Bat Masterson
Bat Masterson was born in Illinois in 1855. His real name was William Barclay Masterson. His brother Ed was two years older. Eventually they would have two more brothers and two sisters. The family eventually moved to Kansas, where they built a farm in Sedgwick County. Bat and Ed were close and often went hunting and fishing togther. He didn’t think much of book learning and snuck out of the schoolhouse whenever he could.
He got his first job at seventeen. He and Ed graded railroad bed for the Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe railroad. Shortly afterward, he became a buffalo hunter supplying meat to the railroad crews. His headquarters was a small community called Adobe Walls, Texas. He was there when Indians led by Comanche war chief Quanah Parker, attacked the town on June 27, 1874.
Bat and friend Billy Dixon were just getting ready to leave when the horizon was covered by Comanche and Cheyenne Indians. The white men lost four, while the Indians lost about 30. The white men were able to hole up in the buildings, many of them sod, which were impervious to Indian fire arrows. The Indians attacked for several hours then withdrew. Small bands pestered them for six more days. Soon after, the army under General Nelson A. Miles left Fort Leavenworth to avenge the battle. Bat and Dixon hired on as army scouts. Bat left that effort after a short time.
In 1875, Bat killed his first man at Sweetwater, Texas. The incident occurred over one Molly Brennan. Bat and Molly were both wounded by the gunfire of her jealous ex-lover Melvin A. King, before Bat killed him. After he recuperated, he returned to Dodge City, where he worked as a deputy marshal under Wyatt Earp.
While there, he purchased an interest in the Lone Star dance hall. He figured this would show interest in the town and help him in his bid for county sheriff. It must have helped for he won the election on November 6, 1877. He appointed Charlie Bassett as his undersheriff. His first job was to run down an outlaw gang that tired to rob a train at Kinsley, Kansas. He captured all four men, one of which was Dave Rudabaugh, who would later ride with Billy the Kid.
In April 1878, Bat’s brother Ed, a deputy marshal, was killed in Dodge City in a shoot-out with two cowboys. Afterward Bat rigorously enforced his no gunplay laws. He imposed a 9 p.m.
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