Bounty Hunter

Bounty Hunter (1988) by Rick Miller

This book is a biography of Jack Duncan, who was a policeman, Texas Ranger, detective, and bounty hunter.

Jack Duncan was born in Kentucky in 1850. The family moved to Texas in 1870. By 1876, Jack Duncan was a Dallas policeman.

Jack Duncan is most famous for being the man that brought in John Wesley Hardin. Duncan joined the Texas Rangers as part of the campaign to capture Hardin. At that time (1877), Hardin was considered one of the most dangerous men alive. Hardin was wanted for the murder (in 1874) of popular lawman Charles Webb. Duncan (as part of a team of law officers) captured Hardin in Florida and returned him to Texas. Hardin was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Hardin’s brother-in-law was hanged for his part in the crime.

Duncan was only a Texas Ranger for a short time. He figured he could make a lot more money as a bounty hunter than as a Ranger.

In 1878, Duncan was severely wounded when his girlfriend shot him with his own pistol. He suffered from complications of the gunshot until he died many years later.

Jack Duncan captured a long list of outlaws, including Jesse Rascoe, Talley Guynes, Frank Clanton, Mack Crook, Newt Harris, Lewis Holman, George Alsop, and many others.

Duncan took credit for the capture of John Middleton, who was wanted for the murder of Sheriff Jim Black, even though technically Middleton drowned while trying to cross a river in the middle of the night. Duncan probably did deserve credit, for if not for his relentless pursuit of Middleton, the desperado would not have tried such a dangerous gambit.

Jack Duncan lived in Dallas during its transition from a wide-open frontier town to a more civilized city. The book offers an interesting account of the city’s growth. There were only 3,000 people living in Dallas in 1870.

Duncan found himself on the wrong side of the law on many occasions. He was often fined for his minor transgressions (for example, illegal possession of a pistol). In 1886, Duncan was charged with the murder of Jesse Bonner, who was killed in a gunfight when Duncan tried to take him into custody (there was a warrant for Bonner’s arrest on the charge of stealing a horse). The murder charges against Duncan were later dropped. He was also charged with bribing a postal worker. Duncan was tried and found not guilty.

When Hardin was released from prison in 1894, there was some concern that Hardin might try to get revenge on Duncan. That ended in 1895, when John Selman killed Hardin in an El Paso saloon.

When Jack Duncan died in 1911 (in an automobile accident), the Dallas Morning News published his epitaph, “While a peace officer during the early days of Dallas, he is spoken of as having been a courageous man.”