Bat Masterson

A Dodge City census from 1880 records that Bat Masterson was living with the 19-year-old Annie Ladue, described to be his concubine.

His affair with Nellie McMahon Spencer caused troubled between Masterson, and Nellie’s husband Lou Spencer. In a Denver theatre, Lou Spencer confronted Masterson and hit his face with a pistol before they started fighting. They were arrested and released later. Though Nellie divorced Lou, there is no evidence that she pursued her relationship with Masterson.

He met Emma Moulton at the Palace Variety Theater in 1888. They lived together, and were assumed to be married later, in 1891.

Bat Masterson was born on November 26, 1853 in the Eastern Township of Quebec, to Thomas Masterson and Catherine McGurk. He had six siblings – five brothers and two sisters. His brothers, James and Edward Masterson, were also prominent lawmen.

He was raised in family farms in different places, including Quebec, New York, Illinois, and Missouri. The family finally settled in Wichita, Kansas, in 1871.

Bat Masterson and his brothers left their home to become buffalo hunters in the Great Plains. This marked their move to the Western frontier. They were hired by Raymond Ritter to grade a railroad track in 1872, but when cheated of their wages, Bat recovered it at gunpoint a year later.

In a five-day siege on June 27, 1874 in Adobe Walls, Masterson was engaged in one of the most celebrated fights in the Wild West. He defended his outpost successfully. Soon, he signed to be a U.S. Army Scout, and participated in gunfights along with Colonel Nelson Miles.

His stay in Dodge City was sensationalized by violence. In an attempt to interrupt Robert Gilmore’s arrest in 1877, he fought the city marshal – Lawrence Deger, and let Gilmore escape. He was later pistol-whipped and had to pay a heavy fine for it.

He was selected as an Under-Sheriff to Charles Bassett in July, 1877. When the opportunity arrived for him to contest as Sheriff in Kansas, he found himself facing an old enemy, Lawrence Deger, as his opponent. Masterson was however, elected as county sheriff of Ford County, Kansas. His brother consequently became the City Marshal.

Masterson captured notorious thieves – Dave Rudabaugh and Ed West, in 1878. A month later, when his brother Ed was killed on duty by a cowboy Jack Wagner, Bat fired his gun and killed Jack. Later, with his group which included Wyatt Earp and Bill Tilghman, he caught James Kenedy, son of the wealthy Texas cattleman, who had shot and killed an actress Dora Hand, or ‘Fannie Keenan’ as she was popularly known.

Bat Masterson was awarded the ‘Medal of Honor’ upon Colonel Miles’ recommendation for his role in the Indian Territory Expedition at Fort Dodge in 1874.

He was adjudged the ‘Most Popular Man in Dodge City’ on 4 July 1885, and was awarded a gold watch chain and a gold-headed cane.