, and 30 of his cattle. Ben Schucter, the mayor of El Paso, had made an exception for the Mexicans, enabling them to enter the city limits with their guns.

A constable named Gus Krempkau, at the request of the Mexican posse, accompanied the Mexicans to the ranch of John Hale, a local ranch owner and known cattle rustler, whose ranch was some 13 miles northwest of El Paso in the Upper Valley. The bodies of the two Mexicans, along with 3 cattle carcasses, were found in an outbuilding of Hale's ranch, and the corpses were transported back to El Paso [1].

The court in El Paso held an inquest into the deaths of the men when they returned to El Paso, and Krempkau, being fluent in Spanish, was required to act as an interpreter to the Mexicans.

Verdict of the Inquest

The verdict was that the two Mexicans, Sanchez and Juarez, were in that vicinity of Hale's ranch in an attempt to locate 30 stolen Mexican cattle. The court determined that the American cattle rustlers, among them Hale, feared the deceased were acting as scouts and would alert the larger Mexican group to their location. It was determined that two American cattle rustlers ambushed the 2 Mexicans during the night of April 13 or in the early morning of 14th.

By this time, a sizeable crowd, possibly aggitated by the precense of a large group of heavily armed Mexicans within the city limits, had appeared to watch the proceedings [2]. Whilst the crowd dispersed, the Mexicans were allowed to remove the bodies of the two men for burial in their home country.

The crowed included a former constable of El Paso, George Campbell, and his friend, John Hale. Campbell insulted Krempkau for sympathizing with the Mexicans and allowing them to remove the bodies, potentially angered by Krempkau's support for the Mexicans over his friend Hale.

Shooting begins

Hale, allegedly intoxicated by liquor, then removed Campbell's guns from his holster and shot Krempkau, but Krempkau managed to fire at Campbell, striking Campbell twice- once in the wrist and once in the foot- before bleeding to death.

The newly appointed El Paso marshal, Dallas Stoudenmire, a 36 year old gun-fighter who had 'considerable' talents fighting on both sides of the justice system [3], heard the gun shots and rose from his luncheon at a nearby restaurant, withdrawing two Smith and Wesson pistols.

Bloodbath

Stoudenmire began firing towards Hale, but J. A. Ochoa, a college-educated Mexican, having nowhere to hide since the businesses along El Paso Street had begun to close after the first gunshot, ran up the street towards Hale in an attempt to find shelter and was hit and killed by Stoudenmire.

Hale had hidden behind a pillar as Stoudenmire ran up the street towards him, and, as Hale peered out to take a shot, Stoudenmire shot him dead. (The location of the fatal wound is of some debate- some believe Stoudenmire hit Hale between the eyes, but others report a shot in the forehead.)

Stoudenmire then shot at Campbell, inflicting a fatal blow to his stomach, after which Campbell reportedly shouted "you bastard, you murdered me!" .

Aftermath

After a mere 5 seconds, four men lied dead: Hale killed Krempkau, who managed to wound Campbell twice before dying. Stoudenmire then killed Ochoa, an innocent Mexican bystander whilst aiming for Hale, before killing Hale with a shot to the head. Campbell was then mortally wounded in the abdomen by Stoudenmire. The Mexicans had not fired one shot.

The Aldermen and the city of El Paso showed their appreciation and presented Marshal Stoudenmire with a gold capped cane and a gold badge engraved "Marshal, El Paso, TX." .

See Also

• O.K. Corral

References

• El Paso Times article documenting the event

External links

• El Paso local community history project site