Pliney Gardner

Pliney Gardner (c. 1835 - 1893) was an early Old West gunfighter and outlaw.

Early life, outlaw life

Pliny Fisk Gardner was born during the 1830s. He migrated to California during the 1850s where he made his living as a gambler, earning a reputation as a hard character. He shot a man to death in 1859 at Sonora, California and was indicted with a charge of murder, but released from custody. Gardner then made his living as a hired gun for a mining company being a member of a notorious Daly Gang that terrorized the goldfields between Aurora, Nevada and Carson City during the 1860s at Western Nevada.

On February 1, 1864 the gang murdered William R. Johnson, who had killed gang member Jim Sears while the latter was attempting to steal a horse the previous year. The gang members had caught Johnson, slit his throat and set him on fire. Johnson's brutal murder soon caused local citizens of Nevada to establish the "Citizens' Protective Association", and within a week gang leader John Daly and members Johnny McDowell, William Buckley, and "Massey" Masterson were caught and hanged outside "Armory Hall" in Aurora. Gardner was also arrested for murder, but was deemed to have not played a part in the murder. Gardner and other gang members were banished from the Aurora area. Gardner then migrated back to California where he lived off his reputation as a feared shootist.

He owned a saloon called the "Oasis" on the banks of the San Joaquin River at Hills Ferry, California, in Stanislaus County and it is said that "many men disappeared after having entered this joint". This place contained as many as fifty women during its heydey and was the favorite dance hall of the town. Gardner was also a wealthy farmer and a registered voter who was described in 1892 as having a light complexion, dark hair and eyes.

Gardner was said to have frequently "shot up the town", and it was often said that the constables were conveniently absent from the town when this would happen. Pliney Gardner was a saloon keeper during the 1880s and a liquor dealer in the 1890s until he died in his sixties from a stomach complication, in 1893, at Newman, California. His obituary mentioned in the "Modesto Evening News" described him as a "scholarly man".

References

www.calarchives4u.com/history/tuolumne/chron1849-1881.htm - 70k - (mentions Gardner as a gambler shooting a man to death)
www.genealogybank.com (California newspapers from 1859 and 1864 which mention Gardner being charged with murder) "Gunfighters, Highwaymen, and Vigilantes: Violence on the Frontier" by Roger D. McGrath (mentions Pliney Gardiner being a member of the infamous Daly Gang and his 1864 arrest for murder) "Stories of Stanislaus County" by Solomon Elias (mentions a man named Gardner who frequently shot up the town and was known as a hard character who owned a dance hall called the "Oasis" on the banks of the San Joaquin River.) 1850 Census:Pliny Fisk Gardner living with father named Armetus at Southbridge, Worcester County, MA. 1880 Census:P. F. Gardner, born abt. 1835 MA, single white male saloon keeper living with a male bar keeper and three females at Neills Ferry (Hills Ferry) Stanislaus County, California. 1888 Business Directory:Pliny Fisk Gardner is a saloon keeper in Newman, California at Stanislaus County 1893 Business Directory:Pliny Fisk Gardner is a saloon keeper in Newman, California at Stanislaus County 1892 Register of Great Voters:Pliny Fisk Gardner listed as "liquor dealer" Other References: Pliny Fisk Gardner died October 7, 1893 at Newman, California aged 64 and is buried at the Hills Ferry Cemetery.