Ringo's upside down revolver cartridge belt

[Chet Rollins]

            John Peters Ringo’s body was found on the morning of July 14, 1882 by John Yoast, who was driving a wagon to Tombstone, Arizona. Ringo was sitting in the bole of a tree a few yards off the road. Mr. Yoast identified the body and then proceeded into town to report his discovery. A party was soon assembled and went to investigate. A coroner’s inquest was held on the spot and then the body was buried at the base of the tree.

            At the time only minimal and ordinary curiosity as to his demise followed. Much later interest surrounding the O.K. Corral gunfight led to rampant speculation as to who might have pulled the trigger that had inflicted the single gunshot to Ringo’s head. The hasty coroner’s inquest left sufficient wiggle room for generations of amateur and professional historical researchers.

            Recently on the cover of the April 2012 issue of True West Magazine a colored printing of a late 1800’s tintype of an Arizona cowboy may have settled just one of the questions about the coroner’s report.

Excerpts from the coroner’s report;

 

Turkey or Morse’s Hill creek

14^th July 1882

Statement for the information of the Coroner and Sheriff of Cochise Co. A. T.

 

He had on two cartridge belts, the belt for the revolver cartridges being buckled on upside down. The undernoted property were found with him and on his person;

1 cartridge belt containing 9 rifle cartridges

1 cartridge belt containing 2 revolver cartridges

 

In the TW cover photo you can see that the cowboy is wearing two cartridge belts and on the upper belt the cartridges are pointed up. This is evident by the enlarged brass base on the down side of the belt. Normally cartridges rest in the belt loops pointing down so that the base of the cartridge catches on the top of the loop preventing cartridges from falling out and becoming lost.

     Based on the belt tongues in the picture it is apparent that both belts are right side up; it is only the cartridges that are upside down. It also appears that the cartridges in the upper belt are slightly smaller than the cartridges in the lower belt, so can it be assumed that the upper belt holds the revolver cartridges? This implies that the revolver holster is being supported by the lower rifle cartridge belt. The cowboy in the picture is in a sitting position, the same as he would be in the saddle, and it does look as it would be easier to extract a cartridge from the bottom of the upper belt in this position.

     Prior to viewing this photo it was naturally assumed that the revolver belt would have been the one that the revolver holster would have hung from. Yet the coroner’s report on Johnny Ringo doesn’t mention that the revolver belt and holster are upside down. Surely it would seem that if the holster was also upside down, this would allow for pause by the inquest party as to why, and would call into question the belief that it was a suicide.

            The TW cover tintype does not solve all the questions about the Ringo coroner’s report but it does create a plausible resolution to the upside down revolver cartridge belt portion of the speculation concerning the condition in which John Peters Ringo’s body was discovered.

     Incidentally, the photo is a tintype; a mirror image that must be reversed so that the rifle saddle ring and loading gate appear on the proper side of the rifle. However, this hasn’t any bearing on the placement of the cartridges.

 

 

Chet Rollins

[Kevin Hogge]

Very good observation Chet. I've always assumed the cartridge belt was upside down due to Ringo having been on a three day drunk. You would think during that time he would need to remove it as... well... nature called. Many have used this fact combined with his boots having been removed to suggest foul play. A teamster named Robert Boller who reportedly came upon the scene explained the boots being removed as Ringo having the DTs or whiskey shakes as Josephine Earp described them. Boller said Ringo likely thought there were snakes in his boots and pulled them off. It is not uncommon for people with the DTs to see things.

Good eye Chet!

[Chet Rollins]

Kevin,

My take on the boots is a bit more simplistic based on personal observation and eye witness testimony. According to witnesses, Ringo was prone to depression fueled drinking, nobody ever mentioned seeing Ringo in delirium. They did say that he was moody. Just prior to his death, witnesses said that he was on a weeklong drinking binge that started in Tombstone. When last seen two days prior to finding his body, he was still drinking.

It has been my experience that alcohol makes the feet swell. Women shuck off their shoes and men loosen the laces. In Ringo’s case, while riding in triple digit heat, he simply removed his boots and kept riding. That explains the fact that his boots were found hanging from his saddle. He wrapped an old shirt around his feet for padding against the stirrups. The coroner’s report stated that “…on his feet were a pair of hose and undershirt torn up so as to protect his feet. He had evidently traveled but a short distance in this foot gear.” That tells me that he didn’t try to hike to Turkey Creek or run from Wyatt’s bullet.

I show this in the video I posted last month.

[Kevin Hogge]

Swelling of the feet could well be the answer. But there is one account of delirium. Robert Boller had a conversation with Mrs. George Kitt of the Arizona Pioneer Historical Society on December 29, 1927 where he said Ringo removed the boots because he thought there were snakes in them. Conjecture for sure and maybe the ramblings of an "old timer" I don't know. Josephine Earp said Ringo had the "whiskey shakes'. I've seen that (DTs) and a person that deep in the bottle is prone to delirium. I don't know man, I just think he was a lost soul. His friends are dead and his enemies are gone, like I posted on the video, which I really enjoyed by the way.

Fun discussing it though..

[Chet Rollins]

Boller was one of the Coroner's inquest party and a reputable character that reached his 15 minutes of fame in the late 1920's when the Wyatt Earp books & interest came out. I do not count Josephine Earp as a creditable source. However, Billy Breakenridge was the last person to see Ringo alive and if Ringo had been bootless or seeing snakes I'm sure Billy would have mentioned it. He wouldn't have been able to pass up telling that story. It was pure speculation or imagination on Bollers part whether Ringo was seeing snakes because he couldn't image anybody taking thier boots off and hanging them on the saddle. It is pure speculation on my part also, based on the known facts.

I can tell you one thing though, if I saw snakes in my boots I wouldn't have hung them on my saddle.

Thanks for the input!

[Murray A. Gewirtz]

[James Allder]

Nicccceeee work, people.  Kudos.

[Murray A. Gewirtz]

The above is the cover with the Texas Ranger flipped side to side so as to make the image appear as it did in actuality. Now the saddle ring on the rifle is on its left side, and the ranger's shirt is buttoned left over right, as is correct. But, Houston, we still have a problem. The tongues of both belts now point to the man's right side instead of the left, where the tongues on men's belts normally do. This would seem to indicate that both belts are upside down! The ranger did put the larger (rifle) cartridges in the lower belt normally (base on top, bullet on bottom), but, for whatever reason, put the smaller (pistol) cartridges in the loops of the upper belt upside down, as you point out, Chet. But why did the guy wear the belts upside down? Possibly the belts look the same either way---except for the direction of the buckles and tongues, and our ranger didn't care about the fashion rule that dictates that the tongue on a man's belt points to his left. Which means that Texas Rangers overrule the fashion police!  

[Buck Grizzly]

When researching holsters in several pictures I noticed there are examples of cartridges loaded upside down in the cartridge loops. Don't know why but there was more than a couple, maybe it is easier to have the bullets fall into a cupped hand when retrieving them on the go, or maybe on horseback. Definitely a preference thing though, and not so uncommon that it should be used as definite sign of foul play especially with someone who has been witnessed to be on a drunk binge for days on end. JMHO.

[Kevin Hogge]

Buck, I hadn't given it much thought until lately. I asked a friend about this and he said it was a common practice to place your pistol ammo (45-40) right side up in the top belt (unlike the picture) and the longer rifle load up side down in the bottom belt. Makes sense to me, no mistaking what's where and pushing the shell down and out seems to be a smoother action.

[Buck Grizzly]

Certainly makes sense to not want to mix the two especially when time is of the essence. But some of the examples I noticed were on single belts so maybe they just grew accustomed to the practice, either by habit or by learned behavior from whomever taught them. In any case there are examples just like the TR above. Too bad they are not around to ask???