Bartholomew William Barclay “Bat” Masterson, A Wild West Lawman Turned Journalist
Public DomainBartholomew William Barclay “Bat” Masterson.
Bartholomew William Barclay “Bat” Masterson was not a man easily defined. Throughout his life, he played several different roles, most notably a buffalo hunter, army scout, lawman, gambler, saloonkeeper, and journalist.
Born on Nov. 27, 1853, in Henryville, Canada East (now Quebec), he was the second of seven children in a family of Irish descent. The Mastersons relocated several times throughout Bat’s childhood, eventually settling in Kansas, where Bat and his brothers were pulled into the frontier lifestyle.
Masterson left home in his late teens to hunt buffalo. Of course, per True West Magazine, this brought him into conflict with Native American tribes defending their lands. Masterson was a participant in the Second Battle of Adobe Walls in 1874, where he and a small group of hunters faced an attack from several hundred Comanche, Cheyenne, and Kiowa warriors.
Masterson, now an established frontiersman, soon found his way down to Sweetwater, Texas, where he, in true Wild West fashion, found himself in another conflict. He was left badly wounded during the deadly confrontation, and two people, Cpl. Melvin A. King and Mollie Brennan, were both killed.
By 1877, he joined his brothers in Dodge City, where he was soon elected sheriff of Ford County and he quickly got to work cracking down on notorious outlaws like those in the Rourke-Rudabaugh gang. Despite this, Masterson lost his re-election bid in 1879 and set his eyes on new horizons.
In the following years, he drifted through various frontier towns — including Tombstone, where he met up with Wyatt Earp for a period of time.
Public DomainBat Masterson in New York City, where he worked as a journalist in his later years.
His main pursuits during this period largely involved gambling and sports promotion. Masterson was particularly fond of boxing and wrote about sports extensively, which prompted his next move.
In 1902, Masterson relocated to New York City, where he eventually began working as a journalist. He became a sports writer, editor, and columnist for the New York Morning Telegraph, covering not only sports but also sharing stories of what life was like in the Wild West. Journalism aside, he also served as a deputy U.S. marshal for the Southern District of New York for a time after being personally commissioned by President Theodore Roosevelt.
Masterson maintained a career in journalism until his final moments. He died of a heart attack on Oct. 25, 1921 at age 67 while working at his desk.
After learning about some of the Wild West’s most famous lawmen, learn about the most infamous Wild West outlaws who wreaked havoc across the frontier. Then, check out stunning photographs of Wild West saloons.
