Dave Mather

Mysterious Dave Mather
David Allen "Mysterious Dave" Mather posed for his only known photograph sometime during his term as Assistant Marshal of Dodge City (June 1, 1883 – April 10, 1884)
Born	August 10, 1851 Saybrook, Connecticut, United States
Died	Unknown, but prior to Nov. 1887 Possibly Texas
Occupation	Lawman buffalo hunter hired gun
Years active	1870s - 1885

David Allen Mather (August 10, 1851 – unknown), also known by the nickname "Mysterious Dave", was an American lawman and gunfighter in the Old West. His taciturn personality may have earned him the nickname "Mysterious Dave". He served as a lawman in Dodge City, Kansas and Las Vegas, New Mexico.

Captain Ulysses W. Mather married Lydia E. Wright on July 16, 1848 in Westbrook, Connecticut. They settled in the neighboring town of Saybrook where their son David Allen was born on August 10, 1851. They had two more sons, Josiah Wright Mather (born October 11, 1854) and George Conway Mather (1855-1856). David Mather said he was descended from Cotton Mather, but research on the lineage of Cotton Mather performed by Horace E. Mather indicates that this claim was likely incorrect. Mather's father abandoned the family in 1856, and was later murdered in Shanghai, China aboard his ship the Ellen on September 13, 1864. The news of his death did not reach Connecticut until two months later, when reports were printed in the Hartford press.

By 1860, Mather was living with his maternal grandfather, Josiah Wright. By 1870, he was working as a laborer and living as a boarder with a cousin. That same year, Mather and his brother Josiah (then 19 and 15, respectively) went to nearby Clinton, Connecticut and signed on as part of the crew of a cargo ship, eventually making their way to New Orleans.

Mather's exact whereabouts during his earliest years in the West are uncertain. He was in Dodge City, Kansas in 1872, where he and his brother Josiah may have reunited to become buffalo hunters. He was also reported to have partnered with Wyatt Earp in 1878 in a scheme to sell fake gold bricks in the town of Mobeetie, Texas.

The first documented evidence of Mather's career occurred in 1879, when he was recruited by Bat Masterson to serve in a posse to enforce the claims of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway during the Royal Gorge Railroad War. The posse was never called to action as the "war" was settled in court.