The Complete List of Old West Lawmen - Last Name Starts with "B"

Old West Lawmen - B - Page 5

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Cyrus P. Bradley (1919-1865) - Sheriff and first Chief of Police in Chicago, Illinois, Bradley was born in Concord, new Hampshire. In 1837, he moved to Chicago. In 1849 he was appointed as a tax collector in South Chicago and worked with the local fire company. He then served to terms as the Cook County Sheriff before becoming Chicago's first police chief on May 26, 1855. Actively playing a role in capturing criminals, Bradley and the Chicago Police Department was credited with solving every crime reported during its first three months in operation. When a new major abolished the position of police chief, Bradley was let go and in 1860, began the first of two terms as the fire marshal. However, in 1861, the police chief position was restored and Bradley began to serve once again. He was also appointed as a provost marshal of the army following the outbreak of the Civil War. During his tenure, Bradley made a number of improvements to Chicago's police force, including increasing the size of force, dividing the city into distinct precincts, and creating the department’s first detective division. He died inChicago, Illinois on March 6, 1865.

William J. Brady (1825-1878) - Born in Corvan, Ireland in 1825, Brady emigrated to the United States and fought in the Civil War with the 2nd New Mexico Volunteers. When the war was over he became close friends with two other Irish immigrants by the names of James Dolan and Lawrence Murphy, the owners of the Murphy & Dolan Mercantile and Banking operation in Lincoln County, New Mexico. With their support, he was elected as the Lincoln County Sheriff in 1975. In 1876, Alexander McSween and John Tunstall, fed up with Murphy and Dolan's virtual control of the county's economy, set up a rival business. This, of course, upset Dolan and Murphy, who had become accustomed to their nice profits. Dolan attempted to goad Tunstall into a gunfight, but Tunstall refused. However, he soon hired Billy the Kid and other gunfighters to protect his interests. In February, 1878, Dolan and Murphy obtained a court order to seize some of Tunstall's horses as payment for an outstanding debt. Sheriff Brady and a posse soon went out to take the horses and in the confrontation on February 18, 1878, Tunstall was killed, an event that erupted into the Lincoln County War. Billy the Kid and the other men fighting for the McSween faction, called the Regulators, soon set about taking revenge. On April 1, 1878, Billy, along with several other Regulators, which included Frank MacNab, Jim French, Fred Waite, Henry Brown, and John Middleton were involved in a shootout with law enforcement in front of the Lincoln County Courthouse. When the dust cleared, William Brady and his deputy, George Hindman lay dead.

Dow Braziel (18??-1919) - Braziel served as a U.S. Deputy Marshal and an IRS Officer before he was killed in Ardmore, Oklahoma by Carter County, Oklahoma Deputy Sheriff Bud Ballew. The two apparently had a long standing feud because Ballew and his boss, Sheriff Buck Garrett had not enforced the Prohibition laws as aggressively as Braziel. By the time that Dow died, he was not longer serving in a lawman capacity; but, still harbored a grudge against Bud Ballew. On January 31, 1919, very early in the morning, Ardmore Chief of Police Les Segler met up with Bud Ballew in the east part of the city, where gunshots had been heard. After talking for a time, the two headed to the California Cafe, at the corner of Main and Mill Streets for breakfast. As they entered the cafe, they noticed Dow Braziel standing on the east side of room. Before they knew it, Braziel fired two shots at Bud Ballew. The deputy immediately returned fire, emptying his pistol and hitting Braziel six times, leaving Braziel dead on the floor. Bud was then arrested by the Police Chief, taken to the police station, and later transferred to the county jail. However, Chief Segler made a formal statement as to the facts and Bud was soon released.

Richard M. Brewer (1850-1878) - Born on February 19, 1850 in Franklin County, Vermont, his family moved to Wisconsin in 1860 and when the lad turned 18, he made his way west. Settling down in Lincoln County, New Mexico, he became a rancher and horse breeder. He soon befriended his neighbor John Tunstall who was in a feud with the Murphy/ Dolan faction, known as the Lincoln County War. By March 1, 1878, when the rivalry had grown to gunplay, Brewer was appointed constable by the Magistrate. His group, known as "The Regulators,” included Billy the Kid and other deputies. Their purpose was to serve arrest warrants to members of the Dolan Gang for the ambush and murder of John Tunstall. On April 4, 1878, Brewer led the Regulators to Blazer's Mill where they were confronted by one of the men they held a warrant for - Buckshot Roberts. Soon, the guns blazed and two Regulators were wounded and one killed - namely Constable Brewer. Buckshot Roberts was also killed and the two were buried side by side.

Elijah "Lige" S. Briant (1861-1933) - Born in raised in Simpson County, Kentucky, Briant headed to Texas in the early 1880s. Described as a very quiet and dignified person, he first worked as a school teacher in Coleman, but later joined up with U.S. surveyors plotting the boundaries of Colorado, Wyoming and Arizona. When that job was complete, he returned to Sonora, Texas, where he served as postmaster from 1893 to 1807 and worked owned sheep. In 1898, he was elected as the Sutton County Sheriff, at a time when the area was over-ridden with lawless elements. But, Briant seemed to fear very little and soon began to clean up the area. In 1900 he was wounded by a robbery suspect but continued on. The following year, on April 2, 1901, he and his deputies, along with former sheriff, Henry Sharp and Constable W.D. Thomason went after Wild Bunch members, Will Carver and Ben Kilpatrick who were known to be hiding in the Ogden Building at Sonora, Texas. Like many of the outlaw captures of the Old West, the two outlaws refused to give up and instead, opened fire on the lawmen. When the smoke cleared, Will Carver was dead and Kilpatrick wounded. Briant received a $1,000 reward for killing Carver, but would later say that he regretted the shooting. Later, he became a county judge before moving to San Antonio, Texas in 1918, and to San Angelo in 1920. There he worked in the land and stock commission business. He died in San Angelo on December 22, 1933 and was buried at the Fairmont Cemetery.

Reuben "Rube” H. Brown (1851-1875) - The son of Palestine T. and Miriam Brown, Rube was born in Texas on November 28, 1851. Well educated, he grew up working on his father’s farm and was working as a farm hand in his late teens. However, by the early 1870’s, he had been made the City Marshal of Cuero, Texas, at a time that the Sutton-Taylor Feud was heating up in the area and Brown sided with the Sutton Faction. In January, 1874, he shot and killed a man named James Gladney McVea in McGanan's Bar in Cuero. After William Sutton was killed in March, 1874, Brown became the leader of the Sutton Faction and the lawman soon arrested Billy Taylor for the killing of William Sutton and received, not only a $500 reward, but also wide recognition. However, before long, Brown resigned his office in June, 1874 for unspecified reasons, perhaps, out of fear of Taylor retribution. In the end, it wouldn’t matter. He was shot down in a Cuero, Texas saloon on November 17, 1875. Though no one was arrested for the murder, he was though to have been killed by John Wesley Hardin.

Eli Hickman "Heck” Bruner (1859-1898) - Born on February 13, 1859 at Siloam Springs, Arkansas to Eli W. and Mary E. Collins Bruner, Bruner grew up to be a U.S. Deputy Marshal. He was commissioned in 1880 in the Western District of Arkansas, assigned to the Cherokee Nation serving under Marshal Jacob Yoes. The following year, he married Sara A. Laura Bradley on June 23, 1881 and the couple would eventually have three children. His career as a federal lawman brought him into contact with numerous criminals over the years. In March, 1892, he brought in James Craig, a member of the Wahco Hampton Gang, who had killed Deputy Marshals Thomas Whitehead and Josiah Poorboy. On November 2, 1892 Heck was one of the sixteen deputy marshals who stormed Ned Christie’s cabin in the Cherokee Nation, leaving the alleged outlaw dead. Later, the lawmen rode with a posse to arrest two members of the Rogers Brothers Gang – Sam Rogers and Ralph Hedrick, who had been charged with robbing a bank in Mound City, Kansas. When they came upon the pair of outlaws, gunfire erupted and Hedrick was killed and Rogers wounded. In January, 1894, Heck led the posse that captured a murderer called Dynamite Jack and the following year was at the Fort Smith, Arkansas jail when Cherokee Bill tried to escape and killed Deputy Marshal Larry Keating on July 26, 1895. On one occasion the federal officer was forced to shoot his cousin when the man resisted arrested for train robbery. On June 22, 1899, while Bruner was trying to cross the Grand River near Vinita, Oklahoma to serve several warrants for the Muskogee Federal Court, he found the ferry boat unattended on the far side. Heck made the unfortunate decision to swim across the rain-swollen river and drowned. His body was found the following day.

John Millard Burton - U.S. Deputy Marshal commissioned in the Southern Indian Territory Court at Ardmore, Oklahoma. Assigned to Mill Creek, a hell-raising cattle town in the Chickasaw Nation, he replaced U.S. Deputy Marshal John Poe, who was killed by whiskey dealers. Another deputy marshal had also been wounded by men running illegal alcohol in Mill Creek, who had declared war on the marshal’s force because they were not allowed to operate freely. When Marshal Benjamin H. Colbert of the Southern District wanted to stop the flow of liquor, he enlisted Deputy Marshal Burton who was successful in stopping illegal liquor operations.

Shepherd "Shep” Busby (18??-1892) - A U.S. Deputy Marshal commissioned in the Western District of Arkansas, Busby was first assigned to the Cherokee Nation of Indian Territory. For several years, Busby was known as a good officer and made a number of arrests, including robbers, Gordon Sanford and Lewis Maddox, and murderer, Dick Anderson. However, Busby's upstanding reputation would be ruined when fellow officer, U.S. Deputy Marshal Barney Connelley arrived at his home on August 19, 1891 to serve Busby with a warrant of arrest for adultery. Busby, along with his son, resisted the arrest warrant and fired on Connelly, killing him. Busby was executed for his crime on April 27, 1892. Busby’s son was charged with manslaughter and sentenced to serve ten years in the penitentiary at Detroit, Michigan.

Edward "Ned" Wilkerson Bushyhead (1832-1907) - Miner, publisher, and lawman, Bushyhead was born near Cleveland, Tennessee. Part Cherokee Indian, he was the son of a Baptist preacher, who he accompanied from Georgia to Indian Territory on the Trail of Tears at the age of seven. When his father died in 1844, the 12 year-old went to work as a printer with the Cherokee Messenger and later worked in Fort Smith, Arkansas. In 1850, the 18 year-old headed to California where he landed in Placerville seeking his fortune. Having some luck as a miner, he soon allocated his resources and became the publisher of the San Andreas Register in October, 1867. This; however, was short lived, as he then moved to San Diego, where he became the "silent" publisher of the San Diego Union which was first published on October 10, 1868. In 1873, he sold the newspaper, which continued until 1927, and was resurrected for five years between 1942 and 1947. In 1882, he ran for sheriff of San Diego County and served to terms and in 1899 became the Chief of Police in San Diego, California, a position he held until 1903. Due to health reasons, he moved to Alpine, California in 1907, where he died on March 4, 1907. His body was returned to Oklahoma, where it was buried in the family cemetery at Talequah.

W. Hesson "Hess" Bussey - U.S. Deputy Marshal in Indian Territory. While riding with fellow U.S. Deputy Marshal George Lawson of the Eufaula District on December 4, 1896, the two planned to arrest Dan "Dynamite Dick" Clifton, the last of the Doolin Gang, who they knew to be hiding out on Sid Williams’ farm about sixteen miles from Newkirk, Oklahoma . However, when they found the outlaw, Clifton fired on them with his rifle and Lawson returned the fire hitting Clifton in the arm and knocking him from his saddle. "Dynamite Dick” then fled through the woods taking refuge in a small cabin. In pursuit, the lawmen trailed him to the cabin and when the injured Clifton tried to escape again, he was gunned down by the two officers and died just moments later. Two years later, in February, 1898, when Bussey and U.S. Deputy Marshal Gabe Beck were attempting to arrest members of the Miller Gang at Inola, Oklahoma, both lawmen were shot and the the Cherokee Advocate in Claremore, Oklahoma reported they had both probably been killed (see article.) However, that was not the case, as both officers survived. Just two months later, on March 17, 1898, Hess was riding with fellow U.S. Deputy Marshal William Arnold at Claremore when the two tried to arrest a man named Bill Johnson who resisted arrest. When Johnson shot and killed Deputy Arnold, Hess Bussey returned the fire and killed Johnson.

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