Diamondfield Jack Davis
Elko County, Elko County, Nevada
Marker Inscription
Diamondfield Jack Davis. This historical marker commemorates the lasting notoriety of flamboyant western gunman Jackson Lee Davis (1870-1949), who was better know by the colorful name, “Diamondfield Jack,” a nickname that he carried the rest of his life.In the late 1890s, Davis gained a measure of fame as a gunman for the cattle interests, including rancher John Sparks, who would later become a Nevada governor, that were attempting to restrict sheep ranchers from southern Idaho and northeastern Nevada rangelands. Following a sensational trial in 1896, Davis was convicted of murdering two sheepherders. He was sentenced to be hanged, even after others confessed to the murders.In 1902, Davis was finally pardoned for the crimes. He moved to the central Nevada mining towns of Tonopah and Goldfield, where he became a successful mine operator. He also helped found several mining camps, including one called Diamondfield. In later years, he drifted into obscurity and died in Las Vegas in 1949 after being struck by a car.
Erected by Division Of Historic Preservation And Archaeologynevada Commission On Tourism
The Story
Jackson Lee Davis (1870–1949), known everywhere as "Diamondfield Jack," was a flamboyant gunman hired by cattle interests—including future Nevada governor John Sparks—to keep sheep ranchers off the ranges of southern Idaho and northeastern Nevada. Convicted in 1896 of murdering two sheepherders, he was sentenced to hang even after others confessed, and was finally pardoned in 1902. He remade himself as a successful mine operator in Tonopah and Goldfield before drifting into obscurity and dying in Las Vegas.
Why it matters
His story distills the violent range wars between cattle and sheep interests and the rough justice of the frontier West, where a hired gun could become a mining magnate.
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Related people
- · Jackson Lee "Diamondfield Jack" Davis
- · John Sparks
Themes & tags
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