Before his death, people feared Courtright's reputation as a gunman, and he reduced Ft. Worth's murder rate by more than half, while reportedly extracting protection money from town business owners.

[citation needed] Allegedly, he lied about his age and enlisted in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

They held shooting exhibitions for which they charged admission, and later performed as part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.

[1] As marshal, he was in charge of keeping the peace in the notorious "Hells Half Acre" (the town's red-light district).

On August 25, 1877, Deputy Marshal Columbus Fitzgerald was shot and killed while attempting to break up a street fight.

He left his family behind, he moved to New Mexico and obtained appointment as the Marshal of Lake Valley, and after that as a hired guard for a mining operation.

[3] In 1883, his former Civil War commander John A. Logan was interested in purchasing the American Valley Cattle Company in New Mexico.

He was hired by D. T. Beals and W. H. Bates, owners of the LX Ranch in the Texas Panhandle, to manage a large herd.

Moore sold his Adobe Walls Ranch for $75,000 (or about $2,400,000 in today's dollars) and used $25,000 of the proceeds to buy a one-third interest in Casey's American Valley Cattle Company.

[5]: 127–137 Daniel H. McAllister, a Deacon in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, had been until a few days before the manager of Casey's ranch.

When he learned of the murders, he informed the authorities, who promptly called for Moore and his fellow posse members' arrest.

McIntire also summoned his wife and the two families headed to Ft. Worth, where they successfully fought extradition to New Mexico, claiming the two men were "Mexicans" and they had been performing their duties as lawmen.

[5]: 150 Luke Short was a gunfighter, gambler and bar owner who had drifted down to Fort Worth from Dodge City, Kansas.

On February 8, 1887, at about 8:00 p.m., Courtright called out Luke Short, carrying a pair of pistols, and challenging him to come out of the White Elephant, but a friend Jake Johnson managed to calm him down and told him that they should talk about the affair instead.

[10] In 1907 Masterson published his own, more neutral account of the events that unfold, in which he stated that it was Jim Courtright, who called for Luke Short to meet him in the street for a confrontation, while carrying a "brace of pistols" of his own.

[15] In 1958, Karl Swenson was cast in an historically inaccurate portrayal of Courtright on the ABC/Warner Brothers western series, Colt .45, starring Wayde Preston.

Billy has told his friends of his grandfather's prowess with a gun, but the elderly Courtright now shuns a confrontation with the gunfighter Cherry Lane, played by Robert J. Wilke, amid accusations of cowardice.

[16][17] In 2021, the character of Jim Courtright was played by actor Billy Bob Thornton in the television series 1883, a spin-off of Taylor Sheridan's hit show Yellowstone.