Bill Tilghman made a name for himself chasing outlaws

By David Dary

For The Transcript

Thirteen years ago this month the U.S. Postal Service issued its “Legends of the West” series of 29-cent postage stamps. Each stamp featured the likeness of one of several

prominent figures in the Old West. They included Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, Chief Joseph, Bill Pickett, Charles Goodnight, Wild Bill Hickok, and Bill Tilghman, who made a name for himself as a deputy U.S. Marshal in Oklahoma.

The story of William Matthew “Bill” Tilghman began in Fort Dodge, Iowa, where he was born July 4, 1854. He left home by age 15 and was hunting buffalo on the southern plains with his older brother Richard. They killed countless buffalo and sold their hides in Dodge City, Kansas.

When nearly all of the buffalo on the southern plains had been slaughtered, the Tilghmans gave up hunting and moved to Dodge City. In the spring of 1877 Bill Tilghman and Henry Garis became owners and operators of the Crystal Palace saloon.

The following year someone claimed Tilghman was involved in a train robbery in a neighboring county. He was not. A few months later Tilghman was arrested by Ford County Sheriff Bat Masterson for horse stealing. The case against Tilghman was dismissed.

Tilghman and Garis continued to operate the Crystal Palace saloon. At some point Tilghman became a Ford County deputy sheriff at Dodge City. It was his first job as a peace officer.

In the spring of 1878, Tilghman and his partner sold the Crystal Palace saloon. Tilghman bought another saloon, the Oasis, for his brother Frank to run. A Dodge City newspaper reported that the specialty of the Oasis would be “Methodist cocktails and

hard-shell Baptist lemonades.”

After Cheyenne Indians raided white settlements on the southern plains in the fall of 1878, Tilghman was hired as a scout by the U.S. Cavalry. He was back in Dodge City within a few months. When George M. Hoover, a wholesale liquor dealer, became mayor,

Tilghman became city marshal of Dodge City. He also continued as a deputy sheriff.

Tilghman soon became ill with erysipelas or “St. Anthony’s Fire,” a bacterial infection that caused bright red blotches on his face and lower extremities. Tilghman recovered and his friends presented him with a $40 gold badge to welcome him back.