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The History of the Marshal The Village always had one main Marshal, like Marshal Ron, Marshal
Clyde or Marshal Westin (Chuck). Through most of the 60's, Clyde was the
Marshal and Bill Kelsey was the preeminent outlaw. When Clyde became the
Village Marshal in August, 1963, Bill Kelsey moved up to being the primary
outlaw. In those years Clyde and Bill each received one day off a week,
during the Summer season. A Deputy Marshal or relief outlaw was needed to
cover the days off for these two men. For Clyde to get a day off, a Deputy
was needed to fill in to bethe lawman. An hourly employee was trained to
fill in their relief roles. Allen Weitzel and Curt Daniels spent many a
day at covering the days off for Clyde and Bill. Early in his career with
the Village, Chuck Lowe ran the Gold Coast Players (a melodrama group). More stories from Curt and Randy And more..
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| Frontier Village - Marshal History Part IV |
It
must be noted here, that, although Indian Jim was not a primary
gunfighter, he was an important spokesperson and celebrity of the park.
Jim did, sometimes with a little needed encouragement, perform gunfights.
Between his shows, he and his staff would assist with gunfights, as well,
adding extra color and flavor to those street gunfight performances. We
never referred to the lawman as Sheriff; he was either a Marshal or Deputy
Marshal and the good guy always won. When Chuck left the park in the early
to mid 70's, all the gunfighters then became seasonal Employees rather
than salaried. Don Gwinn and Bill Perry moved into the gunfight ranks;
Bill being an undertaker for a long time prior to his jump to being an
outlaw. Though Chuck, Clyde and Ron were salaried (full time), all of the
main outlaws were hourly. The outlaw who held the job for the longest time
was Wild Bill Kelsey. Bill created (and was curator for) the School House.
He also created some of the outlaw traditions that stayed with the Village
until the gates finally closed. Bill added the element of stunts and live
action to his outlaw performances. Bill finally coughed up the secret of
his inspiration for these innovative gunfight creations. Borrowing tricks
from watching the television show, "The Wild, Wild West"
(starring Robert Conrad), Bill would get an idea and then wander the
Village looking for ways to incorporate his new found concepts into the
hourly shows. Wild Bill was also the creator of Boot Hill out in the
badlands. 
most
entertainers, Curt and Randy started their entertainment careers as
undertakers. In the Spring of 1970, Curt returned to Village as 2nd
outlaw, Deputy Marshal and the foremost train robbery outlaw.