Plot Synopsis

Using re-enactments and expert commentary, this six-part historical docudrama explores the true stories behind infamous icons of the Wild West, revealing their real -- often little-known -- adventures and how their fearless pursuit of freedom and profit still resonate in America today. Each one-hour episode of GUNSLINGERS focuses on a different figure from the Wild West, including: unlawful lawman Wyatt Earp, the town-taming marshal who sacrificed everything to bring his own kind of justice and order to the American West; teenage vagabond Billy the Kid, one of the most famous heroes of the Old West, who died at the age of 21 with his real name unknown; scorned rebel Jesse James, who killed an estimated 17 people in the course of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars by boldly robbing unprotected banks and trains across the Midwest; Yankee sharpshooter Wild Bill Hickok, the most famous sharpshooter of his era, who played every adventurous role on the frontier -- Indian fighter, gambler, lawman, prospector and scout; dangerous psychopath John Wesley Hardin, who drifted along with the great cattle drives between Texas and Kansas, settling quarrels with a single shot to the head or the heart; and war veteran-turned-assassin Tom Horn, who was trained as a scout and sharpshooter during the bloody Apache Wars with Geronimo in the 1880s -- and who took a psychopathic pleasure in watching men die. Each episode includes a featured interviewee: Kurt Russell (in the Wyatt Earp episode), the actor who portrayed Wyatt Earp in TOMBSTONE; Kirk Ellis (Billy the Kid ep), screenwriter of HELL ON WHEELS; Ron Hansen (Jesse James ep), author of "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"; David Milch (Wild Bill Hickok ep), creator of DEADWOOD; Bob Boze Bell (John Wesley Hardin ep), executive editor of "True West Magazine"; and Paul Hutton (Tom Horn ep), renowned Western historian. Plus, Wild Bill is played by ALL MY CHILDREN star Walt Willey. GUNSLINGERS returned for its second season on Sunday, July 19, 2015 at 10pm ET/PT on AHC: American Heroes Channel. Season 2 profiles these six outcasts, murderers and thieves: Butch Cassidy, an outlaw who lived more by his wits than by his gun, who, along with Sundance Kid, first organized crime, masterminding one of the most remarkable crime sprees in American history; Seth Bullock, who arrived in Deadwood, South Dakota, the very day after Wild Bill Hickok was shot and was quickly drafted to bring hard justice to the hopeless town; Bat Masterson, a well-dressed gunfighter who was a gambler, a hunter, an Indian fighter, a scout -- but above all else, a lawman as Sheriff of Ford County, Kansas; Bass Reeves, a slave set free by the Civil War, who hunted outlaws in the most dangerous territory in the nation; Bill Doolin, who terrorized Oklahoma with his brazen robberies, fought the greatest shootout in Western history, and like so many outlaws before him, died with his boots on; and Deacon Jim Miller, whose neighbors saw him as a devout family man, while his victims saw him pointing a shotgun aimed at their heads.
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On Sunday, August 23, 2015 at 10pm ET/PT, AHC premiered the season finale of GUNSLINGERS. The season ender, "Deacon Jim Miller: The Pious Assassin," chronicles the life of outlaw and hired killer Jim Miller, who, despite his outward appearance as a devout family man, was was one of the most violent characters of the Old West.