Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire What happened to Skeeter Skelton?

Skeeter was The Man when it came to writing a great story. The fact that he operated in the same vicinity I inhabited growing up made it easier to relate to his writings even more. The man would be 91 years old had he survived until now. It's really a shame that he didn't.

Over the years I have wondered about the circumstances of his illness and passing. The best story I can piece together is that he had a serious auto accident somewhere, and the injuries did not heal or some kind of organ damage did him in. I've dug around on the web to see if I could get the real story, but I haven't been able to come up with so much as a date of the alleged accident, or the locale.

One thing I did discover was that he and his wife lost a male child, Matt, at the age of nine months in 1959. I've read a lot of his writings and conclude that he was very much a private person; I recall no mention of this at anytime in any of his writings.

Does anyone know about the accident that ultimately claimed Skeeter's life? I'd like to know.

IIRC, he was in a wreck in his 4x4 and was in the hospital, expected to fully recover. This was in early 1988. He took a turn for the worse and died due to complications. I'm not sure of this but, I think it was Pneumonia.

His son Bart, not to be confused with the prolific, argumentative and now absent poster "Brother Bart", used to post here once in awhile when I first came aboard. If he has of late, I'm not aware of it.

Skeeter Skelton died of cancer as I recall. Many of his sixguns were being auctioned off following his death to pay for some of his medical bills. Skeeters son Bart wrote for awhile and just faded away. Likely Mule Deer can elaborate on this.

I have the pleasure of meeting Skeeter at one of the Shot Shows in the early 80's, he was about 5'8" stocky and wore a ill fitting suit. Not that he wore a suit all that much on horseback. I will say he had the demeanor of a south west law man that he was.

Wiki doesn't mention cause of death...


"Charles Allan "Skeeter" Skelton (May 1, 1928 – January 17, 1988) was an American lawman and firearms writer. After serving in the US Marine Corps from 1945-46 he began a law enforcement career which included service with the US Border Patrol, a term as Sheriff of Deaf Smith County, Texas, and investigator with both the US Customs Service and Special Agent in Charge with Drug Enforcement Administration. After his first nationally published article hit newsstands in September 1959, Skelton began writing part-time for firearms periodicals. In 1974 he retired from the DEA and concentrated full-time on his writing.[1]"

I always enjoyed his writing. And wonder what happened to Bart.

I always enjoyed Skeeter's articles. I corresponded with him about a pistol review he did and found him to be a wealth of information. I think his son Bart is on the Board of Directors of the NRA.

Brother Bart's profile shows he was logged-in here back in mid June this year but didn't make any post or replies. Last post he made was a year ago yesterday.

http://sheriffjimwilson.com/tag/bart-skelton/

Google found this blog... you have to go to the link to actually read anything (by the links to his writings) so there was no point to a C&P.

Bart is still writing and getting published, and he posts on Facebook pretty regularly.

I'm pretty sure Campfire member, 'Brother Bart' talked often about his job as a AT&T service man. Don't recall him ever saying anything about writing professionally.

He didn't die of cancer and IIRC he was around 6 feet tall. He always looked short because a lot of pics of him were standing by his good friend, Bill Jordon, who was 6'6" or the like.

Brother Bart is definitely NOT Bart Skelton.

In one of his Dobe Grant stories, and I believe also in one of his Jug Johnson tales, Skeeter refers to an incident where he flipped his Ford Bronco and busted his ribs. Unless he had another accident, this one was years before his death. John Wooters wrote of visiting him in the hospital before his death, and even he didn't know exactly what was wrong with Skeeter. I thought he had his gall bladder removed, and then later died from complications from the surgery. I believe he was 59; far too young to have died in the hospital with his boots off. In my opinion, Skeeter was one of the most gifted American writers, of any era or any genre. I would rank "The Golden Spurs of Dobe Grant" right up there with Hemingway's "The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber."

I believe Skeeter was in and out of hospitals for a number of months, or maybe even years following his accident. In reading I Remember Skeeter, one well known individual recalls visiting him in a Houston hospital. Skeeter was in Sun Towers Hospital in El Paso when he passed in 1988.

I was a longtime fan of Skeeter and as I remember he passed away from complications of gall bladder surgery, just as you say. I wish I could have met him. He was the greatest in my opinion.

Skeeter's write up on Tom Threepersons is very good.

http://www.darkcanyon.net/tom_threepersons.htm

Skeeter Skelton was one of my all time favorite gun writers as a kid! Loved his fiction stories too.

I went to College with one of his cousins who claimed that Skeeter’s love of Whiskey was the death of him, but I never believed it, as his cousin was an asswhole and he and Skeeter definitely didn’t get along with each other.

Every time I see his name it reminds me of a smile-worthy response he gave to a question that he received in an "Ask Skeeter" column in the old Shooting Times magazine years ago.

He was asked for some stout Smith 29 44 Magnum bear loads by a guy who was going salmon fishing in Alaska. Skeeter offered a couple of hard cast bullet/powder options, and then he ended his comments with - and I paraphrase - "If you think that you want to take on a coastal grizzly with a Smith Model 29 44 Magnum, the best advice that I can give you is to shoot the bear five times and yourself once."

The comment still makes me smile.........

I have a copy of Skeeter's book, Good Friends, Good Guns,Good Whiskey, Selected Works of Skeeter Skelton, JBS Publications, ©1988. It is still in the original dust jacket and original shipping box from Shooting Times Magazine.

Although I opened the shipping box, I've not turned a page of the book as I have a bunch of the collected stories written by Skeeter in Shooting Times and special Skeeter editions.

I think I'll either put it on my table at the 4/10-11 gun show, or in the Campfire's Classified section.

I always looked forward to his articles.

L.W.