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Wild West Podcast
Edward Masterson and the Texas Cowboys
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Exclusive access to premium content!"Edward Masterson and the Texas Cowboys," penned by Michael King, takes readers on an exhilarating ride through the American West, focusing on the lively and gritty cattle town of Dodge City, Kansas. This thrilling dime novel plunges into the action-packed year of Ed Masterson's life as a lawman, set against the backdrop of the chaotic cattle trade, filled with fierce conflicts, shifting loyalties, and rampant lawlessness. You can order the book on Amazon.
Often eclipsed by his more famous brother, Bat Masterson, Edward carved out his own legacy of bravery and an unwavering commitment to justice. His journey through the wild frontier was not without its challenges and triumphs, culminating in a heart-pounding showdown that underscored the perilous life of a lawman on the frontier.
Join Michael King as he uncovers the riveting story of Edward Masterson, highlighting his fearless spirit, loyalty, and ultimate sacrifice. Explore his crucial role in the vibrant community of Dodge City, where danger lurked around every corner. With meticulous research, King illuminates Edward's significant contributions to law enforcement during a transformative era. This often-overlooked tale is essential for anyone eager to grasp the complexities of the American West and the enduring legacy of a lion-hearted lawman. Buckle up for a captivating journey into the heart of the Wild West! Check new content on Ed Masterson at World Famous Gunfighters Legends of Dodge City
"Edward Masterson and the Texas Cowboys," penned by Michael King, takes readers on an exhilarating ride through the American West, focusing on the lively and gritty cattle town of Dodge City, Kansas. This thrilling dime novel plunges into the action-packed year of Ed Masterson's life as a lawman, set against the backdrop of the chaotic cattle trade, filled with fierce conflicts, shifting loyalties, and rampant lawlessness. You can order the book on Amazon.
Welcome to the Deep Dive. We're the show where we take your sources, dig in and pull out the key insights.
Speaker 2:Exactly, and today we're heading back to the Old West.
Speaker 1:That's right. Focusing on Dodge City, Kansas, this comes courtesy of a biography one of you sent in about Edward Masterson.
Speaker 2:Ed Masterson.
Speaker 1:Yeah, ed. And you know, when you think Dodge City lawman, usually Wyatt Earp or Bat Masterson comes to mind first. They tend to get the spotlight For sure. But our mission today is really to understand the impact of their older brother, ed. He was actually city marshal there.
Speaker 2:Okay, interesting. For how long?
Speaker 1:Well, his time was pretty brief, actually just over a year as marshal, but it gives this really vivid picture of the challenges, you know, trying to keep order in what was, frankly, a notoriously dangerous place.
Speaker 2:Okay, let's talk about that dangerous reputation. Dodge City late 1870s it wasn't just Hollywood hype, was it?
Speaker 1:No, not at all. It was a real boomtown. You had the cattle drives, the wagon trains converging there. Big money, big business.
Speaker 2:And that brings people, lots of people, exactly Lots of commerce, but also a very, let's say, high-spirited, often unruly population. Cowboys fresh off the trail, freighters, gamblers.
Speaker 1:So establishing law and order wasn't just some kind of abstract ideal?
Speaker 2:Not even close. It was fundamental. You needed it to keep the whole economic engine going, to stop the town just sliding into complete chaos.
Speaker 1:It sounds very pragmatic Protect the businesses, protect the town's future.
Speaker 2:Precisely. The town's whole prosperity really hinged on having at least some degree of stability. I mean a reputation for being totally lawless. That's bad for business, scares people away.
Speaker 1:Right, investors, traders, they wouldn't come.
Speaker 2:Exactly so, guys like Ed Masterson. They were vital. It was a really practical need for order.
Speaker 1:So who was Ed Masterson, the man himself before Dodge City?
Speaker 2:Okay, so Edward John Masterson, born back in 1852, up in Quebec actually, family was of Irish descent.
Speaker 1:Quebec Didn't expect that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, eldest of seven kids, and, interestingly, two of his younger brothers also became pretty famous names in the Old West.
Speaker 1:That would be Bat and James.
Speaker 2:William Barclay, bat Masterson and James Masterson. Yeah, it seems the whole family's trajectory changed when they moved. They went to the Wichita Kansas area in 1871. Ed was about 19 then.
Speaker 1:And that move basically put them right on the frontier.
Speaker 2:Smack in the middle of it and it really launched them into that whole frontier experience.
Speaker 1:Got it Now. The biography mentions making sure we're talking about the right Edward Masterson.
Speaker 2:Ah yes, good point. The source clarifies this because apparently there were a few others a restaurant owner somewhere else, an early settler in Virginia, even someone much later involved in film studies and a police captain in Marion City. Different people, different times. Our focus is squarely on Ed, the Dodge City lawman.
Speaker 1:Right, the Quebec born one who ended up in Kansas. So what did frontier life mean for him and his brothers early on?
Speaker 2:Well, it meant getting hands-on fast. The biography mentions he Bat and James spent time hunting buffalo.
Speaker 1:Buffalo hunting Okay, that sounds tough.
Speaker 2:It was incredibly tough, but think about the skills that would build marksmanship obviously.
Speaker 1:Under pressure, I imagine.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Plus tracking, survival skills, just navigating that harsh landscape, physical endurance too. These weren't just, you know, nice to haves. They were essential, more valuable than just putting food on the table. You mean Far more. These were core skills for anyone trying to make it, let alone someone who might end up in law enforcement later. And we also know Ed and Bat worked for the railroad for a bit.
Speaker 1:The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe. Ed and Bat worked for the railroad for a bit.
Speaker 2:The Atchison, topeka and Santa Fe, that's the one around July 1872. Shows they were adaptable, willing to do the hard work that was available.
Speaker 1:And you mentioned the brothers. That family connection seems really important here.
Speaker 2:Oh, definitely. The biography really stresses this. They had each other's backs. It wasn't just family.
Speaker 1:It was a shared experience. A support system in a pretty unforgiving environment Makes sense. On the frontier, established structures were often thin on the ground.
Speaker 2:Exactly In that kind of vacuum. Family bonds, loyalty, trust, mutual support. They weren't just sentimental things, they were survival mechanisms.
Speaker 1:OK, let's zoom in on Dodge City itself then Founded what around 1872?.
Speaker 2:Yeah, 72. In those early days, wow, it sounds even wilder than the movies make out.
Speaker 1:How so.
Speaker 2:Well, for a while there was basically no formal law enforcement at all, Just nothing. Ford County wasn't even organized until June 73. And the city wasn't incorporated till November 75.
Speaker 1:So those first couple of years were just open season.
Speaker 2:Pretty much. The biography states something like 15 men were killed in just the first year, all buried up on Boot Hill 15.
Speaker 1:In a year. Yeah, that gives you a scale of the violence.
Speaker 2:It's stark, isn't it? And the first tries at bringing order. It kind of backfired spectacularly. What happened? Well, they hired a private lawman. Billy Brook apparently Couldn't handle it. Then a vigilance committee formed. Oh, vigilantes.
Speaker 1:That often doesn't end well.
Speaker 2:It didn't here either. It turned violent itself. There was a shooting involving a guy named Tom Sherman. Things got really bad. So bad that, so bad that in 1873, after a particularly nasty murder, William Taylor. I think the military actually had to step in. Colonel Dodge got troops involved.
Speaker 1:The army had to come in to police the town.
Speaker 2:To arrest the vigilantes. Yeah, and that seems to be the point where things started shifting towards setting up actual formal law enforcement.
Speaker 1:That's a heck of a turning point. Military intervention needed to establish civil order.
Speaker 2:It really highlights how extreme things were. But then, as the town's economy started to boom say from 75 to 85. The cattle trade right, right. That pragmatic need for order we talked about became even stronger. Businesses need predictability, security. You can't have gunfights spilling into the streets constantly if you want investment.
Speaker 1:So hiring as the biography puts it, respected and courageous lawmen wasn't just about morality.
Speaker 2:No, it was an economic necessity. Keep the peace, protect the boom.
Speaker 1:Right, but it wasn't like everyone in town wanted the same thing, was it? Weren't there factions?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, big time you basically had two camps the gang, as they were apparently called, saloon owners, gamblers, folks who like the wide, open town feel. And then you had the business owners, the reformers, pushing for more law and order. That created a really challenging environment for any lawman. You're trying to enforce rules when half the town might be against you, or at least against those rules.
Speaker 1:Talk about being caught in the middle, and the biography mentions a sort of moral ambiguity too.
Speaker 2:It does. It talks about this thin line between good and bad. Apparently, some of the lawmen themselves were involved in gambling, maybe owned shares in saloons.
Speaker 1:Huh, so not exactly clear-cut white hats versus black hats.
Speaker 2:Not at all. It's much more nuanced than the typical Western movie portrays. It raises questions. You know how much did that ambiguity affect public trust If the guy arresting you for being drunk also runs the Pharaoh table? It complicates things.
Speaker 1:Definitely complicates things. So into this powder keg steps Edward Masterson. When did he officially get involved?
Speaker 2:July 1877. He's appointed assistant city marshal, working under the marshal at the time, Larry Dager.
Speaker 1:And how did he do initially?
Speaker 2:It sounds like he made a really positive impact right away. The local paper, the Dodge City Times, apparently praised his prompt and efficient action pretty early on.
Speaker 1:So he hit the ground. Running seemed capable from the start.
Speaker 2:It seems so, either a natural aptitude or just very dedicated. And then something major happens just a few months later, in November 77.
Speaker 1:The Bob Shaw shooting.
Speaker 2:That's the one. It's a key moment. Masterson gets shot by Shaw in the chest what yeah? And the bullet paralyzes his right arm instantly.
Speaker 1:That sounds like it should have been the end of the fight.
Speaker 2:For most people, absolutely. But Masterson, incredibly, switches his gun to his left hand.
Speaker 1:His left hand. Wow, well wounded like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and returns fire hitting Shaw, neutralizing the threat. The Dodge City Times apparently wrote about his incredible nerve and pluck.
Speaker 1:They'll say nerve and pluck doesn't quite cover it. That's astonishing resilience. That must have really cemented his reputation.
Speaker 2:Oh, undoubtedly. Surviving that and still taking down his attacker, that's about as clear a demonstration of competence and courage as you could get in that town.
Speaker 1:So it's probably no surprise what happened next.
Speaker 2:Exactly Just a few weeks later, december 6th 1877, edward Masterson is promoted. He becomes the city marshal.
Speaker 1:Succeeding Larry Dager, and the source makes a point of saying not Wyatt Earp.
Speaker 2:Right, important clarification. Wyatt was around, but Ed succeeded Dager. It was clear recognition of his skills and bravery, especially after the Shaw incident.
Speaker 1:And did he make changes as marshal?
Speaker 2:He did Pretty bold ones too. In March 78, he announced a new policy basically disarming anyone carrying guns openly within the city limits.
Speaker 1:Dodge City Disarming people? That sounds risky. Dodge City Disarming people that sounds risky.
Speaker 2:Extremely risky Guns were everywhere. It was a direct attempt to clamp down on the casual street violence, but it was a really provocative move and ultimately, it seems, directly led to his death.
Speaker 1:Before we get to that, his brother Bat, was also in law enforcement then, right, yes.
Speaker 2:Bat had been elected sheriff of Ford County the previous November, November 77.
Speaker 1:So you had Ed as city marshal and Bat as county sheriff, working together.
Speaker 2:Exactly the two Masterson brothers effectively running law enforcement for the city and the county. That coordination must have been well pretty formidable for the lawless element.
Speaker 1:You can imagine a united front. Yeah, any examples of them working together.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the biography mentions one specific case. In March 78. Ed joined Batt and another lawman, charles Bassett, to capture some train robbers successfully.
Speaker 1:OK, so they were an effective team and again, Wyatt Earp was around during this time.
Speaker 2:He was Served as a deputy marshal, according to the source, but Ed was the marshal, the top city lawman.
Speaker 1:Got it. So Ed's making his mark, implementing policy, working with his brother. Things seem to be moving in a direction of more order.
Speaker 2:They do, he's clearly having an impact which just makes what happened next on April 9th 1878, even more tragic.
Speaker 1:OK, tell us what happened that night.
Speaker 2:It was late, around 1030 pm. Ed was doing his job, trying to disarm a drunken cowboy, a guy named Jack Wagner.
Speaker 1:Enforcing his new policy.
Speaker 2:Right, he actually managed to take one pistol off Wagner, but Wagner had another gun concealed. Yeah, wagner pulled the second gun and shot Masterson point blank in the side or abdomen so close apparently, that Ed's clothes actually started smoldering from the muzzle flash.
Speaker 1:Horrific, but Masterson.
Speaker 2:Even then mortally wounded, he still returned fire and hit Wagner.
Speaker 1:Incredible, even in that moment.
Speaker 2:Just sheer tenacity. And then get this After being shot like that, he manages to walk across the street into George Hoover's saloon. He walked. He walked across the street, said George, I am shot, and then collapsed. He died about an hour later.
Speaker 1:Unbelievable courage, right to the very end. What happened to Wagner?
Speaker 2:He was fatally wounded, too likely by Ed's return fire, maybe Bat's later shots. He stumbled off to another saloon, peacock's, and died the next day.
Speaker 1:Was anyone else involved?
Speaker 2:There was another man, alf Walker. He was Wagner's boss, also armed. He got shot and wounded in the chaos but apparently recovered later.
Speaker 1:Now the accounts of who shot Wagner and Walker get a bit murky, don't they?
Speaker 2:They do, especially the initial newspaper reports. They were apparently unclear, maybe deliberately so.
Speaker 1:Why deliberately unclear.
Speaker 2:Well, the thinking according to the biography, is that they were likely trying to protect Bat Masterson.
Speaker 1:Protect Bat From what.
Speaker 2:From revenge. Wagner and Walker had connections, likely Texan cowboys. If Bat was publicly named as the one who shot them both, especially Walker who survived initially, it could have meant serious trouble reprisals coming up the trail.
Speaker 1:Ah, the code of the West, but the dangerous side of it. So what's the general understanding now?
Speaker 2:The historical consensus and this is supported by Bat's own testimony in later court cases, apparently is that Bat rushed to the scene when he heard the shots. And it was Bat who actually shot both Wagner finishing him off, perhaps and Walker.
Speaker 1:So Bat avenged his brother almost immediately.
Speaker 2:It seems. So it really speaks volumes about that frontier loyalty, that intense bond between the brothers. Quick, decisive, maybe extra legal action, wow.
Speaker 1:And Ed was so young.
Speaker 2:Just 25, maybe 26. Served a little over a year in total as assistant marshal and then marshal. A huge loss for the family. Obviously, His parents and brothers survived him.
Speaker 1:And who took over as marshal.
Speaker 2:Immediately after, the mayor appointed Charlie Bassett as marshal and, interestingly, wyatt Earp, james Earp and Ed's own brother, jim Masterson, were all appointed as deputies, right then.
Speaker 1:So the Earps and Mastersons remained central to law enforcement there.
Speaker 2:Yes, and Jim Masterson actually became city marshal himself later on, so the Masterson name continued in that role. What about?
Speaker 1:Ed's burial. So the Masterson name continued in that role. What?
Speaker 2:about Ed's burial. It's actually a bit sad. Adds another layer. He was initially buried with military honors at Fort Dodge, but later his remains were moved to Prairie Grove Cemetery and then eventually, it seems, moved again when that cemetery was relocated to Maple Grove Cemetery.
Speaker 1:OK.
Speaker 2:The problem is, it's believed. His grave is now unmarked, possibly even lost, really Lost, yeah Now unmarked, possibly even lost. Really lost. Yeah, it's a sort of a sobering reminder of how transient things were back then, how easily history even the resting place of a town's marshal killed in the line of duty can just fade away.
Speaker 1:It's incredibly poignant, which leads us to think about his legacy, or maybe the lack of widespread recognition compared to Bat.
Speaker 2:Exactly. The biography makes this point really clearly. Edward is often overshadowed by Bat.
Speaker 1:Why do you think that is Just because Bat lives so much longer?
Speaker 2:That's a huge part of it. Bat lived until 1921, became this well-known figure, a sports writer, a columnist in New York. He had decades to shape his own story, his own legend.
Speaker 1:And he talked about Ed's death.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, Publicly claiming he'd avenged his brother definitely helped cement his own heroic image. It kind of folds Ed's sacrifice into Bat's larger narrative.
Speaker 1:Making Bat the main character in a way.
Speaker 2:Right, which maybe inadvertently diminishes the focus on Ed's own courage and what he achieved.
Speaker 1:But even if he's overshadowed, his story is still significant, isn't it?
Speaker 2:Immensely significant His death, his sacrifice. It perfectly illustrates the dangers lawmen faced. They were literally on the front line trying to bring some kind of order to the chaos of the cattle towns. He's remembered by those who know the history as a dedicated lawman who served with honor and made the ultimate sacrifice.
Speaker 1:How have movies and TV treated him? Usually, accuracy isn't their first priority.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's often the case. The biography mentions a few examples. In the Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp TV show back in the 50s, Bat apparently portrays Ed as kind of ill-suited for the job.
Speaker 1:Really that doesn't sound right, based on what we've discussed.
Speaker 2:No, it doesn't fit the facts of his performance or bravery. Then there's a 1959 movie, gunfight at Dodge City, where he's apparently killed, being shot in the back while avenging someone else.
Speaker 1:Completely wrong.
Speaker 2:Completely, and even in the 1994 movie Wyatt Earp, kevin Costner's Earp claims Ed lacked the right temperament.
Speaker 1:Again seemingly minimizing his competence.
Speaker 2:It seems that way these portrayals often simplify things for drama or maybe to elevate the main character, usually Wyatt or Bat. It potentially misrepresents Ed's actual abilities and courage.
Speaker 1:Which is a shame because his actual career, though short, sounds genuinely impactful.
Speaker 2:It really was. He rose quickly. He put proactive if dangerous policies in place. He played a crucial role in trying to maintain order during a really volatile period.
Speaker 1:His death wasn't a sign of incompetence, but a testament to the extreme dangers he was confronting head on.
Speaker 2:Exactly that ultimate sacrifice, dying in the line of duty, trying to enforce the law he championed that becomes a defining part of his legacy, a symbol of that dedication and courage.
Speaker 1:So, summing it up, Edward Masterson short life, brief career as marshal, but incredibly courageous and committed in a truly dangerous place in time.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and while his brother, bat, might have grabbed more of the historical limelight, ed's contributions were significant and his death was a stark reminder of the cost of trying to tame the Wild West.
Speaker 1:It's a fascinating contrast, isn't it? Yeah, his actual impact versus how history and fame sort of picked bad over him makes you reflect on how those narratives get built.
Speaker 2:It really does. His sacrifice is just so poignant.
Speaker 1:And it leaves you with a final thought perhaps. How many other figures like Edward Masterson were out there on the frontier?
Speaker 2:Yeah, Unsung heroes, maybe People making crucial contributions, taking huge risks whose stories are now just largely forgotten.
Speaker 1:What does that say about our grasp of history? Maybe it's not always the loudest voices or the longest lives that tell the whole story, Something to definitely mull over after this deep dive. Oh oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
