Daniel B. May: More Of His Story

Howdy folks and greetings from the Great Plains of North Texas!

I've been talking about one of the unknown and unsung heros of the
Old West who was a Kansas farmboy(I can relate) who headed West
to make his fortune and ended up being a Shotgun Messenger for the
Deadwood Cheyenne Stage Line.

They only recruited people who were skilled with a gun and he was
also deputized as a United States Marshall. One of his first major
encounters came about when he got wind of rumors that the stage
was going to be robbed and he was even told who the perpetrators
were.

That's right, he knew who they were: Prescott Webb, Perry Wisdom
and G.W. Conner. How do you like Mr. Wisdom's name? He was
anything but! Anyway May grabs two men who were good with guns
and gutsy. They armed themselves up and got on the stage with two
male passengers.

Everything was set until a young lady with a small child came to get
on with them. May argued with her trying to convince her not to
come but she wouldn't listen to him and insisted on going.

I'm not sure what authority he had as a United States Deputy Marshall
but you'd think he could have prevented her from boarding by saying
that it was official law enforcement business or some such thing.

At any rate, she boarded and they were all sitting inside the coach.
Out on the road the thieves showed up of course, and stopped the
driver and stage.

May, with shotgun in hand, wanted to jump from the coach and fight
it out but his two companions restrained him and they reluctantly
submitted to being searched by the robbers who relieved them of
their valuables and weapons.

The 2 men with May thought it was too dangerous to confront the
thieves with the lady and her child there, they didn't want to risk
them being shot in the exchange of gun fire.

The robbers then debated openly about killing May, who had made no
secret of his hatred of bandits and his aim to hunt down every one.
Finally, they decided against executing him.

Showdown in town..

A few weeks later May and one of the robbers saw each other at the
same time on the street in Deadwood. It was Prescott Webb who
pulled his pistols and started shooting. A bullet hit May in the arm but
he returned fire, emptying both his six shooters at Webb who was
running, dodging and weaving his way down the street and wasn't hit.

Webb grabbed the reins of a horse tied up at a rail and vaulted into
the saddle and took off down the street. Sheriff Seth Bullock and two
deputies, drawn to the scene by the gunfire, opened up on the fleeing
Webb, striking the stolen horse and bringing rider and mount
tumbling to the ground.

Even though May had a wounded arm he grabbed a rifle from a
bystander and shot Webb in the shoulder. The fight was over but too
bad the Sheriff and Deputies had to shoot someone's horse!

Anyway May's arm wound was serious: the bullet, striking just below
the elbow, had hit a bone and split, one piece exiting the arm, the
other having to be removed by a surgeon. I bet the surgeon was an
expert in gunshot wounds! lol.

That day Webb told where is partners were and they were picked
up as well. They were all transferred to the Wyoming Territorial
Courts. The three went to trial but the jury was divided and decided
to acquit them and the judge released them, free to go.

Of course May was disgusted and I think his reputation as an outlaw
killer grew because it seems like after that trial the robbers were
usually killed instead of arrested!

Thanks for reading folks, more on Mr. Mays life coming in the next
post.
-jonboy Texas
the gentleman redneck

ya know....you might just be a redneck if:

you've ever spray-painted your girlfriends name on an overpass!

God bless you all!