The purpose of this article is to help clear up what I suspect is an area of confusion for most enthusiasts of the Old West. You may notice when hearing or reading stories of the characters in Old West towns, or rather particularly those in positions of law, being referred to by different titles. You may hear Sheriff Masterson or Marshall Earp, etc., and sometimes these titles may feel like some sort of an ambiguous blend of the same role. So I wanted to give sort of a cheat sheet for anyone who was trying to figure out the differences between the different titles.
In order of prominence
US Marshal – Operating authority throughout a state or territory
Sheriff – Authority for a given county within a state or territory
Town Marshal – The local ranking officer within a municipalities boundaries
Special Police – Hired for special services, or limited time work; often for a season
Constable – Most commonly a hand of the local court, minimal law enforcement
Night Watchman – Security guard to make sure there’s no trouble
Keep reading for a deeper explanation:
There are some pretty obvious titles and then there’s a few that are a little less common. Anytime you watch a western you will inevitably hear somebody say, “go get the sheriff”, or “Someone get the Marshal”, with no real indication of what that means. In a fictional movie or television show it probably doesn’t matter too much, but when we’re trying to learn about the real law men, it helps to know what the titles mean and what the distinctions are, and most importantly, what value those titles really held.
From top to bottom, probably the most powerful position would be that of a U.S. Marshal. Below that would be the sheriff, then a city, town, or village marshal. Underneath that you would have a deputy marshal, and then you would have positions such as constable or night watchman.
The US Marshal appellation is a little bit of a misnomer because when a lawman was referred to as a U.S. Marshal the conventional use was justifiable, even though in reality he was a deputy US Marshal. An actual US Marshal was a figurehead who most often sat in a state or territory capital and functioned more as a chief of police, dealing with politicians and bureaucrats. This US Marshal had the authority to pick and assign Deputy US Marshals who did all of the field work and law enforcement in a given territory. So, for example, when Virgil Earp was a marshal in Tombstone he arrived there as a US Deputy Marshal. Yet, when someone said Marshal Earp in reference to Virgil, they would be accurate in calling him Marshal, keeping in mind he was technically a deputy of the Arizona territory US Marshal.
This position of US Marshal that was held by Virgil and Wyatt, at different times, as well as other characters of the West, had the ability most often to also deputize another level of assistance. (Although this is not a term that’s ever been used, you could say sort of a deputy’s deputy.) What this means is if, say, Wyatt Earp was a US Marshal and out in the field hunting down Cowboys, then if he needed assistance, he was able to recruit someone and give them a field appointment. This field appointment allowed someone to operate in a legal capacity with the US Marshal, who was technically a deputy US Marshal. This is what is going on when you hear the term marshal being thrown around.
Now let’s look at what a sheriff what does, what Sheriff means, and what were his boundaries? The sheriff worked for the county. Whereas a US Marshal had jurisdiction over the entirety of the state or territory that he was in, a sheriff was bound to the borders of the county that he served. Bat Masterson is a perfect example of this. He served as the sheriff of Ford County in Kansas, which is also where Dodge city was located. As the sheriff he handled crimes that were committed in the county but not in the municipality of Dodge City. However, as a sheriff operating in a jurisdiction that contained a town (obviously), he could be duly expected to give a hand whenever it was needed. Not to mention, of course, that his friendship with Wyatt Earp would naturally lead to assistance when one needed it from the other. And like most all other positions of law enforcement, the sheriff would often have deputies who would operate within the same jurisdiction. When in a town, the sheriff was expected to acquiesce to the municipal authorities; he could be expected to help out, but was likewise expected to not get in the way of the local authorities to handle issues.*
What of the municipal authorities? A town, city, or Village lawman usually went by the title of marshal. A town marshal, or a village Marshall, or a city marshal was really only differentiated by the size of the municipality; a village obviously being smaller than a city, and a town being somewhere in between. The town Marshal had authority within the city boundaries and was expected and obligated to handle the legal duties within that town. This often meant not just stopping crime or going after criminals like horse thieves and such, but could also mean collecting taxes, collecting fees, and other whatnot. This position often held a great opportunity for bonuses based on arrests and services rendered, so it could be a lucrative position. It is important to remember that when someone says marshal they could be referring to a state or territory marshal who was appointed by the US Marshal out of the capital, or they could be referring to a local marshal, who could have been appointed by a council or voted on by the people. Most often, however, a town marshal was appointed by a council.
Another position that’s often mentioned, but not nearly as prominent as others, is that of constable. The reason we don’t hear so much about constables being involved in one exciting story or another is the fact that, frankly, most of the stories that we hear over and over are the more thrilling ones and the position of constable just didn’t lend itself to thrilling adventures. As constable you were generally expected to deliver court papers, collect taxes, deliver summons, serve notices, etc. You may be the head law man in a town as constable, but generally speaking, if that were the case then it was probably a pretty small town and not one that had a lot of excitement. Typically, by the time a town was big enough to be wary of much danger and excitement, they would probably have already established a town marshal or have a resident Sheriff. The Constable was almost more of a clerk-of-the-court position, working primarily as an aid to the courthouse. So, while you will hear of a constable mentioned once in a while, it’s very seldom that you will hear of a town constable being involved in a dramatic gunfight.
The last couple of titles probably aren’t special enough to consider whether one ranks above the other; they are night watchman and special police. We’ll start with special police because it probably is a more glamorous position than night Watchman. A special-police was someone who was in law enforcement but not typically as a full-time career. The best example of this would be Dodge City during the cattle season. During the winter the local marshal may need a deputy or two, but during the cattle season when the town is overrun with Cowboys drunk and partying all night, there would be a need for extra enforcement, so special policemen were signed on for the season. You may sign a couple in May at the start of the season, and by June you may have an additional half dozen. During the thick of this time it would be all-hands-on-deck at all different hours, but then as the season waned in the later months the special police would be let go as they became less necessary. You won’t often hear about policeman so-and-so when reading about the old west, but you may come across something that says Morgan Earp was a special policeman in Dodge City during the season of 76, or other items like that. So when you hear this in reference to a character you’ll know it means that, yes, he was in law enforcement, but it was probably only for a limited time where extra enforcement was needed.
Probably the lowest position of law enforcement in the old west, but also possibly the best way to get your foot in the door if you didn’t have a good reputation as an army Scout, or Buffalo hunter, or general tough guy, was a position as night Watchman. With all due respect to the men who served as night watchman, this position wasn’t much more than the modern day security guard in an orange vest standing around at the local bus station. Generally your position as a night watchman was to stroll the streets at night and make sure nobody was passed out drunk on the sidewalk, or that wild dogs weren’t chewing up somebody’s sacks of flour sitting out front of their store; that sort of thing. There wasn’t a lot expected of a night watchmen as long as you were on the job. Essentially, they were meant to be a presence, or a deterrent to anyone who might do something stupid as they’re stumbling out of the local saloon drunk and done for the evening. Virgil Earp served as a night watchmen in Prescott, and it was basically how he earned a step up to constable.
Any of these head positions, such as US Marshal, Sheriff, and Town Marshal all had deputies. So you could be a deputy, a field deputy to a US Marshal. You could be a deputy sheriff, which could be a full-time position, or you could be a town deputy, which could also be a full-time position, and of course the role of deputy is pretty self-explanatory once you know the head position that they serve under.
These are the primary lawman titles, and a lot of the most fascinating men of the old west held them. They weren’t always held by good guys and even the “good guys” who held the positions were sometimes suspected of utilizing the position to their own personal ends.**
*This dynamic was at the center of one of the big struggles in the town of Tombstone.
**Wyatt Earp has been accused of this, fairly or not, by many of his detractors.
Handy With A Gun...! 