 |
| Bat Masterson made his way to the Kansas frontier in 1871, where he worked as a buffalo hunter and Indian scout |
Today we think of Bat
Masterson as a frontier good guy,
but in his day, the press wasn’t sure which side of the law Bat was on. The Globe
Republican (Dodge City) said, “Bat is one of the best-known sports in the West and has had a checkered career ever since
he came into prominence as a city marshal of Dodge City when it was a cowboy town.”
Years later, in 1905, when
Masterson became a deputy marshal in New York on the recommendation of Teddy
Roosevelt, the Washington Times
suggested his selection was a bit of absurd overkill. They said, “The action is
somewhat similar to that of Congress when
it passed a $50,000,0000 appropriation bill for national defenses and called it
a ‘peace measure,’ shortly after the blowing up of the Battleship Maine.”
Or, maybe it was an extension of Theodore
Roosevelt’s trademark phrase, “speak softly and carry a big stick.” Only the Times understood
you couldn’t fight criminals by inviting a killer to the party. So appointing Bat Masterson as a
deputy marshal was a lot like throwing down a challenge to the criminal class,
especially if you factored in Bat’s troubled past.
William Barclay
Masterson made his way to the
Kansas Frontier in 1871 at the tender young age of eighteen. He worked as a
buffalo hunter, a civilian scout for General Nelson A. Miles in his Indian
campaigns, and not too many years after that as a frontier lawman.
In 1874, Bat took part in the Second Battle of
Adobe Walls—an epic standoff between 27 buffalo hunters and 700 Comanche,
Cheyenne, Kiowa, and Arapaho warriors.
Adobe Walls was an obscure trading post in the
middle of the Texas Panhandle. At the time of the fight, it comprised three haphazard buildings—Frederick Leonard’s
store, James Hanrahan’s saloon, and Tom O’Keefe’s blacksmith shop.
In 1874, Bat Masterson took part in the second battle of Adobe Wells
In the late spring of 1874, buffalo hunters invaded the Llano Estacado and killed over 100,000 buffalo in a short period. The Indians, led by Quanah Parker, pushed back over the loss of their food supply. They attacked a small hunter’s camp, then moved on to Adobe Walls.
The warriors
split off into four separate bands. One group struck O’Keefe’s blacksmith shop,
which had four men and a woman hidden inside.
Ten men barricaded themselves inside Hanrahan’s
building, seven of them armed with Buffalo fifty caliber guns. James Hanrahan
passed the order not to fire until the Indians came within 30 yards.
Another band rushed Frederick Leonard’s
building, where the door stood wide open when the attack started. At the first
shot, Leonard ran into his store. Sam Smith made it inside just as the doors
were slammed shut. Close behind him were Quanah Parker and 25 warriors who
slammed their bodies against the door but couldn’t break it down.
Ike and Shorty Shadler slept in their wagon
north of the stockade, unaware that the Indians had laid siege to Adobe Walls.
The Indians snuck up on the two men, killed and scalped them as they slept,
then scalped the brother’s dog for good measure.
Back at Adobe Walls, 25 warriors rode up to
O’Keefe’s, dismounted, and rushed the building. The men inside opened fire.
Across the way, Billy Dixon and Bat Masterson poured a deadly fire into the
attackers from their position at Hanrahan’s store.
Despite their mounting losses, the Indians
continued to charge the building in small groups of two to five for most of the
day.
On day two of the siege, the defenders
abandoned Hanrahan’s place and split up
among the other buildings. Later that night, a hunter named Reed volunteered
for a suicide mission. After dark, he raced out of the building and made a mad
dash towards Dodge City to summon help.
Beginning at sunrise on the third day, the
Indians launched a series of minor attacks. William
Olds was killed by one of his guns during one charge. He fell through a
trapdoor on the roof and landed dead at
the feet of his wife inside.
By 5 a.m. on the fourth day of the siege, 100
buffalo hunters arrived to reinforce Adobe Walls.
On July 14, the Indian warriors lifted the
siege and rode away. The hunters didn’t waste any time getting out of there.
They set out on foot for Dodge City. Eighty Indians, four white men, and 200
Indian ponies lay dead on the battlefield.
Masterson's first kill occured at the Lady Gay Saloon
in Sweetwater, Texas, on the evening of January 24, 1876
Years later, the Salt Lake Herald shared this story about Bat Masterson at Adobe Walls. A man named Shepherd tried to shoot an Indian “six times, and missed him every time.” Having no success, he asked Bat to give it a whirl.
“I saw Mr. Indian breaking my way,” said Bat,
“getting out of range of fire from Bob Wright’s store. I commenced getting a
bead on him. As he backed an inch or two more, I let fly, and Mr. Indian bounded in the air about 3 feet, dropped his
rifle, and fell dead.”
And with that shot, Bat Masterson stepped on
the stage into frontier history.
Masterson’s first recorded kill occurred at the
Lady Gay saloon in Sweetwater, Texas, on the evening of January 24, 1876. He
played a poker game with Harry Fleming, Jim Duffy, and Corporal Melvin King.
King soon left, apparently frustrated, because he was losing.
Bat, Charlie Norton, and a working girl named
Mollie Brennan walked across the street
to Charlie Norton’s dance hall. Someone pounded on the door. Bat went to answer
it. Melvin King pushed his way in—revolver in hand, cursing at Bat. Mollie
jumped between the two men just as King pulled the trigger. His first bullet
missed Mollie and hit Masterson smack dab
in the belly. King’s second shot sent Mollie tumbling to the floor—dead. That
bought Bat the time he needed to pull his pistol. Melvin King hit the floor—fatally
wounded.
The shooting was quickly ruled self-defense.
Bat never had much to say about it. In 1881, he told the Kansas City Journal, “I had a little difficulty with some soldiers
down there, but never mind; I dislike to
talk about it.”
By early June 1877, Bat found himself in
another scrape in Dodge City. “Robert Gilmore was making a talk for himself in
a rather emphatic manner, to which Marshal
Deger took exceptions and started for the doghouse [jail] with him. Bobby
walked very leisurely—so much so that Larry felt it necessary to administer a
few personal kicks. This was soon
interrupted by Bat Masterson, who wound his arm affectionately around the
marshal’s neck and let the prisoner escape.” Deger then got in a row with Bat.
Jack Wagner fired a shot int Ed Masterson's stomach.
Five shots followed in quick succession.
Joe Mason grabbed Bat’s gun. Bat did his damnedest to get another one from the crowd. Seeing that the marshal was in trouble, several cowboys came to his aid and held Bat down. That “gave him [marshal Deger] a chance to draw his gun and beat Bat over the head until blood flew” all over.
The Dodge
City Times said, “Bat Masterson seemed possessed of extraordinary strength;
every inch of the way was closely contested,
but the city dungeon was reached at last,
and in he went. If he had got hold of his gun before going in, there would have
been a general killing.”
Ironically, the same issue of the Dodge City Times that featured Bat’s
arrest announced his brother Ed’s appointment as assistant marshal of Dodge
City. The paper said, “He is not very large, but there are not many men who
would be anxious to tackle him a second time. He makes a good officer.”
In early November 1877, Bob Shaw got it into
his head to take Texas Dick down a few bars at the Lone Star Saloon. When Ed Masterson entered the saloon,
he found Bob Shaw with “a huge pistol in one hand and a hogshead of blood in
his right eye, ready to relieve Texas Dick of his existence in this world.”
Ed tried to find a peaceful solution. “Officer
Masterson then gently tapped the belligerent Shaw upon the back of the head
with the butt of his shooting iron, merely to convince him of the vanities of
this frail world and to teach him that all isn’t lovely.” The smack on the head
“didn’t have the desired effect, and instead of dropping, as any man of fine
sensibilities would have done, Shaw turned his battery [gun] upon the officer
and let him have it in the right breast.” The shot knocked Ed’s right arm out
of commission, but as he fell, he got off a few well place shots with his left
hand, hitting Shaw in the “left hand and left leg.”
Texas Dick took a bullet to the groin, “making
a painful and dangerous, though not necessarily a fatal wound.” Frank Buskirk
got a little too close to the action and wound up taking a bullet to his left
arm.
In the end, the Dodge City Times reported, “Nobody was
killed, but for a time it looked as though the undertaker and the
coroner would have something to do.” The paper commended Deputy Marshal Masterson for his bravery.
Later that same month, on November 24, 1877,
Bat Masterson was elected sheriff of Ford County, Kansas. The Dodge City Times described the new
sheriff as “cool, decisive, and a bad man with a pistol.”
The New
York Times later commented, “It took a man with a reputation to be sheriff
of Ford County.” If that were the case, Bat Masterson was a perfect choice.
In mid-April 1881, Bat got into a tangle with A. J. Peacock and
Al Updegraff on the streets of Dodge City
Dodge City was still a rough and tumble cattle town in those days. Cowboys ruled Dodge City from July to November when they drove the big herds into town fresh off the Chisholm Trail. By the time they arrived in Dodge City, the cowboys needed to blow off some steam. Many of them rode into the city—firing six-shooters and rifles into the air. After they disposed of their horses, most of the cowboys walked off in search of drinks, smokes, and some close companionship from a dancehall girl.
Shortly after 10 p.m. on April 9, 1878, shots
rang out from the south side of the tracks. Deputy Marshal Ed Masterson and policeman Haywood rushed to the scene and
found six cowboys newly arrived in town. Masterson caught Jack Wagner carrying
a six-shooter contrary to the city ordinance. He disarmed the man and turned the weapon over to the cattle
boss, A. M. Walker.
Later that same evening, Masterson met Wagner
outside a dance hall and noticed he was again carrying a pistol. He attempted
to take it from him. Policeman Haywood rushed forward to assist, but as he did,
several cowboys shoved a gun in his face and held him back. Someone fired a shot
into his face, but luckily for Officer Haywood, it misfired.
Seconds later, Wagner fired a round into Ed
Masterson’s abdomen. Five shots followed in quick succession.
Jack Wagner staggered into Peacock’s saloon—gut
shot. He would soon die from the wound. A. W. Walker, Wagner’s trail boss, took
a bullet in his left lung and several more in his right arm. He escaped into
Peacock’s saloon and was left for dead.
Ed Masterson made his way across the street to
Hoover’s saloon, staggered up to George Hinkle, and told him, “George, I’m shot!” The Leavenworth Weekly Times reported, “His clothes were still on fire
from the discharge of the pistol, which had been placed against the right side
of his abdomen and ‘turned loose,’ making a hole large enough for the
introduction of the whole pistol. The ball passed completely through him,
leaving him no possible chance for life.”
The big question is: Who shot Jack Wagner and
A. M. Walker? Legend tells us it was Bat Masterson. Years later, the Arizona Republican wrote, Bat killed the seven men
responsible for his brother’s death in as many minutes. The murderers locked
the doors to the saloon when they saw him coming. “Masterson jumped square
against the door with both feet, bursting it open at the first attempt. Then sprang inside, firing immediately right and left.
Four dropped dead in a shorter time than it requires to tell it.” The other
three outlaws ran for their horses, trying desperately to escape. “Before they
reached the outskirts of the town, all three had bitten the dust.”
It’s a great story!
After leaving the Marshal's service in 1912, Bat took up writing -
covering sports, politics, and sometimes stories of the Old West.
But guess what? It never happened. I read every newspaper account published in 1878 that mentioned the Mastersons, and Bat’s name didn’t come up one time as having avenged Ed. Not once!
Most of the published newspaper accounts left
things rather vague. All three participants stagger away into nearby saloons to
take their last curtain call. But all we know for sure is that six gunshots
rang out in quick succession. Jack Wagner nailed Ed Masterson. But who shot Wagner and Walker remains a mystery.
All the stories implied that Ed Masterson took down his killers before he died.
But that’s as far as it goes. The actual story is anyone’s guess.
In mid-April 1881, Bat got into a tangle with
A. J. Peacock and Al Updegraff on the principal streets in Dodge City. The Las Vegas Morning Gazette said, “The
cause was a private quarrel.” Bat’s brother Jim was a partner in the Lady Gay
Dance Hall and Saloon with A. J. Peacock. Peacock hired his brother-in-law, Al
Updegraff, as a bartender, against the wishes of Jim Masterson. In no time, the
matter escalated, and Bat found himself rushing back to Dodge City to protect
brother Jim.
The way it all played out, Bat arrived in town
by train on April 16, 1881. Suspecting there might be some foul play, he
slipped out of the train just before it pulled into the depot. As he rounded
the corner by the depot, Bat encountered Updegraff and Peacock. Gunfire soon
broke out, and for several minutes downtown,
Dodge City sounded like a war zone.
Mayor Webster and Marshal Singer eventually
arrested Bat. He was fined $8.00 and another $2.00 for court costs and allowed
to leave town, along with his brother Jim.
When he left, it was clear Bat had worn out his
welcome. The Dodge City Times made it
clear Bat Masterson was persona non grata. “The firing on the street by Bat
Masterson, and jeopardizing the lives of citizens, is severely condemned by our
people, and the good opinion many citizens had of Bat has been changed to one of contempt.”
In 1883, New York Police Superintendent Thomas Byrnes summoned Bat. One of the city’s
prominent millionaires, George Gould, was being shadowed by a suspicious
character, and the city’s detectives weren’t having any luck catching him.
Superintendent Byrnes said he chose Bat because he “would not be afraid to
shoot a man on a crowded Broadway and who would be certain to hit the right
man.”
Bat pursued his man for eight months before
finally bringing him to justice. The man arrested
at the home of Helen Gould said she had promised to marry him. He was a “lunatic.” But, a smart one, if he
could evade the entire New York City police force and Bat Masterson for nearly
a year.
Much more could be
written about Bat Masterson and his law enforcement work, but just like
a cat, Bat lived nine lives—continually reinventing himself.
In 1883, Bat gave up the gun for a much more potent weapon—the pen. The Dodge City Times said, “The fine
artistic style in which Col. Bat wields the pen is adding fame to his already
illustrious name.”
And, though he would continue writing for the
rest of his life, Bat soon added another notch on his resume—sports promoter.
Boxing, especially, became one of Bat’s
dominant passions. In 1888, while refereeing a bout between John P. Clow and
Jim Fell, Bat called a questionable foul. Even so, “the crowd received the
announcement with shouts of approval,” wrote the Omaha Daily Bee, “as it was a well-known fact that anyone who
questioned any of Masterson’s acts never survived a great length of time to
talk about it.”
In 1893, the Globe-Republican speculated Masterson won the Goddard-Smith boxing
match in New Orleans. Bat said, “He knew
Smith had a yellow streak in him,” so he stayed in Smith’s corner all night. It
was suggested Bat pulled his gun in the ring, telling the boxer, “If you quit,
I’ll blow your head off.” In which case, it was a smoking gun that won the
contest, not the pugilist.
Charges of crooked sporting contests followed
Bat for the rest of his life. In 1902, Masterson got arrested for possessing crooked gambling instruments. Also arrested
were his partners in crime, James A. Sullivan, J. F. Saunders, and Leopold
Frank. Their accuser was a Chicago man named Snow, who said they swindled him
out of $17,000 in a game at the Waldorf.
Bat eventually beat the rap and got off with a
$10 fine for possession of a firearm.
In 1903, the Butte Inter Mountain
reported Bat won $30,000 at a Faro table in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The paper
said, “Masterson is a lucky dog and always was. He could win when nobody else could, and he generally
picked the winner in the big prize fights.”
In 1904, Bat visited Teddy Roosevelt at the
White House. The two men got along splendidly. Bat visited the President pretty
much every day for a week. They talked about old times in the West, ranching,
and sporting events—all subjects dear to Roosevelt.
The following year, when the opportunity arose,
Roosevelt repaid Bat by pressuring New York Marshal Hinkel to appoint Bat as a
deputy Marshal, a position he held for the next seven years. As a New York
marshal, Bat dealt mainly with counterfeiters, moonshiners, and confidence men.
He noted that the New York City streets were much more dangerous than any he
had ever patrolled in the Old West. In New York, every man carried a gun and was dumb enough to use it. When a man
didn’t want to fight in the Old West, he went around unarmed. That way, no one
would mess with him. New Yorkers didn’t care about honor or fairness. They were quick to shoot and to kill.
After leaving the marshal’s office in 1912, Bat
returned to his writing. He covered sporting events, politics, local affairs,
and sometimes, when the spirit moved him, he shared memories of daring times in
the Old West.
The Butler
Weekly Times best summarized Bat’s troubled life. “His skills with the
revolver made him invaluable, and no one ever inquired how many toughs tumbled
before his never missing muzzle.” For a short time, it required men with nerve
and pluck to tame the West. But as soon as
civilization arrived, their usefulness was at an end.
Bat Masterson died at his writing desk on
October 25, 1921. He was 66 years old.
Before you go ...
If you’ve ever caught yourself saying, “I remember that,” you’re
in the right place.
I dig up stories about Old West lawmen, outlaws, gunfighters,
robberies, murders, forgotten towns, and all the strange, fascinating pieces of
history that somehow slipped through the cracks. No clickbait. No fluff. Just
authentic stories and actual history.
If you enjoy what you read and would like to help keep the
lights on, consider buying me a Big Gulp.
Every little bit helps pay for books, newspaper archives,
research trips, and the countless hours spent tracking down stories most people
forgot decades ago.
Buy Me a Big Gulp / NickVulich.com
If the Old West is your thing, you may enjoy these books...
No comments:
Post a Comment