29 Facts About Johnny Ringo

John Peters Ringo, known as Johnny Ringo, was an American Old West outlaw loosely associated with the Cochise County Cowboys in frontier boomtown Tombstone, Arizona Territory.

Johnny Ringo took part in the Mason County War in Texas during which he committed his first murder.

Johnny Ringo, son of Martin and Mary Peters Ringo, had distant Dutch ancestry, and was born in what later became the small town of Greens Fork, Clay Township, Wayne County, Indiana.

On July 30,1864, when Johnny Ringo was 14, his family was in Wyoming en route to California.

Johnny Ringo left his mother, brother, and sisters in San Jose, California, in 1869 and moved to Mason County, Texas.

Johnny Ringo befriended an ex-Texas Ranger Scott Cooley who was the adopted son of rancher Tim Williamson.

Cooley and his friends, including Johnny Ringo, conducted a terror campaign against their rivals.

Some time later, Scott Cooley and Johnny Ringo mistook Charley Bader for his brother Pete and killed him.

One of Johnny Ringo's alleged cellmates was the notorious killer John Wesley Hardin.

Two years later, Johnny Ringo was a constable in Loyal Valley, Texas.

Johnny Ringo first appeared in Cochise County, Arizona Territory in 1879 with Joseph Graves Olney, a friend from the Mason County War.

In December 1879, a drunk Johnny Ringo shot unarmed Louis Hancock in a Safford, Arizona saloon when Hancock refused a complimentary drink of whiskey, stating that he preferred beer.

Johnny Ringo was occasionally erroneously referred to as "Ringgold" by local newspapers.

Johnny Ringo described himself as a "speculator" in the 1882 Cochise County Great Register.

Johnny Ringo was suspected by the Earps of taking part in the December 28,1881, ambush of Virgil Earp, that crippled him for life, and the March 18,1882, murder of Morgan Earp while he was shooting pool in a Tombstone saloon.

Cochise County Sheriff Johnny Ringo Behan received warrants from a Tucson judge for arrest of the Earps and Holliday.

Johnny Ringo deputized Ringo and 19 other men, many of them friends of Stilwell and the Cochise County Cowboys.

Earp told his biographer, Stuart Lake, that a man named Florentino Cruz confessed to being the lookout at Morgan's murder and identified Johnny Ringo, Stilwell, Swilling, and Brocius as Morgan's killers, though modern researchers doubt Earp's story.

Johnny Ringo said the Earp posse had told Hooker to tell Behan and his posse where they were camped.

Johnny Ringo left town two days later, taking several bottles of liquor for the ride.

Johnny Ringo's body had already turned black from the desert heat.

Johnny Ringo's feet were wrapped in strips of cloth torn from his undershirt.

Johnny Ringo had lost his horse with his boots tied to the saddle.

Johnny Ringo's body is buried near the base of the tree where it was discovered.

Furthermore, Johnny Ringo's body was already turning black due to decomposition.

Johnny Ringo included other details that do not match what is known about Ringo's death.

The character of Johnny Ringo has been depicted in the following film and television shows:.

Johnny Ringo is depicted as a bookish and introspective observer of his era whose sweetheart is killed by Union troops during the Civil War.

Johnny Ringo is driven to become an outlaw until he is killed by Wyatt Earp.