The Complete List of Old West Lawmen - Last Name Begins with "U-Z"

Old West Lawmen - Last Name Starts With "U-Z"

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U.S. Marshals - Created more than 200 years ago in 1789, the congressional act also established the federal judicial system. Given extensive authority to support federal courts, congress, or the president, these marshals and their deputies have served subpoenas, warrants, made arrests, and handled prisoners for more than two centuries.

The Marshals have also taken the responsibility for a number of other tasks over the years, such as taking the national census through 1870, distributing Presidential proclamations, registering enemy aliens in times of war, and capturing fugitive slaves. Particularly during the days of the Old West , a number of individual Deputy Marshals became instant heroes when they captured or killed notorious outlaws such as Bill Doolin, "Tulsa Jack" Blake, Bob Dozier, the Rufus Buck Gang,and many more. Later, they helped suppress the Pullman Strike in 1894, enforced Prohibition in the 1920's, and protected athletes in Olympic Games hosted on U.S. soil.

These deputy marshals were sent from the federal court

at Fort Smith, Arkansas to capture Ned Christie.

Front row, l-r: Charles Copeland, Gideon S. "Cap" White.

Back row, l-r: Bill Smith, Bill Ellis, Paden Tolbert, 1892.

This image available for photographic prints

and downloads HERE!

In the past two centuries more than 200 U.S. marshals and their deputies have given their lives in the line of duty. Though ever evolving, the U.S. Marshal Service continues today, enforcing the laws and executing the orders issued by the courts.

David "Big Dave" Updyke (1830-1866) - Though thought to have been the leader of a vicious gang of outlaws, Updyke was elected sheriff of Ada County, Idaho, in 1865. He was lynched on April 14, 1866, for allegedly aiding horse thieves and murderers. More ...

Antonio Jose Valdez, aka: EI Mico, EI Patas de Rana - Both an outlaw and lawman, Valdez was one of Silva's White Caps of Las Vegas, New Mexico. He later became city marshal of Wagon Mound, New Mexico.

Lyman W. Wakefield - Served as a Field Deputy for the U.S. Marshals in Arizona Territory before becoming the sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona in the 1890's. He shot and killed outlaw Pedro Chavez.

Richard "Dick" Clayton Ware (1851-1902) - While serving as a Texas Ranger, Ware shot Sam Bass at Round Rock, Texas. Later served as Mitchell County, Texas Sheriff and as a U.S. Deputy Marshal in West Texas. He was killed by Constable John Selman in El Paso, Texas.

William Alexander Anderson "Bigfoot" Wallace (1817-1899) - Served as a Texas lawman for several years before joining the Texas Rangers and soon made captain. He died on January 7, 1899.

Matt Warner - See Willard Erastus Christianson

John Joshua (J.J.) Webb (1847–1882) - Both an lawman and an outlaw, Webb served as a Dodge City, Kansas Deputy Marshal before moving on to Las Vegas, New Mexico. There, he served as a "crooked lawman" when the Dodge City Gang was in control. More ...

John Welch - Served as Judge Roy Bean's deputy in Langtry, Texas in 1893.

Justus P. Welles - Served as a U.S. Deputy Marshal in the Arizona Territory.

John Wemett - Deputy Sheriff of Val Verde County, Texas in 1909 under Sheriff C.C. Bartley.

Duval West (1861-1949). - Starting out as a prospector and a cowboy, West later became a U.S. Deputy Marshal in Texas. He fought the Bill Whitley Gang after the in the "Great Harwood Train Robbery" in 1888. Later, he became a lawyer and a federal judge.

Parker Weston - Served as a Texas Ranger under Captain Frank Johnson in 1906.

Ben Wheeler - See Ben Robertson

Harry Cornwall Wheeler (1875-1925) - The son of an army officer, Wheeler was born in Florida and grew up on a series of army posts. After serving in the Spanish American War as a Rough Rider he was transferred to the Arizona Territory. He worked briefly as a miner in Tombstone before joining the Arizona Rangers in 1903. An expert marksman, he soon obtained the rank of captain and replaced Thomas Rynning who resigned in March, 1907. Wheeler, who had served the rangers at every rank, brought discipline and idealism to the group which he continued to command until the Arizona Rangers were disbanded in 1909. Later, he was elected sheriff of Cochise County, and during a 1917 labor dispute at the Bisbee copper mines he led the group responsible for the "Bisbee Deportation," where nearly twelve hundred strikers and sympathizers were forcibly removed from the area.

Harry Cornwall Wheeler

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During the First World War Wheeler reached the rank of captain in the U.S. Army. After the war he was defeated for the Cochise County sheriff's office in 1922, and he drifted from job to job until his death in 1925 from pneumonia. He is buried in Bisbee, Arizona.

Fred White (1849-1880) - Tombstone Marshal Fred White was killed in in October, 1880 when a group of five outlaws were shooting up the town. When Marshal White asked the leader, William "Curly Bill" Brocius, to stop the shooting, he refused and White attempted to disarm him. Brocius was taken into custody by Wyatt Earp, but insisted the shooting was an accident. Curly Bill was tried and acquitted of Marshal White's murder, but was later shot and killed by Wyatt Earp and his posse. More ...

Chauncey "Cap" Belden Whitney (1842-1873) - One of Ellsworth, Kansas' earliest settlers, Whitney arrived in 1867, the same year the town was established by the railroad. He left Ellsworth on several expeditions against the Indians and in 1868 fought at the celebrated Battle of Beecher Island. The following year he was elected first lieutenant of a militia company which manned a blockhouse near Ellsworth to guard against Indian depredations. In 1871, he became Ellsworth's constable and built the city's first jail. In 1872, he became the county sheriff and on August 18,1873, he was killed by Billy Thompson who claimed he fired his bun by accident.

Frank Wolcott Frank Wolcott (1840-1910) - Born in Canandaigua, New York on December, 13, 1840, Wolcott served in the Civil War, leaving as a Major in 1866. He then moved to Kentucky, before making his way to Cheyenne, Wyoming in 1870. He worked for the U.S. Land Office until being appointed a U.S. Deputy Marshal for Wyoming. However, he didn't last long in this role, as three years later he was released because of what Governor John M. Thayer called "offensive" behavior. He then bought a ranch in 1876 and became involved with the Wyoming Stock Growers Association and a number of large cattle barons. When the conflict between the small ranchers and the cattle barons erupted in the 1880's, Wolcott sided with the large ranchers. Known as the Johnson County War, Wolcott led a group of 50 henchmen into Johnson County in April, 1892 with the intention of killing some 70 suspected cattle rustlers who had been placed on a "death list." However, after killing Nick Ray and Nate Champion, Sheriff Red Angus, leading a posse of 200 men, trapped the gunmen and besieged Wolcott's forces at the TA Ranch until they were rescued by the 6th Cavalry three days later. Over the next couple of years Wolcott continued in his efforts to destroy the small ranch owners of the area. In 1894, he moved to Nebraska where he became general agent at the Omaha Stockyards. He died in Denver March 30, 1910.

William "Bill" R. Wren - The owner of a large cattle spread in Lampasas County, Texas, Bill befriended a man named Pinckney Calhoun (Pink) Higgins, who was in a bloody feud with neighboring ranchers - the Horrell brothers. Wren lent his assistance to Higgins, soon becoming his chief lieutenant. In June, 1877, a gunfight between the two factions broke out in the streets of Lampasas, leaving three men dead and Wren severely wounded. Afterwards, Wren signed a truce at the urging of Texas Ranger, Major John B. Jones, and later used his gun only on the side of the law as a county sheriff.

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