Okla-homey
11/1/2006, 07:04 AM
Nov 1, 1924 : Legendary western lawman is murdered
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/2874/tttttttttttttttttttttttnr3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Bill Tilghman. Bat Masterson, who enforced the law with such legendaries as Wyatt Earp, once said of Bill Tilghman, "he was the best of us all."
Eighty-two years ago, on this day, William Tilghman is murdered by a corrupt prohibition agent who resented Tilghman's refusal to ignore local bootlegging operations. Tilghman, one of the famous marshals who brought law and order to the Wild West, was 71 years old.
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/623/tttttttttttttttttttttttxu3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Known to both friends and enemies as "Uncle Billy," Tilghman was one of the most honest and effective lawmen of his day. Born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, in 1854, Tilghman moved west when he was only 16 years old. Once there, he flirted with a life of crime after falling in with a crowd of disreputable young men who stole horses from Indians.
After several narrow escapes with angry Indians, Tilghman decided that rustling was too dangerous and settled in Dodge City, Kansas, where he briefly served as a deputy marshal before opening a saloon. He was arrested twice for alleged train robbery and rustling, but the charges did not stick.
Despite this shaky start, Tilghman gradually built a reputation as an honest and respectable young man in Dodge City. He became the deputy sheriff of Ford County, Kansas, and later, the marshal of Dodge City.
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/4180/tttttttttttttttttttttttbq3.gif (http://imageshack.us)
Colt "Buntline Special" in three barrel lengths. Bill Tilghman and contemporary lawmen Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson kept these "Peacemakers" in their armories. The attachable shoulder stock made longshots with the .45 pistols more accurate and came in handy when killing bad guys from a distance.
Dodge City had the reputation as the toughest town and a hell on the frontier. From roughly 1875 until 1885, Dodge City was in the midst of a business boom thanks to the wagon road economy and the cattle industry. For a town that was the defacto capital of a wide area of southwest Kansas and the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles, it needed law and order. There were many people walking the streets of Dodge City with money in their pockets. Dodge City could not afford to be as violent and reckless as its reputation. It therefore hired some of the most respected and courageous lawmen to ever holster a gun.
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/985/ttttttttttttttttttttttteu9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Photograph of the 'Dodge City Peace Commission' in June 1883. Front, l-r; Chas. E. Bassett, Wyatt S. Earp, Frank McLain, and Neil Brown. Back, l-r; W. H. Harris, Luke Short, W. B. Bat Masterson, and Bill Tilghman.
Tilghman was one of the first men into the territory when Oklahoma opened to settlement in 1889, and he became a deputy U.S. marshal for the region in 1891. In the late 19th century, lawlessness still plagued Oklahoma, and Tilghman helped restore order by capturing some of the most notorious bandits of the day.
Along with fellow lawmen Chris Madsen and Heck Thomas, he formed a fearsome trio that became known as the "Three Guardsmen" for their exploits in facing the worst of the Oklahoma outlaws. Tilghman is probably best remembered for single handedly capturing the infamous Dalton Gang member and outlaw Bill Doolin. Dressed as a minister, he surprised Doolin in a Eureka Springs, Arkansas, health spa, where the outlaw had gone to soak his rheumatic bones.
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/9523/tttttttttttttttttttttttnn0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/3466/tttttttttttttttttttttttgl1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
In addition to starring as Marshal Bill Tilghman, Elliott served as the executive producer of the TNT original film You Know My Name
Over the years, Tilghman earned a well-deserved reputation for treating even the worst criminals fairly and protecting the rights of the unjustly accused. Any man in Tilghman's custody knew he was safe from angry vigilante mobs, because Tilghman had little tolerance for those who took the law into their own hands.
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/2535/tttttttttttttttttttttttir2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
In 1898, a wild mob lynched two young Indians who were falsely accused of raping and murdering a white woman. Tilghman arrested and secured prison terms for eight of the mob leaders and captured the real rapist-murderer.
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/8658/tttttttttttttttttttttttdd8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Bill Tilghman, and some other guy, while Bill was Chief of Police, photographed in beautiful downtown OKC
In 1924, after serving a term as an Oklahoma state legislator, making a movie about his frontier days, and serving as the police chief of Oklahoma City, Tilghman might well have been expected to quietly retire. However, the old lawman was unable to hang up his gun, and he accepted a job as city marshal in Cromwell, Oklahoma, a lawless oil town east of OKC.
http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/3783/tttttttttttttttttttttttbm2.gif (http://imageshack.us)
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/3415/tttttttttttttttttttttttnl3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
There, on November 1, 1924, he was shot to death by Wiley Lynn, a drunken prohibition agent he was attempting to arrest for bootlegging.
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/1433/tttttttttttttttttttttttcp0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Portrait of Bill Tilghman gracing the Oklahoma Senate lounge. Artist: Harold Holden. Sponsor: Sen. Brad Henry, Dedication: 2-06-02, Size: 24" x 30",type: Oil on Canvas
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/5403/insane7zole4.jpg
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/2874/tttttttttttttttttttttttnr3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Bill Tilghman. Bat Masterson, who enforced the law with such legendaries as Wyatt Earp, once said of Bill Tilghman, "he was the best of us all."
Eighty-two years ago, on this day, William Tilghman is murdered by a corrupt prohibition agent who resented Tilghman's refusal to ignore local bootlegging operations. Tilghman, one of the famous marshals who brought law and order to the Wild West, was 71 years old.
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/623/tttttttttttttttttttttttxu3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Known to both friends and enemies as "Uncle Billy," Tilghman was one of the most honest and effective lawmen of his day. Born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, in 1854, Tilghman moved west when he was only 16 years old. Once there, he flirted with a life of crime after falling in with a crowd of disreputable young men who stole horses from Indians.
After several narrow escapes with angry Indians, Tilghman decided that rustling was too dangerous and settled in Dodge City, Kansas, where he briefly served as a deputy marshal before opening a saloon. He was arrested twice for alleged train robbery and rustling, but the charges did not stick.
Despite this shaky start, Tilghman gradually built a reputation as an honest and respectable young man in Dodge City. He became the deputy sheriff of Ford County, Kansas, and later, the marshal of Dodge City.
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/4180/tttttttttttttttttttttttbq3.gif (http://imageshack.us)
Colt "Buntline Special" in three barrel lengths. Bill Tilghman and contemporary lawmen Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson kept these "Peacemakers" in their armories. The attachable shoulder stock made longshots with the .45 pistols more accurate and came in handy when killing bad guys from a distance.
Dodge City had the reputation as the toughest town and a hell on the frontier. From roughly 1875 until 1885, Dodge City was in the midst of a business boom thanks to the wagon road economy and the cattle industry. For a town that was the defacto capital of a wide area of southwest Kansas and the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles, it needed law and order. There were many people walking the streets of Dodge City with money in their pockets. Dodge City could not afford to be as violent and reckless as its reputation. It therefore hired some of the most respected and courageous lawmen to ever holster a gun.
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/985/ttttttttttttttttttttttteu9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Photograph of the 'Dodge City Peace Commission' in June 1883. Front, l-r; Chas. E. Bassett, Wyatt S. Earp, Frank McLain, and Neil Brown. Back, l-r; W. H. Harris, Luke Short, W. B. Bat Masterson, and Bill Tilghman.
Tilghman was one of the first men into the territory when Oklahoma opened to settlement in 1889, and he became a deputy U.S. marshal for the region in 1891. In the late 19th century, lawlessness still plagued Oklahoma, and Tilghman helped restore order by capturing some of the most notorious bandits of the day.
Along with fellow lawmen Chris Madsen and Heck Thomas, he formed a fearsome trio that became known as the "Three Guardsmen" for their exploits in facing the worst of the Oklahoma outlaws. Tilghman is probably best remembered for single handedly capturing the infamous Dalton Gang member and outlaw Bill Doolin. Dressed as a minister, he surprised Doolin in a Eureka Springs, Arkansas, health spa, where the outlaw had gone to soak his rheumatic bones.
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/9523/tttttttttttttttttttttttnn0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/3466/tttttttttttttttttttttttgl1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
In addition to starring as Marshal Bill Tilghman, Elliott served as the executive producer of the TNT original film You Know My Name
Over the years, Tilghman earned a well-deserved reputation for treating even the worst criminals fairly and protecting the rights of the unjustly accused. Any man in Tilghman's custody knew he was safe from angry vigilante mobs, because Tilghman had little tolerance for those who took the law into their own hands.
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/2535/tttttttttttttttttttttttir2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
In 1898, a wild mob lynched two young Indians who were falsely accused of raping and murdering a white woman. Tilghman arrested and secured prison terms for eight of the mob leaders and captured the real rapist-murderer.
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/8658/tttttttttttttttttttttttdd8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Bill Tilghman, and some other guy, while Bill was Chief of Police, photographed in beautiful downtown OKC
In 1924, after serving a term as an Oklahoma state legislator, making a movie about his frontier days, and serving as the police chief of Oklahoma City, Tilghman might well have been expected to quietly retire. However, the old lawman was unable to hang up his gun, and he accepted a job as city marshal in Cromwell, Oklahoma, a lawless oil town east of OKC.
http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/3783/tttttttttttttttttttttttbm2.gif (http://imageshack.us)
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/3415/tttttttttttttttttttttttnl3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
There, on November 1, 1924, he was shot to death by Wiley Lynn, a drunken prohibition agent he was attempting to arrest for bootlegging.
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/1433/tttttttttttttttttttttttcp0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Portrait of Bill Tilghman gracing the Oklahoma Senate lounge. Artist: Harold Holden. Sponsor: Sen. Brad Henry, Dedication: 2-06-02, Size: 24" x 30",type: Oil on Canvas
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/5403/insane7zole4.jpg