He had one of the fastest guns in the west. And for more than a decade, Joe Barcelone was one of the most interesting people in a town known for its larger-than-life characters.

"Deadwood was like his town," said Brad Hemmah, a longtime friend of the late quick-draw gunman. "I think he was probably one of the most colorful characters Deadwood ever had as a resident."

Barcelone came here in the early 1980s from California, where he worked in the movie industry doing bit parts and stunt work and coaching actors on gun handling. He often talked about working with Clint Eastwood, whose picture he carried in his wallet.

Hemmah said Barcelone took part in the first fast-draw contests in the 1950s, and would later boast about once beating world champion Bob Munden.

Eventually, Barcelone hit the road with a trick act, shooting balloons out of people's mouths and splitting wax bullets on the edge of swords.

"He liked Deadwood and just kind of stayed," Hemmah said.

Barcelone - a stocky man who always wore a cowboy hat - quickly became part of the community.

Locals knew him as a regular at Deadwood saloons, where he entertained people with big stories that might or might not have been completely true.

Tourists knew him, too. Many had watched his quick-draw demonstrations. Others had experienced his speed firsthand, losing bets for drinks at the Buffalo Saloon when Barcelone snatched quarters from their open palms.

South Dakota Tourism photographer Chad Coppess remembers a demonstration that Barcelone - a born entertainer - did in the Old Style Saloon No. 10 in 1985.

"He picked me out of the crowd because I was wearing a belt," Coppess said, explaining that Barcelone had him fold the belt in half and hold the ends. Coppess's mission was to snap the belt shut before Barcelone could draw his gun and stick the barrel in the leather loop.

Barcelone beat him, "twice out of his holster and once out of his boot," Coppess recalled. "I still couldn't snap that belt closed fast enough."

Barcelone started the Deadwood Bounty Hunters and several other fast-draw clubs in the area. Hemmah, who met him at a Piedmont club in 1985, turned out to have quick reflexes, and soon, Barcelone was teaching him tricks. The two later performed together.

But time took a toll on Barcelone, who had arthritis and injuries suffered in his youth as a bull rider. He stopped performing regularly after a dropped gun went off, blinding him in one eye, Hemmah said. "But he'd come out of retirement once in awhile."

On the first anniversary of legalized gambling in 1990, Barcelone and the Bounty Hunters put on a show outside the Franklin Hotel.

Unlike the fate a gunman might have met in the Old West, Barcelone's exit from this world was more mundane. He died Oct. 31, 1992, after choking to death on a piece of steak. He was only 53.

Barcelone's funeral drew throngs of shooters, many trained by the "master gunfighter" himself. They shot their guns into the air and then tossed the empty cartridges into the open grave.

"There wasn't a dry eye around," said Hemmah, who described his late friend as a remarkable guy with a great heart. "And then, there was a big party at the Buffalo afterward - a celebration, I guess, of his life."

Hemmah, who is now general manager at First Gold Hotel, celebrated again on June 18, 1994, when he won a world fast-draw contest in Tombstone, Ariz. "Joe always wanted me to get a world record," he said, "and I finally got one."

If anyone ever beat Barcelone to the draw, Hemmah doesn't remember it.

"I guess I never wanted to see anybody beat him," he said with a grin

"When in doubt, print the legend."