What Happened To Sherman McMasters In Tombstone

Tombstone is filled with excellent performances. However, there's a lot of mystery surrounding the real Shane McMasters played by Michael Rooker.

Aaron OzrovitzOctober 21, 2023

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Despite historical inaccuracies, Sherman McMasters, played by Michael Rooker, stands out as one of the most interesting characters in Tombstone.
In the film, McMasters is portrayed as a former member of Johnny Ringo’s gang who later joins the Earps, becoming a valuable asset.
While the movie implies that the Cowboys were responsible for McMasters’ death, a deleted scene reveals that he was taunted and Executed before being partially burned by the Cowboys.

Sherman McMasters was played by veteran character actor Michael Rooker in the 1993 American Western Tombstone, and despite the actor’s magnetic screen presence, the filmmakers behind Tombstone took great liberties with McMasters’ portrayal. In fact, as great as the American Western is, it is filled to the brim with many inaccuracies regarding its portrayals of the historical figures seen throughout the film. Although McMasters was played by Monte Markham and Todd Allen in previous films based on the legend of the Earp brothers, Rooker’s performance is perhaps the most well-known due to the actor’s ability to steal just about every scene he’s in.

As was the case with many of the outlaws (former or otherwise active), there wasn’t as much information on their lives circa 1993 as there is today, thus, this necessitated director George P. Cosmatos’ need to beef up many of the characters. While this is a common practice in other Western movies, developments regarding the OK Corral shootout have made it possible to reexamine McMasters’ role in leading to Tombstone‘s ending. From his relationship with Johnny Ringo to his mysterious fate, Sherman McMaster was truly one of the most interesting characters in Tombstone.

Sherman McMasters Was Used As Johnny Ringo’s Messenger In Tombstone

Loosely associated with the Cochise County Cowboys (shortened to the Cowboys in Tombstone), Johnny Ringo was an old American West outlaw who was known for his ruthless behavior and self-preservationist way of life. Combined with his seemingly infinite amount of charm and charisma, Ringo was one of the most dangerous men during this era. Regarding his relationship status with McMasters, the film’s depiction of events portrays McMasters as one of Ringo’s men before making a conscious decision to turn his life around and join the Earps.

In Tombstone‘s climax, Wyatt Earp and company are ambushed by Ringo’s boss Curly Bill, Ringo, and the rest of their gang at a riverside creek. After the bloody shootout ends, Bill is dead, and the Earps are forced to retreat on account of Doc Holliday’s health condition worsening. Knowing that McMasters has proven to be a valuable and loyal asset to the Earps, Ringo uses him as a bargaining chip to lure Earp into another shootout. He achieves this by using McMasters’ corpse to draw Earp out of hiding.

How A Deleted Scene Explained Sherman McMasters’ Death

While one could have reasonably assumed McMasters wouldn’t have made it out of Tombstone alive due to essentially playing both sides of the law, his corpse being unceremoniously dragged through the dirt via horse was still chilling. The movie strongly implies that the Cowboys were responsible for his death (something that has been confirmed as historically accurate), but the details in the film were more ambiguous. However, a deleted scene fills the gaps for anyone eager to know just what exactly happened to McMasters.

According to the scene, McMasters goes back to the Cowboys’ camp after receiving a message from Ringo requesting that the two men talk. Immediately upon his arrival, a shotgun is placed at his head, and he is taunted by his former outlaws before the scene ends. Shortly after this scene, his battered and bruised corpse is seen by Kurt Russell’s Wyatt Earp being dragged behind a horse, thus prompting the famous OK Corral shootout. In real life, it is believed that the Cowboys partially burned McMasters over a fire before executing him. Keen-eyed Tombstone viewers will note that his body appears to be partially burned around the arms.

How Tombstone Changes Sherman McMasters’ True History

Despite often being considered one of the best Westerns of the ’90s, Tombstone still suffers from many of the same pitfalls that many other film adaptations also suffer from. While the character is known as Sherman McMasters (with and “s”), his real name was Sherman McMaster (without an “s”). This is a minor detail to most no doubt, but still a small example of liberty being taken. Since so little was known about him, it’s understandable that the filmmakers had to take these liberties to make him as three-dimensional as possible.

Real-life accounts dictate that McMaster moved from Illinois to Texas to become a Texas Ranger, and after becoming one, he met the infamous “Curly Bill” Brocious. While the film depicts him as having always been one of McMasters’ superiors, it is widely accepted that McMaster helped break Curly Bill out of prison and started the Cochise County Cowboys with him. Even with a smaller role, Rooker still delivered a solid performance that helped launch a successful career in entertainment. Considered one of the best cowboy characters in Westerns, Rooker made an obscure character in Tombstone stand out, thus contributing to debates about the film thirty years later.