b'E L I T ET E A MRangers continued from page 19bragged - never truly confirmed - of his having the "drop" on the famous E L I T ET E A M gunfighter, Hardin having boasted of the deed in his autobiography, however, there were no witnesses to an event that supposedly took place on Abilene\'s E L I T EE Q U E S T R I A NT E A M main street with Hickok conveniently dead by almost a decade - then hightailing out of town after shooting through the ceiling at the hotel where he stayed, killing a sleeping man for snoring too loud, chose to relocate to Florida, reinventing himself as a horse buyer by the (assumed) name of JamesJohn Wesley HardinHenry Swain.But Texas wasn\'t through with John Wesley Hardin. Incensed by the murder of Deputy Sheriff Webb and Hardin\'s subsequent escape, the Texas State authorities, having approved a reward of $4,000 for the capture of Hardin, authorized the Rangers to search high and low, within Texas and without Texas for the wanted man who so brazenly escaped their grasp. They soon had a "lead, a letter written by Hardin\'s brother-in-law to his father mentioning that Hardin was living in Florida under the name of (John) Swain. Accordingly, Ranger Sergeant John Barclay Armstrong, whom, as aforementioned, was involved in the ambushof Sam Bass, was appointed to lead a special team to Florida to locate the whereabouts of the murderous outlaw and bring him back to Texas and Texas justice.Armstrong was just the sort of legendary Ranger so well suited to carry out such a mission as to apprehend the cold-blooded killer Hardin. Described by an admiring fellow Ranger, Armstrong: "had a singularly mild blue eye, and experience on the frontier has taught me that mild blue eyes usually indicate anything but the mildness of disposition. His handsome face was full of character. His carriage was erect as that of a grenadier and, despite his great size; he was extremely graceful in all his movements. He was a dashing fellow and always ready to lead a squad of Rangers on any scout that promised to end in a fight" (Ibid., p. 210).Perhaps most importantly was that Armstrong WANTED to get John Wesley Hardin. He got a hold of the "John Swain" letter Hardin\'s brother-in-law had written that mentioned Hardin aka Swain was living on a horse farm in Florida, and together with ace Dallas detective John Riley Duncan, a lawman known quite well by Texas government officials for his ability to crack tough cases Armstrong assembled a team of Rangers, took out extradition papers and boarded a train to Alabama, hoping to capture Hardin at his horse farm. Upon arriving in Pollard, Alabama though, Armstrong was informed that "John Swain" was now in Pensacola, Florida, trading horses - and enjoying a favorite pastime - of John Wesley Hardin\'s - gambling. It was a stroke of luck that Armstrong and his team ran into the superintendent of the Pensacola Railroad, William Chipley at the Pollard station, for not only was Chipley able to verify that Jane Hardin\'s brother was in town, but that the railroad super was no fan of either Mrs. John Wesley Hardin\'s husband or brother-in-law, the latter in a drunken rage having threatened to kill him. The party of lawmen then proceeded to Pensacola, and using the same kind of subterfuge as in the case of the lawmen who waited in ambush for Sam Bass at Round Rock, they waited until "Swain" and his companions were done with their gambling excursion. Then, on the morning of August 23, 1877, the trap was sprung.Everything seemed to have happened quite quickly that day in the sweltering heat of the Pensacola Train Station; an amazed Hardin upon seeing Armstrong\'s Colt revolver rising towards his chest barely had time to scream out, "Texas, by God!" as he tried to pull out his revolver, only to get it tangled in the suspenders of his trousers. Hardin then tried to fight his way out but was quickly subdued when Armstrong smashed his Colt on Hardin\'s head. One of Hardin\'s associates, an innocent but extremely unwise kid who apparently did not know of John Swain being John Hardin reached for his gun and was quickly dispatched by a local lawman. The whole thing lasted just a couple of minutes before Hardin was handcuffed, then thrown aboard a Texas-bound train by Ranger Armstrong. Hardin would go back to Texas to be sentenced to 24 years in prison, just barely escaping the hangman\'s noose. Released as a model prisoner seven years shy of the termination of his sentence, Hardin seemingly tried to go straight, of all things practicing law in El Paso until getting involved in some sordid activities that led directly to his demise, meeting the same fate as his one-time acquaintance Wild Bill, being shot in the back of the head in an El Paso saloon by hot-tempered El Paso Constable John Selman, who already had a reputation of crossing over both sides of the law, at one point incurring the wrath of Ranger Jeff Milton. It would be Milton\'s friend, another El Paso constable by the name of George Scarborough who put paid to Selman\'s deviousness by putting a bullet into the chest of the sleazy cop in an El Paso alley just a year after John Wesley Hardin "bought the farm." As for the Ranger who captured the notorious Hardin, John Barclay Armstrong, he would go on to a brilliant 2016, 2018 & 2019 career as a Ranger lieutenant, and at the end of his Texas Ranger service, a United States marshal in Texas. Next month, part 4.ArizonaRealCountry.com January 2022 21'