As portrayed by Gene Barry on a TV western from 1958 to 1961, Bat Masterson was one sharply dressed man. Sporting a bowler and vest and carrying a cane, Masterson was a dapper lawman and gunslinger. Maybe that’s the look that inspired Alexander McQueen styles back in 2009. But did Bat Masterson really carry a cane?
Bat Masterson was born in 1853 in Quebec, Canada. After farming in New York, Illinois, and Missouri, Masterson’s family ended up near Wichita, Kansas. Bat (short for “Bartholomew”) and his two brothers, Jim and Ed, headed further west to herd and hunt buffalo. From that point forward, Bat Masterson amassed a resume that covered all the bases for a legend of the Old West.
When the railroads were advancing west, Bat and his brother Ed took a job grading a stretch of track for the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railroad. The man who hired them, one Raymond Ritter, skipped out on them and took their wages with him. Bat spent a year hunting Ritter down and found him on a train pulling into Dodge City, Kansas, in 1873. Bat hauled Ritter out to the back of the train at gunpoint and, in front of a cheering crowd, forced Ritter to cough up the cash he owed Bat, his brother, and a friend, Ted Raymond. Presumably, Ritter took this incident as his invitation to “get out of Dodge.”
Masterson signed on as an army scout and was involved in a battle between the US army and Apache and Comanche warriors. He engaged in his first shootout in Sweetwater, Texas, in 1876. The fight was over a “dance hall girl” named Molly Brennan. A drunk rival for her affections burst in on Masterson and the girl and shot Masterson in the hip and Molly in the stomach. Masterson returned fire and killed his assailant.
The hip wound may have been the origin of the association of a cane with Bat Masterson. Although no photograph of Masterson using a cane exists, the legend that he carried one with him all the time stuck. He received a gold-headed cane years later when he was hailed as the most popular man in Dodge City, Kansas. For modern, sharp dressers, a gold- or brass-topped cane would look great with an engraving that commemorates the user’s exploits.
Having checked off buffalo hunter, Indian Scout, and gunslinger on the roster of Western memes, Masterson soon added “lawman” when the people of Ford County, Kansas, elected him sheriff. Masterson gained a reputation as an effective sheriff. He was also a gambler and a boxing promoter.
An acquaintance told some tall tales to a wet-behind-the-ears reporter who’d come west to find a story, claiming Masterson had killed as many as 26 men. Under examination by none other than Benjamin Cardozo during the trial of a libel suit Masterson brought against a rival newspaper he felt had maliciously impugned his reputation, Masterson admitting to killing three—the man that shot him in the hip, a man that threatened his brother, and one other guy, someplace in Texas.
Bat Masterson died in 1921 of a heart attack at his desk, just after writing what would be his last column for the Morning Telegraph. We’ll never know if Bat Masterson really carried a cane, but, given his injury and his sense of style, we can choose to believe he did.
Van Rundell is a writer and author who specializes in transportation, travel, guidance, health & fitness. With over 10 years of experience in the industry as a driver and an entrepreneur, he has seen it all. His tone is professional but friendly with a dash of humor thrown in for good measure. In past, he has been advising, educating and writing about transport for the public and professionals alike.
A qualified fitness instructor with over 5 years’ experience as a personal trainer and group fitness instructor, Van brings his deep knowledge of health and exercise science to his articles on health & fitness.
