Law Enforcement Figure. He was American Frontier peace officer and Old West gunfighter. Dallas Stoudenmire served as a Confederate soldier during the Civil War. He joined the Texas Rangers in 1874 and later became the town marshal of Socorro, New Mexico. He had reportedly killed several men and his reputation caused the city council in El Paso, Texas to recruit him as their city marshal. On April 11, 1881, he was appointed marshal of El Paso. Three days later he was involved in the famous "Four Dead in Five Seconds" gunfight. Following a dispute over a coroner's inquest, John Hale and George Campbell shot Constable Gus Krempkau. Hearing gunfire, Stoudenmire drew his pistols as he ran to the scene. Seeing Krempkau down with Hale and Campbell standing over him with guns drawn, Stoudenmire fired. An unfortunate Mexican bystander, trying to get out of the line of fire, crossed between Stoudenmire and the other two men and fell dead from the marshal's first shot. Undeterred, Stoudenmire shot Hale and Campbell dead. News of the gunfight appeared in newspapers as far away as New York and San Francisco. The Manning brothers, local saloon owners and friends of Hale and Campbell, recruited Bill Johnson to kill Stoudenmire. Three days after the gunfight, Johnson tried to assassinate the marshal by firing a shotgun from ambush. His shot missed its mark and Stoudenmire shot Johnson dead. Over the next ten months, Stoudenmire killed another six men who resisted arrest. Not surprisingly, the crime rate in El Paso dropped off rapidly. After resigning as city marshal in May 1882, Stoudenmire received a commission as a Deputy U.S. Marshal and served with distinction. However, his trouble with the Manning brothers - Jim, Doc, Frank and John - escalated as a result of the attempt on his life by Johnson. At one point, Stoudenmire called the Mannings out in front of their saloon. Alone, he dared them to fight. The brothers had a healthy respect for Stoudenmire's prowess with a gun and refused to accept his challenge. Disgusted, Stoudenmire called them cowards and stalked off. At the insistence of a group of citizens, Stoudenmire met with the Mannings on September 18, 1882 in an effort to end the feud peaceably. Doc Manning began arguing with Stoudenmire, who started to turn away to leave. Doc Manning drew his pistol and shot Stoudenmire in the left arm. A second shot knocked the marshal down. As he fell through the door into the street, Stoudenmire pulled his pistol and shot Doc Manning in the arm. As he fired, Jim Manning ran up behind him and shot Stoudenmire in the head, instantly killing him. The Mannings were tried for murder, but a jury packed with their friends acquitted them. Stoudenmire's exploits as a gunfighter and lawman made him legendary in his own time. However, even though he was involved in far more gunfights during his brief career than others like Wyatt Earp or Bat Masterson, his name is not as well recognized today. Eugene Cunningham devoted a chapter to Stoudenmire in "Triggernometry: A Gallery of Gunfighters," his now classic 1934 book on Western gunmen. Stoudenmire is also the subject of a biography, "Dallas Stoudenmire: El Paso Marshal," by Leon Metz (University of Oklahoma Press, 1993).