What say you? Was Hardin a freedom fighter standing up for his rights, or was he a psychotic killer? Or just somewhere in the middle?

Once you have the reputation, trouble can find you easy enough.

I think you're right about him. Especially that business when he wasn't young any more. It just nurtured his whole fractured image of himself and the world around him. Conjured up images of a twisted version of The Shootist. This series was an example of why I keep coming back for more. You find a way to navigate between the reality and the myth without disrespecting either. Thank you, sir. This was a great way to get into '24.

Thank you sir. Great as always!!

Addicted to this channel now. Love your style of re-telling these stories. It is clear you have a passion for this history, the added extra research and openness with speculation vs. fact is what makes your content especially valuable.

I just wanna say the storyteller is as good as the stories you tell. Thanks for what you do 👍👍

Josh have ya ever thought about the Hardin, Miller, Holiday, Allison etc stories and the forms of badassery that nobody knows about lol? I mean Miller for instance killing his grandparents and his brother in law; among many other people. It’s always just been fascinating to me to hear these stories because we’ll never know the WHOLE truth of their lives. Btw the research you do is crazy amazing bud. Love your stuff bruh.

Thanks! Absolutely love the work you put into these videos I love history and had never really gotten into the Wild West but your videos have made me obsessed! Keep em coming!

Hi, new to the channel, another video was suggested by the tube, and i watched a couple that were good. I appreciate how you try to find as many facts as you can, instead of just going by what one over exaggerated writer has compiled. Buying book's from that time period can be expensive like you said in a video, and having another job doesn't give you all the time you would need for some of your research, but you still do a great job of telling us about these wild west fellas. G-d bless.

Great series on John Wesley Hardin. Definitely gonna pick me up a copy of Dark Angel of Texas. Though you already mentioned what conditions that he could have been suffering from, I often wondered what all mental disorders a modern day psychiatrist would diagnose John Wesley Hardin with. Definitely looking forward to the episode as always.

Sounds to me like he was saying he hadn't been unfaithful and was saving her from the disgrace of correspondence with her imprisoned husband

I laughed my ears off during this episode. I came here for the history, but I stayed for the jokes 😅

🦋Josh I enjoy all of your articles. You are amusing and most informative. Your voice and style are clear and easy to hear. I don’t comment often but I listen all the time. You keep my interest even if I’ve already heard your article more than once. Right now my ears are stopped up and your clear diction comes through. Thank you very much for your hard work. You sound like an honest good guy. I look forward to your long career. Ever write a book? Your a talented man. Thanks again🦋

Quality like always Josh. Thanks for the work bud.

He was my great grandfathers Daddy's brother making him a great great uncle to me through my mothers Dads line of Hardins. He came out of NC and ended up a Texan.

This is one of Your better efforts Josh. I believe that John Hardin was quicker than most to use a familiar tool. Reconstruction era Texas holds a fascination for me. Thanks again for what You do. Best Wishes to You and Your Family. In Your old outro the easter egg would have been about the wolf going around the block, i have no doubt...😅

You're a great storyteller. You are keeping a dying art alive for a little bit longer. Thank you.

I could only imagine sitting around shootin the breeze with Buckshot Roberts. Dude had a set made of brass.

I look forward to all your videos. Really cool hearing about all the guys and places I read about as a child

Great story here.....best I've heard yet......best book I've read yet on Hardin, amongst several I've got is ...the Last Gunfighter" by .Richard C. Marohn..who was a collector of Hardin artifacts that belonged to him and that stirred his interest in writing the book. How he got all that info.just ....amazing..lots of research. Another odd strange thing......Hardin had three children.......J W Hardin Jr. had 3 children.....they all died from Coronary/heart problems/stroke related, and they all are buried at Runge, Tx. City Cemetary in Karnes county, except one, Hardins dau, Molly who is buried elsewhere not far. Hardin Jr's daughter died latest in 1978.....just thinking about what they knew and heard back then.

Hardin was at least an interesting enough character that Bob Dylan titled an album in his name. I'm not sure WHAT that says, but it says something.

Nice! Thank you sir!!

There was a bar in down town area of El Paso in about 1974 that had some old west items on the wall. One item was a playing card with three bullet holds and signs by John Wesley Harden. They also had a Colt SAA said to be a revolver owned by John Selman. Anyone recall that bar.

Thank you so much sir, just in time!

He definitely had limited control over his violent Impulses

I don't think he was crazy at all until he was on whiskey. He was a product of his time and environment, and he was quite proficient with a gun. What he was like many others was PRIDEFUL. He could not escape the whiskey nor the pride. I think of him differently now, not really the villain but not exactly the pillar of the community.

Always listening with my buddy Anthony Garcia... Love your stuff.

When you look at Hardin up close at the end of the video, the dude's eye's just look dark, kinda empty, he gots crazy eye's.

Well, after watching this episode I realized that my whole life is a lie ! Still once again, great job cowboy! Would like to learn more about Scarborough, I seem to remember he was a fearless lawman.

I am of the belief that John Wesley Hardin was "somewhere in the middle",when it came to why he embraced such a violent life.A great video,Josh!

My great grandfather Jim Anderson was a cousin of Harden's, their mothers were sisters. Jim was with Harden and other cousins in Comanche when the deputy was killed. Harden escaped the posse, but they hung two of the Anderson cousins. It was said that the posse had a noose around my great grandfather's neck, but they decided to release him because of this age, he was 16. My great grandfather became a saloon owner, it was said that Jim Anderson was once hired to take care of some Mexican cattle rustlers, Jim killed all of them. If a Mexican would come into his saloon Jim would shoot them dead on the spot. My grandfather told me that his father was a wicked man.

I went to school in California with one of his descendants, who was actually named John Wesley Hardin, and was the spitting image of him too.

That boy just ain't right in the head! About sums it up! A lot of Civil War vets ended up in Texas, especially West Texas. Some were on the straight and narrow path but dom weren't. That went for the Gray as well as the Blue. Young men like our John Wesley here probably heard stories and saw things that nudged them in the wrong direction. That was before the time of the terms, "shell shock, battle fatigue and PTSD" so the men who had the affliction were on their own dealing with it. Some internalized while others externalized. None the less, Young men were exposed to it.

It's quite possible that Hardin was subjected to being raped due to his repeated attempts at escape and rabble rousing, as an "example". Not to mention he was out of his element, and attitude is not always a safe bet in prison. It's been suggested that Clyde Barrow was subjected to the same while he was there. Prison is a hard lesson. Obviously always has been. My G-Grandfather was 29 when he married my G-Grandmother. She was 15 years old. That was in Colman, 1889. Most men were not financially successful until older. Younger women were more likely to be more fertile...and unmarried. They had 11 children to help on the farm in Eden. Not that uncommon in the West. And definitely not in my ancestry. It's quite possible that Selman's beef with Hardin was due to the "McRose" shooting. There was a $4K reward on him (hence the fervor to get him across the river). "Goddess of War: A True Story of Passion" is a very interesting book on this subject. Selman was not some "Bravado". Never was. Likewise, he wasn't in his 50s for nothing. Check out the "Goddess of War: A True Story of Passion"...check it out when you get a chance. Hardin was a man of his times...just a bit more faster, luckier, and notorious.

Enjoyed this one quite a bit. Thanks Josh, great way to start my work day. Oh yeah my wife subbed you!

Jeff Milton needed very little provocation. Honest law enforcement, rare, but very dangerous individual. He was an friend of the family. Lived many years in tucson

Great episode ,thank you 🫡

Josh you have become a professional far better than the history Channel and anyone else on you tube, I would like to say thank you for your hard work.

Thank you for not saying "The man so mean, that he once shot a man for snorin'..." 🙏 Love this show...love it 👍🏻🤠👍🏻

Well, you say they never tried to lynch JWH? I believe you'll find that his brother was lynched when they couldn't lay hands on JWH...

The most shootist of killers in the wild west goes to Florida and becomes a Florida lawman? Some things never change in my Florida? Great episode.

I think your opinions are well thought out and very wise sir" 👍

We had a mining operation in Alaska in the 1970s 80s when I was young, one summer I read a book about those guy, I was mesmerized by his story, what a face that guy had, super high and outside cheek bones and a huge lower jaw, and a piercing stare.

Superb series. That letter sounded more like to me that he was raped in prison and didn't want that to get out.

It's certainly not unheard of for someone doing time to swing "gay for the stay". Folks are going to do what folks need to do....whatever their reason.

Just found your channel. Thank you you, and great job!

Does the AI that narrates this mimic your intonations, or create its own? You kinda blew my mind telling me it's an AI voice, I identify it with you! Love this Hardin series. I grew up with so many conflicting stories about him, it's interesting to listen now as an old woman and compare.

Oh yeah! All new "yahh"!

Alcohol certainly played a part.

Very good video! I thought I knew a lot about Mr. Hardin. You has s lot of Information I had never heard and made it a little easier for me to undestand the times. Thank you.

98% of prison inmates are diagnosed with ASPD. Steve L Reeves, MD What up Josh!

Something similar happened recently here. They had extra keys to the cars and the gate so they would drive out to town at night and back to prison by the morning....drunk and freshly having seen some local women. Seems he really didnt want to go back though.

Just watched Streets of Loredo & had the privilege to behold the GOAT Randy Quades epic portrayal of John W Hardin. He definitely played up the mean, rattlesnake-like personality Hardin is legand for, & in that way the character is a little 2D, but that performance definitely goes hard in the Hardin. So I guess that's the first time I seen a JWH on the screen before & I might have to retract my previous statement about him needing his own heroic Hollywood movie since he's so villain like. But i wouldnt mind seeing a good south-positive dark indie action comedy western where Hardins anger problem is the source of a lot of jokes & all the bodies he drops are more like joke punch lines. Anyway. Check out that series to see what a good actor did with the role. Every scene with or line from Quade is packed with all the threatening, impossible tension you should expect from sitting in a room with a bona-fide killer. It's from 1995 & shot pretty classically so all that tension is coming directly from Quade's output of that big-dick-will-kill-you-with-gun-for- therapy energy, not a score or other movie tricks. You can feel the eggshells in the room the other characters are walking on around him.

Hell yes!!!

Awesome, keep the stories coming. , thanks

My Uncle Frederick Hardin looked a lot like John Wesley ... what do I think about the old West? a lot of times sheriffs were former gunslingers, most had to be to survive. I think you are about 80% right about John Wesley. but he was shot in the back so .. there is nothing more coward than to do someone like that.. unless they are running away from you for doing something wrong to you or commiting another crime. then it is justified. heres one for you ..Wyatt Earp. I loved how he is portrayed ... but I see him as the lesser evil killing those that deserved it... and LOL! I can tell you that most Hardins have a fiery temper, but I learned to laugh at it growing up... yeah my mother knew she was related but it was mostly hid from people .. something that I just don't get.. but understand that most people judge wrongly most times. You did the story quite well...... Bobby Key .... oh yeah? I'm 2nd cousin 3 x removed from Francis Scott Key ...... go figure...LOL!

My opinion as y'all others here.. Hardin did good n bad during his lifetime.. wasn't I don't believe a craze,cold hearted killer, for his ego nor to be labeled a legend.. thanks for wonderful 😊 history and appreciate ur time, effort u put in these videos.. history like this, with all other history events can be enjoyed by future generations come..

You’re telling me, that Hardin didn’t kill a family of serial killers? Damn Hardin what a missed opportunity. He would’ve been hailed as a hero for that, but more importantly, a family of serial killers would’ve come to an abrupt end. When I see pictures of Hardin, I see coldness in his eyes. Dude was a serial killer. Was he a psychopath? I don’t know. I’m not a FBI profiler or a psychiatrist. But damn if his pictures don’t creep me out. And I’m not a person to that gets the chills so easily. Also, thank you for your episodes on Bass Reeves. You’re easily the best channel for Old West content. You stick to the facts while having a sense of humor. Keep up the great work!

I love the Victorian era and the Edwardian era! I wish I could travel back to that time period and stay there! I love the old west! In a strange way, I miss the old west.. I don't know how to explain it. I was born in the wrong time period 🥺

John reminds me alot of Texas Ranger Frank Hamer. He did what he wanted and simply hated other people aside from a select few. Just imagine if we had more men like them today?

Excellent.

"Six is the number to beat..." Last words

Ah ha! Now we know why Rock Hudson was cast as John Wesley!! The prison thing explains it!!! 😂

Ooooo. This gonna be good.

No matter how hard I squint at these photos of Hardin, some of them look like photos of completely different men.

I never heard or read that John Wesley Hardin was a Cornholer, or ever was Cornholed in prison.

Wow man I can't believe that they snatched him out instead of going with him!

The Shootist was Wayne's geatest film. Imho. "...just cos you gonna have to kill a man don't mean you gotta be rude to him..."

Another winner Josh

Man, seems every time I watch a video your subs go up. 🎉

Coolest channel

Great really good BoB from London

Dude .. okey😢 i get it

Please do a episode on the pound gap massacre

Pecos is in Reeves County. Iraan is in Pecos County, to the S.E. where the Pecos River goes underground.

wish they would make a movie on him

Glad to hear the Deacon is on the way!

Probably the baddest gun slinger ever was and yes the deadliest

A Reputation can be deadly!!!!

I agree. John Wesley Hardin was mentally ill.

He sounds like a man of the times he grew up in... to us now civilization does not warrant such behavior, but post reconstructive civil war Era it seems that violence was a norm especially with rampant paranoia and propaganda... I live in the south, was born and raised here... and still to this day I have family who hold on to ideals beset before the Civil War ever began and who also have a severe paranoia of the northern states and their constituents... so much so that as a young man the first thing I did was hitchhike to NYC just to see what all the fuss was about... what I found is that people are people no matter their residency or race, creed er what have you... I did love living in Texas for a time and working on a ranch as a farm hand, I love history and I love those moments of feeling connected to things like what is discussed in this show. Hardin sounds like he was doing his best to try and fit the criteria of likely what he had been told by his peers made a man a man in a time where we spoke with our fists and pistols, and it was all around him I'm sure growing up... violence is in our nature, that is for sure...but certain things are learned behaviors and perhaps there was a level of mental illness, but trauma has a way of manifesting itself in some really dark ways, and we can even inadvertently tap in to mass social traumas just as easily as generational traumas... he sounds like a determined and intelligent man who really could have gone above beyond had he been given the tools to thrive and not just survive... sadly I feel like even now a days that is still how things play out for far too many folks with good hearts and bad habits... society and community affect us even if we are unaware, and we learn by watching others... now turn on the 5 o clock news and see how our young folks are being educated, we live in the wild west of the 21st century... no matter how fancy our gadgets may be and how big our buildings may stand not a whole hell of a lot has changed...that's not a political statement, just the opinion of a man who lives on the fringe of society and though i can put myself in the shoes of the outlaws of the old west and see what drove them to be who they were, I do my best to make different decisions these days in hopes the lives I impact are at least a little better than they were before I came along...ultimately we all are allowed a choice, but if you don't know your options it's hard to make an educated decision...we have so many tools at our disposal to make life better than a life of crime, but someone has to be there to show young folks how to use them...I'm certain the same was true back then, sounds like at least for brief moment Hardin figured out there were a few more tools in his toolbox than he had been told. It takes a lot of strength and willpower to break those old habits, and man they do die hard...how even more great of a story would it have been had he become some slick lawyer fighting against the injustices he felt plagued by as a youth? It's a reminder to me that once you turn your life around you can't go back and dabble in the things of your past, because your past is waiting to catch you slipping. I have 4 years clean sober this month, lived life as an outlaw in our current times...and have been fighting to turn it around since 2017... there is some part of me that identifies with this character a bit.

That photograph of Selman should be in psycopathy textbooks.

Prisoners today complain about not getting cable TV 😂

The contrast between John Wesley Hardin and his namesake, the 18th century English evangelist, is appalling.

Wes liked his reputation, he enjoyed the fear and respect afforded his status as a killer. 🤠

Good story

From what I've read Hardin was at his worst when drinking. Seems like it brought out the worst of his meanness.

Hardin - a killer butt pirate? Jesus H. Christ, Josh, you’re wrecking our history, son! Greetings from Fort Worth! Deadgum……………

Damn even in the old west prison relationships were going on gross

I think he was a feller who lacked self control, and as a result got himself into a few games of pickle. Think about all the other people who existed at that time, who were regular folks, that didnt go around killing other folks to settle disputes. I also think its safe to say that some sort of emotional trauma is what brought out the devil in him.🙏

Family is multi generational from el paso. Great Great Grandfather was in his 20s during 1895. Not far from the ACME Saloon. Always thought that would be a great 24/7 watering hole for 1st responders since the Jail and Court House are just down the street. Those getting released or bailed out can have a drink with those that caught em. Kinda like the sheep dog and coyote 😉

Never meet your heros they might just be human

Captain Call killed him in Laredo

Good one.

Is the story that John Wesley Hardin killed a man just for snoring?

well, from my reading I've grown to feel that Hardin was a killer but didn't care for the repercussions much. He was an interesting guy.

The ACME saloon.😂😂😂😅😂😅😂😅😂😅😂😂.In the floor beating the boards.

So, Rock Hudson was typecast. Ok.

You might want to delve a little deeper into Texas' Reconstruction era. Texans right to vote was taken (subject to a loyalty oath that didn't have to be accepted). Union Military were tasked with registering voters. Military, or "appointed" governors decided who was appointed to many elected offices. And since Texans were required to take an oath of allegiance in order to vote...juries were mainly manned by Texas citizens ...who were Unionists. Just like getting a fair trial in DC...if you're not "progressive". In general Texas (and the South) were to be punished for secession...per the radical Republican led Congress that imposed said punishments (vetoing all Presidential opposition). Any opposition (regardless of the nature) against carpetbaggers, blacks, Union supporters, etc., was deemed criminal, and the offender was prosecuted (if lucky).E.J. Davis(former Union officer) and the Radicals created the State Police (filled with black, hispanic, and unionists, of which many were criminals themselves), to ensure that Texans felt the full weight of their "punishment". They operated with impunity and were roundly hated by all. Testament to their reputation lies in their disbandment for embezzlement, murder, and other crimes, after only three years of existence. There are volumes of eye-witness, media, and historical evidence to support that Texans considered "disloyal" were routinely disenfranchised, abused, murdered, and oppressed by the Reconstruction government occupying Texas.

Gay for the stay? I'm not sure I buy it. Fascinating man either way.