Ned Buntline

Categories: 1823 births | 1886 deaths

Ned Buntline (March 20, 1823 - 1886), was the pseudonym of Edward Zane Carroll Judson (E.Z.C.) Judson, was a American publisher, journalist writer and publicist best known for his dime novels and the Colt Buntline Special he commissioned from Colt's Manufacturing Company.

He travelled a lot around the West and was known for making legends out of people he met through his dime novels and for more than generous reports on their exploits. He was, for instance, responsible for making William Cody change his name to "Buffalo Bill" and creating his fame. During this time he commissioned a custom pistol with a removable stock from the Colt company, with the intention to give these weapons out as gifts to prominent personalities of the Old West. Originnaly they were to be given to the "as intrepid a posse as ever pulled a trigger", the group of lawmen who hunted down the killer of Dora Hand, led by Wyatt Earp. Among the claimed possesors of this gun were Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson and Wild Bill Hickok.