Bill Tilghman’s “Prairie Queen”

This is a story that George W. Bolds told me. In Dodge City he was known as “Cimarron George.” I made notes, wrote the story and have his corrections. He died four years ago. He was, for a time, a deputy United States marshal in Dodge City. James D. Horan wrote a book about him, but this story does not appear in the book, and is set down here for the first time. This is the story—almost the way colorful “Cimarron George” told it. (I wish I could catch the rhythm of his voice and