Bill Tilghman was one of the most famous Lawmen of the Old West, but he didn’t start out that way, as in his early days he was arrested for theft, but he was appointed city Marshal of Dodge, in 1884 and wore a badge made of two $20 gold pieces.
Tilghman was involved in the capture of Jennie “Little Britches” Stevens, and Cattle Annie McDougal near Pawnee Oklahoma in 1894. It was said that “Little Britches” fired at Tilghman with a Winchester rifle, and he shot back and killed her horse. She is then supposed to have thrown dirt in his face, and bit and scratched him, and tried to pull a pistol on him. Bill finally overpowered her, and gave her a spanking.
Tilghman joined in on the Oklahoma land rush of 1889 and staked a claim around Guthrie, Oklahoma, where he lived for the rest of his life, of course spending the next 20 years “cleaning up” the area including Hell’s Half Acre, Perry Oklahoma with two other Lawmen, Chris Madsen and Heck Thomas that had 110 Saloons for a population of 25,000 which is one Saloon for about every 225 people. He was elected to the state Senate in Oklahoma, and joined the Oklahoma City Police Force in 1911.
He supervised a movie “The Passing of the Oklahoma Outlaws” (it was released in 1915). Tilghman retired but was persuaded by the citizens of Cromwell Oklahoma to become their city Marshal, Cromwell was an Oil Boomtown. On November 1, 1924 Tilghman was eating in a restaurant when a shot was fired outside by a drunken probation officer, by the name of Wiley Lynn, who had clashed with Tilghman on other occasions, and as Tilghman led Wiley Lynn toward the jail, the drunk pulled out a small automatic pistol and shot Tilghman, who died 15 minutes later.