Legendary Gunslinger Jack Slade killed by vigilantes

10th March 1864

Jack Slade, a former soldier and teamster, was hired to clean up the line’s most dangerous division. Slade kept the stagecoaches running and helped launch the Pony Express, securing California and its gold for the Union and earning the nickname “The Law West of Kearny.”

But once Slade had restored the peace, his life descended into alcoholism, transforming him from a courageous leader and devoted husband into a quick-triggered drunk, who finally lost his life at the hands of vigilantes in March 1864.