Luke Lamar Short (January 22, 1854 – September 8, 1893) was an American Old West gunfighter, cowboy, U.S. Army scout, dispatch rider, gambler, boxing promoter, and saloon owner.

He survived numerous gunfights, the most famous of which were against Charlie Storms in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, and against Jim Courtright in Fort Worth, Texas.

Inside the house, Luke helped the elder Short by dragging a large rifle to his brother, who then ran and handed it to his father.

"[citation needed] In an interview later in his life, Short told researcher George H. Morrison that he moved to the Black Hills in 1876 and to Ogallala, Nebraska, the next year.

They put him on a train destined for Omaha, but Luke managed to escape the army escort and went to the makeshift mining and cowtown of Denver, Colorado, taking up gambling as a profession.

Based on their previous friendship, Harris had no problem convincing his partners to engage Earp as a faro dealer at their Oriental Saloon in Tombstone.

On Friday, February 25, 1881, Short was serving as the lookout, seated next to the dealer at a faro game in the Oriental, when he was involved in what became a well-known gunfight.

Bat Masterson, who was in Tombstone at the time, described what happened in a magazine article he wrote in 1907: Storms did not know Short, and like the bad man in Leadville, had sized him up as an insignificant-looking fellow, whom he could slap in the face without expecting a return.

[19] On April 28, three prostitutes employed at the Long Branch were arrested by City Marshal Jack Bridges and policeman Louis C. Hartman.

[23] Deger's action came during the cattle season and critics believed this would cause harm by lessening the money spent in the city.

Additional pressure to resolve the issue had come from the governor and the Santa Fe Railroad, which did considerable business in the town.

[27] Jake Johnson was one of the wealthiest men in Texas, and his part ownership of the White Elephant was one of many business and real estate enterprises he was involved in.

The White Elephant was described in The Fort Worth Daily Gazette of December 12, 1884, as the "pride of the city" and "the largest and most magnificent establishment in the state."

Henry Short fled to Fort Worth before he could be arrested, to enlist the aid and funds that his brother Luke could provide for his defense.

To raise the needed funds, Johnson agreed to purchase Luke Short's one-third interest in the White Elephant on February 7, 1887.

[32] The press informed the public that Short had no intention of leaving town, "but will continue to call Fort Worth home.

I was standing with my thumbs in the armholes of my vest and had dropped them in front of me to adjust my clothing, when he remarked, 'Well, you needn't reach for your gun,' and immediately put his hand in his hip pocket and pulled his.

[34] In 1907, Masterson published his own account of the events, where he stated that Jim Courtright, carrying a "brace of pistols", challenged Luke Short to a duel: No time was wasted in the exchange of words once the men faced each other.

"[44] A.G. Arkwright later recalled, "Luke Short came there, to the hotel where I was staying, with his wife, the beautiful and accomplished daughter of an Emporia banker, whom he married under romantic circumstances.

His friend Jake Johnson and he, along with their wives, attended the inaugural running of the Futurity Stakes on Labor Day 1888, held in New York at the Sheepshead Bay Race Track on Coney Island.

The Daily Inter Ocean reported that Short, "who is numbered as one of the prominent figures of the Richburg battle" had cabled Charles E. "Parson" Davies offering $20,000 to have John L. Sullivan defend his boxing title in a championship fight at Fort Worth.

"[49][50][51] In 1890, Short, Johnson, and a gambler named Charles M. Wright, along with other sporting men, were partners in some Memphis faro games.

In describing Short's leg wound, the local paper said, "the full charge of buckshot passed through the flesh, making a tunnel, the muscles on the outside were torn out."

When discussing the gunfight with Wright, the paper reported: "It was supposed at the time that Short was fatally wounded, and his recovery was wholly due to the careful nursing of his wife, who for three months hardly left his bedside.

During this trip, Short was accosted in the lobby of the Leland Hotel by a drunken attorney named James J. Singleton in late October 1891.

Edema, then called "dropsy", would have contributed to a slight puffiness in his face, as well as the accumulation of fluids in his lower legs that would have made standing difficult for prolonged periods of time for Short.

"[64] Just two days before Short's death, while Hattie sat at his bedside in Kansas, word arrived that her mother had died in Fort Worth.

A Dodge City newspaper belatedly printed a dispatch from Fort Worth that stated, "two days ago, his mother-in-law died and the two funerals will take place here at the same time.

On February 22, 1955, Short was played by actor Wally Cassell in an episode of the syndicated Western TV series Stories of the Century.

On January 5, 1960, Bob Steele played Short in the episode "The Terrified Town" on the CBS Western television series The Texan, starring Rory Calhoun.