Tombstone Arizona Territory  |  March 1882

In March 1882, two Arizona newspapers offered sharply different versions of an altercation involving Frank “Buckskin” Leslie and a man named Floyd. One described pistol practice inside Tombstone’s Oriental Saloon. The other insisted there had been no shooting and that the trouble occurred elsewhere. Four days after the first published account, the case ended when Floyd withdrew his complaint.

The surviving reports establish that Leslie and Floyd quarreled, a revolver discharged, and officers became involved. They do not establish whether a gunfight was exaggerated into a saloon brawl or whether a more serious encounter was quietly reduced to an accidental discharge.

The first report

The Arizona Weekly Star of March 16, 1882, reported that an altercation had occurred at about three o’clock that morning in the Oriental Saloon. It named the participants as “Buckskin” Frank Leslie and a man named Floyd.

According to the Star, the dispute resulted in “a slight amount of pistol practice” by Leslie. Neither man was seriously injured, and Officer Kenney arrested both men. It was a brief report, but its meaning appeared plain: Leslie had used a pistol during a disturbance inside one of Tombstone’s best-known saloons.

The correction

The Tombstone Epitaph disputed that account. It told readers that the reported shooting was incorrect in several particulars. There had been no shooting, the paper said, and the incident had not occurred in the Oriental.

The Epitaph’s version began with Leslie and Floyd exchanging words in an unnamed saloon. Mr. Dean, identified as the night watchman, put both men into the street. The quarrel continued outside until Leslie drew his revolver and struck Floyd on the head with it. The weapon then fired from the concussion of the blow.

That was not necessarily a harmless correction. Even under the Epitaph’s account, Leslie drew a loaded revolver and used it as a club. The paper changed the setting and the apparent intent behind the discharge, but it did not erase the violence.

The complaint disappears

On March 20, the Epitaph reported that the Territory’s case against F. Leslie had come before Judge Wallace. Leslie was charged with assault and battery. James Floyd, described as the prosecuting witness, withdrew the complaint, and the judge dismissed the case.

The notice gave no reason for Floyd’s decision. It did not say that the men had reconciled, that Floyd feared Leslie, or that anyone had pressured him. Any such explanation would be speculation.

The assault-and-battery charge fits the Epitaph’s account of Leslie striking Floyd with the revolver, but it does not prove that the Star’s report was false. The surviving court notice records the charge Floyd was prepared to pursue. Once he withdrew the complaint, the court had little left to decide.

What happened that morning

Both newspapers agreed on the central participants and on the fact that the disturbance brought officers into the matter. Beyond that, their accounts diverged. The Star placed the action inside the Oriental and suggested deliberate gunplay. The Epitaph moved it from an unidentified saloon into the street and described a revolver firing when Leslie struck Floyd.

Neither version can be accepted without qualification. The Star may have turned an accidental discharge into pistol practice. The Epitaph may have repeated a version favorable to Leslie after Floyd decided not to prosecute. The available reports do not reveal which explanation is closer to the truth.

What remains is a small example of how quickly a Tombstone gunfight could appear in print and then disappear in court. There were witnesses, an arrest, a blow from a revolver, and at least one gunshot. But when James Floyd withdrew his complaint, the Territory’s case against Frank Leslie ended with no trial and no public explanation.

Research notes

Question	What the record shows
Was F. Leslie Frank Leslie	Yes. The Star identified him as “Buckskin” Frank Leslie.
Was there a gunshot	Both accounts indicate that a revolver discharged. They disagree about how and where it happened.
Was anyone wounded	The Star said neither man was seriously hurt. The Epitaph said Leslie struck Floyd on the head but did not describe the injury.
Why was the case dismissed	Floyd withdrew his complaint. No reason appears in the supplied reports.
Can either newspaper be proved correct	No. The assault-and-battery charge is consistent with the Epitaph’s version, but it does not settle the conflicting accounts.

Sources

1. Arizona Weekly Star, March 16, 1882, page 1. Brief report identifying “Buckskin” Frank Leslie, Floyd, the Oriental Saloon, Officer Kenney, and alleged “pistol practice.”

2. Tombstone Epitaph, March 1882. Correction stating that the incident did not occur in the Oriental and that Leslie’s revolver discharged when he struck Floyd after the men were put into the street.

3. Tombstone Epitaph, March 20, 1882, page 2. Court notice reporting that James Floyd withdrew the assault-and-battery complaint against F. Leslie and that Judge Wallace dismissed the case.

Tarnished West