courier from Ogallala for Major Thomas Tipton Thornburgh; Short earned $30 (about $ in ). He then served as a civilian scout for Thornburgh until October20. He enlisted at Sidney, Nebraska to be paid $100 a month (around $ today) but he only served for 12days, for which he was paid $40. The Fort Worth Daily Gazette later described him as "the bravest scout in the government employ." In an interview later in his life, Short told researcher George H. Morrison that he moved to the Black Hills in 1876 and to Ogallala, Nebraska, the next year. Accounts written in Short's later years stated that he was an outlaw during his time in Nebraska. Around this time, Short was said to have traded whiskey with Indians around Camp Robinson, Nebraska. According to his nephew Wayne Short, Luke was arrested by the army. They put him to a train destined for Omaha, but Luke managed to escape the army escort and went to the makeshift mining and cowtown of Denver, Colorado, taking up gambling as a profession. He is said to have killed two men on separate occasions due to altercations during their card games. Gambling days Short moved to Leadville, Colorado, in 1879, where he continued gambling. Bat Masterson later wrote that Short seriously wounded a man during a gambling dispute in Leadville. He was accused of swindling Texan John Jones "out of $280 on Three Card Monte" and jailed on October 5 for six days in Kansas City. Gunfight with Charlie Storms Short first met Wyatt Earp, William H. Harris, and Bat Masterson in Tombstone. Based on their previous friendship, Harris had no problem convincing his partners to engage Earp as a faro dealer at their Oriental Saloon in Tombstone. On Friday, February25, 1881, Short was serving as the lookout, seated next to the dealer at a faro game in the Oriental, when he was involved in what became a well-known gunfight. His opponent was Charlie Storms. Bat Masterson, who was in Tombstone at the time, described what happened in a magazine article he wrote in 1907: Storms' body was taken to the undertaker, where the coroner's jury was convened and testimony was heard. The jury reached a verdict that Storms died from three pistol wounds at the hands of Short, and that Short's actions were justifiable. Short was free to go, as no further legal action was taken.