The Lone Star Dance Hall was one of Dodge City’s most popular resorts. Bat Masterson and Ben Springer were the owners of the Lone Star, which sported a long mahogany bar and a full complement of gambling tables. Charley Lawson’s orchestra provided music from a small stage that overlooked the dance floor in the rear of the room. The stage also provided the opportunity to produce variety shows on occasion.

Charlie Siringo, one of the first cowboys to write about his cattle trailing days, visited the Lone Star on a particularly festive night in 1877. He described the place as “jammed full of free and easy girls, long-haired buffalo-hunters (and) wild and woolly cowboys.”

Siringo and a “cowboy chum” by the name of Wess Adams got into a brawl. Adams was stabbed and the two of them were forced to swing into the saddle and ride hard for camp with pistols blazing while shouting pledges of defiance. It was just another night in Dodge City.

In October, Bat Masterson relinquished his interest in the Lone Star with his announcement as a candidate for Ford County Sheriff. The day before elections, Monday, Nov. 5, 1877, a standoff occurred in the Lone Star Dance Hall that the Dodge City Times referred to as “Frontier Fun.”

Bob Shaw accused “Texas Dick” Moore of stealing $40 from him and the disagreement quickly erupted into a heated verbal bout. One of the bystanders immediately left in search of an officer. Finding Assistant Marshal Ed Masterson, the bystander returned to the Lone Star with the officer just as the argument was about to boil over.

When Assistant Marshal Masterson entered the door, the dispute had ripened beyond mere words. Shaw was by the bar, “…with a huge pistol in his hand and a hogshead of blood in his eye, ready to relieve Texas Dick of his existence in this world and send him to those shades where troubles come not and six shooters are not known.”

Masterson commanded Shaw to give up his sixshooter, but Shaw shouted for Masterson to stay out of it. As the gun wielding cowboy Bob Shaw turned back toward Texas Dick, Masterson reacted without hesitation. With a crashing blow, Masterson brought the butt of his pistol down on Shaw’s head, but to the young officer’s surprise, Shaw did not even stumble. Instead, blue smoke erupted from Shaw’s pistol as the cowboy quickly turned and opened fire. Hot lead split the smoke filled room.

Ed Masterson fell as the bullet passed completely through his right breast. Barely noticing his desperate position, Masterson reacted instinctively as he fell to the floor by exchanging his pistol from his paralyzed right hand to his left hand. All the while, Shaw was wildly emptying his pistol. Texas Dick dropped with a bullet in his groin. Frank Buskirk stepped into the open door to watch the fight just as a bullet ripped into his left arm.

From the dance hall floor, Masterson returned fire, finally putting an end to Shaw’s shooting performance with bullets in Shaw’s left arm and his left leg.

Bob Wright, owner of Wright & Beverley’s General Merchandise Store, heard someone run by his door, crying out, “Our marshal is being murdered in the dance hall.” As Wright burst in the hall, “the house was so dense with smoke from the pistols, a person could hardly see.”

Through the smoke, Wright made out the form of Ed Masterson with his six-shooter in his left hand. The lawman had several men corralled in the corner of the dance hall, holding them until assistance could reach him.

Amazingly, no one was killed. Ed Masterson was commended as “… a guardian who shirks no responsibility and who hesitates not to place himself in danger when duty requires.”

The very next day, Nov. 6, 1877, Election Day, Ed Masterson’s brother, Bat, was elected Ford County Sheriff. Ed took leave of his job to recuperate at the family home in Sedgwick. Two weeks later, he was back on the job.

Unimpressed with Larry Deger’s performance as Dodge City Marshal, the city council replaced Deger with their new hero, Ed Masterson, on Dec. 4, 1877.

The Dodge City Times announced its approval by printing “City Marshal Masterson receives the congratulations of his many friends … As an officer his reputation is made …” It was a reputation that required bravery and nerve, and every now and then, a little blood.

A man of Ed Masterson’s character was rare in those days, and more than that, he could count himself lucky to survive the requirements presented to him when keeping the peace on The Way West.

“The Cowboy” Jim Gray can be reached at 220 21st Rd., Geneseo, KS 67444, (785) 531-2058 or kansascowboy@kans.com.