Edward J Masterson (Lawman)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Masterson

Ed Masterson (September 22, 1852 – April 9, 1878) was a lawman and the brother of the American West gunfighters Bat Masterson and James Masterson.

Lawman career

Ed Masterson was born in Henryville, Canada East. His family moved to near Wichita, Kansas in the early 1870s. Ed Masterson, as reported by those who knew him, never possessed the characteristic personality of his more famous brother, Bat, or his other brother James. He was killed by gunfire while trying to disarm a drunken cowboy.

Prior to beginning his lawman career, he and his two brothers worked as Buffalo hunters. During his service as the marshal and Deputy Marshal of Dodge City, Kansas, Ed Masterson was shot twice. The first incident occurred in November 1877, when he was shot in the breast by Bob Shaw in the Lone Star Dance Hall. Although his right arm was paralysed, Ed switched his gun to his left hand and shot Shaw in the arm and leg. After Masterson's recovery, he replaced Larry Deger as the town marshal. It is commonly believed that he replaced lawman Wyatt Earp, but it was actually Deger. On March 15, 1878, Masterson assisted his brother Bat, who was the Ford County Sheriff at that time, and lawman Charlie Bassett in the capture of two train robbery suspects.

Later that same month, Masterson announced publicly that he had a new plan to rid Dodge City of vagrancy and street violence, which included the disarming of gun-carrying men inside the city limits, and that it would be implemented immediately. On April 9, 1878, while attempting to disarm a drunken cowboy, Jack Wagner, Ed was shot once in his right side. Bat Masterson, who was nearby, responded, running across the street shooting at both Wagner, and his employer Alf Walker. Ed Masterson died shortly thereafter, after walking into the street and collapsing. Wagner, hit in the abdomen, died the next day. Walker, hit in the lung and twice in the arm, was thought likely to die but was taken back to Texas and subsequently recovered. Witnesses who saw the killing of Ed Masterson report that it appeared he was carrying a rather pungent cigar in his hand. Actually it was the close range muzzle blast from Wagner's gun which had set Ed Masterson's clothes smoldering.

There has been some debate as to whether Bat Masterson or Ed shot Wagner and Walker. The incident occurred at night and the local newspapers were ambiguous, perhaps trying to shield Bat from Texan vengeance, although Dodge City residents of the time generally knew that Bat had been responsible. In later years, the newspaper reports led some historians to conclude that Ed had shot his own attackers. However, the recent discovery of two court cases in which Bat testified that he had shot both men when it was hardly in his interests to do so means that it is now generally accepted that Bat avenged his brother.

Masterson was replaced by Charlie Bassett as marshal, with Wyatt Earp, James Earp, and Ed's brother Jim Masterson working as deputies. His brother Jim would later replace Bassett as marshal. Despite common belief, Wyatt Earp never served as the marshal of Dodge City.

Westerns

On April 2, 1957, the western actor Brad Johnson played Ed Masterson in the episode "The Nice Ones Always Die First" of the ABC television series, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, a Desilu Production starring Hugh O'Brian in the title role.

In the 1959 MGM film, The Gunfight at Dodge City, Harry Lauter portrayed Masterson, historically portraying him as killed, shot in the back by a man avenging his own brother's death.

In the 1994 Warner Bros film, Wyatt Earp, Bill Pullman portrayed Ed Masterson, whom Wyatt Earp (played by Kevin Costner) claimed did not have the temperament to be a lawman.