Dave Mather was a man of mystery—not only in life, but also in death. “Mysterious Dave” straddled the line between outlaw and lawman, and left behind few reliable documents for us to figure out his life story. Mather was born in the northeast United States in 1851; one of the few certain facts. Both his parents died by the time he was 16, so he and his brother, Josiah, headed west. In Arkansas, in 1873, he allegedly rustled cattle with Dave Rudabaugh before fleeing the state. He dabble


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