by Charles F. Price
The murder of Buena Vista Policeman Tom Perkins and the fate of his killer William H. Canty made big news around Colorado. The Boulder News and Courier reported on May 14, 1880 that when the train bearing Canty to Denver reached Como, “a gang of men appeared” bent on releasing him. However, “the officers … stood their guard and declared that the prisoner should die before they gave him up” and the “would-be rescuers desisted.” Canty later made a desperate effort to escape through a car window and when prevented by officers cursed and declared “he was a highwayman and a murderer, and that he made a business of it.” If Masterson was one of those guarding Canty, the news accounts of the time fail to mention him.