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King Schultz 2

King Schultz (1803-5 May 1859) was a German-American dentist-turned-bounty hunter of the Old South and the Wild West.

Biography[]

King Schultz was born in Düsseldorf, Prussia in 1803, and he was trained as a dentist before becoming involved in the Rhenish Revolution of 1848. After the Prussian Army quelled the revolution, Schultz emigrated to the United States and settled in Texas, where a large German immigrant community had formed. In 1853, his brother was shot twice and murdered, and Schultz resolved to hunt down and kill his brother's murderer. Schultz ultimately became a bounty hunter, riding across the American South in his dentist's wagon with bounties posted by circuit court judge Henry Allen Laudermilk of Austin, Texas. In 1858, he sought out the slave Django, who had been sold by Curtis Carrucan to the slave traders Ace Speck and Dicky Speck in Greenville, Mississippi; he ultimately killed the two slavers in Texas after buying Django from them. Schultz told Django that he would free him after Django helped him hunt down the brothers John Brittle, Ellis Brittle, and Roger Brittle, who had served as overseers on the Carrucan plantation, and who were wanted for murder. Schultz and Django became close friends, hunting down bounties from Willard Peck in Daughtrey, Texas to the Brittles in Gatlinburg, Tennessee (and killing the brothers' new employer Spencer Bennett after Bennett tried to ambush and kill them afterwards), and countless bounties (including Smitty Bacall) over the winter of 1858-1859. Schultz persuaded Django to partner with him in bounty hunting and train in gunslinging before he helped Django find his wife Broomhilda von Shaft the following spring. Ultimately, they were able to track down Broomhilda to Candyland, the fourth-largest plantation in Mississippi, located in Chickasaw County. Posing as buyers of "Mandingo fighters", Schultz and Django met with Calvin J. Candie at his plantation and offered him $12,000 for his strongest slave, while Schultz also attempted to casually buy Broomhilda, feigning attachment to her German language skills. However, Candie's head slave Stephen Warren discovered that Django and Broomhila knew each other, and that Schultz and Django might be intending to buy Broomhilda for cheap and never come back with the money for the purchase of the fighter "Eskimo Joe". Schultz had his guards hold Schultz and Django at gunpoint, confronted them over their deception, and forced Schultz to buy Broomhilda for the full price of $12,000, threatening to kill Broomhilda if they refused. During dessert, Candie signed over Broomhilda to a disturbed Schultz, who recalled his horror at watching Candie sic his trackers' dogs on an escaped slave. With the paper in hand, Schultz bade Candie "goodbye", saying that the German Auf wiedersehen ("until next time") was inappropriate, as he never wished to see Candie again. Candie repeatedly insisted that Schultz shake his hand, or else he would have his bodyguard Butch Pooch shoot Broomhilda. Schultz reluctantly agreed, only for his anger to move him to draw a hidden pistol and shoot Candie in the chest, killing him. Schultz then apologized to Django for being unable to help his emotional inclination, and Pooch shot Schultz dead, leading to a shootout.

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