Gambler, lawman, saloon keeper, journalist. In 1873, he left home and began working as a buffalo hunter and Indian scout in Dodge City, Kansas. Over the next decade, he worked intermittently as the Ford County sheriff and a deputy U.S. marshal, but made his living mostly as a saloon keeper and gambler. His brothers, Ed and James Masterson, were also Dodge City lawmen. Bat Masterson was a good friend and associate of the legendary lawman Wyatt Earp in both Dodge City and Tombstone, Arizona. TLS signed in his usual distinctive purple fountain pen, “W. B. Masterson,” one page, 8.5 x 11, Morning Telegraph letterhead, February 13, 1914. Letter to Old West pioneer and author Robert M. Wright. In full: “Mr. Taub was in to see me the other day and told me he has received six books from you all in good shape. Mr. Taub reads your book with much enthusiasm. He is the sort of a young man who likes that western stuff. He also showed me the letter he received from you, hence the small enclosure. I hope you had a good time at the Bull Moose gathering in Topeka and that your health is better and will improve with time.
“I had a call this morning from Frank Lock who is a fine looking young fellow. He was born since I left Dodge and this was the first time I met him. He’ll probably tell you all about me when he gets back home.
“Last Sunday I ran one of your stories in my column in The Morning Telegraph and sent you a copy and I have another one in for next Sunday, and it may result in helping the sale of the book, as The Morning Telegraph has a big Sunday circulation throughout the country and my column has quite a vogue as well.” In very good condition, with intersecting mailing folds, one through a second initial of signature, light toning primarily to edges, a few small edge chips and tears, staple holes to top right, a few trivial spots of light spreading of ink to signature and offsetting of the same ink to center of letter.
Accompanied by an approximately 350-page handwritten manuscript in Wright’s hand, mostly in pencil, some held together in groups with steel pins. Originally bundled in string, the manuscript is now housed in archival sleeves organized as originally discovered among Mr. Wright’s effects. Also included are the first two pages of a draft of Wright’s letter of response to Masterson’s letter. Wright mentions, “I did not want to convey the idea that I was in want or poverty… I have barely enough to support my family, and sometimes I have had to work to make both ends meet & I thought the sale of the book added to my modest income would help out grately, but so far the book has not been a success financially.” Also included is a full page article from the December 21, 1913 issue of The Morning Telegraph, all about Wright and his book on Dodge City and featuring a photo of the Dodge City Peace Commission, including members Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp. Together with approximately 60 letters signed by Wright and his associates in regard to the publication of the book, as well as orders from old friends such as George Bird Grinnell and Warren K. Moorehead, one mentioning Kit Carson and the Battle of Adobe Walls. Also included are two rough drafts in Wright’s hand of a book presentation or letter to Theodore Roosevelt. There is also a promotional broadside and advertisement for the publication, a period photograph with contrast application used in the printing of the book, and several additional manuscripts quoted by Wright, including the autographed poem “Passing the Wrangler” by Henry Coffin Fellow, whom Wright calls the “Cowboy Poet of Oklahoma.”
Masterson began writing for the Morning Telegraph in 1902. His columns, entitled “Masterson's Views on Timely Topics,” were churned out three times a week for the next 18 years and revealed his opinions on war, crime, politics and societal changes. Wright, a long-time friend and the recipient of this letter, was a notable Old West personage in his own right. However, Wright was financially struggling at this time, and Masterson sought to help his friend by not only sending “a small enclosure”—cash—but also use his syndicated column to promote sales of Wright’s recently released book.
While serving as president of the Kansas State Historical Society. Wright began pulling together his recollections and historical sources for the first history of the town during the frontier days, bearing the lengthy title, Dodge City, the Cowboy Capital, and the Great Southwest in the Days of the Wild Indian, the Buffalo, the Cowboy, Dance Halls, Gambling Halls, and Bad Men. It is that remarkable endeavor that Masterson references in this letter, and the remarkable manuscript that is also included here. As alluded to by Masterson, despite the interest expressed by his close associates and former frontiersman, sales of the book were not strong. In fact, most of the first printing was destroyed by the printers, leaving Wright to die penniless in 1915; the actual publication is a rare find today. A remarkable artifact of the early frontier days and one of its most famed personages. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
