History
The man who eventually became known as the Phantom Gunman was a soldier for the Confederate Army during the American Civil War between 1861 and 1865. When the war was won by the Union Army, the man held a grudge against those who he believed to be traitors to the Confederacy.
He set himself up in the town of Coronado as the editor of the Clarion newspaper. One of those he called traitors was inventor Sam Peabody who eventually ended up in Coronado as well. When Peabody invented a silencer weapon for guns, the man killed Peabody and stole the silencer, and managed to do so without his identity exposed. He then began executing the others he believed to be traitors. One of these men was Joe Hammer, the blacksmith in town and friend to the outlaw hero known as the Ringo Kid. The Kid investigated the murders and gathering enough evidence that pointed toward the Clarion editor as the most likely suspect, the Kid tricked him into publishing a story about how he had enough evidence to prove who the Phantom Gunman was. The editor offered to accompany him to cover the story, and the Kid agreed. It was when they were away from town that the Phantom Gunman revealed himself and his motivations. When the Kid tried to apprehend him, the Phantom Gunman escaped.
The Kid tracked him back to Coronado and lured him out of hiding by setting up a dummy to draw out his fire and apprehending him.[1] The Phantom Gunman's subsequent fate is unknown.