The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1905-02-14
WILL LoOkNAFTER UNCLE SANS
BUSINESS IN NEW YORK
CITY.
He Has Been Appointed Deputy Unit
ed States Marshal for the
Gotham District.

been appointed deputy United States
marshal for this district, and is ex-
pected to take the oath of office as
soon as he can pry himself loose from
the ice and snow incumbering salu-
brpus Hot Springs, Ark.
Thus does New York extend re-
| cognition to one whose fame is as
wide as the world, for Bat" Master
son is said to have killed twenty
! eight men, exclusive of "greasers'' and
Indians.
enthusiastic today over the prospect
of attaching the substantial Masterson
man to his staff Bat cannot take
the oath of office and start on the war
path any too soon to suit Marshal
Henkel.
| Mr.. Masterson,' said the mar
shall, was recommended to me by
some of the best men in the country
men of Importance in national life.
| know all about him. He is a capable
nlai and will make an efficient rep
uty marshal. The appointment was
made last week, and all that remains
| to make it effective is for Mr.. Master
son to walk in here and take the oath.
Bats" Early History.
This William Barclay Masterson
| was born fifty-odd years ago in the
| west. There were two other boys in
his family, Edward and James. In
| a measure they, too, achieved fame;
but, although Bat was the youngest
of the family, the light that shone on
them was reflected from his exploits.
! has killed twenty eight white men.
| Of greasers and Indians he has kept
| but casual and incomplete record,
| deeming them Of no consequence.
The Masterson boys settled in Dodge
City Kas., which. along in the mid
| die seventies, was undoubtedly the
| toughest settlement in the world. 1t
| was the distributing point of the great
| cattle industry. The floating popula
| tio~ vas about 10000 day, while the
permanent population did not exceed
$500.
In a few encounters of a casual ma
ture the Masterson boys showed that
| they had nerve. 1t was in 1876 that
Bat was made sheriff Of the county.
The criminal element was then in COM
plete control. Ed Masterson was made
| town marshal of Dodge City, and upon
the two brothers depended the task of
keeping the community in restraint
o,.s Avenged Brothers Death.
1eo"Bat" Masterson was without fear.
He broke up the bad gangs and killed
some of the bad men. His brother Ed
was assassinated, and the records of
the west hold that Bat did not rest
until he had killed all the men engaged
in the shooting Of Ed. He is said to
have entered room in which four of
them were seated and killed the four
with neatness and dispatch.
Bat served until 1881, when, the
railroad having wormed it's way on
hundreds of miles into the southwest,
and the cattle trade having been di-
;Verted, Dodge City became humdrum.
It is not in the Masterson temperament
to abide in a tedious settlement, and
Bat hit the trail for the frontier.
Bat" Masterson has a round, soft
face and a peaceful demeanor. He is
the last man one would pick out in a
crowd as a killer. People who meet
him the first time smile wnen his rep
utation flashes across their minds, but
they do not smile after they have gazed
into the Masterson eye.
Friend Of the President.
In February of last year, BAT"
called on the president at the White
House and was cordially received.
Eminent statesmen were allowed ito
decorate the reception room for an
hour while President Roosevelt con-
versed with the former sheriff of
Dodge City. Since that call, Master
son mas been a red-hot uncompromis-
ing Roosevelt man. The president is
his favorite topic Of conversation.
I It is understood that the appoint
mentA of Masterson was made By Mar
sfal. Henkel at the direct solicitation
Of President Roosevelt, who has long
been a warm personal friend and adj
mirer of the former Kansas sheriff.
After ,Masterson left Ford county,
Kansas, he went to Denver, Colo,
where he was appointed United
| States deputy marshal There he re-
manned for several years, coming to
| New York in the fall of 1893, at the re-
quest of former Superintendent of Po-
| lice Thomas Brynes. sa
| 1n1