It was reputed that there were fourteen of them but there may have been more. When referring to desperados, I often call them “ 2-legged beasts who live beyond the laws of man”, but perhaps I’m being too kind in using this to describe the murderous horde who stalked these woods in the winter of 1854. The tale of the shootout at Rocky Cañón in the winter of 1854 resurrected a man’s name from obscurity so that we may know a forgotten hero lost under dusty manuscripts and shrouded by the mists of time. I combined these elements to recreate the incident for readers to sample what it must have been like that December day. I used his data and fused it with my personal knowledge of 19th century life, weapons management, fighting methods, tissue wounds, and the natural world.

The story here is based on Boessenecker’s research as stated in his book “Gold Dust and Gunsmoke”.

The outcome was so incredulous, that the witnesses were compelled to give testimony under oath as to what was seen. This fight was a stand-up scrap, muzzle to muzzle blade on blade, and chest to chest, in an ugly, gritty, bloody row. There are comparable accounts where one man faced down and prevailed over insurmountable odds or at least went down swinging such as The Battle at Blazer’s Mill, The Newton Massacre or The Frisco Shootout to name a few but Davis simply stacked up more bodies and survived against impossible odds virtually unscathed.

Jonathan davis survivors quest ii