Today’s guest post is by John Bullard. Take it away, John.

Robert E. Howard loved the history of the American Southwest, and greatly enjoyed talking about it with and teaching it to his famous Eastern writer friends. For a while there in his correspondences with Lovecraft and Derleth, Howard could barely let a letter go by without talking about Billy the Kid or John Wesley Hardin’s exploits. However, two famous Texan gunmen that Howard talked about have been all but forgotten today, and with the anniversary of their violent deaths having just passed, I thought it would be interesting to talk about them again, just as Howard did.

In a letter to August Derleth, Howard wrote:

“You mentioned that you were interested in the bad-men of the early days. So am I, intensely. However, if you’ve made a study of them, you probably know more about some of them than I do. Anyway, if you wish, I can give you some of the low-down on …Ben Thompson … [and] King Fisher … swashbucklers of the frontier. There’s nothing I enjoy more than discussing these picturesque old scoundrels.”(Derleth, ca. Dec. 15, 1932)

Ben Thompson

Of the two men that are the subject of this blog, Ben Thompson was the more famous. He had quite an interesting life.

He was born in England, immigrated to the U.S. as a young boy, fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War, started saloons in Abilene, Kansas and Austin, Texas, knew John Wesley Hardin, Bat Masterson and Buffalo Bill Cody among others, was a hired gun for the railroads, became the City Marshall for Austin, Texas, and was a life-long gambler.

Howard apparently had a great interest in Thompson. In a letter to his best friend, Clyde Smith, Howard writes:

 “I’m interested in the bold buccaleeros of early days. The other day in Ft. Worth I was talking to a man who knew Ben Thompson, and visited him in his cell right after he bumped off Jack Harris over in San Antonio. He said Benjamin was practically the father of the city of Austin. Benjamin wrote his autobiography, but I’ve never seen a copy of it. From what White intimates, it handles the truth with an easy abandon reminiscent of Joan Lowell.”{Smith, ca. May, 1932)

In a later letter to H.P. Lovecraft about sites to see in New Orleans, Howard first talks about the Famous Dueling Oak there, then digresses to Thompson:

“Ben Thompson, a famous old-time Texas gunman, once fought a duel in New Orleans with one Emil de Tour, along in 1858 or 1859, I think it was. The Frenchman insulted a young lady on Canal Street, and Thompson, though a stranger to both, resented it to the point of knocking de Tour down and stamping him into unconsciousness. When the bould Frog recovered, he challenged Thompson, and the young Texan — he couldn’t have been more than eighteen or nineteen — accepted with alacrity. The details of the chroniclers are veiled in doubt. They merely say that they fought in a dark room with knives and Thompson killed his man. But I got the facts from an old-timer who knew Thompson and had heard the tale from his own lips. Thompson was to give the word to begin. Standing in utter darkness, where neither could see the other, he gave the word and at the same instant stepped quickly and noiselessly aside. As he knew would happen, de Tour sprang like a tiger at the sound of his voice, and Thompson, thrusting by the sound of the rushing body, sank his knife to the hilt in the Frenchman’s heart. The dark room and the knives were Thompson’s idea. He had no patience with the formal code of the duello.”(Lovecraft, Nov. 2, 1932)

John King Fisher

Fisher was a cattle rustler and horse thief who ran a gang of rustlers in South Texas that had no problems stealing cattle from either side of the Rio Grande and selling the lifted livestock on the other side of the river. He became known as a gunman after killing several Mexicans in a dispute. Howard wrote of Fisher:

“King Fisher’s melodrama ran more to his attire than his actions. His boots were of the finest calfskin, with fancy red stitching; his hat was a Mexican sombrero ornamented with gold braid; for a vest he wore a gold braided Mexican jacket; a red silk sash girdled his supple waist, and from richly hand-worked leather jutted the ivory butts of the finest pistols Colt could supply by special order. His chaps were made of the striped pelt of a royal Bengal tiger, commandeered from a wandering circus. I have heard that at one time a hundred and fifty men followed him. Yet King Fisher was not merely a taker of human life. If he had been, he would have killed Horace Greeley that day in San Antonio, when Horace took him to task for his murders. Instead of resenting the impertinence, the King simply smiled and assured Horace that he had murdered no one recently. Horace then accused King of having ridden into Eagle Pass with sixteen human ears strung on his bridle reins — which was true. Still King Fisher showed no resentment at this uninvited criticism of his actions, merely smiling again and remarking that they were Mexican ears, and did not count.”(Lovecraft, Sep. 22, 1932).

Fisher eventually decided to go straight after getting married and beating a murder charge, and became a Deputy Sheriff of Uvalde County in Texas, and later the acting Sheriff when the actual Sheriff was indicted on criminal charges.

The Thompson-Harris Feud

In 1880, Thompson took a trip down to San Antonio, and decided to gamble in the casino inside the Vaudeville Theater, owned by Jack Harris, Joe Foster, and Billy Simms. Thompson lost money heavily, and thought the games were rigged. He pulled his gun on Joe Foster to retrieve his property that Thompson had given as collateral for house credit, refused to pay his losses because he felt the games were rigged, and left. When told of this, Harris publicly banned Thompson from returning to the Vaudeville and began threatening to kill Thompson if Harris ever got the chance.

Thompson, now the City Marshall of Austin, was again in San Antonio in 1881, and not fearing any man, decided to go to the Vaudeville theater and forced his way inside past Foster. Harris grabbed a shotgun and went around looking for Thompson, but failed to find him. The next day, the two met and had words, ending with Harris again telling Thompson he was barred from the Vaudeville Theater.

The two men continued publicly badmouthing each other. In July, 1882, Thompson again went to the Vaudeville. Harris, hearing that Thompson had returned, went to his office and grabbed a double-barrel shotgun and went looking for Thompson. By this time, Thompson was outside the theater talking with a friend. Harris, from inside the theater’s bar, looked out through a window at Thompson. Thompson, seeing Harris through the window’s lattice screen shot and killed Harris as Harris pointed his shotgun at Thompson.¹

Howard, in a letter to Derleth, tells his version of Harris’ killing:

“Not that all those old gunfighters were extraordinarily good marks-men. Many of their fights took place in saloons and gambling halls, and the contestants were only a few feet apart. When Ben Thompson killed Jack Harris in San Antonio, Thompson was behind a fancy glass screen in the other’s saloon, and seeing Harris approaching with a sawed-off shotgun, he simply let him have it through the screen.”(Derleth, Dec. 29, 1932)

Thompson turned himself in to San Antonio authorities for the murder of Harris, was tried and acquitted on the grounds of self-defense in 1883. Thompson had previously resigned as Austin City Marshall on his arrest for Harris’ murder.  Harris’ two remaining theater partners, Foster and Simms, were still angry at Thompson.

Thompson and Fisher Meet Their End

Fisher, as acting Sheriff, went to Austin on March 10, 1884, and met Thompson for the first time. They become fast friends and start partying. They decide to go to San Antonio, and arrived the next day, March 11, and started hitting the local establishments, continuing their carousing. They decided to go to the Vaudeville Theater to see the show. Outside the theater, Thompson and Fisher run into Billy Simms and his rent-a-cop/bouncer, Jacob Coy. They all go inside the theater and go to the balcony. At this point, the story of what ensued depends on who is telling it. Western historian/artist Bob Boze Bell, in a fantastic article he wrote for his True West magazine, gives the two versions:

“Thompson starts making rude comments about his killing of Jack Harris, an event now two years old. But the tension rises when saloon co-owner Joe Foster joins the group. Thompson calls Foster a thief and identifies him as the real target of his earlier shooting: ‘That is the son of a bitch I wanted to kill.’

Another view of the Theater taken from across the street looking northwest at the building. The last window to the left on the second story is the same last window on the right edge of the building in the top photo.

To calm down his buddy, Fisher suggests everyone go downstairs to the bar, and all agree. Before he leaves his seat, Thompson offers to shake Foster’s hand, but the saloon proprietor refuses.

Thompson reacts by pulling a pistol and pistol whipping Foster about the mouth (one version has him putting the barrel in Foster’s mouth). Seeing this, Coy tries to grab the barrel of Thompson’s pistol as a shot rings out.

All hell breaks loose as everyone reaches for their hardware and a thunderous volley of shots (some say 20) rips through the theatre. Fisher and Thompson are fatally hit multiple times, and Foster takes a bullet in the leg. As blood and gore welter in the doorway and on the stairs leading to the street, friends help Foster, whose leg is bleeding badly, go down the stairs to safety.

This is the official San Antonio version of the fight. […]

Modern view of the above photos’s corner from Google maps. Now, you can go into Subway and enjoy a sandwich near the spots of several famous killings!

The coroner’s report stated that Thompson and Fisher were killed in a fight with Foster and Simms. But Thompson’s autopsy revealed that the shooters were above and to the left of the victims—not right in front of them. Best Historical Guess: Two eyewitnesses to the fight, Alex T. Raymond and John R. Sublett, claimed Simms and Foster approached Thompson and Fisher while they were still seated. Thompson extended his hand, but Foster refused to shake it. Fisher told Foster to shake hands with Thompson “like gentlemen.” When Foster refused a second time, Simms and Coy quickly stepped aside. Thompson and Fisher sprang from their seats as a fatal volley tore into them. Two of the fastest gunmen in the West never had a chance to pull their revolvers. Coy, with Thompson’s pistol, and Simms, with his own, then fired additional shots into the dying men. Foster tried to draw his weapon and shot himself in the leg. Thompson’s autopsy confirmed that a volley of bullets struck him.”²

Thompson had eight bullets in his body, and Fisher had thirteen bullets in his body. Fisher’s gun was still in its holster, showing that he was caught totally unaware. No autopsy was performed on him.

 

Howard wrote of the pair’s end:

“Ben Thompson in particular — his whole life was a stage whereon he swaggered and posed; he lived pure melodrama to the day he was riddled in the old Jack Harris Theater in San Antonio, and he shamelessly played up to the gallery gods. And he strewed his stage with thirty-odd dead men, as an earnest of his actorship. King Fisher, too, who died beside him on that red day when the curtain finally rang down on the red drama. By God, how appropriate it was that these deadly actors made their final bow in a theater, of all places!”(Lovecraft, Sep. 22, 1932)

Howard really loved to learn and talk about the gunfighters of the Southwest. Most Howard-philes know he had started writing primarily westerns during his last two years of life, and often talked about writing a fictional novel of the settling of Texas. With all he knew and wrote in his letters about the actual historical characters and incidents, we can truly lament his never sitting down to write that story.

NOTES

1. Much of the narration of the Thompson-Harris feud comes from the following article: Bicknell, Thomas C. and Chuck Parsons. “Time To Die”. truewestmagazine.com/jack-harris-ben-thompson/ August 13, 2018.
2. Bell, Bob Boze. “Forewarned & Forearmed Ben Thompson & King Fisher vs. Joe Foster & Billy Simms”. truewestmagazine.com/forewarned-forearmed/ November 16, 2016. I highly encourage interested folks to go read the True West articles as they are very entertaining. I haven’t yet bought a copy of Ben Thompson: Portrait of a Gunfighter, by Bicknell and Parsons, but from what I have read of it, I encourage interested folks to buy it.

SOURCES

Letters

To August Derleth: ca. December 15, 1932; December 29, 1932

To H.P. Lovecraft: September 22, 1932; November 2, 1932

To Tevis Clyde Smith, Ca. May, 1932

Texts

Roehm, R. (Ed.) (2007), The Collected Letters of Robert E. Howard Volume Two: 1930-1932, REHFP

Roehm, R. (Ed.) (2008), The Collected Letters of Robert E. Howard Volume Three: 1933-1936, REHFP

Websites

Bell, Bob Boze. “Forewarned & Forearmed Ben Thompson & King Fisher vs. Joe Foster & Billy Simms”. www.truewestmagazine.com/forewarned-forearmed/ November 16, 2016. Accessed March 15, 2021.

Bicknell, Thomas C. and Chuck Parsons. “Time To Die”. www.truewestmagazine.com/jack-harris-ben-thompson/ August 13, 2018. Accessed March 15, 2021.

Trimble, Marshall. “John King Fisher”. www.truewestmagazine.com/john-king-fisher/ September 2016. Accessed March 15, 2021.

John Bullard is a retired attorney who lives in Texas, and has updated The Collected Letters of Robert E. Howard for The Robert E Howard Foundation Press, which will soon be available for purchase. He became a life-long Howard fan upon reading his first Howard story in an anthology of horror stories in 1974. While working on the Letters, he started seeing the subject matter of this post and has written it up for the education and edification of other Howard-ophiles. John is currently working on several projects for The Robert E. Howard Foundation Press.