Time To Die

Despite a handicapped left hand, Jack Harris felt  confident he could kill troublesome gambler Ben Thompson.

- Thomas C. Bicknell And Chuck Parsons

Four years before controversial lawman Ben Thompson and pal John King Fisher were killed at the Vaudeville Theatre in San Antonio, Texas, on March 11, 1884, Thompson set into motion a feud that ultimately cost him his life.

The feud was sparked in late February 1880, when Thompson, an owner of a gambling hall above the Iron Front Saloon on Congress Avenue in Austin, was visiting San Antonio and decided to try his luck at the gambling room run by Joe Foster on the second floor of Jack Harris’s Vaudeville Theatre, located on the northeast corner of Main Plaza.

San Antonio’s version of what transpired goes: Thompson lost his cash playing monte and exchanged his gold watch and some diamonds for $1,000 to continue to gamble. He lost $360 of that, switched over to play faro and did not lose or win any more. He turned over his chips to Foster and said to keep his watch and diamonds on collateral for the $360 owed to the house. The next night, after Thompson retrieved his items, he pulled a pistol on Foster, refused to pay the balance and left. The following day, Thompson admitted to Foster he had been drunk, but still did not pay what he owed, and returned to Austin.

Austin’s version was recounted by William M. Walton, who worked with Thompson on his autobiography and finished it after the gunman’s death: When Thompson’s run of luck went against him, he watched the game go on and became convinced it was rigged. Angry at being cheated, he recovered his jewelry and, when Foster demanded payment for what was owed, Thompson pulled his pistol and denounced Foster as a cheat.

In either case, Thompson never paid his gambling debt. When the generally peaceable Harris found out about the altercation, he could not allow Thompson’s behavior to pass, or else others would attempt to take their money back in a similar fashion. As the principal partner, he banned Thompson from ever entering the Vaudeville again.