Ned Buntline (March 20, c. 1821 – July 16, 1886), was a pseudonym of Edward Zane Carroll Judson (E. Z. C. Judson), an American publisher, journalist writer and publicist best known for his dime novels and the Colt Buntline Special he commissioned from Colt’s Manufacturing Company.

Edward Judson was born in Stamford, Delaware County, New York. As a boy, Ned ran away to sea. “Buntline” is a nautical term for a rope at the bottom of a square sail. As a seaman, he fought in the Seminole Wars, though he saw little combat. After four years he resigned, having reached the rank of midshipman. Buntline spent several years in the east starting up newspapers and story papers, only to have most of them fail. An early success that helped launch his fame was a gritty serial story of the Bowery and slums of New York City titled The Mysteries and Miseries of New York. An opinionated man, he strongly advocated nativism and temperance. Through his writing and his association with New York City’s notorious gangs of the early 1800s, he was one of the instigators of the Astor Place Riot which left 23 people dead. He also had an involvement in a nativist riot in St. Louis - an involvement that would later come back to haunt him. Although a heavy drinker, he traveled around the country giving lectures about temperance. It was on one of these lecture tours that he encountered Buffalo Bill.

This bunt layed by: willie | In: Stuffs | | #