This is an authentic and historic business card from the famous gunfighter John Wesley Hardin dating to circa 1894 from the Tombstone Western Heritage Museum collection and the McNellis collection. The card is marked on the front, “JOHN W. HARDIN Esq. ATTORNEY AT LAW OFFICE: 200 ½ El Paso Wells Fargo Bldg. PRACTICE IN ALL COURTS.” John Wesley Hardin (1853-1895) was an American Old West outlaw, gunfighter and folk icon. From an early age he had trouble with the law, killing his first man at age 15, claiming self-defense. By 1877, at the age of 23 he was sentenced to 24 years in prison for murder, Hardin claimed to have killed 42 men. In prison he studied law and wrote an autobiography. When J.W. Hardin was released from prison in early 1894, he spent his first year trying to walk the straight and narrow. He obtained his law license and set up practice in El Paso, Texas. Unfortunately, much of his clientele were from the underserved portions of the state, and many could not pay for is services. As his life spiraled back into chaos during early 1895, he allowed his law license to lapse. This piece dates to his release from prison just before he was killed by John Selman in an El Paso saloon. The card has the correct paper and back print, is most definitely authentic. John Wesley Hardin was also known by the names of Little Arkansas, Wesley Clements, J.H. Swain, J.H. Hardin and was a noted gambler, card sharp, cowboy, cattle rustler, gunfighter, outlaw and lawyer. Provenance: From the historic Tombstone Western Heritage Museum collection, the card was donated to the museum from the McNellis collection of Robert and John McNellis, the most noted John Wesley Hardin collectors. Measures 3 1/8-inches by 2 1/8-inches.