Bat Masterson

A tip of the derby to Ched. Bat Masterson, pictured in his prime and at his final resting place.




For those of us who grew up watching television westerns, our image of the heroes of the old west was that of the cowboy gunslinger. A man who could kill when killing was called for, but preferred to settle matters more peacefully. The reality of the old west was very different and sometimes not much separated the good guys from the bad.

Men like Bat Masterson came west, roaming from place to place and seizing opportunity where they found it. They used their guile and their reputation for toughness, as much as their firearm, to make their name. Often when things got tough, they got going. These were not exactly the men portrayed on 1960's television.

Bat Masterson was a law man, a politician, a gambler, a bodyguard at times, a boxing promoter, a sportswriter, a fixer, a card player and dealer and often a drunk. Despite his reputation, he is known to have only killed one man in a gunfight and was wounded in the effort. His famous cane may have been a result of this fight, but it also may have been an accessory used to craft his image. He fought his last gun battle at age 27 and spent the next 40 years avoiding them. He was a legend in his own mind and referred to himself as "the Genius".

Like many of the luminaries of the old west Bat had a gift for self-promotion and for making the best of an opportunity when it presented itself. Bat Masterson didn't succumb to the rigors of a life on the frontier, but instead died at his desk in New York working on a newspaper column.






Things in this blog represented to be fact, may or may not actually be true. The writer is frequently wrong, sometimes just full of it, but always judgmental and cranky


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