An exceptional marksman with a Kentucky long rifle, Burnham could consistently split in two a soft lead slug placed on an axe head from 100 and 200 yards.

[4] To most he was known as, "a Kentucky frontiersman and rifle shooting parson who could bark a squirrel, swing an axe or dispense Gospel with equal ferver and efficiency.

"[5][6] Burnham was a key figure in the defense of New Ulm, Minnesota, helping to prevent the town from total destruction as it was attacked by Taoyateduta (Little Crow) and his Sioux warriors in the Dakota War of 1862.

While he was in Mankato, Minnesota procuring lead and powder, his wife Rebecca (Elizabeth) Russell Burnham was left alone in the cabin with Fred, the couple's not quite two-year-old boy.

Fred was an outstanding horse rider, and he knew the environs around Los Angeles, so he landed a job as a mounted messenger with Western Union.

By the time he was 12, Fred was an expert with rifle or shotgun, hunting deer in Los Angeles, and at 13 he bought a Winchester model 1873 carbine, caliber .44-40.