"There’s only one killer in Ft. Worth, and that’s me," husks Marshal Jim Courtright in the second episode of the Yellowstone prequel 1883. The Billy Bob Thornton-played lawman makes an instant impression in his short stint on screen, yet of all of the cowboy characters that appear in the show's fictional version of Fort Worth, Courtright stands out, because unlike the Duttons and Sam Elliott's scene-stealing Shea Brennan, Courtright actually happens to be based on a real life gunslinger.
Who was Jim Courtright?
He was born Timothy Isaiah Courtright in 1845 Illinois, but relatively little is known about Courtright's early life. In his late teens, he served in the Union Army during the Civil War and late married Sarah Elizabeth Weeks, with whom he had three children. A famed shooter, Courtright served for a time as an army scout, earning the nickname "Longhair Jim" for the longer hairstyles the scouts favored (Jim itself may have been a mishearing of the name Tim which simply stuck with Courtright throughout his life.)
In 1876, Courtright ran for and won election to the post of city marshal of Fort Worth—then a notorious gambling and drinking town—by a narrow margin of three votes. His talent with a gun quickly won him a reputation, and the city's murder rate supposedly fell precipitously under his helm—though Courtright himself was known to be involved in a number of shootout deaths during his time in office, as well as being implicated in racketeering and protection schemes. He remained in the job until 1879 when he lost his third bid for reelection.
Over the years, the quick-shooting Courtright would go on to serve as a deputy sheriff, deputy U.S. marshal, and private detective, before ultimately dying in what would come to be known as a legendary gunfight with gambler and gunslinger Luke Short in Fort Worth in 1887. Despite his complicated reputation, Courtright's funeral procession reportedly stretched for six blocks, the longest in Fort Worth's history at that time.
How accurate is 1883's Jim Courtright?
Think of the version of Courtright that appears on 1883 as more of an homage to the spirit of the gunslinger than a true-to-life portrait. For starters, in the spring of 1883, when the show's second episode takes place, the real life Courtright was living and working in New Mexico, where he would shortly become embroiled in what became known as the American Valley Murders, in which Courtright along with his associate Jim McIntire, were accused of murdering two men and ultimately fled the jurisdiction. While Courtright did ultimately end up back in Fort Worth, where he established a detective agency (well beyond his deputizing years) by 1884, the timing is slightly off for his 1883 appearance.
Perhaps more tellingly, while 66 year old Billy Bob Thornton's growling portrayal lends Courtright undeniable gravitas that the real life gunslinger would surely have carried, the actual Courtright died in his famous shootout with Luke Short when he was just 39 years old.
Lauren Hubbard is a freelance writer and Town & Country contributor who covers beauty, shopping, entertainment, travel, home decor, wine, and cocktails.
