What Life Was Like For U.S. Marshals In The Wild West
When you picture a U.S. Marshal galloping across the Wild West, who do you see? Chances are it's someone like Wyatt Earp, who served as a deputy marshal. You know the picture, right? Grizzled, big hat, equally large mustache, gun at his hip and a tin star pinned to his chest. But that's not the whole story: "He" could have been a "she." Though they never outnumbered the men in the service, a notable number of women also served as U.S. Marshals. They were often relegated to desk work, naturally, as many of their superiors assumed that women were simply unable to handle the intense nature of field work.
Some female U.S. Marshals, however, made arrests and tracked down fugitives just like their male counterparts. These include Ada Curnutt, who tracked down two outlaws in Oklahoma City in 1893. As told in Oklahoma Justice, she'd been instructed to send out a deputy. As all deputies were out in the field already, Curnutt took the task upon herself. She boarded a train to Oklahoma City and found the men in a saloon. She presented such an improbable figure that they laughed and let her handcuff them, only to realize too late that she wasn't joking.
F.M. Miller was another deputy marshal working in Texas during the 1890s. A November 6, 1891, article in the Fort Smith Elevator describes her excellent riding and shooting skills, saying that she was "brave to the verge of recklessness."
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