The Fastest Gun in Wyoming: D. Boone May
Many of the deadliest outlaws in the west passed through Wyoming in the late 1800s, but one lawman was widely considered to be the "fastest gun" in the territory.
In 1876, at the age of 24, Daniel Boone May arrived in Cheyenne and found work hauling frieight up and down the dangerous Cheyenne-Deadwood stage line.
After earning a repuation as a marksman, he was offered a job as a "shotgun messenger" for the Cheyenne and Black Hills Stage & Express Company.
May also patrolled the infamous "Robber's Roost Station" as U.S. Deputy Marshall.
Over the years, May was involved in several legendary gunfights, all of which he won.
In September of 1878, May helped stave off a stage coach robbery near Old Woman's Creek, shooting and wounding oultaw Frank Towle.
Just a month later, May formed a search party that captured a gang of theives led by Archie McLaughlin and Billy Mansfield just north of Cheyenne.
Another bandit, Tom Price, was wounded and arrested by May in December of 1878.
The following year, May apprehended mail robber Curley Grimes. When the prisoner attempted to escape, May shot and killed him.
By 1880, May was regarded by lawmen and outlaws alike as the deadliest pistol in the region.
Fearing that he would always be targeted by young gunslingers looking to make a name for themselves, May resigned from his post at the Placer Mining Compnay and headed south.
In 1883, May resurfaced 5,600 miles away in Santagio, Chile. After an altercation with an army officer there in 1891, May fled to Brazil, where he lived peacefully for another 19 years.
In 1910, at the age of 58, May died of yellow fever in Rio De Janeiro.