? about Wyatt Earp

[Widder, SASS #59054]

Just what exactly was his title?

 

Was he a US Marshal or Deputy US Marshal?

 

Tombstone or Dodge City?  

 

Thanks

 

..........Widder

 

[Hells Comin]

The badge he gave Doc Holliday on it said Deputy US marshal on it. Did u watch it movie Tombstone tonight?

[Widder, SASS #59054]

Howdy HC.

Yea, I watched it for the umpteenth time... 

 

But when he was at the train station, putting his wounded brothers on it, he showed a badge to

Ike and said something about the badge for US Marshal.    It possible I missed what he said.

 

But historically, I was just wondering about his real status.

 

Thanks

 

..........Widder

 

[Sawhorse Kid]

If I remember correctly, Wyatt was never more than a Deputy in his career as a lawman.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Wikipedia say that in Dodge City he was an assistant city marshal.

[Cat Brules]

Apparently Wyatt Earp held several low level law-enforcement positions during his “career” as a law man.  He was fired from many or all of those jobs.  As far as I can determine, without deeper research (which I am not inclined to take on), Wyatt Earp first came to prominence as a horse thief.   He essentially became a drifter and failed at most or all of his various business enterprises. I don’t understand the enamor that many held, and still hold, for this man.  I think that the legend of Wyatt Earp originally developed from a book that was written about him by (more or less) a pulp magazine writer.  He died 91+ years ago, in 1929.  He was 80.

 

Cat Brules

[Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438]

When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.

 

It's a pleasant, harmless version of the past; let it be.

 

LL

[Chickamauga Slim]

Virgil was ambushed on December 28 while walking between saloons on Allen Street in Tombstone, and he was maimed by a shotgun blast which struck his left arm and shoulder. Ike Clanton's hat was found in the back of the building across Allen Street from where the shots were fired. Wyatt wired U.S. Marshal Crawley P. Dake asking to be appointed deputy U.S. marshal with authority to select his own deputies.^[119] Dake granted the request in late January and provided the Earps with some funds that he borrowed from Wells Fargo, variously reported as between $500 and $3,000.^[120]:238

 

 "Wyatt Earp's Vendetta Posse". HistoryNet.com. January 29, 2007. Archived from the original on April 5, 2011. Retrieved February 18, 2011.

[Trailrider #896]

There were very few "U.S. Marshalls" in the Old West.  They were appointed by the president, and hired deputies to work under them.  Most of the ones we hear about were deputy U.S. Marshalls.  For example, in the Oklahoma Territory, E.D. Nix was the U.S. Marshall.  Bill Tilghman,  Cris Madsen, and Heck Thomas were Deputy U.S. Marshalls, as were some others I can't recall.  So when you hear someone say he's the U.S. Marshall or they are waiting for one, it likely meant a deputy who worked in the field.  Hollyweird never specified whether Matt Dillon was the marshall or a deputy.

[Rye Miles #13621]

15 minutes ago, Trailrider #896 said:

There were very few "U.S. Marshalls" in the Old West.  They were appointed by the president, and hired deputies to work under them.  Most of the ones we hear about were deputy U.S. Marshalls.  For example, in the Oklahoma Territory, E.D. Nix was the U.S. Marshall.  Bill Tilghman,  Cris Madsen, and Heck Thomas were Deputy U.S. Marshalls, as were some others I can't recall.  So when you hear someone say he's the U.S. Marshall or they are waiting for one, it likely meant a deputy who worked in the field.  Hollyweird never specified whether Matt Dillon was the marshall or a deputy.

Matt Dillon always said “I’m the US Marshall from Dodge City. In fact his badge clearly says US Marshall.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

Around here he takes a second or third seat to his brothers.  Not highly regarded at all.  Why they followed him south is anyone's guess.

[Hashknife Cowboy]

If you want to read some interesting history, I recommend.....  

[Rye Miles #13621]

3 hours ago, Hashknife Cowboy said:

If you want to read some interesting history, I recommend.....  

I was in Tombstone in 1996  and the courthouse had a recording of the trial of Wyatt and all of them involved. It was supposedly taken from the actual transcripts from the trial. Pretty interesting.

[Whiskey Hicks]

I remember a detail from Wild West Tech years back about the Earps keeping a lot of their pistols in their coat pockets as a nasty surprise for the cowboys wearing proper holsters in the OK Coral fight.

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

8 hours ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

Around here he takes a second or third seat to his brothers.  Not highly regarded at all.  Why they followed him south is anyone's guess.

From what I’ve read, Virgil had a very good reputation in Prescott 

[Rye Miles #13621]

I also read that Virgil was often mixed up with Wyatt and Morgan. Townspeople would just pass them by and say Hello Mr. Earp.