The Lawful Breed: Joseph Hardin Clements

(True West) Few are aware of notorious gunfighter John Wesley Hardin’s first cousins, the Clements brothers. Of those four, the best known was Emanuel (Mannen), but one of his brothers should be lifted out of obscurity—Joseph Hardin Clements.

Born on December 1, 1849, Joe was too young to join the Confederate Army, as did his brothers Mannen and Jim. As an adult, however, he joined his brothers and other Gonzales County men from Texas to drive cattle up to Abilene, Kansas, in 1871. Continued