William Matthew “Bill” Tilghman, City Marshal Cromwell
          

Tilghman was probably the most famous lawman to ever serve in Oklahoma. In his early twenties he was in Dodge City, Kansas, where he served as a Deputy Sheriff for Ford County and City Marshal of Dodge City along with Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp. Later he would move to Oklahoma Territory and become a Deputy U. S. Marshal. Over the next decade, he and his close friends and fellow Deputy U. S. Marshals Chris Madsen and Heck Thomas would become known as “The Three Guardsmen” of Oklahoma Territory. Tilghman had served as a law enforcement officer in different capacities for almost fifty years when in the spring of 1924, at the age of 70, he became the Marshal of the lawless oil boom town of Cromwell, in Seminole County. About 10 o’clock Saturday night, November first of that year Tilghman was having coffee with one of his deputies, Hugh Sawyer, and businessman, W. E. Sirmans at Marie Murphy’s dance hall and cafe. A gun shot was heard from outside and the three men walked outside to investigate. Just outside the dance hall in the street stood Federal Prohibition Agent, Wiley Lynn, drunk and holding a gun in his hand. Tilghman grabbed Lynn’s gun hand, raised it in the air and told Deputy Sawyer to take Lynn’s gun. As Sawyer took the gun from Lynn two more shots were fired and Tilghman fell. Apparently Lynn had drawn a second hidden gun and shot Tilghman who died twenty minutes later. Tilghman’s body lay in state in the State Capitol Building’s rotunda for two days. As well as being only the third person to be accorded that honor, he was also the first private citizen and the first law enforcement officer to do so. Tilghman was survived by his wife Zoe, two daughters and four sons.