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Violence presages end of notorious red-light district
On this day in 1887, "Longhair Jim" Courtright, former town marshall of
Fort Worth, was killed in a gunfight with Luke Short. This was one of the
most famous gunfights in western history--and, contrary to the movie
legends, one of the few face-to-face shootouts. The duel was the first of
two events that drew increased hostile attention to the hive of brothels
and bars known as Hell's Half Acre. The second was the discovery of a
murdered prostitute named Sally, two weeks later. Before these violent
occurrences, even legitimate businesses had resisted reform of the Acre
because of the money it brought in. But the deaths of Courtright and Sally
brought renewed and ultimately successful cleanup efforts.
- Links to Related Handbook of Texas Online Articles
- HELL'S HALF ACRE, FORT WORTH
- COURTRIGHT, TIMOTHY ISAIAH
- Other Texas Day by Day Articles for This Date
- Last Franciscan in early Texas relinquishes missions (1830)
- Brewster County exposes "dummy town" (1910)
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