Ned Buntline
Encyclopedia
Ned Buntline was a pseudonym
of Edward Zane Carroll Judson (E. Z. C. Judson), an American
publisher, journalist
, writer
and publicist
best known for his dime novels and the Colt Buntline Special
he is alleged to have commissioned from Colt's Manufacturing Company
.
, Delaware County, New York
. When he was 11-years-old, Judson ran away to sea as a cabin-boy, and the next year shipped on board of a man-of-war. When he was 13-years-old, he rescued the crew of a boat that had been run down by a Fulton
ferry boat, and received a commission as midshipman in the U.S. Navy from President Van Buren
. On being assigned to the “Levant,” he challenged 13 midshipmen to duel
s who refused to mess
with him because he had been a common sailor, and fought the seven who accepted, wounding four, while escaping without a wound himself.
As a seaman, he fought in the Seminole Wars
, though he saw little combat. After four years at sea, he resigned. During the Civil War
, he served as an enlisted man in the 1st New York Mounted Rifles and rose to the rank of sergeant before he was dishonorably discharged for drunkenness.
and slums of New York City
titled The Mysteries and Miseries of New York. An opinionated man, he strongly advocated nativism
and temperance
and became a leader in the Know-nothing movement. In 1844 he adopted the pen name "Ned Buntline". "Buntline
" is a nautical term for a rope at the bottom of a square sail.
In 1845, Buntline's Cincinatti, Ohio venture Western Literary Journal and Monthly Magazine was facing bankruptcy. Buntline fled his debtors in Ohio and in Eddyville, Kentucky, he collected a $600 bounty for single-handedly capturing two murders. He moved on to Nashville, Tennessee and used the money to start his own magazine: Ned Buntline's Own.
Buntline had an affair with the teenaged wife of Robert Porterfield in Nashville in 1846. On March 14, 1846, Porterfield challenged Buntline to a duel in which Buntline killed him. At Buntline's murder trial, Porterfield's brother shot and wounded Buntline, allowing Buntline to escape in the chaos. He was subsequently captured by a lynch mob and hanged from an awning. He was rescued by friends and the Tennessee Grand Jury refused to indict him for murder. He moved Ned Buntline's Own to New York City in 1848.
Through his writing in its columns and his association with New York City's notorious gangs of the early 19th century, he was one of the instigators of the Astor Place Riot
which left 23 people dead. In September 1849, he was sentenced to a $250 fine and a year's imprisonment. After his release he devoted himself to writing sensational stories for weekly newspapers, and his income from this source is said to have amounted to $20,000 a year. He was later involved in a nativist riot in St. Louis while he was a member of the "Know-nothing" party.
Although a heavy drinker, he traveled around the country giving lectures about temperance, and until the presidential canvass of 1884
was an ardent Republican
politician. It was on one of his temperance lecture tours that he encountered Buffalo Bill
.
, Buntline heard that Wild Bill Hickok
was in Fort McPherson
. Having read a popular article about the Wild West figure, Buntline hoped to interview Hickok with the desire to write a dime novel about him. Finding Hickok in a saloon, he rushed up to him saying "There's my man! I want you!". By this time in his life, Hickok had an aversion to surprises. He threatened Buntline with a gun and ordered him out of town in twenty-four hours. Buntline took him at his word and left the saloon. Still looking to get information on his subject, Buntline took to finding Hickock's friends. It is likely that this is how he first met "Buffalo Bill," whose real name was William Cody.
Traveling with William Cody, Buntline became enamored with the gregarious man and would claim that he devised the nickname "Buffalo Bill" for the hero of his serial novel Buffalo Bill,the King of the Border Men, published in the New York Weekly beginning December 23, 1869. Originally Buntline was going to cast Cody as a sidekick
to "Wild Bill" Hickok, but found his character more interesting than Hickok's. Buntline presented Cody as a "compendium of cliches", however this did not stop New york Playwright Frank Meader from using Buntline's novel as the basis of a play about Cody's life in 1872. In that same year Buntline and James Gordon Bennett invited Cody to New York City, where Cody saw the play at the Bowery Theater. In December of that year, Buntline wrote a Buffalo Bill play of his own called Scouts of the Prarie starring Cody, himself, Texas Jack Omohundro
, and Buntline.
Cody at first was a reluctant actor, but then decided he enjoyed the spotlight. Scouts of the Prairie opened in Chicago
in December 1872 and starred Cody and although panned by critics, the play was a success. It was performed to packed theaters across the country for years. Cody would perform his scouting duties for the cavalry and when the Indian wars broke for the winter, he would head to the stage. Buntline's play would serve as a training aid for Cody's later Wild West Show.
in 1886. Although he was once one of the wealthiest authors in America, his wife had to sell his beloved home "The Eagle's Nest" to pay his debts.
, Wyatt Earp and four other well-known western lawmen - Bat Masterson
, Bill Tilghman
, Charlie Bassett and Neal Brown - each received a Colt Single Action Army
revolver as a gift from Ned Buntline. The revolvers were chambered in .45 Colt
, had 12 inches (30.5 cm) barrels, a removable shoulder stock, standard sights, wooden grips into which the name “Ned” was ornately carved and came to be known collectively as "The Buntline Special".
According to Lake, Earp kept his at the original 12" length but the four other recipients of the Buntline Specials cut their barrels down to 7½". Lake spent much effort trying to track these guns through the Colt company, Masterson and Earp's contacts in Alaska. Researchers have never found any record of an order received by the Colt company, and Buntline's alleged connections to Earp have been largely discredited.
The revolver could have been specially ordered from the Colt factory in Hartford, Connecticut. Several such revolvers with 16-inch barrels were displayed at the 1876 Centennial Exposition and over-long barrels were available from Colt at a dollar an inch over 7.5 inches (19.1 cm). There are no company records for the Buntline Special nor a record of any orders from or sent to Ned Buntline. Yet, this does not absolutely preclude the historicity of the revolvers. Massad Ayoob
writing for Guns Magazine cited notes by Josephine Earp
in which she mentioned an extra-long revolver as a favorite of Wyatt Earp. He cited an order by Tombstone, Arizona
, bartender Buckskin Frank Leslie for a revolver of near-identical description. This order predated the O.K. Corral fight by several months.
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
of Edward Zane Carroll Judson (E. Z. C. Judson), an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
publisher, journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and publicist
Publicist
A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a public figure, especially a celebrity, a business, or for a work such as a book, film or album...
best known for his dime novels and the Colt Buntline Special
Colt Buntline
The Colt Buntline Special is a variant of long-barreled Colt Single Action Army revolver that author Stuart N. Lake created while writing his 1931 biography of Wyatt Earp. According to Lake's biography, Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal published in 1931, dime novelist Ned Buntline had five Buntline...
he is alleged to have commissioned from Colt's Manufacturing Company
Colt's Manufacturing Company
Colt's Manufacturing Company is a United States firearms manufacturer, whose first predecessor corporation was founded in 1836 by Sam Colt. Colt is best known for the engineering, production, and marketing of firearms over the later half of the 19th and the 20th century...
.
Naval and military experience
Edward Judson was born in StamfordStamford, New York
Stamford may refer to two municipalities in Delaware County, New York in the United States:*Stamford , New York*Stamford , New York, located entirely within the town...
, Delaware County, New York
Delaware County, New York
Delaware County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of 2010 the population was 47,980. The county seat is Delhi. It is named after the Delaware River, which was named in honor of Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, appointed governor of Virginia in 1609.-History:When counties...
. When he was 11-years-old, Judson ran away to sea as a cabin-boy, and the next year shipped on board of a man-of-war. When he was 13-years-old, he rescued the crew of a boat that had been run down by a Fulton
Robert Fulton
Robert Fulton was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the first commercially successful steamboat...
ferry boat, and received a commission as midshipman in the U.S. Navy from President Van Buren
Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States . Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, under Andrew Jackson ....
. On being assigned to the “Levant,” he challenged 13 midshipmen to duel
Duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...
s who refused to mess
Mess
A mess is the place where military personnel socialise, eat, and live. In some societies this military usage has extended to other disciplined services eateries such as civilian fire fighting and police forces. The root of mess is the Old French mes, "portion of food" A mess (also called a...
with him because he had been a common sailor, and fought the seven who accepted, wounding four, while escaping without a wound himself.
As a seaman, he fought in the Seminole Wars
Seminole Wars
The Seminole Wars, also known as the Florida Wars, were three conflicts in Florida between the Seminole — the collective name given to the amalgamation of various groups of native Americans and Black people who settled in Florida in the early 18th century — and the United States Army...
, though he saw little combat. After four years at sea, he resigned. During the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, he served as an enlisted man in the 1st New York Mounted Rifles and rose to the rank of sergeant before he was dishonorably discharged for drunkenness.
Early literary efforts
Buntline's first literary efforts began with a story of adventure in the Knickerbocker in 1838. Buntline spent several years in the east starting up newspapers and story papers, only to have most of them fail. An early success that helped launch his fame was a gritty serial story of the BoweryBowery
Bowery may refer to:Streets:* The Bowery, a thoroughfare in Manhattan, New York City* Bowery Street is a street on Coney Island in Brooklyn, N.Y.In popular culture:* Bowery Amphitheatre, a building on the Bowery in New York City...
and slums of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
titled The Mysteries and Miseries of New York. An opinionated man, he strongly advocated nativism
Nativism (politics)
Nativism favors the interests of certain established inhabitants of an area or nation as compared to claims of newcomers or immigrants. It may also include the re-establishment or perpetuation of such individuals or their culture....
and temperance
Temperance movement
A temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
and became a leader in the Know-nothing movement. In 1844 he adopted the pen name "Ned Buntline". "Buntline
Clewlines and buntlines
For the revolver, see Colt BuntlineClewlines and buntlines are lines used to handle the sails of a square rigged ship.Although the common perception of a traditionally rigged ship is that the sails are handled from "up in the rigging", the majority of the work is actually carried out from the deck...
" is a nautical term for a rope at the bottom of a square sail.
In 1845, Buntline's Cincinatti, Ohio venture Western Literary Journal and Monthly Magazine was facing bankruptcy. Buntline fled his debtors in Ohio and in Eddyville, Kentucky, he collected a $600 bounty for single-handedly capturing two murders. He moved on to Nashville, Tennessee and used the money to start his own magazine: Ned Buntline's Own.
Buntline had an affair with the teenaged wife of Robert Porterfield in Nashville in 1846. On March 14, 1846, Porterfield challenged Buntline to a duel in which Buntline killed him. At Buntline's murder trial, Porterfield's brother shot and wounded Buntline, allowing Buntline to escape in the chaos. He was subsequently captured by a lynch mob and hanged from an awning. He was rescued by friends and the Tennessee Grand Jury refused to indict him for murder. He moved Ned Buntline's Own to New York City in 1848.
Through his writing in its columns and his association with New York City's notorious gangs of the early 19th century, he was one of the instigators of the Astor Place Riot
Astor Place Riot
The Astor Place Riot occurred on May 10, 1849 at the now-demolished Astor Opera House in Manhattan, New York City and left at least 25 dead and more than 120 injured...
which left 23 people dead. In September 1849, he was sentenced to a $250 fine and a year's imprisonment. After his release he devoted himself to writing sensational stories for weekly newspapers, and his income from this source is said to have amounted to $20,000 a year. He was later involved in a nativist riot in St. Louis while he was a member of the "Know-nothing" party.
Although a heavy drinker, he traveled around the country giving lectures about temperance, and until the presidential canvass of 1884
United States presidential election, 1884
The United States presidential election of 1884 saw the first election of a Democrat as President of the United States since the election of 1856. New York Governor Grover Cleveland narrowly defeated Republican former United States Senator James G. Blaine of Maine to break the longest losing streak...
was an ardent Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
politician. It was on one of his temperance lecture tours that he encountered Buffalo Bill
Buffalo Bill
William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody was a United States soldier, bison hunter and showman. He was born in the Iowa Territory , in LeClaire but lived several years in Canada before his family moved to the Kansas Territory. Buffalo Bill received the Medal of Honor in 1872 for service to the US...
.
Wild Bill Hickok
While traveling through NebraskaNebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, Buntline heard that Wild Bill Hickok
Wild Bill Hickok
James Butler Hickok , better known as Wild Bill Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West. His skills as a gunfighter and scout, along with his reputation as a lawman, provided the basis for his fame, although some of his exploits are fictionalized.Hickok came to the West as a stagecoach...
was in Fort McPherson
Fort McPherson
Fort McPherson was a U.S. Army military base located in East Point, Georgia, on the southwest edge of the City of Atlanta, Ga. It was the headquarters for the U.S. Army Installation Management Command, Southeast Region; the U.S. Army Forces Command; the U.S. Army Reserve Command; the U.S...
. Having read a popular article about the Wild West figure, Buntline hoped to interview Hickok with the desire to write a dime novel about him. Finding Hickok in a saloon, he rushed up to him saying "There's my man! I want you!". By this time in his life, Hickok had an aversion to surprises. He threatened Buntline with a gun and ordered him out of town in twenty-four hours. Buntline took him at his word and left the saloon. Still looking to get information on his subject, Buntline took to finding Hickock's friends. It is likely that this is how he first met "Buffalo Bill," whose real name was William Cody.
Buffalo Bill
Sidekick
A sidekick is a close companion who is generally regarded as subordinate to the one he accompanies. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, Sherlock Holmes' Doctor Watson, The Lone Ranger's Tonto, The Green Hornet's Kato and Batman's Robin.-Origins:The origin of the...
to "Wild Bill" Hickok, but found his character more interesting than Hickok's. Buntline presented Cody as a "compendium of cliches", however this did not stop New york Playwright Frank Meader from using Buntline's novel as the basis of a play about Cody's life in 1872. In that same year Buntline and James Gordon Bennett invited Cody to New York City, where Cody saw the play at the Bowery Theater. In December of that year, Buntline wrote a Buffalo Bill play of his own called Scouts of the Prarie starring Cody, himself, Texas Jack Omohundro
Texas Jack Omohundro
John Baker Omohundro , also known as "Texas Jack," was a frontier scout, actor, and cowboy.He was born at Pleasure Hill, near Palmyra, Virginia, to John B. and Catherine Omohundro. In his early teens, he left home, made his way alone to Texas, and became a cowboy...
, and Buntline.
Cody at first was a reluctant actor, but then decided he enjoyed the spotlight. Scouts of the Prairie opened in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
in December 1872 and starred Cody and although panned by critics, the play was a success. It was performed to packed theaters across the country for years. Cody would perform his scouting duties for the cavalry and when the Indian wars broke for the winter, he would head to the stage. Buntline's play would serve as a training aid for Cody's later Wild West Show.
Later work
Buntline continued to write dime novels, though none was as successful as his earlier work. Later in life he embellished his military career, claiming to have been chief of scouts among the Indians, with the rank of colonel, and to have received twenty wounds in battle. He used the following pseudonyms as well: Captain Hal Decker, Scout Jack Ford, and Edward Minturn. He settled into his home in Stamford, New York, where he died of congestive heart failureCongestive heart failure
Heart failure often called congestive heart failure is generally defined as the inability of the heart to supply sufficient blood flow to meet the needs of the body. Heart failure can cause a number of symptoms including shortness of breath, leg swelling, and exercise intolerance. The condition...
in 1886. Although he was once one of the wealthiest authors in America, his wife had to sell his beloved home "The Eagle's Nest" to pay his debts.
The Buntline Special
According to Wyatt Earp's biographer, Stuart LakeStuart Lake
Stuart Lake, or Nak'albun in the Carrier language is a lake situated in the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. The town of Fort St. James is situated by the lake near the outlet...
, Wyatt Earp and four other well-known western lawmen - Bat Masterson
Bat Masterson
William Barclay "Bat" Masterson was a figure of the American Old West known as a buffalo hunter, U.S. Marshal and Army scout, avid fisherman, gambler, frontier lawman, and sports editor and columnist for the New York Morning Telegraph...
, Bill Tilghman
Bill Tilghman
William Matthew "Bill" Tilghman was a lawman in the American Old West.-Early life :Bill Tilghman was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, on July 4, 1854. He became a buffalo hunter at age 15 and claimed he killed over 1000 bison over his five years of activity...
, Charlie Bassett and Neal Brown - each received a Colt Single Action Army
Colt Single Action Army
The Colt Single Action Army is a single action revolver with a revolving cylinder holding six metallic cartridges. It was designed for the U.S...
revolver as a gift from Ned Buntline. The revolvers were chambered in .45 Colt
.45 Colt
The .45 Colt cartridge is a handgun cartridge dating to 1872. It began as a black powder revolver round developed for the Colt Single Action Army revolver, but is offered as a magnum level handgun hunting round in modern usage. This cartridge was adopted by the U.S. Army in 1873 and served as the...
, had 12 inches (30.5 cm) barrels, a removable shoulder stock, standard sights, wooden grips into which the name “Ned” was ornately carved and came to be known collectively as "The Buntline Special".
According to Lake, Earp kept his at the original 12" length but the four other recipients of the Buntline Specials cut their barrels down to 7½". Lake spent much effort trying to track these guns through the Colt company, Masterson and Earp's contacts in Alaska. Researchers have never found any record of an order received by the Colt company, and Buntline's alleged connections to Earp have been largely discredited.
The revolver could have been specially ordered from the Colt factory in Hartford, Connecticut. Several such revolvers with 16-inch barrels were displayed at the 1876 Centennial Exposition and over-long barrels were available from Colt at a dollar an inch over 7.5 inches (19.1 cm). There are no company records for the Buntline Special nor a record of any orders from or sent to Ned Buntline. Yet, this does not absolutely preclude the historicity of the revolvers. Massad Ayoob
Massad Ayoob
Massad F. Ayoob is an internationally known firearms and self-defense instructor. He has taught police techniques and civilian self-defense to both law enforcement officers and private citizens in numerous venues since 1974...
writing for Guns Magazine cited notes by Josephine Earp
Josephine Earp
Josephine Sarah Marcus Earp was an American part time actress and dancer who was best known as the wife of famed Old West lawman and gambler Wyatt Earp. Known as "Sadie" to the public in 1881, she met Wyatt in the frontier boom town Tombstone, Arizona Territory when she was living with Cochise...
in which she mentioned an extra-long revolver as a favorite of Wyatt Earp. He cited an order by Tombstone, Arizona
Tombstone, Arizona
Tombstone is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, founded in 1879 by Ed Schieffelin in what was then Pima County, Arizona Territory. It was one of the last wide-open frontier boomtowns in the American Old West. From about 1877 to 1890, the town's mines produced USD $40 to $85 million...
, bartender Buckskin Frank Leslie for a revolver of near-identical description. This order predated the O.K. Corral fight by several months.