Langford Peel

Langford M. Peel (1829/1831 – July 21, 1867), also known as Farmer Peel was a gunman and gambler in the American Old West.[1][2] According to his grave marker, Langford was born in Liverpool, England. At age 12 he enlisted in the U.S. Army with the approval and help of his mother and stepfather.[3] At the age of 17, he enlisted as a bugler in "B' Company of the 1st US Dragoons under Captain Edwin Vose Sumner;[4] Peel killed six Indians – three at the Battle of Coon Creek in 1846; 2 in 1850 at Fort Kearney Kansas and a sixth later[5] and rose to rank of Sergeant. He traveled to Leavenworth, Kansas; Salt Lake City; Nevada; and eventually to Helena, Montana.[6] There he was killed by John Bull, his former associate.[7][8][9] The defendant was acquitted August 24, 1867.[10] Bull was later involved in the stabbing of a railroad baggageman and also in 1874 was indicted in Omaha Nebraska for involvement with others on a robbery charge [one of the defendants escaped and the rest were freed]. In 1879, he had a faro game at the Sacramento State Fair; Bull was killed in Denver, Colorado on January 9, 1882 by a fellow gambler Jim Bush.[11][12][13]

Alleged by some sources to have been Harvard educated,[14][15] Peel was known for always giving any opponent a chance in a gunfight.[16]

Mark Twain, in his book Roughing It, refers (perhaps as an inside joke) to Peel as "Farmer Pease".[9]

References
  1. Laxalt, Robert (1991). Nevada: A History. University of Nevada Press. p. 58. ISBN 9780874171792.
  2. Convis, Charles (22 November 2011). "Langford Farner Peel". Outlaw Tales of Nevada: True Stories of the Silver State's Most Infamous Crooks, Culprits, and Cutthroats. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 22–30. ISBN 978-0-7627-7587-3. Convis alleges that Peel's middle name was "Farner" but this contradicts U.S. Army enlistment records which have "Langford M. Peel".
  3. Robert K. DeArment (9 November 2012). "Farmer Peel". Deadly Dozen: Forgotten Gunfighters of the Old West. University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 6–28. ISBN 978-0-8061-8470-8.
  4. US army register
  5. Percival Green Lowe Five Years a Dragoon ('49 to '54): And Other Adventures on the Great Plains
  6. Spalding, Charleen. "Langford Peel (1831-1867)". Find A Grave. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  7. The Montana Post August 3, 1867
  8. DeArment, Robert K. (2003). Deadly Dozen: Twelve Forgotten Gunfighters of the Old West, Volume 1. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 12. ISBN 9780806135595.
  9. Gorenfeld, William; Gorenfeld, John (April 2011). "John Bull Shot Down His Gambling Pal, Soldier-Turned-Gunfighter Langford Peel". Wild West. 23 (6): 20. Archived from the original on 2014-04-07.
  10. The Montana post., August 24, 1867, Page 8, Image 8
  11. Carson City Nevada Morning appeal., January 21, 1882, Image 2
  12. Eureka daily sentinel. [volume], January 25, 1882, Image 3
  13. Bismarck tribune., January 27, 1882, Image 8
  14. Fisher, Vardis; Holmes, Opal Laurel (1968). Gold Rushes and Mining Camps of the Early American West. Caxton Press. p. 397. ISBN 9780870040436.
  15. However he is not listed as having graduated from Harvard Harvard University Catalogue
  16. "Ridin' Trail Back to The Old Wild West". The Milwaukee Sentinel. 1 Feb 1942. p. 16. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
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