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Old West
Lawmen - Last Name Starts With "T"
More Lists: Explorers | Gunfighters | Lawmen | Native Americans |
Others | Outlaws | Outlaw Gangs | Scoundrels | Soldiers | Trail Blazers & Cowboys | Vigilantes | Women |
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Texas Rangers (1823-present) - The oldest law enforcement
agency in the United States, the
Texas
Rangers got their start in 1823 only two years after white
settlement in
Texas
formally began. Following the Mexican War of Independence some
600 to 700 families moved to
Texas
;
however it had no regular army to protect its new citizens. New
Empresario Stephen F. Austin soon began to organize experienced
frontiersmen as “rangers” in informal groups to protect the settlers
against
Indian attacks and other criminal elements. Later they would be
instrumental in capturing or killing many of the most wanted
outlaws
in the west including
John Wesley Hardin,
Sam Bass, and Bonnie and Clyde. |

Texas
Rangers
This image available for
photographic prints and downloads
HERE!
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Over the years, the
Texas Rangers
have investigated crimes ranging from murder to political corruption, kept
the peace during riots, protected the
Texas
governor, tracked down fugitives, and functioned as a quasi-military
force. Today’s
Texas Rangers are an investigative division of the
Texas
Department of Public Safety. The more than 100 highly trained men
and women are posted across the State of
Texas
and are one of the most effective investigative law enforcement agencies
in the world.
More ...
The
Three Guardsmen - This name was given in Old
West literature to describe the three effective
U.S. Deputy Marshals, Bill
Tilghman
(1854-1924),
Chris Madsen (1851-1944), and
Heck Thomas
(1850-1912). In 1889, this trio began the "cleaning up" of
Indian
Territory ,
which at the time, was known as a wild and lawless place. Working under
Judge Isaac
Parker in
Fort Smith,
Arkansas, the three men arrested more than 300
outlaws
in the next ten years and killed many others. Their main claim to fame was
their relentless pursuit of the members of the
Doolin-Dalton Gang, eliminating many of them systematically, and
apprehending those that would surrender.
Henry
"Heck" Thomas (1850-1912)
- Heck was born in Athens, Georgia on January 3, 1850. When he was 17, he
joined the Atlanta police department and by 1875, he was working as a
railroad guard in Galveston,
Texas.
After having saved the train from a holdup by
Sam Bass and his gang, he was promoted to a Fort Worth detective for the company and
by 1879 he held the position of Chief Agent. In 1886, he was appointed as
a
U.S. Deputy Marshal moved his family to
Fort Smith,
Arkansas,
where he worked directly under the infamous
Isaac Parker,
known as the “Hanging
Judge.” During his tenure,
Thomas
would earn a reputation for being one of the most efficient deputies
working the lawless land of
Indian
Territory and
bring more
outlaws to justice than any other marshal working in
Indian
Territory.
In August, 1896
Thomas
led a posse that caught up with
Bill Doolin. When the
outlaw
was confronted, he tried to shoot his way out, but was killed. Though
Heck's success in tracking
outlaws provided him with the financial rewards he sought, he also
paid a price when he was wounded at least six times during gunfights.
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In 1902,
Thomas
moved to Lawton,
Oklahoma
where he served as the Police Chief for the next seven years. After
a heart attack in 1909, he finally retired from law enforcement at the age
of 59. Three years later, on August 15, 1912, he died of Bright’s
Disease.
Henry Andrew
“Heck” Thomas was buried at Highland Cemetery in Lawton,
Oklahoma ,
where his grave remains today.
More ...
Benjamin "Ben" Thompson,
aka: Shotgun Ben
(1843-1884) - Born in
Knottingly, Yorkshire, England
on November, 2 1843, the
Thompson family immigrated to the United States
in 1851. Settling in Austin,
Texas,
Thompson became a printer working for
various Austin newspapers. At the age of 15, he wounded his first man, in
an argument about his shooting abilities. By 1859,
Thompson had moved to
New Orleans where he worked for a bookbinder and killed his first man when
he saw him abusing a woman. When the
Civil War began, he returned to
Texas,
enlisting with the 2nd
Texas
Cavalry. After fatally shooting a teamster in an argument in May, 1865, he
fled to Mexico.
Returning to
Texas,
he wounded his brother-in-law who was abusing his pregnant sister and
spent two years in the
Texas
State Penitentiary. Afterwards, he headed to Abilene,
Kansas,
hoping to change his fortunes. For the next several years he moved about
Kansas
and Colorado,
primarily as a professional gambler and involved in several shootouts.
Later he returned to Austin once again
where he became the city marshal in December, 1880. In 1882, while still
serving as an Austin marshal,
Thompson quarreled over a card game in
San Antonio,
where he killed the owner of the Vaudeville Theatre, Jack Harris,
allegedly his 21st victim. Though he was acquitted of murder, he was
assassinated on March 11, 1884,
in the Vaudeville Theatre, in
revenge for the killing of Jack Harris.
More
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William "Bill" Tilghman
(1854-1924) - Bill
Tilghman
was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa on July 4, 1854. He moved with his family
later to a
homestead in
Atchison,
Kansas.
At the age of 15,he left home and became a buffalo hunter, which
quickly brought him into conflict with the
Indians,
resulting in a skirmish in September, 1872, in which he killed seven
Cheyenne
brave. In 1874, he narrowly escaped being lynched after he was
falsely accused of murdering a man in Granada,
Colorado.
Though a life long teetotaler, he opened a saloon in
Dodge City,
Kansas
in 1875 and soon accepted an offer from
Bat Masterson to become a deputy sheriff. In 1889, he
established a homestead at Guthrie,
Oklahoma
and was soon appointed as a
U.S. Deputy Marshal. |

After surviving decades of tough
outlaws,
Bill
Tilghman was
shot and killed by a corrupt Prohibition
Officer in 1924.
This image available for
photographic prints and downloads
HERE!
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In this capacity,
Tilghman,
Heck Thomas
and
Chris Madsen
became known as the
Three Guardsmen, as they were instrumental in taming the lawless territory.
After he retired as a
U.S. Deputy Marshal
in 1910, he was elected to the State Senate. However, just a year later he
became the Chief of Police of Oklahoma City. At the age of 70, he was
still acting as a lawman when he was appointed as the marshal of Cromwell,
Oklahoma .
After surviving decades of tough
outlaws,
he was shot and killed on November 1, 1924 while he attempted to arrest a
corrupt Prohibition Officer by the name of Wiley Lynn.
More ...
Paden
Tolbert (1863-1904) -
U.S. Deputy Marshal in
Indian Territory.
Continued
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From the Rocky Mountain General Store
Saloon
Style Advertising Prints - What were on the walls of the
saloons in
the Old
West? Likely, much of the same as those you find today -
advertisements for liquor, beer, and tobacco. Plus the "decadent"
women of the time. In our
Photo Print Shop, you'll find dozens of photographs for decorating
your "real"
saloon or den in a
saloon type
atmosphere.
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