A crooked lawman in New Mexico. Eugenio Alarid was a lawman in Las Vegas, New Mexico in the 1890s. But hidden behind the badge was an outlaw; Alarid...
The Corroded Badge
read more
Lawman
Sheriff Carl Hayden and the Beardless Boy Bandits
Most of the lawmen in the Old West weren't flamboyant, tight-lipped, tight-trousered puppets as portrayed in the movies, nor were they shady...
Two Men; Two Dead
A gunfight between an outlaw and a lawman killed both. Ed Short (picture) was marshal of Hennessey, Indian Territory and a deputy U.S. marshal in...
Death of an Outlaw
Lawman Bass Outlaw got into one fight too many. In 1894, Bass Outlaw was a deputy U.S. marshal—a former Texas Ranger, fired for habitual...
The Seminole Burnings
Deputy U.S. Marshal Bill Tilghman's Courageous Work was the Greatest of His Legendary Career. The largest and most sensational criminal trial that...
Bat Masterson
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...
Vengeance for a Marshal
Cowboys who killed a New Mexico lawman paid a price. On January 22, 1880, drunk cowboys were causing trouble in a Las Vegas, New Mexico saloon....
Strange Connections
Frank Hamer’s ties to an outlaw family. Frank Hamer has gone down in history as one of the greatest lawmen of all time. But before he became a Texas...
Switching Sides
Zeke Proctor—outlaw turned lawman. Zeke Proctor was a hard man, living in the Cherokee Nation in the 1870s. He was responsible for several killings....
Shot or Sprained?
What kind of injury did Bill Tilghman suffer during a famous raid? There are a lot of Old West stories that may or may not be true. One of...
The Power of the Pardon
A territorial governor let himself go scot-free. Isaac Stevens was a controversial governor of Washington Territory. In the 1850s, he enacted brutal...
Sheriff’s Duties: Other Than Keeping the Peace
As a rule peace officers in the Old West weren’t held to the high standards they are today. It wasn’t unusual to rough up a suspect in order to get...