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Oklahoma’s Three Guardsmen Need the Earps’ Agent
Why hasn’t a movie been made about these guys?
Wyatt Earp is probably the quintessential lawman of the Old West. The exploits of Wyatt and his brothers have been expounded by and embellished by Hollywood. The blockbuster movie, “Tombstone,” has done wonders to establish a good reputation for the Earps. How merited that reputation is will be discussion for another time. While the Earps were dealing with a faction called ‘The Cowboys” in the early 1880s, Hec Thomas, Chris Madsen and Bill Tilghman, aka “The Three Guardsmen were doing battle with the Doolin Gang. Maybe the Guardsmen needed a better agent.
Bill Tilghman is probably the most well-known of the Guardsmen
Bill Tilghman’s final assignment as a lawman was depicted in the western, “You Know My Name.” Tilghman was killed in the line of duty in the boomtown of Cromwell OK. on Oct. 31, 1924, at the age of 70. There was so much more to Tilghman’s career than that.
Hec Thomas was relentless in his pursuit of the Doolin Gang. He ultimately retired as deputy marshal in the Indian Territory in 1905. Thomas accepted the position of Chief of Police in Lawton, Oklahoma in 1907. Thomas died of Bright’s disease in 1912 at the age of 62.
