(William Brocius)

Born: 1857
Died: 1882?

A number of outlaws and lawmen had reputations for being fancy shooters. Some were able to spin a pistol around their index finger, cock it, and fire. Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett were both rumored to be skilled at the spin-and-cock method—but Curly Bill was rumored to be the best.

A tombstone gunslinger

Born William B. Graham in 1857, Brocius—who stood six feet tall and had curly black hair—was a cattle thief in Arizona as a young man. As a member of the Clanton-McLaury clan in Tombstone, he rustled livestock and earned a reputation as a drinking man who was easily provoked. He quickly became the enemy of Wyatt Earp (see entry) and his brothers. When the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday met the Clantons and McLaurys at O.K. Corral in October 1881, Brocius did not...