Johnny Tyler
“Tyler was a nice looking fellow of the Jack Oakhurst type. He was tall, slender and very dark. He had piercing black eyes and a long black mustache. Though his business was dealing faro, he frequently played against the bank himself, and when he did, he played high. His winnings often ran far into the thousands. His reckless play gave him a reputation for ‘nerve,’ and he was generally considered as a gunfighter of the most violent type.”
- San Francisco Examiner 1891
Johnny Tyler was a gambler, in every sense of the word. His chosen profession was popular in the American West during the period following the Civil War, and was mostly viewed as a semi-legitimate, albeit dangerous, calling. Tyler was not unusual in that he frequented some major cities and several of the West’s most famous mining boomtowns. Like many of his gambling contemporaries, he dealt faro in towns such as Sacramento, San Francisco, Pioche, Salt Lake City, Eureka, Virginia City, Tombstone, Leadville and Spokane Falls.
What makes Tyler’s story more interesting and, at times, compelling is the fact that fate saw him lock horns with two of the West’s most iconic figures – “Doc” Holliday and Wyatt Earp.
In the case of Holliday, Tyler would have two separate occasions to tempt fate, and his second meeting with Doc in Leadville was pivotal in Holliday’s story. In fact, Tyler and Holliday were similar in many regards. They were both professional gamblers and heavy drinkers, who were prone to gunplay. They appeared to court confrontation and both were usually armed and ready to answer any challenge from a rival.
In Tyler’s case, those challenges, real or imagined, came thick and fast, as he spent his time immersed in the vice ridden saloons and bawdy houses of the frontier. His adult life was a steady progression and decline into drinking and gunplay that saw him face off against many fellow gamblers – some of whom were never famous – but all of whom were formidable.
His troubled life included clashes with men such as Frank Maddy, James Dobson, Ike Brown, Dave Neagle, James Marcuse, Henry Wright, Tony Kraker, Doc Holliday, Lew Rickabaugh and Wyatt Earp.
Johnny Tyler left no memoirs, diaries nor personal recollections, so his life has been traced through the use of contemporary newspapers and historical documents. Tyler emerges as an aggressive gambler, a dangerous enemy, and a man seemingly seduced by life on the edge, who ultimately was not able to control his addictions.
His story highlights the nature of frontier gambling and the sudden violence that often scattered the cards and stained the green cloth with blood.
“Tyler was a nice looking fellow of the Jack Oakhurst type. He was tall, slender and very dark. He had piercing black eyes and a long black mustache. Though his business was dealing faro, he frequently played against the bank himself, and when he did, he played high. His winnings often ran far into the thousands. His reckless play gave him a reputation for ‘nerve,’ and he was generally considered as a gunfighter of the most violent type.”
- San Francisco Examiner 1891
Johnny Tyler was a gambler, in every sense of the word. His chosen profession was popular in the American West during the period following the Civil War, and was mostly viewed as a semi-legitimate, albeit dangerous, calling. Tyler was not unusual in that he frequented some major cities and several of the West’s most famous mining boomtowns. Like many of his gambling contemporaries, he dealt faro in towns such as Sacramento, San Francisco, Pioche, Salt Lake City, Eureka, Virginia City, Tombstone, Leadville and Spokane Falls.
What makes Tyler’s story more interesting and, at times, compelling is the fact that fate saw him lock horns with two of the West’s most iconic figures – “Doc” Holliday and Wyatt Earp.
In the case of Holliday, Tyler would have two separate occasions to tempt fate, and his second meeting with Doc in Leadville was pivotal in Holliday’s story. In fact, Tyler and Holliday were similar in many regards. They were both professional gamblers and heavy drinkers, who were prone to gunplay. They appeared to court confrontation and both were usually armed and ready to answer any challenge from a rival.
In Tyler’s case, those challenges, real or imagined, came thick and fast, as he spent his time immersed in the vice ridden saloons and bawdy houses of the frontier. His adult life was a steady progression and decline into drinking and gunplay that saw him face off against many fellow gamblers – some of whom were never famous – but all of whom were formidable.
His troubled life included clashes with men such as Frank Maddy, James Dobson, Ike Brown, Dave Neagle, James Marcuse, Henry Wright, Tony Kraker, Doc Holliday, Lew Rickabaugh and Wyatt Earp.
Johnny Tyler left no memoirs, diaries nor personal recollections, so his life has been traced through the use of contemporary newspapers and historical documents. Tyler emerges as an aggressive gambler, a dangerous enemy, and a man seemingly seduced by life on the edge, who ultimately was not able to control his addictions.
His story highlights the nature of frontier gambling and the sudden violence that often scattered the cards and stained the green cloth with blood.
