[1] He became the business partner of gunfighter Ben Thompson in Abilene, Kansas, with whom opened the Bull's Head Saloon.

Philip Coe was enrolled March 24th, 1862 at Belmont (Gonzales Co. Texas) by William L. Foster and 3 days and 53 miles later was mustered in at San Antonio, TX.

It is possible Philip Coe fought under Emperor Maximillian of Mexico as a soldier-of-fortune with his friend Ben Thompson after his service in the Confederate Texas Troops, but there are no records to show for sure.

[3] After the war, Coe drifted through Texas, becoming friends with gunfighter Bill Longley, and learning to gamble from gunman Ben Thompson, with whom he had served in Mexico.

In May 1871, Coe became Ben Thompson's business partner in Abilene, managing the popular Bull's Head Saloon.

They outraged the townspeople of Abilene by painting a bull, complete with an erection on the outside wall of his tavern.

He got to know many of the Old West's leading figures, including John Wesley Hardin and Abilene's town marshal, Wild Bill Hickok.

Coe took an immediate dislike to Hickok, while Ben Thompson usually got along with him, the men respecting each other's reputation as a gunfighter.