Ed Masterson
| Ed Masterson | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
September 22, 1852 Henryville, Montérégie, Quebec, Canada East |
| Died | April 9, 1878 (aged 25) Dodge City, Ford County, Kansas, USA |
| Cause of death | Shot to death in the line of duty |
| Resting place | Boot Hill in Dodge City; then Fort Dodge, Kansas; possibly removed to a city cemetery thereafter |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1870s |
| Parent(s) |
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| Relatives |
James Masterson (brother) Bat Masterson (brother) |
Ed Masterson (September 22, 1852 – April 9, 1878) was a lawman and the oldest brother of the American West gunfighters Bat Masterson and James Masterson.
Of Irish descent, Edward John "Ed" Masterson was born in Henryville in Canada East. In the early 1850s, his family moved to the area about Wichita, Kansas. Although he was the eldest, Ed Masterson, as reported by those who knew him, never possessed the characteristic personality of his more famous brother, Bat Masterson, or his other brother James. He was killed by gunfire age 25, while trying to disarm a drunken cowboy.
Prior to beginning his lawman career, he and his two brothers worked as buffalo hunters. During his service as deputy marshal and then marshal of Dodge City, Kansas, Ed Masterson was shot twice. The first incident occurred in November 1877, when he was shot in the breast by Bob Shaw in the Lone Star Dance Hall. Although his right arm was paralyzed, Ed switched his gun to his left hand and shot Shaw in the arm and leg. After Masterson's recovery, he replaced Larry Deger as the town marshal. It is commonly believed that he replaced lawman Wyatt Earp, but it was actually Deger. On March 15, 1878, Masterson assisted his brother Bat Masterson, who was the Ford County sheriff at that time, and lawman Charlie Bassett in the capture of two train robbery suspects.
Later that same month, Masterson announced publicly that he had a new plan to rid Dodge City of vagrancy and street violence, which included the disarming of gun-carrying men inside the city limits, with immediate implementation. On April 9, 1878, while attempting to disarm a drunken cowboy, Jack Wagner, Ed was shot once in his right side. Bat Masterson, who was nearby, responded, ran across the street, and shot at both Wagner, and his boss Alf Walker, who was holding a gun. Ed Masterson died about an hour thereafter, after walking across the street and collapsing. Wagner, hit in the abdomen, died in agony the next day at a nearby room. Walker, hit in the lung and twice in the arm, was thought likely to die but was taken back to Texas and subsequently recovered to take the trail to Kansas again. Witnesses who saw the killing of Ed Masterson report that it appeared he was carrying a rather pungent cigar in his hand. Actually it was the close range muzzle blast from Wagner's gun which had set Ed Masterson's clothes smoldering.
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Wikipedia