a Jim Marsh Establishment

LAST  OF  THE
DESERT FRONTIERSMAN

THE LEGEND OF JACK LONGSTREET

1834-(?)-1928

  Jack Longstreet rose up like a mirage in the desert Southwest, the classic mysterious stranger portrayed in dime novels. He was a Wild West Everyman ­ gunslinger, settler, miner, store owner, saloon keeper, gambler, and family man. Little is known about his life prior to 1880, but his hint of a Southern drawl narrows the trail he must have ridden.

  In Nevada, Longstreet home-steaded in Amargosa Valley at Ash Meadows, and married a local Paiute woman. Although his piercing blue eyes marked him as an outsider, he became an Indian advocate and exhibited leadership among the Paiute people.

  Among those with powerful mining and ranching interests, Longstreet was one of the most feared men in Northwest Arizona and Southcentral Nevada at the turn of the century. He was also the one to hire when a killer needed tracking or a sign needed erecting in the desert.

   Most accounts portray Longstreet as a hard drinking man with a notched gun and a taste for high stakes poker. Although much of his life is shrouded in mystery, it is clear that even before his death Jack Longstreet became a legend.