William Floyd "Billy" Claiborne (21 October 1860 – 14 November 1882) was an American outlaw of the Wild West and a member of the Cochise County Cowboys gang.
Biography[]
William Floyd Claiborne was born in Yazoo County, Mississippi on 21 October 1860, and he worked as a cowhand before driving cattle from Texas to Arizona in 1879 and settling in Tombstone, where he worked as a miner. On 1 October 1881, he murdered the drunk James Hickey in Charleston, but he was acquitted due to a mistrial. After Billy the Kid was killed, Claiborne killed up to three men who refused to call Billy by his nickname. He went on to befriend the Clanton and McLaury brothers and join the Cochise County Cowboys gang, but he deserted them at the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral on 26 October 1881, running before guns could be drawn. Claiborne's reputation fell, and, on 14 November 1882, he was shot in the chest by Buckskin Frank Leslie after trying to pick a fight with him at the Oriental Saloon in Tombstone.