Former ABAC professor honored by Wild West Association

TIFTON — Gary L. Roberts, professor emeritus of history at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, was recently honored by the Wild West History Association for “lifetime contributions to Wild West history.”

“It was a great honor, and I am very appreciative of those who made it happen,” Roberts, who taught at ABAC from 1969 to 2000, said. “I have been playing cowboys and Indians all my life. I guess I never quite grew up.”

Roberts is the author of three books: “Death Comes for the Chief Justice,” “Doc Holliday: The Life and Legend,” and “Massacre at Sand Creek.” He also co-authored “Georgia Governors in an Age of Change” with Hal Henderson.

“When I was growing up, I would go to see the Westerns at the movies,” Roberts said. “I always wondered if that was the way it really was in the Old West. I got interested in trying to separate the truth and the fiction of the movies.”

A 1960 graduate of Tifton High School, Roberts had his first article published when he was a freshman at ABAC in 1961.

“I had been working on stuff when I was in high school,” Roberts said. “That article was titled ‘Was Wyatt Earp Really a Deputy United States Marshal?’ It was published by ‘True West’ magazine.”

Roberts was one of the first students to receive an associate’s of arts in Liberal Arts from ABAC in 1962. He received his A.B. and M.A. degrees from Georgia Southern University before earning his Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma.

Besides his books, Roberts has contributed 75 articles to magazines and had numerous essays published in books and periodicals. He is one of the editors of a recent book on Earp, which is a collection of articles about the legendary lawman.

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