Franklin Leslie

Nashville Franklyn Leslie
Nashville Franklyn "Buckskin Frank" Leslie
Born	March 18, 1842 San Antonio, Texas
Died	After January 27, 1920 possibly Sausalito, California
Nationality	American
Other names	Buckskin Frank Leslie, Nashville Franklyn Leslie, Capt. N. Frank Leslie
Occupation	U.S. Army scout, gambler, miner, rancher, gunfighter
Known for	Killing Mike Killeen and Billy Claiborne
Height	5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Weight	135 lb (61 kg)
Criminal penalty	25 years
Criminal status	Pardoned in 1896
Spouse(s)	Mrs. Mary Jane (Evans) Killeen Mrs. Belle Stowell Mrs. Elnora (Torbert) Cast
Conviction(s)	Murder of Molly Edwards

Buckskin Franklyn Leslie (March 18, 1842 – after 1920) was a U.S. Army scout, gambler, bartender, rancher, miner, and gunfighter and con-man. He was known for his fringed buckskin jacket. He became famous in Tombstone, Arizona for killing two men in self-defense. He married the widow of one of his victims eight days after killing her husband. Following their divorce, Leslie later shot and killed a woman he lived with at his ranch while drunk and in a fit of jealousy. He was sentenced to life in prison but only served six years before he was pardoned. He was last listed in the U.S. Federal Census on January 27, 1920 in Sausalito, California. No public records of him have been found after this date and it is not known when he died.

Leslie was born Nashville Franklyn Leslie near San Antonio, Texas. Conflicting accounts of his early life exist. In 1913, Leslie wrote on his marriage certificate that he was the son of Bernard Leslie from Virginia and Martha Leslie of Kentucky. The Tombstone Daily Prospector reported on July 15, 1889 that Leslie was born in Galveston, Texas in 1842 where he supposedly grew up. They stated that his father was Thomas Kennedy and his mother was Martha Leslie. The story reports that he took his mother's last name as his after a falling out with his father, though they did not provide any sources.

Nothing has been documented concerning Leslie's first 36 years, although he told some colorful and improbable stories concerning those missing years. On two separate occasions Leslie told writers his version of incidents from his early life. In 1880 Leslie said that "in 1861 he joined the Southern Army, and continued with it till April 9th 1865, when he was attached to General Gordon's division as a First Lieutenant, in the 10th Cavalry." He claimed he "was Deputy Sheriff of Abalene [sic]... under the notorious J.B. Hickock [sic] or 'Wild Bill,' " and that he was a "rough rider in Australia," and a [ship] pilot in the Fiji Islands and that "he has exhibited, as a fancy rifle shootist in different parts of the world."

In 1893, he told another story to W.H. Cameron of the San Francisco Chronicle, in which he claimed that "the story of his life is a romance. Born in Virginia [sic] in 1842 of a good family he went to Heidelberg to study medicine, his brother at the same time going to West Point for a military education. When the Civil War broke out in 1861 Frank returned to his old home in Virginia [sic] and entered the Confederate Army as a bugler, while his brother joined the Union forces."