Deputy U.S. Marshal Charles Edwin Short

Charles Edwin Short

Deputy Marshal Charles Edwin Short, better known as Ed, was shot and killed while returning to a prisoner to Wichita, Kansas.

Marshal Short was holding the man in a railroad baggage car in order to protect other passengers in case there was an escape attempt. The marshal gave one of the railroad workers a pistol in order to guard the suspect as the marshal went onto the platform of the train to watch for the suspect's gang.

When the railroad worker put the revolver down to get a drink of water, the suspect grabbed it, opened the railroad car door, and shot Marshal Short in the chest. Although mortally wounded, Marshal Short returned fire, fatally wounding the suspect.

The suspect was a member of the Dalton Gang, which also killed four lawmen in 1892 and 1893; the leaders of the Dalton Gang were related to the Younger gang, which killed seven lawmen between 1866 and 1892.

Marshal Short, a widower, was survived by his mother. He is buried in Osgood Cemetery, Ripley County, Indiana.