Edward J Masterson End Of Watch 4-9-1878

[FAM 49]

Dodge City Marshal Ed Masterson was killed in the line of duty on April 9, 1878.
Masterson was the first Dodge City law enforcement officer to be killed in the line of duty.
We honor your service we will always remember your sacrifice!

RIP Ed Masterson - End Of Watch April 9, 1878

[lBugsy]

According to records he was a good and decent man. Now if we only could find his grave.

[Bubba]

I heard he was a very affable fellow.

[FAM 49]

Hey Bubba ya must have heard that line on Wyatt Earp. Good memory. So did you like Wyatt Earp better then Tombstone? I thought both were good but Wyatt Earp was better.

As far as the final resting place for Ed Masterson we looked a lot back in the mid and late 90's. We learned that he was at one point at Fort Dodge. They then moved him into rural Ford County but that location was eventually used for something else and that is where the trail went cold. I wish we could have found it. For all we know there is a marker somewhere at Fort Dodge or around there and nobody knows. Perhaps someone with plenty of time can work on it and figure it out.

[Bubba]

Hey Bubba ya must have heard that line on Wyatt Earp. Good memory. So did you like Wyatt Earp better then Tombstone? I thought both were good but Wyatt Earp was better...

There are certain parts and characters that I like about each.

[Made in the USA]

As far as the final resting place for Ed Masterson we looked a lot back in the mid and late 90's. We learned that he was at one point at Fort Dodge. They then moved him into rural Ford County but that location was eventually used for something else and that is where the trail went cold. I wish we could have found it. For all we know there is a marker somewhere at Fort Dodge or around there and nobody knows. Perhaps someone with plenty of time can work on it and figure it out.

We got him out on the North 40, marked with a "Bat"!

[Detector]

Ed's brother Bat couldn't find the grave back in the 1800's so I doubt we can now.

He was buried first at Fort Dodge then moved to the cemetery just east of dodge. When that cemetery was eliminated his grave was moved to Maple Grove but no marker.

Many of the graves from the old cemetery(between our Ave C & D near Comanche) were never actually moved, but just the headstones. Some of these graves were dug up when the houses were built on Ave C & D.

Chances are Ed's grave is still over between Ave C & D.

[kevinkirk]

My great grandfather who was an attorney at the time Wyatt Earp was sheriff, said they were all crooks and outlaws. Of course, they had to be as tough as the ppl they were dealing with. All operated on the shady side of the law.
My grandfather, who was city engineer for 50 yrs or so, told of putting in the water and sewer lines and having to relocate the graves in the old cementary. Mostly just found a few bones and wooden box remains. So I would imagine that many of the graves were never exhumed but simply covereed with streets and houses as the headstones were prob sketchy at best.
Those linew were dug by hand and everyone was so spoooky digging and finding bones, etc. Many funny stories bout finding them in the late evenings and ppl never coming back to work the next day.
Kevin Kirkpatrick

[lBugsy]

I used to fly kites on a portion of where the Prarie Grove Cemetary was.
By the way...it was used by the city but was privately owned. The remains of those on Boot Hill were also moved there but were not allowed to be buried inside the cemetary proper. They were buried on the south west corner outside of the fence. When the city open Maple Grove cemetary all bodies were supposed to be moved there (a number of unmarked were never found just like on Boot Hill).
Fort Dodge and Maple Grove both say they have records of Masterson's grave but both are erroneous. Somewhere under a house or in a back yard of a home located in the north 1400, the 1500 block between Ave C & D...lays the remains of the first lawman murdered in Dodge City.

[Detector]

Talk about your Poltergeist :snake:

You're right kevinkirk, most of our celebrated lawmen were pretty shady in their own right. If you want some interesting reading, read about the Dodge City War of 1883. Some crooked stuff went on with our officials.

HistoryNet » The Dodge City War