Bat Masterson Archives

Shooting Back

by True West | Oct 28, 2022

Our readers remind us of the variables and vagaries of historic truths, “well-established” facts, headlines and historical photographs. The Revenge...

Shooting Back

by True West | Sep 22, 2022

Our readers remind us of the variables and vagaries of historic truths, “well-established” facts, headlines and historical photographs. The Oklahoma...

Battle of the Plaza

by Bob Boze Bell | Sep 1, 2022

Bat Masterson vs. Peacock & Updegraff Things Go Lickety-Bang! Bullets Careen into the Long Branch Traveling mostly by rail, Bat Masterson...

Bat Masterson

by Marshall Trimble | Sep 1, 2022

The deadly and dangerous life of the man who invented Wyatt Earp. Thanks to a 1960s television show starring Gene Barry, Bat Masterson was called a...

Gunpowder and Smoke

by Bill Markley | Sep 1, 2022

The West was immense, and frontier law enforcement sparse. Wise individuals carried firearms and knew how to use them. Some men and women became...

Ditch the Derby

by Bob Boze Bell | Sep 1, 2022

One of the problems Bat Masterson has in terms of his Old West legend is he is typecast as a city slicker, always wearing a derby. But the real Bat...

Bringing the Lord to Dodge

by Mark Boardman | Sep 30, 2021

Pastor Wright brought a different peace to the Wickedest Town in the West. O.W. Wright decided to bring the Lord to Dodge City. He arrived there in...

Lay Lady Gay

by Bob Boze Bell | Sep 23, 2021

January 24, 1876 | Bat Masterson vs. Melvin King Mollie Protects Her Man Three Different Versions of the Fight Fresh off the killing fields, some...

Picking the Wrong Horse

by Mark Boardman | Sep 10, 2021

Bill Tilghman lost the job of his dreams by backing the wrong candidate Bill Tilghman may have been a great lawman, but as a politician he left much...