Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1925-01-01
FOE or BAD MEN
KILLED BY DRUNK
Famous Oklahoma Marshal
Brought Scores Of Bandits
to Justice.

Oklahoma City.-Hundred OF times
during his 81 years as arch-foe of the
lawless element in Oklahoma bill"
Tilghman faced the blazing guns of
bank bandits, train robbers, murder
ers, cattle rustlers and similar gentry,
giving bullet for bullet and almost
invariably bringing in his man. A
dozen, perhaps Fifteen criminals met
death at his hands; dozens were
winged by his nnerring fire; scores
Of proved bad men surrendered with.
out a shot rather than face his marks
manship.
And then, at ten O'Clock on the night
of November a small touring car.
bearing two men and two women. ca
reened down the principal street OF
Cromwell, blacklist spot in Oklahoma's
oil fields and came to q stop in front
OF aMa' Murphys dance hall. One OF
the men stepped TO the ground, drew
a revolver and fired down the street,
apparently without target. He was
unsteady in his gait, witnesses said,
from liquor.
Tilghman, then marshal OF Crom-
well, at $500 a month, the highest
salary ever paid a peace officer in Ok
lahoma, stepped from the dance hall
to Queil the new disturbance. He
grappled with the offender and
snatched away his gun, never attempt
ing to draw his own weapon. The dis
turber, however, whipped out a sec
ond revolver, fred three shots into the
! body of the ofLcer. leaped into his
car and sped away.
How Tiiehman Met End.
Half of Cromwell gave chase. The
other half stayed to help Tilghman,
but in Is minutes the dean of Okla
homa's law enforcers, relentless ter
rOr of the criminal element and
| friend and idol of children, was dead,
with his boots on"
Wylye Linn. federal prohibition
| officer, was arrested soon afterward
and confessed to the shooting. Ills
companions also were captured. Linn
will face trial for first degree murder.
With Tilghman'S death passed the
last and greatest of OklahOma's piO-
neer peace officers whose lives have
been given entirely to the war against
crime within the confines of Okla
hOma. Indian scout, plainsman, United
States marshal, state senator. who
put much of the power" into Okla
homa's criminal code, sheriff and
one-time chief sof police of Oklahoma
| City, he led life more thrilling than
many lesser lights, whose names have
become household words. For Thigh
man withal was extremely modest,
quiet spoken and sparing of words.
always willing to discuss horses and
farming, but never willing to discuss
himself. Exploits Of AL Jennings,
whose gang of train robbers Tilghman
I broke up; of BUD Ballew, two-gun
sheriff of Carter county, who fell be-
fore the fire of Texas ranger; Frank
M. Canton, the man who did the most
to wipe out cattle rustling in the
Southwest and whose gun many times
spoke death to desperadoes, pale into
nnediocrity beside the daring perform
ances OF "Uncle Bill
Tilghman put AL Jennings into the
penitentiary and drove his gang to the
| four winds. He broke up the Dalton
band and was in the front rank when
| the pitched battle was fought that re-
suited in the death of most of the Dali
ton cohorts. He disrupted the Henry
! Starr band of bank robbers, putting
four in the penitentiary, and was on
| his way to capture Starr himself when
the notorious bandit was slain by an
Arkansas bank president during a
holdup He brought to justice every
member of the Doolin band who was
not killed in battle by peace officers.
He converted Dodge City, Kans., the
widest, widest-open, most murderous
| day school in three years, and there
earned his reputation as the deadliest
and the most daring man In the South
west
| Showed No Fear of Death.
Frequently Tilghman's exploits bor-
der on the foolhardy. Once, when
trailing the Doolin gang Of train and
| bank bandits, he led his posse to
within half mile of their camp He
left his men behind while he went
| ahead to reconnoiter, and, misjudging
the strength of the robber band. I'M
dertook to make the capture single
handed. He succeeded in reaching the
| cowboys hut in which they were
/ spending the night, but when he
stepped through the door he looked
into the muzzles of rifles leveled at
| him from six hunks. Another second
! and his career would have been ended,
| for here were men for all of whom q,
| moose waited Bill DooIin, the leader,
however, leaped to the floor with
| command to his men not to shoot, and
in a split second Tilghman was out Of
| the door and gone. He led his posse
| back, but of course the bandits had
departed hastily, and in long-range,
running rifle battle next day one Of
the Doolin gang was killed.
Several years later Iilghman, out
of gratitude to Doolin, risked his own
life to capture Doolin alive rather
than kill him. He trailed Doolin into
Arkansas, managed to secrete himself