After a brief visit to Florida—where he claimed to have been involved in three incidents against Negroes, including a lynching—Hardin met with his wife, Jane, and their young daughter, with whom he had relocated under the assumed name "Swain". Hardin then met up with his "gang" on May 26, 1874, in a Comanche, Texas, saloon to celebrate his 21st birthday. Hardin spotted Brown County Deputy Sheriff Charles Webb entering the premises. He asked Webb if he had come to arrest him. When Webb replied he had not, Hardin invited him into the hotel for a drink. As Webb followed him inside, Hardin claimed Webb drew his gun. One of Hardin's men yelled out a warning, and in the ensuing gunfight, Webb was shot dead. It was reported at the time that Webb was shot as he was pulling out an arrest warrant for one of Hardin's group. Two of Hardin's accomplices in the shooting were cousin Bud Dixon and Jim Taylor.