Oklahoma Journeys
Week of November 1, 2008
Bill Tilghman Killed November 1, 1924
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Saying goodbye to one of the greats this week on Oklahoma Journeys. Oklahoma has or had a reputation for lawlessness and for being the home of outlaws. Not so much attention, however, is given to the men on the other side of the law. Bill Tilghman was one such lawman and his story is the subject of this week’s Oklahoma Journeys from the Oklahoma History Center.
From the Oklahoma History Center, this is Oklahoma Journeys. I’m Michael Dean.
Oklahoma both as a territory and as a young state held a much-deserved reputation as a haven for outlaws and crime; as a result the area also managed to attract and produce some of the best lawmen in the country. One such person was Bill Tilghman who, along with lawmen Chris Madsen and Heck Thomas, made up the triumvirate of marshals and deputies known as the Three Guardsmen. As a buffalo hunter, rancher, state senator, movie producer, and United States marshal, Tilghman earned and commanded respect and admiration.
Born in Iowa in 1854, Tilghman served in a variety of positions before taking up law enforcement. After first pinning on a badge in 1883, Tilghman served in a variety of positions but is most noted as a Marshal of Oklahoma Territory. Consistently Tilghman executed his duties as Marshal with respect to everyone involved. He never allowed his temper to overcome his actions and as a consequence he garnered the respect and admiration of both those he worked with as well as those he pursued. An example of Tilghman’s versatile nature and consistent interest in law enforcement is his production of the motion picture The Passing of the Oklahoma Outlaws. In the early 1900s several outlaws in Oklahoma territory made movies glamorizing the life of Oklahoma outlaws. To tell the real story Tilghman rounded up his friends and produced his own movie featuring the original outlaws and shot on some of the actual locations. In 1920 Tilghman along with other members of the cast took the film on tour throughout the country, and the entire operation was deemed a great success. Tilghman went into partial retirement in 1910 in order to serve as a state senator, but he was soon back wearing the badge as the chief of police in Oklahoma City.
Tilghman’s last call to duty came with the discovery of the Seminole oil field. The new boomtown of Cromwell lay mired in a state of crime-filled anarchy and, in1923 Tilghman, then 72, was called in to quiet things down. It was in this week of 1923 that while serving in the line of duty Bill Tilghman was gunned down in the streets of Cromwell; the perpetrator a corrupt and at the time, drunken, prohibition agent whom Tilghman had stopped on the streets. Confronted, the man, Wiley Lynn, pulled a revolver shooting Tilghman twice, killing him almost instantly. The state went into mourning at the news of Tilghman’s death spread and most illegal elements removed themselves from Cromwell as the investigation into the murder began. Even in death Tilghman helped clean up yet another Oklahoma town.
You can learn more about Bill Tilghman and the Three Guardsmen by visiting the Oklahoma History Center, NE 23rd Street just east of the State Capitol in Oklahoma City. Oklahoma Journeys is a production of the Oklahoma History Center, dedicated to the collection, preservation, and sharing of our state’s past. I’m Michael Dean.