WWWest-Online Development Blog

A song, named “Blood Money”¹ starts with the following lines:

“Hey Patty Garret, that’s what I used to call you
They tell me you want me, But I hear they’ve got you
They made you a lawman with a badge made of silver,
They paid you some money to sell them my blood”

In this song Bon Jovi refers to Pat Garret, who turned against the Famous Billy “The Kid”, and was the one who shot him to death, on July 14 1881.

Way back then, a lawman’s life was dignified, but not easy. These men worked hard to maintain the security of their town. An outlaw’s life wasn’t easy either, but it held thrill, the chance for fast profit, and the glory of fame (or at the very least infamy).

When it comes to the outlaws and lawmen of the Wild West, there are a lot of tall tales. The line between outlaw and lawman was so thin, that quite often people crossed over that line and changed their ways. Some outlaws turned against their old friends and life (whether for pride, principle or reward money); some even went on to become dignified lawmen. On the other side of the equation there were crooked lawmen who aided and consorted with outlaws and gangs; some simply became outlaws themselves, and others simply played it both ways, and were known as both lawmen and an outlaws (In the Wild West it was not unheard of for a person to serve as a lawman in one state and be considered an outlaw in another).

Of course, since that line was so thin, most of the stories about people crossing it (and back again) are not historically verified. As mentioned above, some of them are merely tall tales, and as such their integrity is hard to verify, but they still provide us with a good picture of how things were in the West.

One famous lawman that turned outlaw was William “Billy” L. Brooks, aka “Buffalo Bill”. Born in 1832, Brooks was a successful buffalo hunter. So successful, in fact, that he earned himself the nickname of “Buffalo Bill,” which has often gotten him confused with the more famous William “Buffalo Bill” Cody; or the original Kansas buffalo hunter, William “Buffalo Bill” Mathewson, who had been called such as early as the 1860’s. Brooks was named the city Marshal of Newton, Kansas in 1872, and served as a lawman in Dodge City in 1873; both honorable positions. Afterwards, however, Brooks teamed up with two other men and allegedly stole horses and mules to weaken a stage company. All three men were arrested and due to stand trial, but didn’t make it, as they were lynched in Caldwell, Kansas in 1874.

’till next time,
Owlist

1. 1. from “Young Guns II” original soundtrack – “Blaze Of Glory”, 1990.
   Written and Performed by Jon Bon Jovi. [↩]