Tut Tut

Yesterday, this guy down in front of the bus station was claiming the expression "tut tut" comes from a man named Davis Tutt who was gunned down by Wild Bill Hickok. As usual I rushed to the Harper Library to check it out. It ain't so. However, I did learn a lot by checking. Seems like Wild Bill Hickok and Davis Tutt met in a showdown in the town square of Springfield, Missouri back in 1865. As you might imagine there was a woman or maybe women involved in their rivalry. But the main thing was poker. Tutt thought Hickok owed him $35.00. Hickok thought it was only $25.00. Tutt grabbed Hickok's watch off the poker table and said it would cover the $35.00. Hickok told him if he caught him wearing the watch he would kill him. The next day in comes Tutt with the watch prominently  displayed. In short, they met up on the street. Tutt yelled out it would now take $45.00 to get the watch back. The face off is supposed to be the first recorded quick draw duel in history. At any rate it is the model for many a western gunfight. One big difference, they stood sideways, to make a miss more likely. They both fired, Tutt missed, Hickok's shot hit Tutt right in the heart. Just think, a different result could have created Will Dave Tutt. Oh well, like they say, "A miss is as good as a mile."

Tales of Harper, short stories and poems about the fictional town of Harper, Mississippi is available on Amazon Kindle