Description
The first one hundred years of the history of the U.S. Marshals and their deputies is the story of the founding of the United States and the enforcement of the constitution and federal law. This documentary explores the history of the U.S. Marshals from inception in 1789 until the turn of the 20th century and their role in the major events that shaped the United States of America.
Interviewees
David S. Turk has served as Historian of the United States Marshals Service (USMS) since October 2001—the second to hold this position. He is the author of seven books, including Forging the Star: The Official Modern History of the United States Marshals Service(2016) and Here Lies Billy the Kid(2019). In addition, he penned articles for numerous journals and magazines, including “Police Chief” and “Wild West”. A native of the District of Columbia area, he graduated from George Mason University in 1997 and served as a Past President of their History Alumni.
David Kennedy is the curator of the U.S. Marshals Museum, Fort Smith, Arkansas. Mr. Kennedy has spent most of his adult life studying and working with the History of the American West and Firearms in a museum environment. During his tenure as the curator of the Cody Firearms Museum, he authored Guns of the Wild West: A Photographic Tour of the Guns that Shaped our Country’s History.
Bill O’Neal served a six-year tenure (2012-2018) as State Historian of Texas following his appointment by Governor Rick Perry. Bill is the author of almost 50 non-fiction books, along with 300 articles and book reviews. He has appeared on TV documentaries on The History Channel, The Learning Channel, TBS, CMT, A&E, and The American Heroes Channel. In 2013 Bill was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters Degree by Texas A&M University-Commerce, and in that same year Panola College in Carthage, Texas, where he was a longtime member of the history faculty, named its new dormitory Bill O’Neal Hall.
Mark Boardman is the Editor of “The Tombstone Epitaph”, the oldest newspaper in Arizona, and Features Editor of “True West Magazine”. He’s been heavily involved in the Old West field for nearly 25 years–although he was introduced to it by watching “The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp” with his dad when he was very, very young. He lives in Indiana, where he serves as a United Methodist minister.
Judge Jim Spears is a former Division 3 judge of the Twelfth Circuit serving Sebastian County in Arkansas. He was first elected to the position in 1992. He served until his retirement in December 2016. Spears received an associate degree from Westark Junior College (which later became the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith) in 1966 before earning an undergraduate degree at Arkansas Tech University in 1968. He earned his J.D. at the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1973.
Bob Ernst was a retired law enforcement officer and historian who authored the book Deadly Affrays which chronicles the casualties of the U.S. Marshals while in the line of duty.
Robert K. DeArment was a University of Toledo, Ohio graduate whose field of interest is nineteenth-century American history with special emphasis on outlaws and law enforcement in the frontier West. He authored Bat Masterson: The Man and the Legend and the three-volume Deadly Dozen: Forgotten Gunfighters of the Old West published by the University of Oklahoma Press.
