page_title: Thomas A. Cullinan
section_title: Junction City marshal
hierarchical_section_title: Thomas A. Cullinan / Career / Junction City marshal
caption_attribution_description: English: &#160; File name: 10_08_000023 Title: Junction City, Kansas, 138 miles west of Missouri River. Creator/Contributor: Gardner, Alexander, 1821-1882 (photographer) Date issued: 1869 (approximate) Date created: 1867 (approximate) Physical description: 1 photographic print&#160;: albumen&#160;; image 15 x 20.3 cm. Genre: Albumen prints Subjects: Cities &amp; towns; Junction City, Kansas Notes: On March 9, 1869 a joint resolution of Congress authorized the changing of the Union Pacific Railway Company, Eastern Division's name to the Kansas Pacific Railway Company.; Although all of the photographs published in Across the Continent on the Kansas Pacific Railroad (Route of the 35th Parallel) are attributed to Gardner, some of the images may have been taken by one of the other photographers Gardner supervised on the expedition. &quot;As official photographer for the expedition, Gardner was allowed to published all the expedition photographs under his name. In 1867 he stated in a deposition that although a photograph was identified on the mount as a 'Photograph by A. Gardner,' it simply meant that it was printed or copied in his gallery; he was not necessarily the photographer. The other photographers on the expedition were Dr. William A. Bell, William R. Pywell, and Gardner's son, Lawrence, who apprenticed on the expedition.&quot; [Katz, D. Mark (1991). Witness to an era: the life and photographs of Alexander Gardner: the Civil War, Lincoln, and the West. Nashville, Tennessee: Rutledge Hill. Page 220]; Images most likely published in 1869. &quot;Along with images made by photographers under his [Alexander Gardner's] supervision, his photographs were published in an album titled Across the Continent on the Kansas Pacific Railyway (Route of the 35th Parallel), offered for sale on April, 1869.&quot; [Marien, Mary Warner (2006). Photography: a cultural history. London: Laurence King Publishing Ltd. Page 132] Item/Page/Plate: No. 23 Source: Across the continent on the Kansas Pacific Railroad: route of the 35th parallel / Alex. Gardner, photographer. Location: Boston Public Library, Print Department Rights: No known restrictions. Flickr data on 2011-08-09: Camera: Sinar AG Sinarback 54 FW, Sinar m Tags: Kansas Pacific Railway License: CC BY 2.0 User: Boston Public Library BPL
context_page_description: Thomas Allen Cullinan, also known as Tom Allen, was a law enforcement officer in Kansas. He served as city marshal of Junction City, Kansas from 1871 to 1904. Before that he was a seaman, miner, fur trapper and hunter. He served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
context_section_description: After the war and until 1871, he came to Junction City and had contracts to supply meat to the military and railroad construction crews. In 1871, he became the city marshal of Junction City. The mayor, George Martin, stated that "The post was not a sinecure." Various brothels and saloons elicited rabble rousing troops from Fort Riley, as well as travelers coming from intersecting railway lines.
  The city's newspaper, the Junction City Union, reported the following on April 25, 1885:
  We never heard of another single officer who could corral or lock up a gang of six or seven men at once. Tom Allen has done it frequently. One evening a couple of years ago six men came from a hay camp at Riley with the purpose of having a time. The marshal warned them not to attempt it. They started along the street overturning boxes and disturbing everybody. He overtook them and in less time than we can tell it four of them lay on the ground. Another time he took without assistance six soldiers out of a gang of eight, shooting two of them slightly. In all his service he has never killed a man, although suffering at times great aggravation and taking desperate chances.
  Of the many exploits Tom Allen had while he was the city marshal of Junction City, a recruit from Fort Riley (along with twelve companions) intended to pull back Allen's ears. As a result, the recruit was injured and sent back to Fort Riley in an ambulance. In another incident, Allen entered a saloon while it was being vandalized by eight soldiers. Allen defeated each soldier and dragged seven of them to the jail. The eighth one managed to escape. Allen went to Fort Riley the next morning in order to arrest the eighth soldier. When the captain learned that Allen was present, he stated: "Great Scott, that's the man who licked my sergeant! He can have him."
  Allen confronted a drifter that according to newspaper accounts executed "a beastly offense to a little girl." Allen faced the six-foot man and decided to punish him with physical force instead of having him go to court. In another incident, a drunk which Allen imprisoned multiple times started a quarrel in a local pub and according to the Junction City Union, "stood out in the street with a rock in each hand when Tom arrived. 'Looking for a fight, are you? Remarked the peace officer as he gave him a wipe on the jaw, knocking him down and punishing him severely. This individual has never drank a drop since, and has thanked Tom repeatedly for that thrashing."
  A tall red-headed stranger entered Junction City in 1884. While in a general store, he created panic when he held his Colt revolver at the patrons. Allen warned the man to take the next train that was leaving in a half-hour. The man ignored Allen and during evening hours, he started a commotion at a hotel. Allen again told the redheaded man to leave town. The next day, the man was causing an uproar at a cheap, dingy drinking establishment. Allen finally intervened and said, "Now I will take you in." On his way to prison, the redheaded man stated to Allen, "You're not man enough to take me in" and slapped him. As a result, Allen was irate, thrashed the man in a bloody fight, disarmed his Colt, and threw him in a prison cell. Afterwards, Allen threw the blood-encrusted man into the next train. Mayor George Martin stated, "I think this was his last experience with amateur prize-fighters who came to test his mettle." For thirty-three years, Tom Allen served as city marshal in Junction City. During his many confrontations, he was not responsible for a single death and was never injured.
caption: Junction City, Kansas from the railroad, 1867. Boston Public Library
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