January 17, 2010
Working today on a new featurette for the magazine to be called Size Matters. Although I've read somewhere that the average height of a male in the Old West was around five feet seven, I am struck with how many legends belonged to the Six Feet Four Club. Off the top of my head I count: Lincoln, Pat Garrett, Dallas Stoudenmire, Mangas Coloradas, Touch The Sky, Sheriff Bob Paul, John Wayne and Clint Eastwood as being in the club. Paul Hutton mentioned Sam Houston and Wild Bill Hickok as being big boys as well, but I'm not sure of their actual heighth. And what about Bill Tilghman?

On the other end of the scale is Alfred Packer at five foot and Jesse Evans at five feet two.

What other tall guys were there? Don't want to miss anyone, and that goes for the short guys as well. I'd love to feature them all in a police lineup style graphic and show the disparity.

"The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause."
—Samuel Langhorne Clemens