Bat Masterson: The Most Feared Lawman of the Wild West

this episode is brought to you by curiositystream a subscription streaming service that offers thousands of documentaries and non-fiction titles for just 299 a month get a 30-day free trial by clicking the link in the description below more on them in just a bit a mild-eyed man who killed 26 persons that was the title of an article published in the new york sun in 1881 which detailed the exploits of bat masterson even for the wild west that was a huge number and almost unheard of for a man of the law but there was a pretty good reason this wasn't heard of and that's because it wasn't true the article was penned by a gullible city reporter much too eager to learn and write about the rough and tumble adventures on the frontier but it was popular and exciting and it got reprinted all over the country and just like that masterson's reputation was made as one of the most feared gunslingers of the west don't get us wrong though bam masterson was no stranger to gunfights as you're about to find out he has been involved in a shootout or two and plenty of other violent adventures but his body count was way way lower in fact during a libel trial while under oath masterson estimated that it killed three men and said that all of the shootings had been justified masterson was a man who had ambitions that extended past the life of a gunslinger and most notably he actually got to fulfill them once he saw that his lawman days were over he moved to new york city working various jobs in the boxing world then as a journalist a bodyguard to a millionaire and even as a presidential appointee by teddy roosevelt batmasterson might have been molded by the wild west but he was one of the few to outgrow and outlive it [Music] batmasterson was born bartholomew william barclay masterson on november 26 1853 in the municipality of henryville in quebec canada to thomas masterson and catherine mcgurk him a canadian farmer and her an irish immigrant his parents had six other children a particular note were his brothers ed and james masterson who would go on to become gunslinging lawmen alongside batt although neither one achieved his level of fame in a very similar scenario to wyatt earp and his two brothers virgil morgan the origins of his nickname bat is a matter of some dispute according to wild west folklore masterson earned the moniker while serving as a lawman in dodge city he had been wounded in a previous gunfight and was forced to use a cane to walk around although at first this was an impediment masterson became proficient with his new accessory and often used it as a club in fights against rowdy cowboys and thus came the nickname bat while this would certainly fit his old west persona it seems that he was called bat before his lawmen days and before even getting shot according to the man himself in his book famous gunfighters of the western frontier he earned the nickname during his buffalo hunting days passed on to him by a skilled hunter and trapper named baptiste brown also known as old bat however the book was a collection of newspaper articles about wild west gunman with a lot of drama and action so it's hard to say exactly what was genuine and what was embellished there is a third much more mundane story which simply says that his original name bartholomew got shortened to bart which then got shortened to bat he almost always referred to himself under the name wb bat masterson going back to his childhood the masterson family left canada when bat was just a boy and moved around the united states quite a bit before finally settling in kansas in 1871 on a large farm near wichita by that point bat was 18 years old and was ready to go out and find something to do he was already skilled with guns so he joined his older brother ed and became a buffalo hunter and the two of them were later joined by james masterson it was during this time that bat had already begun meeting some other characters who would go on to become part of the legend of the wild west such as tom nixon frontiersman billy dixon and masterson's soon-to-be close friend wyatt earp already there were some stories that helped build the reputation of batmasterson on one occasion he and his brother ed were stiffed on payment by a contractor named raymond ritter who had hired them to do some grading for the santa fe railroad according to the story it took almost a year but finally tracked ritter down coming into town by train he waited for the train to pull into the station entered ritter's compartment drew on him and made him pay what he owed at gunpoint [Music] on june 27 1874 batmasterson unwillingly took part in the second battle of adobe walls against hundreds of comanche cheyenne and kiowa warriors led by the comanche chief quanah parker adobe walls was a trading post built in the texas panhandle and a decade prior it was the site of one of the largest conflicts to take place on the great plains when a force of around 400 soldiers and scouts led by kit carson fought thousands of native americans most of them comanche and apache that battle was inconclusive so now 10 years later the southern plains bands again wanted to try and destroy adobe walls and push back the hunters who were quickly dwindling the buffalo population this time the scale of the conflict was reduced significantly on one side there were just 28 buffalo hunters who were trapped inside adobe walls with 20 year old batmasterson being the youngest of the bunch on the other side there were hundreds of braves although the exact number is disputed ranging anywhere between 250 and 700. in his memoir billy dixon presented the scene there was never a more splendidly barbaric sight and after years i was glad that i had seen it hundreds of warriors the flower of the fighting men of the southwestern plains tribes mounted upon their finest horses armed with guns and lances and carrying heavy shields of thick buffalo hide were coming like the wind overall was splashed the rich colors of red vermillion and okra on the bodies of the men on the bodies of the running horses scalps dangled from their bridles gorgeous warbonnets fluttered their plumes bright feathers dangled from the tails and manes of the horses and the bronzed half-naked bodies of the riders glittered with ornaments of silver and brass behind this headlong charging host stretched the planes on whose horizon the rising sun was lifting its morning fires the warriors seemed to emerge from this glowing background the battle consisted of a prolonged siege but it ended with one phenomenal shot that has become the stuff of legend it belonged to the aforementioned billy dixon who was a renowned crack shot during a break in the fight the buffalo hunters saw a group of enemy riders gathering on a ridge almost a mile away to survey the situation dixon then so came with a 50-90 sharps rifle and dropped one of the warriors cleanly with one bullet allegedly the comanche was so disheartened by the shot that they gave up the siege as far as masterson was concerned he acquitted himself well during the fighting and later enrolled as a civilian scout in the red river war which took place on the southern plains as a direct result of the siege at adobe walls [Music] after his enrollment finished masterson spent some more time hunting buffalo and gambling in saloons until he headed out to dodge city and became a lawman before that though there was the event that left him with a limp and forced him to use a cane it was january 1876 and masterson was still hanging around the army camp near adobe walls one night during a card game batt got into an argument with corporal melvin king of the fourth u.s cavalry allegedly over a prostitute named molly brennan the argument evolved into a fight and king pulled out a gun and fired however during the scuffle molly brennan got between the two men trying to stop the fight king's bullet accidentally hit her in the stomach then came out the other side and struck masterson in the pelvis in return batt pulled out his own gun and shot king dead although brennan also died of her injuries there is another version of the story which simply says that both masterson and king were involved in a fight between multiple buffalo hunters and soldiers king was the only fatality but it wasn't even known if masterson was the one who shot him in retrospect given bats fame the first story was the one that became popular by may that same year batmasterson had recovered and made his way to dodge city kansas a city that has become synonymous with the old west alongside the likes of tombstone and deadwood and is considered emblematic of those wild frontier days when masterson rode into town the man in charge was charlie bassett another notable character of the old west who was serving both the city marshal of dodge city and sheriff of ford county kansas by 1877 batt was made an undersheriff for ford county while his brother ed became deputy marshall wyatt also served as a lawman in dodge city during this time before moving on to tombstone by the end of the year bassett's term as sheriff was ending and by kansas law he wasn't allowed to seek a third term therefore he backed masterson as a candidate for sheriff of port county the local newspapers described masterson as a young man of nerve and coolness in cases of danger he has served on the police force of this city and also as undersheriff and knows just how to gather in the sinners he is well qualified to fill the office and if elected will never shrink from danger batmasterson was elected as the new sheriff in november and he took office in january 1878. he went on to appoint charlie bassett as his new undersheriff and his brother aired as the new city marshal of dodge city james masterson joined them a little bit later now we're going to join mr masterson and co in kansas in just a moment but first i want to take a second to thank today's video sponsor curiosity stream curiosity stream is a 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to support the show and let's get back to bat there were three notable events that marked batmasterson's stint as sheriff of fort county the first was exactly the kind of thing you would expect from the wild west in his second month in office masterson and his posse chased down a gang of dangerous train robbers led by a notorious outlaw named dirty dave rudibar however they managed to capture two of the criminals in an ambush and arrested them without a shootout while the other two were apprehended soon after the second event was considerably more violent and left two men dead on april 9 1878 city marshal ed masterson approached a drunken cowboy named jack wagner who was causing a ruckus in town he tried to get him to disarm but instead wagner drew on ed and shot him marshall shot back and put the cowboy in the chest then stumbled into a nearby saloon where he said what had happened before he collapsed ed masterson died about a half hour later killed in the line of duty while wagner also died the next day in different versions of the story wagner escaped the altercation unharmed but once matt found out what he'd done he tracked down his brother's killer and gunned him down himself the third incident that marked masterson's tenure as sheriff of fort county was known as the royal gorge war which was in reality a dispute between two railroads over who had the right to lay track through the royal gorge these sort of conflicts were common back then and were known as the railroad wars as numerous different companies vied for supremacy in this particular case it was a dispute between the denver and rio grande railroad and the atchison topeka and santa fe railroad such companies often employed gunfighters as an intimidation tactic although the official reason was to ensure that their interests were protected this time it was the santa fe railroad that hired batmasterson to look after their interests which involved him assembling a group of 60 or so men and even obtaining a cannon should the need for one arise the gunslingers in masterson's employ were a who's who of the wild west including doc holliday ben thompson mysterious dave mather and even the man he once arrested dirty dave rudebar for something that had the word war in it and took place during the wild west and involved some of that period's most dangerous shooters the royal gorge war was surprisingly tame most of it was fought in courtrooms while the hired men kept their guns holstered and mainly relied on threats and intimidations there is still dispute over if anyone was actually killed during the conflict or not some sources say no while others claim that a man named henry jenkins was shot in the back by a drunken guard eventually it was the supreme court who settled the matter and sided with the rio grande railroad thus forcing masterson and his posse to surrender their positions [Music] we're not sure if his role in the royal gorge war tainted his reputation somewhat but masterson lost his re-election bid for ford county sheriff in 1880. for the next few years he drifted from town to town mainly operating as a gambler and occasional car dealer at the fiery tables however there were a couple of instances where he showed that he was willing to leave everything behind to go and help his friends in need most famous of all was the so-called battle of the plaza in april 1881. at that point bat was in tombstone working in the oriental saloon alongside wyatt earp when he received a telegram from his brother james masterson saying that he was in danger and needed help in dodge city bat had already lost one brother he didn't want to lose another he jumped on the first train and arrived in dodge city on april the 16th because telegrams were usually short masterson didn't really have any idea of his brother's predicament he knew that james had been arguing with a former business partner named aj peacock and his brother-in-law al abdegraf and he clearly feared for his life otherwise he would not have sent the telegram that was all bat needed as it happened he spotted peacock and upped graph as he was getting off the train it's possible that they were waiting for him knowing that james masterson would have sent word for help that called out to them but they weren't in the talking mood they drew their guns and opened fire that dove for cover and did the same during the shootout a couple of masterson's old friends exited the long branch saloon and joined in in the gunfight but so did a few gunmen from peacock's side eventually updraft fell to the ground moaning as a bullet pissed his lungs who shot it we don't know but that was the end of the fight just as well as masterson had run out of bullets when the mayor approached him shotgun in hand bet simply surrendered his guns and asked how his brother was doing he was fine by the way and since it couldn't be proven who shot optograph masterson was only fined eight dollars for unlawfully discharging his gun on a city street he and james left dodge city together and a while later ended up in trinidad colorado where they once again served as lawmen in 1882 ben masterson became the city marshal of trinidad during his tenure he used his influence at the behest of wyatt earp to save doc holliday who had been arrested in denver for a shooting committed in arizona holliday risked deportation to arizona where he and the earps had a lot of enemies eager for revenge instead masterson helped him in colorado by filing bongo charges against holliday to delay proceedings and then finally convincing the colorado governor to reject the extradition altogether oddly enough the most notable event from this era did not happen in trinidad but back in dodge city in april 1883 he received word that one of his friends back there luke short needed help once again masterson didn't hesitate and boarded the train for dodge city timing-wise it worked out great because he'd just lost his re-election bid for city marshall so there wasn't anything keeping him in trinidad luke short was a partner in the infamous long branch saloon and he butted heads with the new mayor lawrence dagger the latter wanted the saloon closed and short gone when legal measures failed short claimed that dagger along with the police and the city marshal unofficially organized a vigilante group to drive him out of town under threat of violence he petitioned the governor who sided with short but only gave him a 10-day window in which he would be able to return to dodge city and sell the saloon back in town it was made clear to short that if he was still around after those 10 days bad things were going to happen that is when he sent word to his friends and quite a few of them answered the call there was batmasterson wyatta charlie bassett shotgun john collins and about a half a dozen others this became known as the dodge city war although once again the word war is a bit disingenuous here there was no fighting degre's posse knew better than to start a shootout with some of the west's most feared gunmen but ultimately it was basic economics that settled the matter when all of short's allies arrived in dodge city mayor dagger ordered all the saloons bars and gambling halls closed this was at the height of the cattle drive season and all the business owners complained that the mayor's actions were destroying the city's economy eventually he relented and the dodge city war ended without a single shot fired and short did sell the saloon a few months later the most memorable moment of the whole affair ended up being a photograph of luke short batmasterson wyatt earp and the other gunman dubbed the dodge city peace commission it became one of the most widely reproduced images of the old west the dodge city war was more or less batmasterson's last hurrah as a fearsome gunslinger of the wild west from then on he tried living a more docile life focused on some of his other interests he started with journalism and published his first newspaper called the vox papooli in 1884. it only lasted one issue and although masterson would eventually find success as a journalist that time had not yet arrived in 1886 masterson left dodge city behind once more and moved to denver where he had various jobs related to gambling such as faro dealer and gambling hall manager around this time he met and befriended a notorious con man named sophie smith whom we already covered in a previous biographics video during the 1890s masterson engaged in two more of his interests boxing and mining he had been a boxing fan for a while and attended numerous bouts so eventually he got to serve in an official capacity as a timekeeper promoter or second as far as mining was concerned that masterson briefly relocated to creed colorado which had become a silver boom town while there he managed a gambling house called the denver exchange and also served as unofficial lawman we say unofficial because he didn't have any sort of authority but as one newspaper described the situation masterson was generally recognized in the camp as the nerviest man of all the fighters here all the tops and thugs fear him as they do no other dozen men in camp let an incipient ride start and all that is necessary to quell it is the whisper there comes masterson clearly his fearsome reputation still preceded him wherever he went and it was the same reputation that helped masterson land his next gig which was also the cushiest job he'd ever have in 1895 he entered the employ of railroad tycoon george gould the son of jay gould one of america's most notorious robber baron and again someone we've already covered here on biographics george gould had been receiving threatening letters from an anonymous person and thought that it would be prudent to hire a bodyguard someone who not only had the skills but also an intimidating presence on a friend's recommendation he offered the job to batmasterson and began paddling around with the country's wealthy elite always at gould's side life was lush for martissan he wrote to friends back in denver telling them how he would spend the whole day fishing on a yacht or how he'd go to the races where gould would give him thousands of dollars to bet as he pleased but unfortunately all good things must come to an end and the bodyguard gig finished for masterson after about eight months when gould's letter writer was finally arrested [Music] it was time for bat to return to denver but he developed a taste for life in the big apple he wanted to move to new york but the time wasn't right yet so he went back to colorado and he continued where he left off masterson became a partner in a boxing club and he also began writing a weekly sports column for a denver newspaper called george's weekly this went on for a few more years until bat left colorado permanently and relocated to new york city in 1902. his arrival was not an auspicious one soon afterwards he was arrested for allegedly running a crooked faro game and was then sued by a mormon elder from salt lake city named george snow who claimed that he had been hustled out of 16 000 it was during this trial that the newspaper article written about masterson 20 years earlier came back into the spotlight the one that was highly exaggerated and asserted that the former lawman had killed almost 30 people it was also at this time that bat finally set the record straight about his wild west exploits as far as the suit was concerned it was dismissed when snow didn't shop for the hearing masterson was only fined 10 for carrying a concealed weapon but now he filed a countersuit against his accuser due to damages caused to his reputation and good name as it turns out snow had never specified masterson by name in his affidavit the case was settled out of court but that put the blame on his arresting officers claiming that they took him for a sucker and tried to pin the charges on him once that initial unpleasantness was dealt with new york city became bat's home for the last 20 years of his life his journalistic career flourished becoming a regular columnist for the morning telegraph but also occasional writer for other publications he mainly covered boxing and would always be found ringside at every big bout in the country masterson also struck up a friendship with president theodore roosevelt who had a lot of admiration for the rough and tough wild west lawmen but also shared a lot of boxing roosevelt appointed masterson deputy u.s marshal for the southern district of new york it sounded fancy but the position mainly involved bat providing security in the grand jury room while core was in session it lasted until taft became president as he abolished the job since he didn't share his predecessor's fondness of the old west on october 25 1921 the 67 year old batmasterson had finished writing his column and then had a heart attack and died at his desk he was then buried at the woodlawn cemetery in the bronx following a service attended by hundreds of friends and admirers his death was quiet and peaceful not something that most other wild west figures get to experience that masterson is a rare example of someone who managed to escape the old west and successfully build a new life for himself in the modern era so i really hope you found that video interesting if you did please do hit that thumbs up button below don't forget to subscribe and also please do check out our fantastic sponsor curiosity stream there's a link below and thank you for [Music] watching

Channel: Biographics

Views: 292,594

Keywords: biographics, biography, biographies, people, famous people, simon whistler

Id: OgN3ILpyGl8

Length: 22min 26sec (1346 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 11 2021