Back when the West was very young,
There lived a man named Masterson,
He wore a cane and derby hat,
They called him ‘Bat’ … Bat Masterson
So unrolls the theme music from the popular ’50’s TV Western, Bat Masterson. Of course, I watched that program every week, just as I did every other TV Western back then. But the program was not one of my favorites. I was into violence and mayhem back then, and although Bat (played by Gene Barry) occasionally brained some randy cowpoke with that fancy cane of his, he was way too effete and charming with the ladies for the tastes of this terrible ten-year-old. I much preferred shows like Johnny Yuma or Cheyenne, whose murderous protagonists roamed the West correcting nature’s mistakes by the score (the former with his blazing sawed-off shotgun and the latter with his smoking six-gun, deadly Bowie knife – or better still, his sledge-hammer sized fists, which knocked villains and miscreants into another zip code.)
The current issue of Wild West magazine (September 2009) has a cover story about Bat, and that got me wondering about the TV show and the real Masterson. So, I spoke with George Laughead about Masterson. George is “King of the Queen of the Cowtowns,” Dodge City. “Dodge,” as Kansans call it, is a legendary place itself, due to such frontier characters as Masterson, Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday.
TG: Was Bat the dandy as portrayed on TV?
George Laughead: The photographs of Bat, Wyatt, others, make us think they kept wearing Edwardian clothes forever — but the truth is that they did dress up well, enjoyed fine New York suits, shirts. Holliday changed his shirt a few times a day, liked pastel blues and pinks. There was a Chinese laundry in Dodge City almost from the start.
TG: What was Bat’s greatest strength? Weakness?
GL: Clearly, Bat Masterson was calm, steady, loyal. He stayed friends with the other pioneers for the rest their lives. He was also very bright. His single edition newspaper, Vox Populi, showed his brightness – but also his weakness – he had a huge ego, and would react to attacks.
TG: Any good Masterson quotes?
GL: George Hinkle defeated Masterson for Ford County sheriff in 1879. Hinkle’s son, a professional boxer named Max, later wrote about Bat and they became friends. When Max first met Bat in the early 1900s, he stated, “I always wanted to met the man my father beat for sheriff.” Masterson replied, “Clearly you are George Hinkle’s son – which one of the women was your mother?” Love that one. Also in a trial in New York City in 1913 – Masterson v. Commercial Advertiser Association, a libel suit by Masterson against a newspaper – that involved future Supreme Court Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo and Bat– he was asked how many Indians he had killed. Masterson said he didn’t know whether he’d ever shot any, noting that in the Battle of Adobe Walls “I certainly did try to shoot them … It wasn’t my fault that I didn’t hit them.”
TG: You recently helped bring back some important documents to Dodge. Care to explain?
GL: The critically important Dodge City Police Docket Book, 1878-1882 – it covers the wildest years of Dodge – had been missing for decades. I only started the process, after being informed in late 2007 that it was up for auction, by making sure the Ford County Attorney, Terry Malone, and the Ford County Sheriff Dean Bush, knew about it – actually I bugged them a bit. They and the FBI worked hard on it and recently found the docket book, and it is in the process of being legally returned to Dodge City. I’m now pushing hard to make sure it is completely digitized so the world can see it and historians can use it again. We’re also working on getting back other official documents that have come up for auction. None of these were legally given away. They and the FBI worked hard on it and recently found the docket book and it is in the process of being legally returned to Dodge City. Ford County Sheriff Deptartment Investigator, Mike Albert, and FBI Agent, Robin Smith, returned it to Kansas from Ohio.
You can read more of George’s musings on his blog, “Why Not Dodge.”
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