David S. Turk (born 1964) is an American historian and author. His specialties are the areas of law enforcement, the

Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

, the Civil Rights Era, and Virginia history.

Early life and education

David Scott Turk was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Howard Turk, an economist, and Ann Elizabeth Bostic, a nurse. He is of East European and British ancestry. His paternal ancestors were of Jewish ethnicity, and his maternal ancestors settled in Virginia in the mid-1600s and for a time were neighbors to George Washington’s forebears in Westmoreland County, Virginia. Turk was raised in Northern Virginia and attended local area schools. He received a bachelor's degree in business administration from Virginia’s Longwood College (now University) in 1987 and received a master’s degree in history from George Mason University in 1997. He married Janet Vogel in 1986, and they have one son.

Career

Turk began working for the

United States Marshals Service The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforc ...

in early 1990 and became the assistant to the historian in 1991. Upon the departure of his predecessor, Turk became the agency’s historian in 2001. He has documented the agency’s history through articles, television production contributions, radio interviews, and a book. He has written and been interviewed about

Bass Reeves Bass Reeves (July 1838 – January 12, 1910) was an American law enforcement official, historically noted as the first black deputy U.S. marshal west of the Mississippi River. He worked mostly in Arkansas and the Oklahoma Territory. During his lo ...

Billy the Kid Billy the Kid (born Henry McCarty; September 17 or November 23, 1859July 14, 1881), also known by the pseudonym William H. Bonney, was an outlaw and gunfighter of the American Old West, who killed eight men before he was shot and killed at th ...

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...

, and U.S. Marshals in the movies, among many other topics. Working with the Department of Justice Libraries, he developed programs for the 40th and 50th anniversaries of the integration of the University of Mississippi. In addition, he serves on the Board of Directors for the forthcoming U.S. Marshals Museum. Turk was the president of the George Mason University History Alumni Organization from 2005-06.

Historical writing and consultation

The combination of genealogy and history has been a hallmark of Turk’s writing. An early interest in Virginia history and his own family’s split during the American Civil War led to his first book, "The Union Hole," published in 1994, which achieved lasting notice in western Virginia. He dabbled in biography with the book "Give My Kind Regards to the Ladies," published in 2001, about the little-known Littleton Q. Washington, a Washington, D.C., reporter who was formerly Confederate Secretary of State. From 2003, Turk was drawn into western American history with the re-investigation of the death of Billy the Kid. At the invitation of Lincoln County Sheriff Tom Sullivan and Investigator Steve Sederwall, he was present when forensic tests were conducted on furniture associated with the outlaw’s showdown with Sheriff and Special Deputy Patrick Garrett by Dr. Henry Lee. His interest in the Lincoln County War led him to a series of articles on Billy the Kid’s associates for "Wild West" magazine and two books, "Blackwater Draw," published in 2011, and "Here Lies Billy the Kid," published in 2019. The former is notable for its investigative study (with Sederwall) on the March 1878 deaths of three men that crossed the Kid, which was earlier popularized in film with "

Young Guns II ''Young Guns II'' is a 1990 American Western film and a sequel to '' Young Guns'' (1988). It stars Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Christian Slater, and features William Petersen as Pat Garrett. It was written ...

." After a decade of research and writing, Turk completed the modern history of the U.S. Marshals Service, "Forging the Star: The Official Modern History of the United States Marshals Service" in 2016. The book is a detailed study of the agency’s development from a district-based to a headquarters-based organization, which included the Civil Rights Era and operations during and after September 11, 2001.

Bibliography

Books authored

* ''Here Lies Billy the Kid.'' Barto, Pennsylvania: Cold West Publishing. 2019. * ''Forging the Star: The Official Modern History of the United States Marshals Service''. Denton, Texas: University of North Texas Press. 2016. * ''Blackwater Draw: Three Lives, Billy the Kid, and the Murders That Started the Lincoln County War''. Sunstone Books. 2011. * ''A Family’s Path in America: The Lees and Their Continuing Legacy''. Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books. 2007. * ''Give My Kind Regards to the Ladies: The Life of Littleton Quinton Washington''. Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books. 2001. * ''The Memorialists: An Antebellum History of Alleghany, Craig and Monroe Counties of Western Virginia, 1812-1860''. Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books. 1997. * ''The Union Hole: Unionist Activity and Local Conflict in Western Virginia.'' Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books. 1994.

Selected articles

* "U.S. Marshal Stillwell Russell Fought Both Outlaws and Political Enemies''," Wild West,'' June 2012. *"The Search for Jessie Evans," (with Rick Parker), ''Wild West'', August 2009. *"A Brief Primer on the History of the U.S. Marshals Service," ''Federal Lawyer'', August 2008. *"Billy the Kid and the U.S. Marshals Service," ''Wild West'', December 2006. *"For the Love of Fine Books: Antebellum Library Companies in Virginia''," Virginia Cavalcade'', Winter 2000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turk, David S. Living people 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers 1964 births Longwood University alumni George Mason University alumni United States Marshals Service University of Mississippi people American Civil War Billy the Kid Civil rights movement September 11 attacks American male non-fiction writers Writers from Washington, D.C.