Born in the Québécois town of Henryville to an Irish family, W.R. “Bat” Masterson (1853-1921) was a famous figure of the American West, where he worked as a U.S. Marshal, frontier lawman, buffalo hunter, Army Scout, sports editor and columnist for the New York Morning Telegraph. He worked as a U.S. Marshal in many frontier municipalities across the American West, often during its most violent and lawless periods. In 1907 Masterson wrote five biographical studies of the men he worked under, and with, including Ben Thompson, Wyatt Earp, Luke Short, Doc Holliday and Bill Tilghman.
“Wyatt Earp is one of the few men I personally knew in the West in the early days, whom I regarded as absolutely destitute of physical fear. I have often remarked, and I am not alone in my conclusions, that what goes for courage in a man is generally the fear of what others will think of him."