PBA Galleries

2 pp. Handwritten petition to the District Court of Ford County, State of Kansas, to remove trial to the Circuit Court of the United States, District of Kansas in the case of Howard W. Holden, Plaintiff, vs. W.B. Masterson, Defendant. Letter is stamped with the seal of the District Court and signed by A.L. Williams, Attorney for the Petitioner, and H.P. Myton, Clerk of the District Court. Filed October 11, 1879.

Bartholemew William Barclay "Bat" Masterson was a lawman, gambler, presidential appointee under Theodore Roosevelt, and sports writer. The letter was dated 1879, the year Masterson was appointed a deputy U.S. marshal, lost his seat as sheriff of Ford County Kansas, and became involved in the Royal Gorge Railroad War in Colorado. Masterson notably spent time with such Wild West figures as Wyatt Earp and and William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody. His likeness has appeared in many works of fiction and non-fiction media. He was also notably the inspiration for the character Sky Masterson in "Guys and Dolls."