Joe Bowman (marksman)

Joseph Lee Bowman[1] (April 12, 1925 – June 29, 2009) was an American marksman called "The Straight Shooter", considered to have been a guardian of Texas and Western frontier culture. He was also an Eagle Scout, Army soldier, and bootmaker.

Joe Bowman
Celebrated sharpshooter, Hollywood consultant, firearms instructor, historian, and Old West artisan
Born(1925-04-12)April 12, 1925
Johnson City, Tennessee
DiedJune 29, 2009(2009-06-29) (aged 84)
Junction, Texas
NationalityAmerican
Other namesThe Straight Shooter
The Master of Triggernometry
Occupation(s)Bootmaker, marksman, and Western entertainer
Spouse(s)Betty (Fruge) Bowman (1954–1968, divorced); Betty Reid-Bowman
(c.1992–2009, his death)
Children2
Websitewww.joebowman.net

Biography
Bowman (left) with Roy Rogers

Bowman was born in Johnson City, Tennessee, and grew up in Asheville, North Carolina.[2] He began developing firearm skills at a young age, using BB guns.[2] When he was 12 years old, his family moved to Houston, where he became an Eagle Scout and went on to graduate from Sam Houston High School in 1943.[2]

During World War II, Bowman served in the Army and saw action in France; he received three Bronze Star Medals and a Purple Heart.[3] After the war, he attended the University of Houston for two years, before opening his own boot store in Houston.[3]

After selling his store in the 1960s, Bowman became a salesman and began performing as The Straight Shooter in his spare time.[3] His gun tricks included being able to shoot an aspirin tablet at 30 paces, and being able to split a playing card edge-wise at 20 paces.[3] The guns he used included a pair of Ruger Blackhawk revolvers.[2] He went on to teach gun handling to Hollywood stars such as Robert Duvall and James Arness, and was a firearms instructor with law enforcement agencies, including the FBI.[3]

Bowman died in June 2009, while en route to his home in Houston; he had stopped overnight in Junction, Texas, returning from a convention that he had performed at in Albuquerque, New Mexico.[3] In July 2009, he was posthumously inducted into the Texas Heroes Hall of Honor at the Frontier Times Museum in Bandera.[4][5] Bowman married twice, and had two children from his first marriage.[3]

References
  1. "WWII Draft Registration Card". fold3.com. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  2. Grimes, William (July 5, 2009). "Joe Bowman, Sharpshooter, Dies at 84". The New York Times. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  3. Holley, Joe (July 13, 2009). "Sharpshooter called himself the 'Master of Triggernometry'". Los Angeles Times. p. 12. Retrieved June 17, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  4. Genie Strickland, "Frontier Times Museum announces Texas Heroes Hall of Honor", Bandera Bulletin, July 7, 2009.
  5. "'Captain' Joe Bowman". frontiertimesmuseum.org. Retrieved June 17, 2020.

Further reading
  • Hutchcroft, Joel J. (August 2020). "Mr. Straight Shooter: Joe Bowman". Shooting Times. pp. 72, 70.
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