As Operating Agents of the U.S. Marshals they were instrumental in bringing law and order to Indian and Oklahoma territories by operating out of Fort Smith (Arkansas) and with headquarters in the courthouse of the legendary Judge Isaac Parker, known as “The Hanging Judge.” Thomas truly regarded the work as his calling.
Eventually, this devotion cost him his marriage, and Isabelle returned with her children to Georgia in the winter of 1888. Heck had been away for a good part of the year and had made it clear to Isabelle that he chose to put the cause of outlaw research above all else. Their divorce was amicable, but in this way it was clear that he had made a choice. In 1892 Heck remarried, this time to a younger woman he had met in Tulsa, Mattie Mowbray.
Mattie got along better with Heck’s profession and his long absences, enamored with his zeal and dedication as a lawman. At that time, Thomas, Chris Madsen and William Tilghman, along with other U.S. Marshals, had begun to pursue the last armed gang that was harassing the Oklahoma territory. At that time Thomas was operating as a U.S. Marshal’s Operating Agent under the auspices of three U.S. Marshals with authority in the Eastern District of Texas, as in the jurisdictions of Arkansas and Oklahoma, meaning more responsibilities and more territory to control than any other U.S. Marshal’s Operating Agent.
This also consisted of opening the Oklahoma Territory to settlements in April 1899. By early 1900, Thomas, Tilghman, and Madsen were responsible for controlling most of the outlaws in the territory, and for arresting and bringing to trial more than 300 criminals! Thomas gave each man a chance to surrender but had no hesitation in using his Colt Peacemaker with 7-1/2-inch barrel or Model 1873 Winchesterlever action if there was the slightest resistance or if they did not lower their arms.
The Guardians gained a reputation for being steadfast in the performance of their duties, and each was respected for their mysterious tracking skills. This nickname was actually given to the trio by the outlaws they were chasing. Heck Thomas was mentioned in particular by Emmett Dalton as a reason for the Dalton gang to try to rob two banks at the same time in Coffeyville, Kansas, having claimed that given Thomas’s relentless pursuit, the gang wanted to pull off a big heist and then let the territory go free for a while.
It was the hunt for the Doolin gang by the Guardians, and in particular by Bill Tilghman, that made them famous. Heck Thomas was responsible for tracking and killing Bill Doolin, Chris Madsen led the squadron that killed the Doolin members known as “Dynamite Dan” Clifton and Richard “Little Dick” West, and Tilghman was responsible for capturing the Doolin gang member named William F. “Little Bill” Raidler.
U.S. Marshal’s Operating Agents led by Thomas, Tilghman and Madsen put in handcuffs or killed some of the most notorious outlaws of the time, and in 1907 Oklahoma finally became “peaceful” enough to join the Union as the 46th state.
Thomas eventually followed in the footsteps of Madsen and Tilgham and retired by retiring from the position of U.S. Marshal’s Operations Officer, but the Guardians were not finished with the law. Tilgham became Sheriff of Lincoln County in Oklahoma and would remain a representative of the law until he was killed on the evening of November 1, 1924 while serving as City Marshal in the difficult town of Cromwell, Oklahoma. Tilgham was 70 years old when he was shot dead, almost from behind, by a corrupt fed named Willy Lynn.
Madsen resigned in March 1898 but joined the Rough Riders when the Spanish-American War began. For 1911, the 60-year-old Madsen was still a representative of the law having been appointed U.S. Marshal for the entire state of Oklahoma. From 1918 to 1922 he served as a special investigator for the Governorate. Chris Madsen died peacefully in January 1944 at the age of 93, outliving all his contemporaries.
Heck remained a U.S. Marshal until 1905 but two years later accepted a position in Lawton, Oklahoma, as Chief of Police. He served for seven years in Lawton and by the end of his second term presented himself with a new badge, a gold star with his name engraved in black enamel letters and a small diamond in the center. In 1910, Heck was appointed deputy marshal for the Western District of Oklahoma but retired two years later due to a health problem. The second youngest of the trio, Henry Andrew Thomas died in 1912 at the age of 62.
In the August 15, 1912, edition of Lawton’s Constitution , the main headline summed up his life as a representative of the law well: “The Name of Heck Thomas, Who Was Once the Terror of Outlaws.”
SIDEBAR
Reproduction of the Heck Thomas holster
Throughout his entire career as a U.S. Marshal’s Operating Officer, Thomas preferred the Colt Single Action revolver and primarily the 7-1/2-inch barrel models. Famous is the 1894 photo in which he is immortalized with U.S. Deputy U.S. Marshal Morris Robacker as they are tracking the Doolin gang in the Pawnee Territory of Oklahoma. The photo was taken at the Pawnee Gallery. Thomas’s unmistakable combination moneyand cartridge belt(combination money and cartridge belt) with cut corner buckle carried a unique holster with an unusual geometric or “waffle” pattern.
The holster, which had a slightly curved profile also had a single implant in full Mexican style with an unconventional design. While the holster pouch(pouch) continued behind the rig in typical Mexican style, the rig itself was not cut into the skirt but rather was a stand-alone part sewn onto the skirt on both sides and made in exactly the same pattern. Similar styles with the plant attached to the skirt were made in the 1880s and 1890s mainly in Miles City (Montana) by Moran Bros. and E. Goettlich, and in Billings (Montana) by W.B. Ten Eyck.
None, however, was ever stitched together like Thomas’s implant.
Based on the photo, John Bianchi and Matt Whitaker of Frontier Gunleather reproduced combined belt, buckle and holster with original “waffle” pattern with the stitching on the rig. Worn high-waisted, as shown in the figure worn by Thomas, the weapon was not intended for quick draw but more for protection and keeping close to the body. In Heck Thomas’s way of acting, the weapon was generally already drawn at the shout of the one warning, “Hands up!”
To reproduce the weapon shown on the cover of the book Heck Thomas: Frontier Marshal by Glenn Shirley, (an excellent historical account of Thomas’s life written in 1962) a single-action Pietta darkened and deluxe was sent to Eagle Grips and finished by adding faux deer grips. It is well known that Thomas also carried Colts with wooden grips and, late in his career, with mother-of-pearl grips, as with Bill Tilgham’s Peacemaker.
For more information
Pietta.it
frontiergunleather.com; (877) 877-4704 eaglegrips.com; (800) 323-6144 starpacker.com; (603) 888-34714
