Ben Thompson

Who was Ben Thompson?

Ben Thompson was a gunman, gambler, and sometimes lawman of the Old West. He was a contemporary of "Buffalo" Bill Cody, Bat Masterson, John Wesley Hardin and "Wild Bill" Hickock, some of whom considered him a friend, others an enemy. Thompson fought for the Confederacy during the American Civil War, and for the emperor in Mexico. When hired in 1881 as marshal in Austin, Texas, the crime rate reportedly dropped sharply during his term. Thompson was murdered at the age of 40 in San Antonio, Texas during the "Vaudeville Theater Ambush".