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Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio.

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Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, a

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Speaker 1: show that tallies the wins and losses of everyday history.

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Speaker 1: I'm Gay, Blues Yay, and today we're looking at a

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Speaker 1: story from the American West that's almost too fantastic to believe.

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Speaker 1: The tale of a lone fighter who bested nearly a

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Speaker 1: dozen desperadoes during the California gold Rush is a quick warning.

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Speaker 1: Today's episode includes descriptions of deadly violence and may be

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Speaker 1: upsetting for some listeners. The day was December nineteenth, eighteen

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Speaker 1: fifty four. Captain Jonathan Davis squared off against fourteen bandits

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Speaker 1: in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Despite as long eyes odds,

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Speaker 1: Davis took down eleven of the armed attackers in a

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Speaker 1: matter of minutes and sent the remaining three running for

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Speaker 1: their lives. Although he fought off his assailant single handed,

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Speaker 1: Davis hadn't been traveling alone that day. The South Carolina

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Speaker 1: native had set out across California's goldfields with two companions,

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Speaker 1: James McDonald of Alabama and doctor Bolivar Sparks of Mississippi.

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Speaker 1: The three men were hunting for gold in a remote

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Speaker 1: area of Rocky Canyon on the north fork of the

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Speaker 1: American River when they were ambushed by a gang of

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Speaker 1: murderous thieves. The attackers were a diverse crew consisting of

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Speaker 1: five Australians, four Mexicans, two Americans, two Brits, and one Frenchman.

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Speaker 1: The gang was in the midst of a violent crime spree,

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Speaker 1: having just robbed and killed six Chinese and four American miners.

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Speaker 1: Two of their own members had been wounded in the attack,

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Speaker 1: so the gang was lying low in the Sierra foothills

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Speaker 1: when another group of unsuspecting prospectors happened to wander their way.

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Speaker 1: When Davis and his companions were within range, the outlaws

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Speaker 1: sprang from the brush and immediately opened fire. James MacDonald

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Speaker 1: was shot right away and died before he could even

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Speaker 1: draw his gun. Doctor Sparks fared slightly better, managing to

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Speaker 1: squeeze off two rounds from his six shooter before being

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Speaker 1: critically wounded himself. It was now one man against fourteen,

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Speaker 1: a hopeless situation in most cases, but apparently not when

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Speaker 1: that one man is a former Army officer and expert fencer,

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Speaker 1: Jonathan Rutledge. Davis had served as an honorary captain of

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Speaker 1: the Palmetto Regiment of Volunteers during the Mexican American War.

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Speaker 1: He fought valiantly at the Battle of Churubusco, one of

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Speaker 1: the war's bloodiest engagements, but after being wounded in action,

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Speaker 1: he was discharged in eighteen forty eight. With two prospects

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Speaker 1: back home. Davis did the same as many other Mexican

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Speaker 1: war vetes and headed west to California to try his

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Speaker 1: luck in the gold fields. As he stared down fourteen

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Speaker 1: gunmen on December nineteenth, he probably thought his luck had

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Speaker 1: run out, but he stood his ground anyway. Gripped by

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Speaker 1: what he later called a quote fever of excitement, Davis

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Speaker 1: unholstered his two Colt revolvers and proceeded to pick off

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Speaker 1: seven bandits in quick succession. A barrage of enemy bullets

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Speaker 1: tore through his hat and jacket, but only two managed

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Speaker 1: to draw blood, and even then the wounds were slight.

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Speaker 1: An intense firefight ensued, with both sides emptying their pistols.

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Speaker 1: When Davis went to reload, four of the bandits rushed

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Speaker 1: toward him, three armed with knives and the fourth with

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Speaker 1: a cutlass. When the first two men reached him, Davis

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Speaker 1: dropped his guns and pulled out his own knife. He

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Speaker 1: stabbed one man to death and wrestled the blade away

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Speaker 1: from the other, slicing off the man's nose and one

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Speaker 1: of his fingers in the process. The last two attackers

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Speaker 1: were supposedly nursing wounds from their previous raids, making it

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Speaker 1: even easier for Davis to dispatch them with his knife.

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Speaker 1: By the time the dust settled, seven of the bandits

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Speaker 1: had been killed outright, and four more lay wounded and dying.

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Speaker 1: There were still three outlaws standing, but they wanted no

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Speaker 1: part of Davis and took off into the wilderness while

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Speaker 1: they still could. Just as it looked like the fight

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Speaker 1: was over and Davis might get a chance to catch

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Speaker 1: his breath, three more armed men came marching up the

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Speaker 1: trail toward him. Fearing the worst, the captain leaped the

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Speaker 1: body of James McDonald and retrieved his unfired gun, shouting

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Speaker 1: halt to the approaching men. Luckily, they turned out to

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Speaker 1: be a hunting party that had witnessed the whole scene

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Speaker 1: from a nearby hill and was now coming to offer

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Speaker 1: assistance to the victor. Realizing the danger was over, Davis

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Speaker 1: took the opportunity to check himself for wounds, but only

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Speaker 1: found a few scratches and clothing riddled with bullets. He

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Speaker 1: ripped up what was left of his shirt and used

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Speaker 1: it to bind the wounds of doctor Sparks, who was

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Speaker 1: still clinging to life. Davis and the hunters searched the

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Speaker 1: pockets of the dead men and found four hundred and

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Speaker 1: ninety one dollars in gold and silver coins, along with

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Speaker 1: four ounces of gold dust and several valuable watches. Davis

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Speaker 1: insisted that doctor Sparks take the bounty, and then they

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Speaker 1: carried the wounded man down the mountain and back to

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Speaker 1: his home. Unfortunately, the doctor's injuries proved too severe, and

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Speaker 1: he died from his wounds one week later. The deadly

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Speaker 1: affair was reported extensively in frontier newspapers and eventually all

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Speaker 1: across the country, but there were some skeptics who refused

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Speaker 1: to believe it. To them, it didn't seem possible that

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Speaker 1: one man could fend off fourteen bandits and walk away

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Speaker 1: with hardly a scratch. Captain Davis didn't appreciate being called liar,

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Speaker 1: so he invited any doubters to come see the attacker's

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Speaker 1: graves in Rocky Canyon, as you might expect, though no

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Speaker 1: one took him up on the offer. Three months later,

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Speaker 1: Davis decided to put an end to the rumors once

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Speaker 1: and for all. He tracked down the three eye witnesses

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Speaker 1: to the fight, John Webster, Isaac Hart, and P. S. Robertson.

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Speaker 1: Then he called a meeting at the office of the

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Speaker 1: county newspaper, the Placerville Mountain Democrat. There before a judge

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Speaker 1: and a delegation of prominent citizens, the men gave a

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Speaker 1: detailed account of Davis's actions, concluding that, quote from all

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Speaker 1: the evidence before us, Captain Davis and his party acted

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Speaker 1: solely in self defense, were perfectly justifiable in killing these robbers,

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Speaker 1: and that too much praise cannot be bestowed upon them

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Speaker 1: for having so gallantly stopped the wild career of these

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Speaker 1: lawless Ruffians. Although Jonathan Davis's story was finally accepted in

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Speaker 1: his own time, there's a good chance you've never heard

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Speaker 1: it before today. The Harrowing Gunfight was largely forgotten until

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Speaker 1: just a few decades ago, when researchers combing through old

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Speaker 1: West newspapers finally rediscovered it. One of the people most

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Speaker 1: responsible for reviving Davis's legend is historian and author John Boznecker.

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Speaker 1: In his book gold Dust and Gun Smoke, he makes

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Speaker 1: it clear just how remarkable Davis's exploit really was, calling

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Speaker 1: it quote the single most extraordinary feat of self defense

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Speaker 1: by an American civilian in the annals of Frontier History.

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Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Luesier and hopefully you now know a little

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Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. If you'd

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Speaker 1: like to keep up with the show, consider following us

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Speaker 1: on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. You can find us at

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Speaker 1: TDI HC Show. And if you have any feedback you'd

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Speaker 1: like to share, you can all please send it my

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Speaker 1: way by writing to This Day at iHeartMedia dot com.

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Speaker 1: Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thanks

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Speaker 1: to you for listening. I'll see you back here again

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Speaker 1: tomorrow for another Day in History Class