In January 1879, Bat was appointed U.S. deputy marshal. He was involved in the famous war between the railroads Denver & Rio Grande and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe for the rights to build to Deadwood. Bat and his posses protected crews of both railroads from being killed in shootouts.
That fall he lost his bid for re-election. This was due in large part to accusations by a newspaper editor that he was crooked. So in 1880, he made a living at cards and faro. He spent some time at the boom town of Leadville, Colorado. From there he went to Tombstone, where he dealt faro. He also helped Wyatt Earp take care of a few problems. He left just before the O.K. Corral incident.
In April of 1882, he was appointed marshal of Trinidad, Colorado. He was only there about a year, however. For the next few years he drifted from town to town, following the boom towns and cow towns. He spent time in Dodge City, Denver, Trinidad, Reno, and Las Vegas. Somewhere along the way he learned the sport of boxing. Though he didn’t fight, he frequently was a timekeeper, promoter, second, or referee.
He also became interested in theater production. He bought the Palace Variety Theater in Denver. He met a beautiful actress there named Emma Walters. He married her on November 21, 1891. He wasn’t at home much as he still made his living gambling in boom towns. His reputation kept bad men from bothering him. He also vigorously followed and attended boxing matches and became adept at picking the winners. He wrote a weekly sports column for a Denver paper. He opened the Olympic Athletic Club to promote boxing.
In 1896, a fight to determine the new heavyweight champion was going to be held in El Paso. Promoters, gamblers, dance hall girls, and the fighters themselves flocked to the area to get ready. The Texas governor was outraged as state law prohibited prize fights. He sent in the Texas Rangers. This was not popular with the town’s citizens, as they had raised the money for the purse. Bat arrived in town to make sure the fight went on. He escorted Tom O’Rourke, who held the $10,000 purse.
Under pressure, promoter Dan Stuart picked up the whole shooting match and moved it to Langtry, where Judge Roy Bean held sway. A ring was built a few hundred yards away in Mexican territory. In less than two minutes, Fitzsimmons knocked out Maher. Bat ensured Fitzsimmons got his money. Then he returned to Denver to write about it in his weekly column.
