With the recent death of actor Val Kilmer, who played the role of Doc Holliday in the western movie Tombstone, there has been a surge of interest in anything related to the gunfight at the OK Corral.

Johnny Ringo was an especially notorious figure of the American Old West, remembered for his involvement in the violent conflicts of the era, particularly the gunfights and feuds that took place in Tombstone, Arizona.

Born in 1850 in Kentucky, Ringo was one of many individuals who sought a new life in the West, a place where lawlessness and the opportunity for fortune were often intertwined.

At age 14, Ringo’s parents decided to move west to California. The journey to start a new life took a tragic twist on July 30, 1864. While on the wagon train, Ringo’s father, Martin, died.

The Liberty Tribune reported that at about dawn he had left the wagons to look out for Native Americans, when his shotgun then accidentally discharged.

An eyewitness reported:

At the report of the gun I saw his hat blown up 20 feet in the air and his brains were scattered in all directions. I never saw a more heartrending sight, and to see the distress and agony of his wife and children was painful in the extreme. Mr. Ringo’s death cast a gloom over the whole company.”

While details of his early life remain somewhat unclear, it is believed that Johnny Ringo was originally a ranch hand who eventually became entangled in criminal activities.

Ringo and his family completed the journey west to California and settled in San Jose.  At this point, Ringo fell out of the historic record only to reemerge around 1874 in the Texas Hill country. 

In Texas, he met a renegade Texas Ranger named Scott Cooley. Ringo also won an election as a Mason County constable in 1878. Together, they took part in the intermittent feuding between German and non-German settlers in the region, which became known as the Mason County War, or the Hoodoo War. 

The first murder attributed to Ringo was that of James Cheyney during the Mason County War. Cheyney left his house to wash his face in a basin on his porch when Ringo and another man gunned him down.

In the violence, Ringo and Cooley were jailed, where they were broken out of by their fellows.  He then migrated to southeastern Arizona in 1879, which was to become Cochise County. It was there that he fell in with the so-called “Cochise County Cowboys.”

The Cowboys were cattle rustlers who raided Mexican stock, then sold it in the United States. Never a fully cohesive gang, the Cowboys were more of a loose confederation of outlaws. 

He was a part of this larger group of outlaws, lawmen, and figures that contributed to the legend of the American frontier.

Ringo’s involvement in the infamous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral is one of the defining moments of his life. While he wasn’t directly involved in the actual shootout, he was a key member of the Cowboys, a group of outlaws that were at odds with the lawmen of Tombstone, including the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday.

The feud between the Cowboys and the lawmen was fueled by a mix of personal animosities, business rivalries, and the often-tense climate of the Wild West.

Johnny Ringo’s role in this conflict was often as a provocateur, pushing the tensions to dangerous levels.

The common law wife of Doc Holliday, “Big Nose” Kate, wrote about Ringo:

Ringo was a fine man any way you look at him. Physically, intellectually, morally. He was six feet tall, rather slim in build, although broad-shouldered, medium fair as to complexion with gray-blue eyes and light brown hair. His face was somewhat long. He was what might be called an attractive man. His attitude toward all women was gentlemanly. He must have been a gentleman born. Sometimes I noticed something wistful about him, as if his thoughts were far away on something sad. He would say, ‘Oh, well,’ and sigh. Then he would smile, but his smiles were always sad. There was something in his life that only he, himself, knew about …. He was always neat, clean, well dressed, showed that he took good care of himself. He never boasted of his deeds, good or bad, a trait I have always liked in men. John…was a loyal friend. And he was noble, for he never fought anyone except face to face. Every time I think of him, my eyes fill with tears.”

Johnny Ringo’s character and reputation were heavily shaped by his association with other famous outlaws. He was known for his cold, calculating demeanor and often wielded his influence through intimidation and violence.

Ringo was believed to be involved in various robberies, cattle rustling, and other criminal activities. His image as a hardened gunfighter was only enhanced by his quick temper and his readiness to engage in deadly shootouts, something that was a hallmark of the violent environment of Tombstone and the surrounding areas.

Though Ringo’s criminal activities and violence were well-known, it was his mysterious death that became a subject of fascination.

On July 14, 1882 a man driving through Turkey Creek Canyon found the 32-year-old Johnny Ringo sitting at the base of a tree. A bullet hole had cut cleanly through the outlaw’s head. 

He was discovered with a gunshot wound to the head, and the circumstances surrounding his death remain uncertain.

Ringo’s death remains shrouded in mystery and continues to be a topic of debate among historians.

While some argue that it was a case of revenge for his role in the violence that surrounded the Earp family, others claim it was more a result of the harsh, unforgiving nature of the time.

Regardless, his demise marked the end of a significant chapter in the history of the American Old West. Ringo’s legacy is one of notoriety and infamy, emblematic of the turbulent times in which he lived.

Johnny Ringo’s life and death have been immortalized in Western folklore, particularly in literature and film.

His character has been depicted in numerous ways, often as the quintessential outlaw, a figure who stands in stark contrast to the lawmen striving to bring order to the chaos of the frontier.

Ringo, in many ways, embodies the unpredictable and dangerous nature of the Old West, where alliances were fragile, and the line between law and lawlessness was often blurred.

His story remains a central part of the mythos surrounding the Western frontier, cementing his place in the annals of American history.

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