Often historical western books depict one of their characters as a sheriff or
marshal of a town including the book I’m writing now. But before I decided which
one my character would be, I wanted to know the difference between them. Following
is a brief overview of the duties and jurisdictions of a sheriff and marshal in
the Old West.
Traditionally,
the sheriff was an elected county official. Towns elected or appointed marshals.
A U.S. Marshal was a federal appointment and covered outlaws who broke federal
laws. A federal marshal or deputy marshal could also pull double duty as a
sheriff, sheriff’s deputy, or town marshal.
The
sheriff was elected to uphold the law in a particular town or county, but as
soon as he crossed the town or county borders, he had no authority. Trouble
was, unlike today, the borders weren’t as clearly drawn in the Old West, so the
jurisdiction was sometimes uncertain.
U.S. Marshals
had jurisdiction everywhere since they worked for the federal government. Their
job was to apprehend fugitives from justice. A marshal’s authority could
supersede that of the sheriff insofar as apprehending wanted fugitives were concerned.
Many
lawmen received no pay other than a percentage of money that those they
arrested might be fined, or the collection of bounties on the heads of wanted men.
Consequently, some had second jobs
Of
those who did make a salary, it was often very low, and their duties often
included tasks that many felt were beneath them, such as keeping the streets
clean and other municipal duties. Much of their work consisted of weeks of boring
tasks, interspersed by periods of high danger and sometimes deadly altercations.
For these reasons and more, few of even the most famous lawmen
spent that many years wearing a badge, including Wild Bill Hickok, who only
served a few years in various
roles
and Wyatt Earp, who worked in a few Kansas cowtowns, before gunning down the
Clantons in a showdown at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona.
Below
is a bronze sculpture of one of the most iconic fictional marshals ever portrayed
on TV – Marshal Dillon.
If
you're going to make a life-size statue of James Arness, you're going to need a
lot of bronze. The Western star stood at a towering 6' 7". No wonder his
character Matt Dillon was such an imposing figure on Gunsmoke.
For
twenty seasons, Marshal Dillon kept the peace on the dusty streets of Dodge
City. Now, the real-life Dodge City, a town of about 27,000 residents in
southwestern Kansas, has its own Matt Dillon. On July 30, 2017, a bronze
likeness of the character was installed next to the Dodge City Visitors Center
on Wyatt Earp Boulevard.
Please visit my website: www.cherikayclifton.com
