Bill Tilghman, as a Wild West lawman, was the most underrated in history but not by his peers. Bat Masterson said, “Of all of us, he was the best.” Bat included Wyatt Earp, himself, and other famous lawmen. From the long-lasting TV show, Gunsmoke, Matt Dillon was the personification of Tilghman, the Dodge City marshal. After appointed US marshal, he was mainly responsible for the demise of the notorious original Wild Bunch (not the hole-in-the-wall gang later): Bill Doolin, Billy Dalton, Bill Raidler, Red Buck, Arkansas Tom, Tulsa Jack, Dick West, Dynamite Dick, Charley Peirce, Bitter Creek Newcomb, Little Britches, and Cattle Annie. Tilghman was one of few men that lived during the time that spanned hunting buffalo to stopping narcotics flown in from Mexico. He became the chief of police of Oklahoma City and was elected as one of the first senators of the new state. Happily married to his second wife, Zoe, he was prosperous, owned a Kentucky Derby winner, founded a movie film company, and had a starring role. Even at seventy, he continued his law enforcement, cleaned up the oil boom town of Cromwell, and was killed in action. He was the first lawman to have his casket lie in state in the capitol rotunda with an honor guard. This novel contains actual dates and events. Although Roger Rule wrote his first book thirty years ago, and six others published since, Bill Tilghman and the Original Wild Bunch is only his second novel. According to literary critic Chris Wolcott, Mr. Rule is "a very talented writer and [has] a very distinctive style of writing." Rule is a graduate of Mizzou and a published author of authoritative books recognized as the reference source in their respective fields. These include: The Rifleman's Rifle (Alliance Books), Twentieth Century Winchester (Alliance Books), The Franchise Redbook (First and Second Printing, PSI Research), No Money Down Financing for Franchising (Oasis Press) and The Rule Book of Business Plans (Oasis Press). After serving as an infantry airborne officer in the U.S. Army, he started a real estate development business in California where he met and married, Eileen, a California real estate broker. Mr. Rule is past president of seven companies and is acknowledged in Who's Who in California, Personalities of America, Who's Who in Finance and Industry in America, and International Businessmen's Who's Who. He built the first assisted living facility in Hawaii and after selling his interest, retired and resumed his writing interests writing screenplays, business books, professional business plans for world-renown companies; and most recently, the novels Sarah and Bill Tilghman and the Original Wild Bunch. Bill Tilghman and the Original Wild Bunch By Roger Collins Rule AuthorHouse Copyright © 2018 Roger Collins Rule All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-5462-6105-6 CHAPTER 1 From his cache in the thicket, Bill Tilghman was waiting to kill or be killed. It was a bright morning for November, not a cloud in the sky. He could hear the chatter of birds, smell the scent of their smoldering campfire extinguished earlier this morning, but saw nothing moving except an occasional chipmunk darting around the campsite, or a bird fluttering in the trees. His companions were gone and Bill chose to be alone, wondering now if he had made the right decision. Hours were going by. Crouched down, his knees were aching and he was beginning to despair the Indians were not returning. When the sun was straight overhead, he had become so uncomfortable, he didn't feel he could hold this position much longer. His only consolation was a pleasant fall breeze that blew across his face and told him he was downwind from trouble. His attention was drawn away from his focus on the abandoned camp by the sound of two young gray squirrels scampering through the branches. He looked back to the camp and his stomach tightened as he saw one half-naked Cheyenne on horseback now in the clearing. Eighteen Hours Earlier The day before, Bill and his two sidekicks had been hunting buffalo for his contract with the railroad. When they returned to their encampment, they found everything in complete ruin: all their provisions had been stolen and their stockpile of curing buffalo hides, worth hundreds of dollars, had been slashed and destroyed. Their camp was located on southwest border of Kansas, on the bank of Medicine Lodge River, only a few miles north of the boundary line between Kansas and the Indian Territory. It was 1871, and the seventeen-year-old Bill Tilghman had won a contract with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, to hunt buffalo to supply meat to the railroad workers. The company had a more scurrilous motive, as the massive herds of buffalo were tearing out sections of train track when they migrated. The company would just as soon have all buffalo disappear. Though young with soft features, Bill was strong and still growing some at six foot one. He was wearing a buckskin shirt and homes