Wild Jack Gillespie, Shootist

Lock, stock and barrel, Jack Gillespie is the real deal when it comes to shootin’ up a storm. Just a mere tyke when the men folk in his family taught him to hunt and fish on the abundant Great Plains, a skill needed for survival more than sport. On his 12th birthday, his father finally conceded that his arm (and attention) span were sufficient enough to handle the Winchester “Yellowboy,” and passed down his most prized possession. “My rifle has finally met it’s match,” was inscribed on the enclosed note.

Now, a renowned exhibition marksman beloved from coast to coast, Gillespie is most noted in the record books for hitting a silver dollar target tossed into the air while at full gallop and shooting the petals off a sunflower, one by one. The rumor mill reports that he became quite fond of Annie Oakley during his exhibition troop’s brief engagement at Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show; he asked her on a dinner date, but she shot him down.