Bill Markley - Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson: Lawmen of the Legendary West

Bill Markley is a member of Western Writers of America (WWA) and is a staff writer for WWAs Roundup magazine. He also writes for True West, Wild West, and South Dakota magazines. His latest book, written with coauthor Kellen Cutsforth, Old West Showdown: Two Authors Wrangle over the Truth about the Mythic Old West, explores differing viewpoints on ten Old West characters and events. In addition, Bill has written three nonfiction books: Dakota Epic: Experiences of a Reenactor During the Filming of Dances with Wolves; Up the Missouri River with Lewis and Clark; and American Pilgrim: A Post-September 11th Bus Trip and Other Tales of the Road. His first historical novel, Deadwood Dead Men, was selected by Western Fictioneers as a finalist for its 2014 Peacemaker Award in the category Best First Western Novel. Bill wrote the Military Establishment chapter and thirty entries for the Encyclopedia of Western Expansion. He manages WWAs Facebook page as well as Old West and American History Facebook pages. He was a member of Toastmasters International for twenty years. He earned a bachelors degree in Biology and a masters degree in Environmental Sciences and Engineering at Virginia Tech, worked on two Antarctic field teams, and worked forty years with the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Raised on a farm near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, Bill has always loved history. He reenacts Civil War infantry and frontier cavalry and has participated in the films Dances with Wolves, Son of the Morning Star, Far and Away, Gettysburg, and Crazy Horse. Bill and his wife, Liz, live in Pierre, South Dakota, where they have raised two children, now grown.

Jim Hatzell is a graduate of the American Academy of Art in Chicago, Illinois, with a degree in Advertising and Design and in Illustration. Jim has also been in the motion picture business for nearly thirty years. Jim and Bill first met on the set of Dances with Wolves in 1989. Jim and his wife, Jacqui, make their home in Rapid City, South Dakota.

First, thanks to Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp for living extraordinary lives I could explore and tell about. Thanks to all the folks who recorded events during their lifetimes and those who preserve those records. Thank you, Erin Turner and the folks at TwoDot, for giving me the opportunity to write this book. Jim Hatzell, thank you for your outstanding illustrations.

I thank my fellow Most Intrepid Western Author Posse members for their help: Monty McCord for his assistance; Kellen Cutsforth for tracking down the document for Buffalo Bill Codys involvement with Bats rescue of Billy Thompson; Sherry Monahan for her help with understanding the game of faro; and Chris Enss for her support, guidance, and confirmation on Kate Elders story. Thanks to the members of Western Writers of America; without them my writing career would not be where it is today.

Tom Clavin, author of Dodge City, thank you for your help. Hughes County Sheriff Mike Leidholt, thank you for your review. Longtime friend Phil Theta Bowden, thank you for your detailed critique. Mike Pellerzi, as always thanks for your cowboy point of view. Keep your powder dry and check your cinch. Historian Henry Crawford, thank you for your assistance with the buffalo hunting chapters. Thanks to Eric Forst, owner of Red Dog Saloon, Juneau, Alaska, for discussing Wyatts pistol he left behind. A big thank you to freelance wordsmith Barry Keith Williams for an excellent job polishing the manuscript.

Thank you to my wife, Liz, for putting up with my long hours in the basement plunking away on the computer keyboard and shouting up the stairs, How do you spell such-and-such word?! and to the rest of my family for their support including son Chriss review of the first couple chapters. I thank all the critters who distracted me by occasionally peeking in my window to see what I was up to. Thanks to the Lord for giving me this opportunity and for the ability to think and write.

Arizona Memory Project, Legal and Court History of Cochise County, Coroners Inquest of the Gunfight at the OK Corral, Joseph Clanton Transcript.

Arizona Memory Project, Legal and Court History of Cochise County, Coroners Inquest of the Gunfight at the OK Corral, Coleman Transcript.

Arizona Memory Project, Legal and Court History of Cochise County, Coroners Inquest of the Gunfight at the OK Corral, King Transcript.

Crawford, Henry, personal e-mail communication to Bill Markley, March 29, 2018.

Forst, Eric, Red Dog Saloon Owner, personal communication to Bill Markley, February 26, 2018.

Red Dog Saloon display information with Wyatt Earps Smith & Wesson Model No. 3 pistol. Juneau, Alaska, August 2, 2017.

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