I’m not saying that there’s no place in my life for romantic comedies, but. I LOOOVE cowboy movies.
And I was sad that when I lived in Arizona, I never got to go to Tombstone. Site of the gunfight at the OK Corral!
Wyatt Earp! Doc “I’m your huckleberry” Holliday!

Unfortunately, I lived in Yuma, Arizona. Which is NOT AT ALL close to Tombstone.
(But *IS* close to Tuscon, Mo. In case my baby girl is looking for something to do when she’s not studying)
(you’re welcome)

No. This BHFOTD is NOT about Arizona. Because Arizona hates Black people. And Latinos. And Gays.
But it IS about a guy named Wyatt. Turns out there’s more than just one famous one.

*clears throat*

Wyatt Outlaw was the first African-American Town Commissioner and Constable of the Town of Graham, North Carolina.

Outlaw was apparently of mixed racial heritage. Sources conflict on the question of whether Outlaw was a slave or a free person of color.
Outlaw served in the 2nd Regiment U. S. Colored Cavalry from 1864-1866. He served in various engagements in Virginia and late in the Civil war was stationed on the Rio Grande in Texas until he was mustered out in February 1866.
After returning from his service in the Civil War, Outlaw became a prominent African-American in Alamance County. In 1868, Outlaw was among the a number of trustees who were deeded land for the establishment of the first African Methodist Episcopal Church in Alamance County. He was also prominently involved in the Union League and the Republican Party.

Outlaw’s prominent activities on behalf of African-Americans in Alamance County made him a target of the White Brotherhood, the Constitutional Union Guard and the Ku Klux Klan. As a prominent Republican in Alamance County, Outlaw was appointed to the Graham Town Council by Governor Holden and soon became one of three constables of the town – all three of whom were African-Americans (Anybody thinking about Blazing Saddles right now? No? Just me? Okay then).

On one occasion in 1869, white residents of the area who were incensed by the prospect of being policed by an all African-American constabulary organized a nighttime ride in Klan garb through the streets of Graham in an effort to frighten the African-American constables. Outlaw and another constable open-fire on the night riders, but no injuries were sustained. Outlaw’s aggressive response to the night riders further inflamed the anger of Klan sympathizers. AND On this day(night) in 1870, a party of unidentified men road into Graham, dragged Outlaw from his home and hung him from a tree in the courthouse square in Graham.

In 1873, Guilford County Superior Court Judge Albion Tourgee advocated for re-visiting the murder of Wyatt Outlaw. That year the Grand Jury of Alamance County brought felony indictments against 63 Klansmen, including 18 murder counts in connection with the lynching of Wyatt Outlaw, but the Democratically-controlled state legislature repealed the laws under which most of these indictments had been brought so that no trials in connection with Outlaw’s murder ever occurred.

The End.

I know. I’m sorry guys. I just sprung a deathiversary on y’all with no warning. I’m an asshole. But y’all DID know that right? It’s not like THAT comes as a surprise.
But if it makes you feel better… That was 144 years ago. ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR YEARS. That’s a long time. And now we’re in post-racial America! We’ve got a Black President!
THIS IS THE YEAR 2014. And race relations are so much diff…. (thinks about Oscar Grant, and Kendrick Johnson, and Trayvon Martin, and Jordan Davis)

Nevermind.