Lawmen of the Wild West

By Terry C. Treadwell

True stories of sheriffs, marshals, rangers, and others in frontier law enforcement who fought to bring order to the lawless West—includes photos.

Faced with ruthless criminals, trigger-happy gunslingers and assorted desperados, the lawmen of the Old West tried, and sometimes died, in their efforts to bring some semblance of order to their towns and communities. This book introduces more than thirty of them, from familiar names like Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson to lesser-known figures from Dallas Stoudenmire, John Selman, and Bass Reeves.

Some at the time believed that former criminals would make the most effective lawmen. Consequently, notorious gunfighters might be employed as town marshals to bring law and order to some of the most lawless of towns. These lawmen had to deal with the likes of the Dalton Gang, the James Brothers, and the Rufus Buck Gang, who thought nothing of raping and murdering innocent people just for the hell of it. These outlaws would frequently hide in Indian Territory, where there was no law to extradite them. The only law outside of Indian Territory was that of Judge Isaac Parker, who administered the rules with an iron fist; the gallows at Fort Smith laid testament to his work.

The requirements needed to be a peace officer in the Wild West were often determined only by the individual’s skill with a gun and their courage. At times judgment was needed with only seconds to spare, and that also meant there was the odd occasion where justice and law never quite meant the same thing. The expression ‘justice without law’ was never truer than in the formative years of the West—and this book tells that story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: May 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9781526782342

Book preview

Chapter 1

Robert Forsyth

United States Marshal Robert Forsyth was the first US Marshal in the state of Georgia and had served there for four years. A veteran of the Revolutionary War, he had fought the British throughout the long conflict and was more than capable of taking care of himself. On 11 January 1794, the 40-year-old Robert Forsyth was sent to a house in Augusta, Georgia, to serve some civil court papers on two brothers, Beverley and William Allen.

This was a routine assignment and one that was usually carried out alone, but, unusually, Forsyth took two of his deputies with him and on arriving, entered the house. The Allen brothers were talking with friends and on seeing the marshal and his deputies, for some unknown reason, they fled up the stairs and locked themselves in a room. The federal officers gave chase and, as they approached the room, Beverley Allen fired through the door and hit Robert Forsyth in the head, killing him instantly. The two brothers were arrested after a brief fight and put in the local gaol, but within days they had escaped and were never caught – some think this was due to aid by the local sheriff.

Robert Forsyth was the first US Marshal to be killed in the line of duty.

The first US Marshal, Robert Forsyth, who was the first to die while in service.

Chapter 2

Colonel Charles Lynch

‘Lynch Law’ is said to have been created by Colonel Charles Lynch, a Quaker who served in the American Revolution (1776–1783) under General Nathaniel Greene. Colonel Lynch and a number of other planters in Virginia were becoming increasingly concerned by the lack of law and order and subsequent justice, and so they formed their own justice system. Anyone caught stealing horses or cattle, or indeed committing any crime, was hauled before Colonel Lynch and three of his neighbours and tried in a court in Lynch’s house. If convicted, which they invariably were, punishment was carried out almost immediately. If the punishment meted out by the court was a flogging, the prisoner was taken into the backyard, hung from a branch of a tree by his thumbs, given 39 lashes and ordered to leave the county. If a death sentence was passed he was simply taken out and hanged.

Colonel Charles Lynch.

Despite these actions being totally illegal, crime in the area reduced dramatically and the government turned a blind eye to the proceedings, which became known as ‘Lynch’s Law’. The problem was that once it started, and was given an unofficial ‘blessing’ by the government of the day, it became almost impossible to stop. As people from Virginia migrated to other parts of the United States, they tended to take the use of ‘Lynch’s Law’ with them. This is how the expression ‘Lynch Law’ is said to have been derived.

All the US Marshals, deputy marshals, sheriffs and deputy sheriffs who policed the Indian Territories (Eastern Oklahoma) in the late 1800s took their prisoners for trial and sentence to Fort Smith. There they faced one of the most famous judges in America – Judge Isaac