| 1851 |
Aug. 10 |
Born in Saybrook CT |
|
| 1868 |
|
Boarded ship for New Orleans |
Did not agree with family plans to get an education |
| 1870 |
|
Left New Orleans for Arkansas |
Per his brother Josiah, who remained in New Orleans |
| 1871-73 |
|
Runs with Dave Rudabaugh and Milton Yarberry |
Possibly as leader of gang |
| 1873 |
|
Fled Arkansas to Texas |
With Rudabaugh and Yarberry |
| 1873 |
|
Possibly in Decatur, Texas for a bit |
|
| 1874 |
|
Hunting buffalo in Kansas |
Per Colin Rickards |
| ? |
|
Treated for knife gash in Dodge City |
Story seems solid, but no date given; most likely in early days of Dodge |
| ? |
|
Seems to be centering his life in Dodge City 1874-1878 |
Details are sparse; Rickards seems fairly sure of his presence here |
| 1878 |
|
In Mobeetie Texas |
|
| ? |
|
Said to have killed a man in Mobeetie Texas |
1878 is the only time he’s been rumored to be in Mobeetie |
| 1878 |
Dec. |
In Trinidad, CO by this time; with Dutch Henry |
Dutch was being pursued by Bat Masterson on horse thieving charges |
| 1879 |
Mar. |
In Colorado participating in Royal Gorge War |
|
| 1879 |
Jul, 1st week |
Royal Gorge War Finally Ends, Mather departs for N. Mexico |
The end of the war was reported by a Dodge paper, but Mather shows up in Las Vegas |
| 1879 |
Aug. 1 |
Appointed assistant city Marshal to Joe Carson |
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| 1879 |
|
Appointed Deputy US Marshal of New Mexico by Gov. Wallace |
Holds dual positions |
| 1879 |
Oct. 14 |
Accused of train robbery in Las Vegas area |
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| 1879 |
Nov. 3 |
Charges dropped for train robbery from Oct 14th |
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| 1879 |
Nov. 20 |
Arrests drunk soldiers, shoots at fleeing soldier |
Paper admonishes Mather for more discretion; he contends he was shot at first |
| 1879 |
Nov. 23 |
Shooting arrest of home burglar |
|
| 1879 |
Dec. |
Makes one week trip to Wichita and back |
Trip made in first week of month |
| 1880 |
Jan. 2 |
Attempts to make arrests in Lincoln Co., gets turned away |
This is Billy the Kid country, no evidence that this was an attempt to arrest Billy and gang |
| 1880 |
Jan. 22 |
Gunfight at Close and Pattersons, City Marshall Joe Carson is killed |
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| 1880 |
Jan. 22 |
Made town Marshal following death of Carson |
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| 1880 |
Jan. 25 |
Gunfight in front of McKay’s Restaruant, kills Joe Costello |
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| 1880 |
Feb. |
In Santa Fe giving testimony |
|
| 1880 |
Mar. 3 |
Resigns from Las Vegas police force |
|
| 1880 |
Apr. 8 |
Likely date of departure from Las Vegas |
Vigilance groups in town getting very active against Dodge City Gang |
| 1880 |
Apr. 24 |
Leaves Dodge City for Gunnison area |
Mining areas on Gunnison river, north of town of Gunnison |
| 1880 |
Nov. 8/9 |
Suspected in breakout of JJ Webb & others in Las Vegas jail |
Most likely not involved |
| 1881 |
Feb. |
Thought to be in Texas |
Likely place to go from Colorado when winter came in |
| 1881 |
Apr. 6 |
Supposed letter from Dave Mather states he is in San Antonio |
Appears to spend 1881 in Texas; next in Dallas |
| 1881 |
Dec. |
In Dallas, TX |
|
| 1881 |
Dec. |
Goes from Dallas to Fort Worth |
|
| 1882 |
Jan. 25 |
Girlfriend from Dallas shows up, Dave leaves town; arrested on train |
|
| 1882 |
Jan. 27 |
Taken back to Dallas |
Freed from Ft. Worth jail, quickly arrested by Dallas lawmen |
| 1882 |
Apr. 19 |
Acquitted on all 3 charges and released after spending three months in jail |
| 1882 |
Apr. |
Left very quickly for El Paso, TX |
|
| 1882 |
May |
Arrested for Monte in El Paso, bailed out by Billy Thompson |
Multiple arrests this year in El Paso by Dallas Stoudenmire; pretty much all gambling charges |
| 1883 |
Early |
In Austin, TX |
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| 1883 |
May |
Arrived in Dodge City, KS |
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| 1883 |
Jun. 1 |
Appointed assistant city marshal of Dodge |
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| 1883 |
Sep. 29 |
Leads posse after gang of train robbers |
Returns October 1st with all four robbers |
| 1883 |
Nov. 1 |
Made deputy sheriff by Pat Sughrue |
Holds dual positions of deputy sheriff and asst. marshal |
| 1883 |
Nov. 19-26 |
Goes to Austin after horse thief Wm. Byrd |
Does not return with prisoner |
| 1883 |
Dec. 6 |
Captured escaped horse thief Charles Ellsworth after escape from jail |
Also, mention of arresting two petty thieves this day |
| 1883 |
Dec. 27 |
Recovered boy is returned to family; Mather given much credit for his role |
| 1884 |
Apr. 10 |
Loses assistant city marshal position when Tilghman is elected |
Replaced by Tom Nixon; still holds deputy sheriff position |
| 1884 |
Jun. 7 |
Captures horse thief Frank Denson in Cimmaron, KS |
With Pat Sughrue |
| 1884 |
Jun. 7 |
Start of “Beer Wars” rivalry |
Beers offered at .05 a glass |
| 1884 |
Jul. 18 |
Gunfight between Mathers and Nixon |
First of two shootouts |
| 1884 |
Jul. 21 |
Mathers kills Tom Nixon in second gunfight |
Submits to arrest by Sheriff Pat Sughrue |
| 1884 |
Aug. 21 |
Mathers released on bail |
|
| 1884 |
Dec. 29 |
Trial is resumed after change of venue to Kinsley, KS |
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| 1884 |
Dec.31 |
Mathers is declared not guilty in murder of Tom Nixon |
“…weight of testimony showed Nixon was the aggressor…” |
| 1885 |
Jan. |
Returns to Dodge City after completion of trial |
|
| 1885 |
May. 10 |
Gunfight between Mather brothers and Barnes brothers |
Cy Mather kills David Barnes |
| 1885 |
Jun. 2 |
Dave & Cy Mather granted bail |
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| 1885 |
Jul. 29 |
Leaves Dodge for good; never returns |
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| 1885 |
Jul. 31 |
In Topeka, KS |
|
| 1885 |
Aug. |
In New Kiowa with Dave Black |
Dave Black is alleged brother in law, though no record of marriage |
| 1885 |
Sep. 6 |
Leaves New Kiowa, never confirmed to be seen again |
Word of a mob wanting to lynch Mather prompted him to get out of town |
Handy With A Gun...! 