Ham B. Bell,
Old West Sheriff and Marshal
Boot Hill, Dodge City, 1939

Hamilton Butler Bell, longest living Old West Sheriff and Marshal. Ham remembered the end of the Civil War and had his name on a WWII Army Air Corp plane. He never shot a man-- and he saved some cowboys from the "Earp gang"--and outlived all of his Western associates. Arriving in Dodge City in 1874, he lived in Ford County until his death in 1947. He was the first president of the Ford County Historical Society, 1931. The bell is from the Union Church, the first church building in Dodge City. All rights reserved. FCHS.