Post by Allen Wiener on Mar 29, 2010 13:42:08 GMT -5
Just finished "Bat Masterson" by Robert DeArment. A great read and one of the best I've read from that period of history. The book is 35 years old and the author has been completing a revised edition. Nonetheless, it's a very engaging account of an interesting guy; more interesting than Wyatt Earp, IMO, although Earp has gotten the lion's share of press and film memorials. Earp does come off OK in this account, but DeArment thinks he took more credit for things than he deserved when he later related his version of events to his biographer, Stuart Lake.
Masterson bridges a very transcendent period in the West. He was just old enough to take part in the waning days of buffalo hunting, often served as a scout, Indian fighter, lawman and gambler (apparently a far more respectable profession out west than Hollywood has led us to believe). He did not shy away from danger and seemed to regard it as irrelevant, but was also a very careful man (one reason he lived while one of his brothers and two of Earps were shot down in the streets). He was also on the cusp of the "dime novel" era that pumped him and others up into notorious killers, even though only one killing has been attributed to Masterson.
He later worked as a promoter and referee in the boxing world, and reinvented himself as a New York sports columnist. He also wrote some memoirs of his adventures out West. He died suddenly at his desk just before turning 68.
One thing that really impressed me was that, when men like Masterson found themselves in a tight spot, they could send out a few telegrams to their most trusted friends and those guys would show up as quickly as they could get there - no questions asked. Bat himself responded to such requests, including helping people he didn't really like, but as a favor to friends. He saved Doc Holliday's hide once as a favor to Earp, even though he didn't like Holliday, and that wasn't the only time he did favors like that.
DeArment is a prolific author and good writer; he's still churning out good books based on solid research at the age of 85! He wrote another book on Bat's years in New York, "Broadway Bat," which I'd like to get, but the only copies I've found online are pretty expensive.
From chatting with my "old west" friends, who specialize in this era, DeArment's book is the definitive one on Masterson. The one written by Richard O'Connor, on which the old Gene Barry TV series was allegedly based, is not reliable and is regarded as a hack job.
By the way, the general impression of the TV series is that Barry really did get Masterson down very well. That image of Bat did come to me many times while I was reading the book.
Allen
Masterson bridges a very transcendent period in the West. He was just old enough to take part in the waning days of buffalo hunting, often served as a scout, Indian fighter, lawman and gambler (apparently a far more respectable profession out west than Hollywood has led us to believe). He did not shy away from danger and seemed to regard it as irrelevant, but was also a very careful man (one reason he lived while one of his brothers and two of Earps were shot down in the streets). He was also on the cusp of the "dime novel" era that pumped him and others up into notorious killers, even though only one killing has been attributed to Masterson.
He later worked as a promoter and referee in the boxing world, and reinvented himself as a New York sports columnist. He also wrote some memoirs of his adventures out West. He died suddenly at his desk just before turning 68.
One thing that really impressed me was that, when men like Masterson found themselves in a tight spot, they could send out a few telegrams to their most trusted friends and those guys would show up as quickly as they could get there - no questions asked. Bat himself responded to such requests, including helping people he didn't really like, but as a favor to friends. He saved Doc Holliday's hide once as a favor to Earp, even though he didn't like Holliday, and that wasn't the only time he did favors like that.
DeArment is a prolific author and good writer; he's still churning out good books based on solid research at the age of 85! He wrote another book on Bat's years in New York, "Broadway Bat," which I'd like to get, but the only copies I've found online are pretty expensive.
From chatting with my "old west" friends, who specialize in this era, DeArment's book is the definitive one on Masterson. The one written by Richard O'Connor, on which the old Gene Barry TV series was allegedly based, is not reliable and is regarded as a hack job.
By the way, the general impression of the TV series is that Barry really did get Masterson down very well. That image of Bat did come to me many times while I was reading the book.
Allen