American Historical Ephemera & Photography Online

Manuscript legal document, 1 page, 8 x 12 5/8 in. (old folds, light creasing to margins, light soiling). Ford County, Kansas (Dodge City, Kansas), "Howard M. Holden vs. W.B. Masterson." The document appears to address Holden filing a lawsuit against Masterson for property that Masterson purportedly took from his store as sheriff of Ford County, Kansas. Verso indicates document filed on 7 November 1879, signed by H.P. Myton, Clerk, and Otto Muller, Deputy. 

William Barclay "Bat" Masterson (1853-1921) holds a fabled spot in the biography of the frontier. While he spent time variously in Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona, Dodge City was his home base. He served as a lawman in that city first has Undersheriff for Sheriff Charlie Bassett in 1877-1878, and then was elected Sheriff. Beaten for re-election in 1879, Masterson traveled extensively, serving in various posts. Living in Colorado when his friend and Dodge City sheriff Luke Short ran afoul of the machine, Masterson, along with Wyatt Earp returned to their old haunt in 1883, forming the so-called "Dodge City Peace Commission", probably averting much bloodshed. He moved to New York City permanently in 1902 and served as a sports writer for the The Morning Telegraph. Masterson was a skilled lawman, and during the course of his career gained a reputation for honesty and integrity. Like his friends Short and Earp, however, he got caught up in the machinations of the Dodge City political machine, and this more than ever led to the end of his career.