Frank M. Canton

Josiah Horner (September 15, 1849 – September 27, 1927), better known as Frank M. Canton, was a famous American Old West lawman, gunslinger, cowboy and at one point in his life, an outlaw.

Josiah Horner was born on September 15, 1849, in Harrison Township, Henry County, Indiana and drifted into Texas working as a cowboy. In 1871, he started robbing banks and rustling cattle, which at the time was a capital offense. On October 10, 1874, Horner got into a gunfight with some Buffalo Soldiers, killing one and wounding the other. In 1877, he was arrested for robbing a bank in Comanche, Texas. He escaped from Texas Ranger custody and moved to Ogallala, Nebraska, and took up a herd of cattle. While in Nebraska, he officially changed his name to Frank M. Canton and vowed to give up his outlaw ways.

Frank Canton hired on as a stock detective for the . He was also elected sheriff of Johnson County, Wyoming. In 1885, Canton married and had 2 children, one of whom died early in childhood. Canton resigned the sheriff's job and returned to working for the W.S.G.A., and at the same time working as a U.S. Deputy Marshal.

During the Johnson County War, Canton signed on as one of Frank Wolcott's Regulators. On April 9, 1892, Canton led the Regulators to the "KC Ranch", where Nate Champion and Nick Ray were staying. Two other men at the ranch that day were captured as they emerged shortly after the Regulators arrived. Ray was shot and killed in the opening minutes of the ensuing gunbattle. Champion, a one time friend of Canton's, held off the regulators in a gunbattle for most of the day, killing at least four of the Regulators and wounding others. At 5:00 p.m., Canton set the house on fire. Champion soon burst out of the house firing his Winchester rifle and was shot 28 times.

...
Wikipedia