![]() ![]() ![]() One of my favorite television shows of all time was HBO’s Deadwood, so imagine my delight upon discovering that one of TR’s closest confederates from his Dakota days was Seth Bullock, onetime Sheriff of Deadwood. I first became acquainted with this fascinating facet of Rooseveltian history while doing research for The Silver Shooter, a Wild West mystery featuring Theodore Roosevelt as a character. He even appointed several of them to positions in federal law enforcement-prompting the press of the era to refer to them collectively as “the White House Gunfighters.” He had a deep and abiding respect for the law and those who upheld it, and maintained lifelong friendships with a number of famous frontier lawmen. TR was himself a lawman, having served as deputy sheriff of Billings County, Dakota Territory in 1885-1886, and as police commissioner of New York City ten years later. ![]() Small wonder they so captured the imagination of the American public-and of her 26th President, Theodore Roosevelt. Lawmen of the Old West were gunslingers, gamblers, prospectors, prize fighters, buffalo hunters, and even outlaws. Not that this stopped them from pursuing other endeavors, not all of them strictly legal. Some of the most notorious figures of the day, including Wild Bill Hickock, Wyatt Earp, and Bat Masterson, wore a badge. ![]() In an era populated with colorful characters-the gunfighter and the gambler, the outlaw and the prospector-no one loomed larger than the lawman. He’s got a hat on his head, a gun at his waist, and a tin badge on his chest, and he’s a one-man embodiment of the American Old West. Rugged features, weathered skin, bushy moustache. ![]()
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