I can warmly recall western TV show tunes such as "Johnny Yuma was a rebel he rode through the west". And "All but one man died. There at Bitter Creek". And who could forget "da-dumb, da-dumb, da-dumb, dumb, dumb,de-dumb, dumb dumb" of The Wild, Wild West. And then there's Bat Masterson with "And those with too ready a trigger, Forgot to figure". And "He wore a cane and derby hat,They called him Bat". The show was okay. Paladin was more cerebral. Maverick was funnier. Cheyenne was pithier. Gunsmoke had a taller leading man. Bonanza had color. Even Yancy Derringer had better writing. But Gene Barry did an okay job of being a gentleman Marshall.

Bat Masterson was born in Illinois in 1855. His real name was William Barclay Masterson. His brother Ed was two years older. Eventually they would have two more brothers and two sisters. The family eventually moved to Kansas, where they built a farm in Sedgwick County. Bat and Ed were close and often went hunting and fishing together. He didn't think much of book learning and would sneak out of the schoolhouse whenever he could.He got his first job at seventeen. He and Ed graded railroad bed for the Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe railroad. Shortly afterward, he became a buffalo hunter supplying meat to the railroad crews. His headquarters was a small community called Adobe Walls, Texas. He was there when Indians led by Comanche war chief Quanah Parker, attacked the town on June 27, 1874.Bat and friend Billy Dixon were just getting ready to leave when theHe dabbled in politics over the next few years and became closer friends with Roosevelt. He and promoter Tex Rickard even sat down with him one day to discuss military strategy for the upcoming fighting in World War I. Roosevelt became ill from a fever contracted in a South American jungle and died on January 6, 1919. Bat was quite broken up over the death of his friend.Bat spent his last years writing his columns and visiting gyms. He was always very active in the fighting business. On October 25, 1921, he went to work as usual. But right in the middle of typing his article, he died of a sudden heart attack. His wife died in 1932.Please go to: http://hometown.aol.com/gibson0817/bat.htm and read his "Real Life" It is even better than the series.

Good news for fans of Gene Barry and his TV series Bat Masterson (1958-1961)! This show just started airing on the Encore Western Channeel. A marathon of the first 23 Bat Masterson episodes aired this weekend, and the show starts a regular run tomorrow, January 8, 2007, airing on the Encore Western Channel from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Central Standard Time, each day. I believe it also airs @ 6:00 p.m. CSA on Saturdays.I remember this show from when I was a child and I found it still fun to watch. Although Bat as portrayed by Gene Barry may be called a dandy, so what? You'll forget all about that the first time he clubs a villain with his cane - and it happens frequently! He's also a crack shot.And perhaps my favorite part of the show? Almost every episode sports a nice looking gal from 1950s television. Check out Allison Hayes in 7 episodes and Audrey Dalton in 3 episodes; and I just saw Fay Spain in an episode. If you like old television with a great leading actor and some nice eye-candy to go along with it, you'll love Bat Masterson!

I remember this series fondly but even as a kid wondered why Gene Barry did not sport the moustache that Masterson wore almost all of his adult life and did (if I remember correctly) as portrayed in at least one episode of The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp. As an adult I have read almost everything written about Masterson, seen as many motion pictures as possible, and find the gambler, sportsman, writer and sometime lawman fascinating. Masterson did carry a walking stick, wore a bowler in at least one famous photograph, was a townsman and loyal friend, was involved in boxing and by all accounts was a cheerful and well-liked man - a lot like Gene Barry. Was this TV series always historically accurate? Not in the slightest! But it did capture something of the real man, a certain insouciance and worldliness lacking in the run-of-the-mill TV cowboy or lawman. 'Tis rather too bad that they never had an episode set later when Masterson was an apparently happily married man and sports writer for a New York newspaper. And yes, I frequently carry a walking stick today and fondly recall "Back when the West was very young/There lived a man named Masterson/ He wore a cane and derby hat/ They called him Bat, Bat Masterson...."