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Shel Silverstein

Sheldon Allan Silverstein (September 25, 1930 – May 10, 1999) was an American writer, poet, cartoonist, singer-songwriter, musician, and playwright. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Silverstein briefly attended university before being drafted into the United States Army. During his rise to prominence in the 1950s, his illustrations were published in various newspapers and magazines, including the adult-oriented Playboy. He also wrote a satirical, adult-oriented alphabet book, Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book.

As a children's author, some of his most acclaimed works include The Giving Tree, Where the Sidewalk Ends, and A Light in the Attic. His works have been translated into more than 47 languages and have sold more than 20 million copies. As a songwriter, Silverstein wrote the 1969 Johnny Cash track "A Boy Named Sue", which peaked at number 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. His songs have been recorded and popularized by a wide range of other acts including Tompall Glaser, The Irish Rovers and Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show. He was the recipient of two Grammy Awards as well as nominations at the Golden Globe Awards and Academy Awards.

His book A Light in the Attic is dedicated to his daughter who died at age 11. Silverstein died at home in Key West, Florida, of a heart attack on May 10, 1999, at age 68.

Early life
Sheldon Allan Silverstein was Jewish, and was born in Chicago on September 25, 1930. He grew up in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago, where he attended Theodore Roosevelt High School. He then attended the University of Illinois for one semester and was enrolled in the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts for one semester before being drafted into the U.S. Army; he served in Japan and Korea.

Cartoons
Silverstein began drawing at age seven by tracing the works of Al Capp. He told Publishers Weekly: "When I was a kid—12 to 14, I'd much rather have been a good baseball player or a hit with the girls, but I couldn't play ball. I couldn't dance. Luckily, the girls didn't want me. Not much I could do about that. So I started to draw and to write. I was also lucky that I didn't have anybody to copy, be impressed by. I had developed my own style; I was creating before I knew there was a Thurber, a Benchley, a Price and a Steinberg. I never saw their work 'til I was around 30. By the time I got to where I was attracting girls, I was already into work, and it was more important to me. Not that I wouldn't rather make love, but the work has become a habit."

He was first published in the Roosevelt Torch, a student newspaper at Roosevelt University, where he studied English after leaving the Art Institute. During his time in the military, his cartoons were published in Pacific Stars and Stripes, where he had originally been assigned to do layouts and paste up. His first book Take Ten, a compilation of his military Take Ten cartoon series, was published by Pacific Stars and Stripes in 1955. He later said his time in college was a waste and would have been better spent traveling around the world meeting people.

After returning to Chicago, Silverstein began submitting cartoons to magazines while also selling hot dogs at Chicago ballparks. His cartoons began appearing in Look, Sports Illustrated and This Week.

Mass-market paperback readers across America were introduced to Silverstein in 1956 when Take Ten was reprinted by Ballantine Books as Grab Your Socks!

In 1957, Silverstein became one of the leading cartoonists in Playboy, which sent him around the world to create an illustrated travel journal with reports from far-flung locales. During the 1950s and 1960s, he produced 23 installments called "Shel Silverstein Visits..." as a feature for Playboy. Employing a sketchbook format with typewriter-styled captions, he documented his own experiences at such locations as a New Jersey naturist community, the Chicago White Sox training camp, San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury, Fire Island, Mexico, London, Paris, Spain and Africa. In a Swiss village, he drew himself complaining, "I'll give them 15 more minutes, and if nobody yodels, I'm going back to the hotel." These illustrated travel essays were collected by the publisher Fireside in Playboy's Silverstein Around the World, published in 2007 with a foreword by Hugh Hefner and an introduction by music journalist Mitch Myers.

In a similar vein were his illustrations for John Sack's Report from Practically Nowhere (1959), a collection of humorous travel vignettes previously appearing in Playboy and other magazines.

"Now here's my plan..."

A cartoon he made during the 1950s was featured on the cover of his next cartoon collection, titled Now Here's My Plan: A Book of Futilities, which was published by Simon & Schuster in 1960. Silverstein biographer Lisa Rogak wrote: "The cartoon on the cover that provides the book's title would turn out to be one of his most famous and often-cited cartoons. In the cartoon, two prisoners are chained to the wall of a prison cell. Both their hands and feet are shackled. One says to the other, 'Now here's my plan.' Silverstein was both fascinated and distressed by the amount of analysis and commentary that almost immediately began to swirl around the cartoon. 'A lot of people said it was a very pessimistic cartoon, which I don't think it is at all,' he said. 'There's a lot of hope even in a hopeless situation. They analyze it and question it. I did this cartoon because I had an idea about a funny situation about two guys.'" Silverstein's cartoons appeared in issues of Playboy from 1957 through the mid-1970s, and one of his Playboy features was expanded into Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book (Simon & Schuster, 1961), his first book of new, original material for adults.

Music
Silverstein studied briefly at Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. Silverstein was associated with the outlaw country movement. His musical output included a large catalog of songs; a number of them were hits for other artists, such as the rock group Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show. He wrote Tompall Glaser's highest-charting solo single "Put Another Log on the Fire", "One's on the Way" and "Hey Loretta" (both hits for Loretta Lynn, in 1971 and 1973 respectively), and "25 Minutes to Go", sung by Johnny Cash, about a man on death row with each line counting down one minute closer. Lynn recorded five songs written by Silverstein. Lynn's producer Owen Bradley once said Silverstein's style of song writing was the most similar to that of Lynn's own writing. Silverstein also wrote Cash's biggest hit, "A Boy Named Sue", as well as "The Unicorn", first recorded by Silverstein in 1962 but better known in its version by The Irish Rovers. Other songs co-written by Silverstein include "The Taker" written with Kris Kristofferson and recorded by Waylon Jennings, and a sequel to "A Boy Named Sue" titled "Father of a Boy Named Sue", which is less known, but he performed the song on television on The Johnny Cash Show. He also penned a lesser known song titled "Fuck 'em."

He wrote the lyrics and music for most of the Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show songs on their first few albums, including "The Cover of "Rolling Stone"", "Freaker's Ball", "Sylvia's Mother", "The Things I Didn't Say" and "Don't Give a Dose to the One You Love Most". He wrote many of the songs performed by Bobby Bare, including "Rosalie's Good Eats Café", "The Mermaid", "The Winner", "Daddy What If", "Warm and Free", and "Tequila Sheila". He co-wrote with Baxter Taylor "Marie Laveau". The third album by Tompall Glaser contained eight songs by Silverstein and three by Silverstein and others.

Silverstein's "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan", first recorded by Dr. Hook in 1975, was re-recorded by Lee Hazlewood (1976), Marianne Faithfull (1979), Belinda Carlisle (1996), and Bobby Bare (2005) and later featured in the films Montenegro and Thelma & Louise. "Queen of the Silver Dollar" was first recorded by Dr. Hook on their 1972 album Sloppy Seconds, and later by Doyle Holly (on his 1973 album Doyle Holly), Emmylou Harris (on her 1975 album Pieces of the Sky) and Dave & Sugar (on their 1976 album Dave & Sugar).

Silverstein composed original music for several films and displayed a musical versatility in these projects, playing guitar, piano, saxophone and trombone. He wrote "In the Hills of Shiloh", a poignant song about the aftermath of the American Civil War, recorded by The New Christy Minstrels, Judy Collins, Bobby Bare, and others. The soundtrack of the 1970 film Ned Kelly features Silverstein songs performed by Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, and others. He also co-wrote with Waylon the song 'A Long Time Ago'.

In addition, Silverstein wrote "Hey Nelly Nelly", a 1960s-era folk song recorded by Judy Collins.

Silverstein had a popular following on Dr. Demento's radio show. Among his better-known comedy songs were "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout (Would Not Take the Garbage Out)", "The Smoke-Off" (a tale of a contest to determine who could roll—or smoke—marijuana joints faster), "I Got Stoned and I Missed It" and "Stacy Brown Got Two." He wrote the 1962 song "Boa Constrictor", sung by a person who is being swallowed by a snake. The latter song was recorded by the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary, and also by Johnny Cash for his 1966 album Everybody Loves a Nut.

One of Silverstein's last musical projects was Old Dogs, a 1998 album with songs about getting old, all of which Silverstein wrote or co-wrote.

A longtime friend of singer-songwriter Pat Dailey, Silverstein collaborated with him on the posthumously released Underwater Land album (2002). It contains 17 children's songs written and produced by Silverstein and sung by Dailey (with Silverstein joining him on a few tracks). The album features art by Silverstein.

He was a friend of Chicago songwriter Steve Goodman, for whom he wrote the final verse of "What Have You Done For Me Lately?" (refusing a songwriting credit for his contribution).

In 2010, Bobby Bare and his son Bobby Bare Jr produced a CD called Twistable, Turnable Man: A Musical Tribute to the Songs of Shel Silverstein which was released on Sugar Hill Records. Other artists who recorded Silverstein's songs include the Brothers Four, Andrew Bird, My Morning Jacket and Bobby Bare Jr.

Theater
In January 1959, Look, Charlie: A Short History of the Pratfall was a chaotic off-Broadway comedy staged by Silverstein, Jean Shepherd and Herb Gardner at New York's Orpheum Theatre on Second Avenue in the Lower East Side. Silverstein went on to write more than 100 one-act plays. The Lady or the Tiger Show (1981) and Remember Crazy Zelda? (1984) were produced in New York.  The Devil and Billy Markham, published in Playboy in 1979, was later adapted into a solo one-act play that debuted on a double bill with Mamet's Bobby Gould in Hell (1989) with Dr. Hook vocalist Dennis Locorriere narrating. In 1990, Silverstein's one-act modernized version of Hamlet starred Melvin Van Peebles playing all the roles. Karen Kohlhaas directed An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein, produced by New York's Atlantic Theater Company in September 2001 with a variety of short sketches:
 * "One Tennis Shoe"—Harvey claims his wife is becoming a bag lady.
 * "Bus Stop"—Irwin stands on a corner with a "bus stop" sign.
 * "Going Once"—A woman auctions herself.
 * "The Best Daddy"—Lisa's daddy shot the pony he got for her birthday.
 * "The Lifeboat is Sinking"—Jen and Sherwin play a game of Who-Would-You-Save-If—the family was drowning.
 * "Smile"—Bender plans to punish the man responsible for the phrase "Have a nice day".
 * "Watch and Dry"—Marianne discovers her laundry has not been cleaned.
 * "Thinking Up a New Name for the Act"—Pete thinks "meat and potatoes" is the perfect name for a vaudeville act.
 * "Buy One, Get One Free"—Hookers offer a golden opportunity.
 * "Blind Willie and the Talking Dog"—Blind Willie's talking dog argues they could profit from his talent.

A production of An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein was produced by a Hofstra University theater group named The Spectrum Players, founded by Francis Ford Coppola in 1959. The production used a "victorian sailors on shore leave watching a play" aesthetic and used live rag-time and a character of an emcee not in the script to transition between pieces. The production was directed by Richard Traub of Chicago and starred several of Hofstra's most promising young actors: Nick Pacifico, Amanda Mac, Mike Quattrone, Ross Greenberg, Chelsea Lando, Allie Rightmeyer, and Paolo Perez as the MC.

In December 2001, Shel's Shorts was produced in repertory as two separate evenings under the titles Signs of Trouble and Shel Shocked by the Market Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Signs of Trouble was directed by Wesley Savick, and Shel Shocked was directed by Larry Coen.

On November 29, 2022, a revival of Shel Silverstein's "Lafcadio: The Lion Who Shot Back" opened at the Gishen Hall of the Niavaran Cultural Center in Tehran, Iran. The performance was reviewed in the Tehran Times on December 15, 2022. The review said "But is a famous, successful, and admired lion a happy lion? Or is he a lion at all? Told and drawn with wit and gusto. Shel Silverstein's modern fable speaks not only to children but to us all!"

TV and film
Silverstein co-wrote the screenplay for Things Change with David Mamet. He also wrote several stories for the TV movie Free to Be... You and Me. Silverstein wrote and narrated an animated short of The Giving Tree, first produced in 1973; a remake based on Silverstein's original screenplay but without his narration was released in 2015 by director Brian Brose. Other credits include the shorts De boom die gaf (based on his novel) and Lafcadio: The Lion Who Shot Back.

His songs have been used in many TV shows and movies, including Almost Famous ("The Cover of Rolling Stone"), Thelma & Louise ("The Ballad of Lucy Jordan"), Postcards from the Edge ("I'm Checkin' Out"), and Coal Miner's Daughter ("One's on the Way"), as well as the Dustin Hoffman film Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? ("Bunky and Lucille", "Last Morning").

Views on his own writing
Ursula Nordstrom, Silverstein's editor at Harper & Row, encouraged Silverstein to write children's poetry. Silverstein said that he had never studied the poetry of others and had therefore developed his own quirky style, laid back and conversational, occasionally employing profanity and slang. In an interview with Publishers Weekly in 1975, he was asked how he came to do children's books:

"'I didn't,' Shel said, 'I never planned to write or draw for kids. It was Tomi Ungerer, a friend of mine, who insisted—practically dragged me, kicking and screaming, into Ursula Nordstrom's office. And she convinced me that Tomi was right; I could do children's books.' The relationship between Ursula Nordstrom and Shel Silverstein is mutually rewarding. He considers her a superb editor who knows when to leave an author-illustrator alone. Asked if he would change something he had produced on an editor's say-so, he answered with a flat 'No.' But he added: 'Oh, I will take a suggestion for revision. I do eliminate certain things when I'm writing for children if I think only an adult will get the idea. Then I drop it, or save it. But editors messing with content? No.' Had he been surprised by the astronomical record of The Giving Tree, his biggest seller to date and one of the most successful children's books in years? Another emphatic no. 'What I do is good,' he said. 'I wouldn't let it out if I didn't think it was.' But The Giving Tree, which has been selling steadily since it appeared almost 10 years ago and has been translated into French, is not his own favorite among his books. 'I like Uncle Shelby's ABZ, A Giraffe and a Half, and Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back—I think I like that one the most.'"

Otto Penzler, in his crime anthology Murder for Revenge (1998), commented on Silverstein's versatility:

"The phrase 'Renaissance man' tends to get overused these days, but apply it to Shel Silverstein and it practically begins to seem inadequate. Not only has he produced with seeming ease country music hits and popular songs, but he's been equally successful at turning his hand to poetry, short stories, plays, and children's books. Moreover, his whimsically hip fables, beloved by readers of all ages, have made him a stalwart of bestseller lists. A Light in the Attic, most remarkably, showed the kind of staying power on the New York Times chart—two years, to be precise—that most of the biggest names (John Grisham, Stephen King and Michael Crichton) have never equaled with their blockbusters. His unmistakable illustrative style is another crucial element to his appeal. Just as no writer sounds like Shel, no other artist's vision is as delightfully, sophisticatingly cockeyed. One can only marvel that he makes the time to respond so kindly to his friends' requests. In the following work, let's be glad he did. Drawing on his characteristic passion for list making, he shows how the deed is not just in the wish but in the sublimation."

This anthology was the second in a series, which also included Murder for Love (1996) and Murder and Obsession (1999). All three anthologies included Silverstein contributions. He did not really care to conform to any sort of norm, but he did want to leave his mark for others to be inspired by, as he told Publishers Weekly:

"I would hope that people, no matter what age, would find something to identify with in my books, pick up one and experience a personal sense of discovery. That's great. I think that if you're a creative person, you should just go about your business, do your work and not care about how it's received. I never read reviews because if you believe the good ones you have to believe the bad ones too. Not that I don't care about success. I do, but only because it lets me do what I want. I was always prepared for success but that means that I have to be prepared for failure too. I have an ego, I have ideas, I want to be articulate, to communicate but in my own way. People who say they create only for themselves and don't care if they are published... I hate to hear talk like that. If it's good, it's too good not to share. That's the way I feel about my work. So I'll keep on communicating, but only my way. Lots of things I won't do. I won't go on television because who am I talking to? Johnny Carson? The camera? Twenty million people I can't see? Uh-uh. And I won't give any more interviews."

Personal life
From around 1967 to 1975, Silverstein lived on a houseboat in Sausalito, California. He also owned homes in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts; Greenwich Village, New York; and Key West, Florida. He never married, and according to the 2007 biography A Boy Named Shel, had sex with "hundreds, perhaps thousands of women". He was also a frequent presence at Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion and Playboy Clubs.

Silverstein reportedly met a woman from Sausalito named Susan Taylor Hastings at the Playboy Mansion, and they had a daughter named Shoshanna Jordan Hastings (b. June 30, 1970). Susan died on June 29, 1975, one day before Shoshanna's fifth birthday, and Shoshanna went to live with her uncle and aunt in Baltimore, Maryland. Shoshanna died of a cerebral aneurysm on April 24, 1982, at age 11. Silverstein's 1981 book A Light in the Attic is dedicated to her. Silverstein later met Key West native Sarah Spencer, who drove a tourist train and inspired Silverstein's song "The Great Conch Train Robbery". They had a son named Matthew De Ver (b. November 10, 1984), who later became a New York City–based songwriter and producer.

Death
On May 10, 1999, Silverstein died at age 68 of a heart attack at home in Key West, Florida. He was buried at Westlawn Cemetery in Norridge, Illinois.

Awards
Silverstein's song "A Boy Named Sue" won a 1970 Grammy. He was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for his song "I'm Checkin' Out" from the film Postcards from the Edge.

Together with longtime friend and producer Ron Haffkine, Silverstein released "Where the Sidewalk Ends" on cassette in 1983, and as an LP phonograph record in 1984, winning the 1984 Grammy Award for Best Recording For Children.

Silverstein was posthumously inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002. Silverstein was inducted into the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame in 2014.

Books

 * Take Ten (Pacific Stars and Stripes, 1955); reissued in paperback as Grab Your Socks! (Ballantine Books, 1956)
 * Now Here's My Plan (Simon & Schuster, 1960) (first collection of American magazine cartoons)
 * Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book (Simon & Schuster, 1960) (first book of original material for adults)
 * Playboy's Teevee Jeebies (Playboy Press, 1963)
 * Uncle Shelby's Story of Lafcadio: The Lion Who Shot Back (Harper & Row, 1963) (first children's book)
 * A Giraffe and a Half (Harper & Row, 1964)
 * The Giving Tree (Harper & Row, 1964)
 * Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros? (Macmillan, 1964)
 * Uncle Shelby's Zoo: Don't Bump the Glump! and Other Fantasies (Simon & Schuster, 1964)
 * More Playboy's Teevee Jeebies (Playboy Press, 1965)
 * Where the Sidewalk Ends (Harper & Row, 1974) (first collection of poems)
 * The Missing Piece (Harper & Row, 1976)
 * The Devil and Billy Markham (Playboy 25th Anniversary Issue, January 1979)
 * Different Dances (Harper & Row, 1979)
 * A Light in the Attic (Harper & Row, 1981)
 * The Missing Piece Meets the Big O (Harper & Row, 1981)
 * Falling Up (HarperCollins, 1996)
 * Draw a Skinny Elephant (HarperCollins, 1998)
 * Runny Babbit (HarperCollins, 2005) (published posthumously)
 * Don't Bump the Glump! and Other Fantasies (HarperCollins, 2008 reissue)
 * Every Thing on It (HarperCollins, 2011) (published posthumously)
 * Runny Babbit Returns (HarperCollins, 2017) (published posthumously)

Silverstein believed that written works needed to be read on paper, with specific paper for the particular work. He usually would not allow his poems and stories to be published unless he could choose the type, size, shape, color, and quality of the paper. Being a book collector, he took seriously the feel of the paper, the look of the book, the fonts, and the binding. Most of his books did not have paperback editions because he did not want his work to be diminished in any way. Silverstein's estate continues to control copyright permissions on his work and has blocked the quotations of that work in at least one biographical treatment.

Albums

 * Hairy Jazz (Elektra Records) (1959)
 * Inside Folk Songs (Atlantic Records) (1962)
 * Shel Silverstein's Stag Party (Crestview Records) (1963)
 * I'm So Good That I Don't Have to Brag (Cadet Records) (1965)
 * Drain My Brain (Cadet Records) (1967)
 * Boy Named Sue and Other Country Songs (RCA Records) (1969)
 * Ned Kelly (United Artists) (1970) film soundtrack
 * Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? (Columbia/CBS Records) (1971) film soundtrack
 * Freakin' at the Freakers Ball (Columbia/CBS Records) (1972)
 * Crouchin' on the Outside (Janus Records), collection of I'm So Good... and Drain My Brain (1973)
 * Songs and Stories (Parachute Records) (1978)
 * The Great Conch Train Robbery (Flying Fish Records) (1980)
 * Where the Sidewalk Ends (Columbia/CBS Records) (1984)
 * A Light In the Attic (Columbia/CBS Records) (1985)
 * Underwater Land (with Pat Dailey) (Olympia Records) (2002, released posthumously)
 * The Best of Shel Silverstein: His Words His Songs His Friends (Legacy/Columbia/Sony BMG Music Entertainment) (2005, released posthumously)

title: Shel Silverstein


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Clos Lucé

The Château du Clos Lucé (or simply Clos Lucé), formerly called Manoir du Cloux, is a large château located in the center of Amboise, in the department of Indre-et-Loire, in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France. It is located in the natural Val de Loire (formerly called Touraine) region. Built by Hugues d'Amboise in 1471, the palace has known several famous owners such as the French king Charles VIII and Leonardo da Vinci. Clos Lucé is 500 metres from the royal Château d'Amboise, to which it is connected by an underground passageway.

King Charles VIII bought the home from Étienne Le Loup in 1490 and during this time it became known as the ‘summer house’, housing French royalty. After a few decades Francis I gave it to Leonardo da Vinci when he invited him to live in France in 1516. The aging polymath lived his last years in this house, until his death on 2 May 1519.

Thanks to its famous owners, this house today ranks as a ‘historical monument’ and therefore is protected from demolition or reconstruction. After 1855 it became a well-known museum about Leonardo da Vinci's life, work and memory, which was put together and directed by The Saint-Bris family, the present owners of the property.

The Middle-Ages and the Renaissance period
The house was built by Hugues d'Amboise on a Gallo-Roman foundation. It was organized around an octagonal tower, within which a spiral staircase stood. Around the spiral staircase were two buildings that had two floors each. The elegant facade made with pink bricks and whites stones was typical of the XVth century. Formally called Château de Cloux, the building was property of the Chateau D’Amboise, and the lands of Lucé were annexed to the castle from the XIVth century. At the time, the manor was surrounded by fortifications; only one still remains, the watchtower. For a short time the building housed religious people of the abbaye of Moncé, as they resided in the building until 1471. The Clos Lucé was then sold on 26 May to Etienne le Loup, who was Louis XI Counselor and Amboise beadle. The building was in ruin when Etienne acquired the lands, he restored it giving it the famous visual aspect that we see today - a square tower with Gothic windows that created a towering and well protected medieval fortress.

Ownership by royalty
On the 2 July 1490, Charles VIII bought the castle from Etienne Le Loup for 3500 golden ecus and transformed the medieval stronghold into a more comfortable and habitable home. He also built a chapel for his wife, Anne of Brittany who lived at the Clos-Lucé until she left for the royal castle of Blois. It became known as ‘the summer house’ for the French royalty for 200 years.

The oratory was a chapel of the Gothic movement made with chalk stones (tuffeau) and decorated with murals painted by Leonardo's disciples: there is an Annunciation, a Last Judgement and a final painting called Virgo Lucis above the door, which may have gave its name to the castle. The museum also includes a copy of the Mona Lisa, painted in 1654 by Ambroise Dubois.

Between 1509 and 1515 the Castle housed Charles IV Duke of Alençon and Marguerite of Valois. The duke then sold the castle to Louise of Savoy, Regent of France, who took up residence and raised her two children the Duke of Angoulême who was destined to become the next king of France, Francis I and Marguerite de Navarre, intellectual and writer of the Heptaméron.

Leonardo da Vinci’s years at the Clos Lucé
In 1516, aged 64, Leonardo da Vinci left Rome and traveled through Italy, armed with his sketchbooks and three of his most famous paintings: Mona Lisa, The Virgin and Child, with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist. They are now conserved in the Musée du Louvre, Paris. His disciples Francesco Melzi and Salaì followed him throughout his travels, as did his servant, Batista of Vilanis.

Benvenuto Cellini wrote that king Francis I gave Leonardo da Vinci a pension of 700 gold ecus, as well as buying his artwork, allowing him to live and work in the Clos Lucé. Leonardo da Vinci was appointed ‘The first painter, engineer and architect of the King’. Leonardo da Vinci was enthusiastic and productive during his years at the Clos Lucé. He worked on numerous projects, organized feasts for the court of Amboise, and even drew the famous “Double Spiral Staircase” of the Château de Chambord. He also spent time on other projects, one of them consisting of designing the perfect city of Romorantin. In this, Leonardo Da Vinci wanted to dig a canal to connect two rivers allowing easier trade. He is still considered as one of the most renowned artists of his time.

On October 10, 1517, he was visited by the Cardinal Luigi d’Aragona, who was so impressed by his works of art that he described them in his Itinerario as “rare perfection”. These include some of his most famous pieces of work: the Mona Lisa and The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St John the Baptist.

Leonardo organized a feast in the Château du Clos Lucé on June 19, 1518, to thank The French King Francis I for his multiple gifts and generosity. There were a lot of similarities with the feast that Leonardo organised in Milan on January 13, 1490 (Festa del paradisio, play of Bernardo Bellincioni): there was complex machinery to impress the guests, which referred to the movements of the celestial bodies thanks to a blue canvas which symbolized the heavens where ran planets, stars, the Sun, the Moon and the twelve zodiac signs.

Despite the rumors that he would die in the king's arms, Leonardo da Vinci passed away in his room at the Clos Lucé on May 2, 1519. He left his books, drawings, sketches and manuscripts to his beloved apprentice, Francesco Melzi.

From the Renaissance to Modern times
After Leonardo's death, Louise of Savoy took over the Chateau, however this did not last too long as Philibert Babou of the Bourdaisière and his wife succeeded her in 1523. The Chateau was then taken over by Michel of Gast, who was the Guards Captain under King Henri III of France and became the owner after the murder of the Cardinal of Guise by the king himself, in 1583.

In 1632, the marriage of Antoine d’Amboise and Michel de Gast's granddaughter brought the Chateau back in the hands of House Amboise. During the French Revolution the castle was miraculously spared and remained in the Amboise family until 1832 - it was then designed as a historical monument by the list of 1862.

Finally, the castle became the property of the Saint-Bris family on 30 July 1855, after ownership by the Amboise family who protected the property, by then, named Clos Lucé instead of Manoir du Cloux, during the French Revolution. The chateau was opened to the public in 1954 by Hubert and Agnès Saint Bris. A major restoration was completed in the 1960s. In 1979, Jean Saint Bris continued his parents' work. As of 2019, president of the family enterprise was François Saint Bris.

The castle today
The castle is set in the heart of a 7-hectares park, crossed by the Amasse, a tributary of the Loire. The facade of the house is made with pink bricks and white stones and has remained almost unaltered since the Renaissance in which an old rampart walkway still remains. Within the castle, remain the rooms of Leonardo da Vinci, Anne of Brittany and Marguerite of Navarre, including the oratory and council rooms. The first floor bedrooms were restored in 2011 with period details and artifacts. There is a restaurant on site.

According to the Smithsonian, restoration over the years was extensive: "'the mansion has been restored to the way it appeared during Leonardo’s stay there, including his bedroom, his basement studio, the original frescoes on the walls and the high stone hearth in the kitchen'."

In the basement, there are 40 models that IBM made from Leonardo's sketches and drawings, including a helicopter, as well as some 3D animations about the Italian master's inventions, allowing the public to see them working. In the park is a pigeon house from the middle of XVth century built by Etienne le Loup, Amboise beadle that can shelter up to a thousand birds. In 2003, Jean Saint-Bris set up an educational and cultural course in the park of the Clos Lucé with several sound terminals and impressive machines inspired from Leonardo's mind. The open-air museum in the garden, with its forty translucent canvasses, houses full-size models of some Da Vinci inventions, including a chariot, a multi-barrelled gun, an aerial screw and a revolving bridge.

During 2019, the 500th anniversary of his death, Amboise held many events celebrating Da Vinci's life, some at Clos Lucé. The number of visitors to the chateau in 2019 was estimated as 500,000, a 30% increase over the typical annual number. Da Vinci is special to the French, according to François Saint Bris. "He lived a long time in France and he died here ... And 'La Joconde' [Mona Lisa] is in France. So ... for us, he's a little French."

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Clos Lucé


text:
Anytus

Anytus (Ἄνυτος; probably before 451 – after 388 BCE ), son of Anthemion of the deme Euonymon, was a politician in Classical Athens. Anytus served as a general in the Peloponnesian War of 431 to 404 BCE, and later became a leading supporter of the democratic forces opposed to the Thirty Tyrants who ruled Athens from 404 to 403 BCE. He is best remembered as one of the prosecutors of the philosopher Socrates in 399 BCE; probably because of that role, Plato depicted Anytus as an interlocutor in the dialogue Meno.

Ancestry
Anytus appears to have been one of the nouveaux riche of Athens, that is, of the commercial class and not one of the landed aristocracy that had ruled the city since time immemorial. His father is believed to be the Anthemion, son of Diphilus, that dedicated a statue on the Acropolis in thanks for his rise to class of “knight”. The Aristotelian Athenaion Politeia had this attribution: In the Acropolis there is a votive offering, a statue of Diphilus, bearing this inscription:

“Anthemion, the son of Diphilos, has dedicated this statue to the Gods, when from the status of a Thetis he had been raised to the status of a Knight.”

And a horse stands in evidence beside the man, implying that this was what was meant by belonging to the rank of Knight. Though this connection for Anytus is not certain, most modern historians accept it based on Socrates’ comment in Plato’s Meno to the effect that Anytus was:"the son of Anthemion, a man of property and good sense, who didn’t get his money out of the blue or as a gift… but earned it by his own brains and hard work."The family wealth was generated by Anthemion’s tannery and shoemaking businesses. Anytus inherited and continued to manage these.

Career
Little is known of Anytus’ activities during his adult years – just a few incidents in which he was involved.

He was appointed to the post of general (strategos) in late years of the Peloponnesian War. In 409/8 BC, he was assigned the task of taking a fleet of ships to defend the outpost of Pylos in the western Peloponnese. Athens had captured this rocky crag in 425 BC and staffed it with runaway helots who harassed the Spartans in the region in the following years. In the spring and summer of 409 BC, it was under attack by the Spartans, and the Athenians sought to bolster its defenses with the force led by Anytus. He failed to complete the mission because storms at sea prevented his sailing around the southern reaches of the Peloponnese. When he returned to Athens he was prosecuted for treason, something frequently done to generals who failed to complete the tasks assigned to them. In this case, he was acquitted on the charge, allegedly because he bribed the jury – the first person to have done so. (This was not easy to do, given that Athenian juries numbered between 200 and 2,000 men. )

Relationship with Alcibiades
Anytus was reportedly a lover of the young Alcibiades, former ward of Pericles,  profligate playboy, and (later) general at Athens. Both Plutarch and Athenaeus described an incident where Anytus was hosting a dinner party during which Alcibiades rudely commandeered half the gold and silver cups at the table and presented them as a gift to Thrasyllus, another of the evening’s guests who was quite poor. When their companions expressed indignation at Alcibiades’ effrontery, Anytus responded that his beloved had not been inconsiderate, but just the opposite, since he had the power to take everything and yet left half behind.

Tyranny of the Thirty
After the battle of Aigospotami in 405 BC, in which the Athenian fleet was destroyed, the city was besieged by the Spartans and eventually capitulated. The Spartans demanded that the city take down its walls, recall its exiles (oligarchic sympathizers all), and restore the ancient government – i.e., dismantle its democracy. At their “suggestion”, a ruling body of thirty governors was selected, mimicking Sparta’s own ruling board of thirty, the gerousia.

At this time many of those opposed to this coup abandoned the city and took refuge in such places as Thebes and Argos. The leader of these democratic partisans was Thrasybulus, and Anytus was among his lieutenants. Lysias, in one of his forensic orations, related an incident where one Agoratus, who had cooperated with the Thirty at first, later tried to join the exiles at Phyle, a fortress in northern Attica where they were organizing a counter coup. "As soon as they saw him they laid hold of him [Agoratus] and dragged him straight away to be killed in the place where they executed ordinary pirates or robbers that fell into their hands. Anytus, who was the general, said that they ought not to do that, on the ground that they were not yet in a position to punish certain of their enemies; at that moment they should rather keep quiet. If ever they returned home, they would then proceed to punish the guilty."The counter coup was ultimately successful and democracy restored at Athens. One of the means implemented to reconcile the warring parties was a general amnesty, which was resented by many who had lost loved ones and property during the carnage perpetrated by the Thirty. They chafed under the proscription of suing those who had wronged them and occasionally tried to seek recompense in the courts in spite of the law forbidding it. Isocrates wrote the defense speech in one such case and pointed out that certain wealthy and influential men and foregone such suits, even though they had the political pull to succeed in such efforts when ordinary men might fail. He specifically named Thrasyboulus and Anytus as:"men of greatest influence in the city, although they have been robbed of large sums of money and know who gave in lists of their goods, nevertheless are not so brazen as to bring suit against them or to bring up old grudges against them; on the contrary, even if, in respect to all other claims, they have greater power than others to accomplish their ends, yet in matters covered by the covenant at least they see fit to put themselves on terms of equality with the other citizens."

Trial of Socrates
In 399 BC, Anytus joined Meletus and Lycon in bringing an indictment against Socrates. We have two statements that purport to quote the specific charges, one from Plato and another from Diogenes Laertius. In his Apology, Plato had Socrates read out the complaint: "Socrates is guilty of criminal meddling in that he inquires into things below the earth and in the sky, and makes the weaker argument defeat the stronger, and teaches others to follow his example." Diogenes, on the other hand, wrote: "The affidavit in the case, which is still preserved, says Favorinus, in the Metroon (Athens), ran as follows: “This indictment and affidavit is sworn by Meletus, the son of Meletus of Pitthos, against Socrates, the son of Sophroniscus of Alopece: Socrates is guilty of refusing to recognize the gods recognized by the state, and of introducing other new divinities. He is also guilty of corrupting the youth. The penalty demanded is death.”"The discrepancies between these accounts have generated much discussion among modern scholars. So too the fact that neither accuses Socrates of any particular act. He seems to have been charged with just being Socrates. As such, the motivation of his accusers has been an issue for modern scholars. Foremost among the explanations proffered was Athens’ recent experience with overthrows and attempted overthrows of its democracy: the coup of the Four Hundred in 411, that of the Thirty in 404, and the attempted reimposition of that oligarchy in 401 by the remnants of the Thirty living at Eleusis. The prejudice against Socrates was not so much about his religious beliefs as about his impact on Athenian politics – namely that he was well known for favoring Spartan society over Athenian and that among the leaders of the coups were men who had spent considerable time with him in their youth. Among the most prominent of these were Theramenes, Critias, and Charmides. As a latter-day democrat, and one who had fought against the Thirty at Phyle and Peiraieus, Anytus would certainly have supported any effort to get rid of persons who directly or indirectly were responsible for these violent attacks on Athens’ government. But in Socrates’ case, he may have had more personal motives. Both Plato and Xenophon related events where enmity between the two men was on display. In Meno Plato constructed a conversation between them where Socrates was exploring the inability of the great men of Athens to pass on their excellence to their sons. Themistocles, Aristeides, Pericles, and Thucydides (son of Melesias, not the historian) were his examples – men whom one would think would have included ethical education among those subjects taught to them. Since they did not, Socrates reluctantly drew the inference that virtue could not be taught. Anytus, however, drew the inference that Socrates was criticizing them (and himself, presumably) for not making the effort."Socrates, I consider you are too apt to speak ill of people. I, for one, if you will take my advice, would warn you to be careful: in most cities it is probably easier to do people harm than good, and particularly in this one; I think you know that yourself."Antyus left the conversation at this point, and Socrates said to Meno:"Meno, I think Anytus is angry, and I am not at all surprised: for he conceives, in the first place, that I am speaking ill of these gentlemen; and in the second place, he considers he is one of them himself."Xenophon provided the background for Anytus’ sensitivity on this issue. It is said also that [Socrates] remarked as he saw Anytus passing by: “There goes a man who is filled with pride at the thought that he has accomplished some great and noble end in putting me to death, because, seeing him honored by the state with the highest offices, I said that he ought not to confine his son's education to hides [i.e., the tanning business]…

“At one time I had a brief association with the son of Anytus, and I thought him not lacking in firmness of spirit; and so I predict that he will not continue in the servile occupation that his father has provided for him; but through want of a worthy adviser he will fall into some disgraceful propensity and will surely go far in the career of vice.”

In saying this he was not mistaken; the young man, delighting in wine, never left off drinking night or day, and at last turned out worth nothing to his city, his friends, or himself. Xenophon was not in Athens at this time; he was in Asia on a military campaign, so this is hearsay and probably not a verbatim quote. But it accords with the general pattern of Socrates enthralling the youth of Athens by embarrassing its leading citizens when they failed to satisfactorily answer his probing questions about virtue and wisdom. In this case, it is likely that Anytus lost the affection and respect of his son and blamed Socrates for it – in his eyes, probably sufficient reason to join in his prosecution. The scholiast to Plato’s Apology (18b), cited in note 3 above, provided some additional background:"[Anytus] was rich from his tanning business, for which he was mocked by Socrates. Because of this mockery Anytus persuaded Meletus by bribing him to bring a charge of impiety against Socrates."Adding all this up, it seems Anytus had both political and personal reasons for wanting Socrates out of the way. As for Meletus’ and Lycon’s motives, we have only what Socrates said about the former in Plato’s Euthyphro:"I am not too clear about the man myself, Euthyphro.  He appears to me to be a young man, and unknown.  I think however, thet they call him Meletus, and his deme is Pitthos, if you happen to know anyone named Meletus of that deme – a hook-nosed man with long, straight hair, and not much beard… He says, in fact, that he knows the method by which young people are corrupted, and knows who the persons are that do it… And so Meletus no doubt begins by clearing us away, the ones who ruin, as he says, the tender shoots of the young...  With such a notable beginning, his chances of success look good."If the scholiast is correct, Meletus’ desire to keep the young from corruption was aided by a little corruptive bribery by Anytus. His “chances of success” were, in the end, in some doubt. In the aftermath of Socrates’ conviction and execution, there are stories of the remorse felt by the citizens of Athens and the punishments they meted out on his accusers. Diogenes Laërtius said:"So [Socrates] was taken from among men; and not long afterwards the Athenians felt such remorse that they shut up the training grounds and gymnasia. They banished the other accusers, but put Meletus to death; they honoured Socrates with a bronze statue, the work of Lysippus, which they placed in the hall of processions. And no sooner did Anytus visit Heraclea than the people of that town expelled him on that very day."In another place, Diogenes credited Antisthenes, the cynic philosopher and former protégé of Socrates, with initiating these reprisals. The 4th century CE orator Themistius went so far as to claim that the people of Heraclea, rather than expel Anytus, stoned him to death on arrival.

These vignettes may simply be the inventions of later apologists for Socrates, for there is evidence that Anytus remained in Athens for some years. The Hellenica Oxyrhinchia places him at a meeting of the Athenian Assembly (Ecclesia) in 397/6 BC and Lysias, in one of his forensic orations, has the speaker call Anytus, who was serving as grain inspector at the time, as a witness in a trial that took place in 388 BC. Both of these events were long after any retribution for his prosecution of Socrates would have been meted out. Furthermore, in 336/5 BC, two men, Anytus (II) and Anthemion (II), of the same deme as our subject, served on the Athenian Council of 500 (Boule). This Anytus also served as trierarchin 323/2 BC. If they were, indeed descendants, it would argue against Anytus I having been forcibly exiled, as his son (and any other issue) would have lost citizenship rights in the process.

Legacy
Anytus made somewhat mixed contributions to the Athens of his time. He failed at the one military command we know of and bribed his way out of taking responsibility for it – though to be fair, the punishment he faced was unduly severe. He played a significant role in restoring both the democracy and the rule of law after the tyranny of the Thirty and went on to hold positions of responsibility in that democracy in later years. Finally, he appears to have done a poor job of raising his son, and, rather than take responsibility for that, placed the blame for how the lad turned out on a man who did little more than ask people to question their assumptions about life. For all his contributions to Athenian society, both positive and negative, his lasting legacy is to have prosecuted on trumped up charges one of the most admired men in world history.

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United States Marshals Service

The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The Marshals Service serves as the enforcement and security arm of the U.S. federal judiciary, although it is an agency of the U.S. Department of Justice and operates under the direction of the U.S. Attorney General. It is the oldest U.S. federal law enforcement agency, created by the Judiciary Act of 1789 during the presidency of George Washington as the "Office of the United States Marshal". The USMS as it stands today was established in 1969 to provide guidance and assistance to U.S. Marshals throughout the federal judicial districts.

The Marshals Service is primarily responsible for locating and arresting federal suspects, the administration of fugitive operations, the management of criminal assets, the operation of the United States Federal Witness Protection Program and the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System, the protection of federal courthouses and judicial personnel, and the protection of senior government officials through the Office of Protective Operations. Throughout its history the Marshals have also provided unique security and enforcement services including protecting African American students enrolling in the South during the civil rights movement, escort security for United States Air Force LGM-30 Minuteman missile convoys, law enforcement for the United States Antarctic Program, and protection of the Strategic National Stockpile.

Origins
The office of United States Marshal was created by the First Congress. President George Washington signed the Judiciary Act into law on September 24, 1789. The Act provided that a United States Marshal's primary function was to execute all lawful warrants issued to him under the authority of the United States. The law defined marshals as officers of the courts charged with assisting federal courts in their law-enforcement functions:

"And be it further enacted, That a marshal shall be appointed in and for each district for a term of four years, but shall be removable from office at pleasure, whose duty it shall be to attend the district and circuit courts when sitting therein, and also the Supreme Court in the district in which that court shall sit. And to execute throughout the district, all lawful precepts directed to him, and issued under the authority of the United States, and he shall have the power to command all necessary assistance in the execution of his duty, and to appoint as shall be occasion, one or more deputies."

Six days after signing the act into law, President Washington appointed the first thirteen U.S. Marshals, for each of the then extant federal districts. To each of his appointees for Marshal and District Attorney, the president addressed a form letter:

"I have the pleasure to inform you that you are appointed (Marshal or Attorney) for the District of _______ and your Commission is enclosed, accompanied with such Laws as have passed relative to the Judicial Department of the United States.

The high importance of the Judicial System in our National Government made it an indispensable duty to select such Characters to fill the several offices in it as would discharge their respective trust with honor to themselves and advantage to their Country."

The critical Supreme Court decision affirming the legal authority of the federal marshals was made in.

For over 100 years marshals were patronage jobs, typically controlled by the district judge. They were paid primarily by fees until a salary system was set up in 1896. Many of the first U.S. Marshals had already proven themselves in military service during the American Revolutionary War. Among the first marshals were John Adams's son-in-law Congressman William Stephens Smith for the District of New York, another New York district marshal, Congressman Thomas Morris, and Henry Dearborn for the District of Maine.

From the nation's earliest days, marshals were permitted to recruit special deputies as local hires, or as temporary transfers to the Marshals Service from other federal law-enforcement agencies. Marshals were also authorized to swear in a posse to assist with manhunts, and other duties, ad hoc. Marshals were given extensive authority to support the federal courts within their judicial districts, and to carry out all lawful orders issued by federal judges, Congress, or the President. Federal marshals were by far the most important government officials in territorial jurisdictions. Local law enforcement officials were often called "marshals" so there is often an ambiguity whether someone was a federal or a local official.

Federal marshals are most famous for their law enforcement work, but that was only a minor part of their workload. The largest part of the business was paper work—serving writs (e.g., subpoenas, summonses, warrants), and other processes issued by the courts, making arrests and handling all federal prisoners. They also disbursed funds as ordered by the courts. Marshals paid the fees and expenses of the court clerks, U.S. Attorneys, jurors, and witnesses. They rented the courtrooms and jail space, and hired the bailiffs, criers, and janitors. They made sure the prisoners were present, the jurors were available, and that the witnesses were on time. The marshals thus provided local representation for the federal government within their districts. They took the national census every decade through 1870. They distributed presidential proclamations, collected a variety of statistical information on commerce and manufacturing, supplied the names of government employees for the national register, and performed other routine tasks needed for the central government to function effectively.

19th century
During the settlement of the American frontier, marshals served as the main source of day-to-day law enforcement in areas that had no local government of their own. U.S. Marshals were instrumental in keeping law and order in the "Old West" era. They were involved in apprehending desperadoes such as Bill Doolin, Ned Christie, and in 1893, the infamous Dalton Gang after a shoot-out that left dead Deputy Marshals Ham Hueston and Lafe Shadley, and posse member Dick Speed. Individual deputy marshals have been seen as legendary heroes in the face of rampant lawlessness (see Notable marshals below) with Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Dallas Stoudenmire, and Bass Reeves as examples of well-known marshals. Bill Tilghman, Heck Thomas, and Chris Madsen formed a legendary law enforcement trio known as "Three Guardsmen" when they worked together policing the vast, lawless Oklahoma and Indian Territories.

Until its repeal in 1864, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 tasked marshals to accept an affidavit on its face to recover a fugitive slave.

On October 26, 1881, Deputy U.S. Marshal Virgil Earp, his brothers, Special Deputy U.S. Marshals Morgan and Wyatt Earp, and Special Deputy U.S. Marshal John "Doc" H. Holliday gunned down Frank and Tom McLaury and Billy Clanton in the legendary gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. In 1894, U.S. Marshals helped suppress the Pullman Strike.

Marshals of the Consular Court
During the 19th century, the United States government appointed marshals to be attached to the courts of American consulates in China, the Ottoman Empire, and Siam. The duties of these marshals included settling shipboard disputes and mutinies aboard American vessels, the apprehension of runaway sailors and American crews engaged in the illegal slave trade, adjusting claims for damages caused by American sailors to natives, and the rescue of natives kidnapped for slavery by Americans.

20th century
During the 1920s, U.S. Marshals enforced Prohibition. Marshals registered enemy aliens in wartime, sealed the American border against armed expeditions from foreign countries, and at times during the Cold War also swapped spies with the Soviet Union.

In the 1960s the marshals were on the front lines of the civil rights movement, mainly providing protection to volunteers. In September 1962, President John F. Kennedy ordered 127 marshals to accompany James Meredith, an African American who wished to register at the segregated University of Mississippi. Their presence on campus provoked riots at the university, but the marshals stood their ground, and Meredith registered. Marshals provided continuous protection to Meredith during his first year at Ole Miss, and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy later proudly displayed a deputy marshal's dented helmet in his office. U.S. Marshals also protected black school children integrating public schools in the South. Artist Norman Rockwell's famous painting The Problem We All Live With depicted a tiny Ruby Bridges being escorted by four towering United States Marshals in 1964.

Until 1965, each U.S. district court hired and administered its own marshals independently from all others. In 1965, the Executive Office for U.S. Marshals, was created as "the first organization to supervise U.S. Marshals nationwide". The United States Marshals Service, a federal agency, was created in 1969. Since June 1975, the Marshals Service have the mission of providing law enforcement support and escort security to United States Air Force LGM-30 Minuteman and missile systems from military facilities.

In 1985, the Marshals Service partnered with local Washington, D.C. law enforcement officers to create Operation Flagship, arresting fugitives using faked free tickets to a local American football game. In 1989, the Marshals Service was given the jurisdiction over crimes committed relating to U.S. personnel in Antarctica and has been doing so ever since. During the 1992 Los Angeles riots, 200 deputy marshals of the tactical unit Special Operations Group were dispatched to assist local and state authorities in restoring peace and order throughout Los Angeles County, California. In the 1990s, deputy marshals protected abortion clinics.

21st century
Marshals have protected American athletes at Olympic Games, the refugee boy Elián González before his return to Cuba in 2000, and abortion clinics as required by federal law. In 2003, Marshals retrieved North Carolina's copy of the Bill of Rights.

In 2002, the Marshals Service was tasked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to provide protective security and law enforcement capabilities in the protection of the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), such as warehouses, materiel and CDC personnel during deployment. Marshals also provide secure transportation of critical medical supplies and bio-terrorism response resources throughout the nation. Senior Inspectors of the U.S. Marshals Service SNS Security Operations (SNSSO) Program have deployed to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and responded during the H1N1 flu pandemic in 2009. SNSSO Senior Inspectors have also staffed National Security Special Events (NSSE) with their state, local and other federal partners on a regular basis.

In 2006, the Sex Offenders Investigations Branch (SOIB) was formed on July 27 with the passage of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act (AWA). The SOIB carries out the USMS's three principal responsibilities under the AWA: assist state, local, tribal and territorial authorities in the location and apprehension of non-compliant and fugitive sex offenders; investigate violations of the act for federal prosecution, and assist in the identification and location of sex offenders relocated as a result of a major disaster. To ensure the safety of communities and children across the country, the USMS has implemented an aggressive enforcement strategy for its responsibilities under the AWA. This branch apprehends sex offenders, primarily those who prey on minors. Offenders are apprehended due to failure to register, among other things.

In February 2017, Marshals began providing protective security to United States Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, the first time since 2009 that a United States Cabinet-level official has been provided security by the Marshals. Marshals were deployed to keep order in Washington, D.C. during the George Floyd protests on May 31, 2020, as well as during the January 6 United States Capitol attack.

2024 Charlotte shootout
On April 29, 2024, in Charlotte, North Carolina one Marshal, two Dept of Adult Corrections officers, and one local police officer on a task force were killed serving a warrant on a man for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Four Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers were wounded.

Duties and responsibilities

The Marshals Service is responsible for apprehending wanted fugitives, providing protection for the federal judiciary, transporting federal prisoners, protecting endangered federal witnesses, and managing assets seized from criminal enterprises. The Marshals Service is responsible for 55.2% of arrests of federal fugitives. Between 1981 and 1985, the Marshals Service conducted Fugitive Investigative Strike Team operations to jump-start fugitive capture in specific districts. In 2012, U.S. marshals captured over 36,000 federal fugitives and cleared over 39,000 fugitive warrants.

The Marshals Service also executes all lawful writs, processes, and orders issued under the authority of the United States, and can command all necessary assistance to execute its duties.

Historically, under Section 27 of the Judiciary Act of 1789 U.S. Marshals had the common law-based power to enlist any willing civilians as deputies for necessary assistance in the execution of their duties. In the Old West this was known as forming a posse, although under the Posse Comitatus Act, they could not use military troops in uniform representing their unit or the military service for law enforcement duties. However, if a service member was off duty, wearing civilian clothing, and willing to assist a law enforcement officer on their own behalf, it was acceptable. In contemporary times, the deputation of a civilian would be extraordinarily unusual. However, the Director of the United States Marshals Service currently has the statutory authority to deputize (for one year) selected officers of the United States Department of Justice; federal, state, or local law enforcement officers; employees of private security companies to provide courtroom security for the Federal judiciary; or other persons as designated by the United States Associate Attorney General.

Title 28 USC Chapter 37 § 564 authorizes United States Marshals, deputy marshals and such other officials of the Service as may be designated by the Director, in executing the laws of the United States within a State, to exercise the same powers which a sheriff of the State may exercise in executing the laws thereof.

Except for suits by incarcerated persons, non-prisoner litigants proceeding in forma pauperis, or (in some circumstances) by seamen, U.S. Marshals no longer serve leading process or subpoenas in private civil actions filed in the U.S. district courts. Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, process may be served by any U.S. citizen over the age of 18 who is not a party involved in the case. The Marshals still levy executions and serve writs of garnishment.

Witness Protection Program
A chief responsibility of the Marshals is the United States Federal Witness Protection Program.

Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015
The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 amends the federal judicial code to authorize the United States Marshals Service to assist state, local, tribal, and other federal law enforcement agencies, upon request, in locating and recovering missing children. The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act also established The Missing Child Unit of The Marshals Service.

Fugitive programs
The Marshals Service publicizes the names of wanted persons it places on the list of U.S. Marshals 15 Most Wanted Fugitives, which is similar to and sometimes overlaps the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list or the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Most Wanted List, depending on jurisdiction.

The 15 Most Wanted Fugitive Program was established in 1983 in an effort to prioritize the investigation and apprehension of high-profile offenders who are considered to be some of the country's most dangerous fugitives. These offenders tend to be career criminals with histories of violence or whose instant offense(s) pose a significant threat to public safety. Current and past fugitives in this program include murderers, sex offenders, major drug kingpins, organized crime figures, and individuals wanted for high-profile financial crimes.

The Major Case Fugitive Program was established in 1985 in an effort to supplement the successful 15 Most Wanted Fugitive Program. Much like the 15 Most Wanted Fugitive Program, the Major Case Fugitive Program prioritizes the investigation and apprehension of high-profile offenders who are considered to be some of the country's most dangerous individuals. All escapes from custody are automatically elevated to Major Case status.

The Wall Street Journal reported on November 14, 2014, that the Marshals Service's Technical Operations Group utilizes a so-called dirtbox to track fugitives.

Special Operations Group
The Special Operations Group (SOG) was created in 1971, and is the Marshals Service's tactical unit. It is a self-supporting response team capable of responding to emergencies anywhere in the U.S. or its territories.

Most of the deputy marshals who have volunteered to be SOG members serve as full-time deputies in Marshals Service offices throughout the nation, and they remain on call 24 hours a day. The SOG also maintains a small, full-time operational cadre stationed at the Marshals Service Tactical Operations Center at Louisiana National Guard Training Center Pineville, Louisiana, where all deputies undergo extensive, specialized training in tactics and weaponry.

Deputies must meet rigorous physical and mental standards. The group's missions include: apprehending fugitives, protecting dignitaries, providing court security, transporting high-profile and dangerous prisoners, providing witness security, and seizing assets.

Office of Protective Operations
The Office of Protective Operations (OPO) is the United States Marshals Service's preeminent expert on physical protection. OPO provides subject matter expertise, guidance, and direct action support to district offices on high-threat/-profile proceedings and risk-/threat-based protective operations. The footprint is national, covering all twelve federal judicial circuits across the country, with the ability to project globally.

Currently, the OPO is responsible for two permanent risk-based protection details for the Deputy Attorney General (DAG) and the Secretary of Education (SecEd), respectively.

These Senior Inspectors routinely deploy across the U.S. and around the globe to protect the DAG and Secretary of Education. They lead security for nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court through the pendency of the nomination, which are often fraught with threats of violence and protests. They also provide security for sitting U.S. Supreme Court Justices, when those Justices are farther than 50 miles from Washington, D.C., where the U.S. Supreme Court Police have statutory protection authority. As a result, they develop a deep expertise in protective operations and partner extensively with the U.S. Secret Service, Diplomatic Security Service, along with local, state, federal, and foreign law enforcement and security agencies.

In 2019, the Trump administration investigated the feasibility of shifting protective responsibility for many government officials to the U.S. Marshals.

Training
Marshals Service hiring is competitive and comparable to the selection process for Special Agent positions in agencies with similar duties. Typically fewer than five percent of qualified applicants are hired and must possess at a minimum a four-year bachelor's degree or competitive work experience (which is usually three or more years at a local or state police department). While the USMS's hiring process is not entirely public, applicants must pass a written test, an oral board interview, an extensive background investigation, a medical examination and drug test, and multiple Fitness In Total (FIT) exams to be selected for training. Deputy U.S. Marshals complete a 18-week training program at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia.

Firearms and protective gear

The primary handgun for marshals is usually a Glock 22. Deputy Marshals may also carry a backup gun, but it must meet certain requirements. Deputy Marshals are also equipped with body armor and collapsible batons for daily use, and ballistic shields, helmets, and protective goggles for serving high risk warrants.

Members of the U.S. Marshal SOG Teams are armed with The Staccato Model P 2011 pistols in 9mm Parabellum. They have both a full size with a red dot sight as well as a smaller, more concealable version for covert operations. In 2019, the SOG adopted the STI 2011, a 1911 platform of pistol that is modified for USMS SOG needs.

All marshals have a variety of AR-platform rifles, shotguns, and less-lethal options available for their use. Recently, the service has introduced a body-worn camera (BWC) program. Marshals are issued various body armor including a concealable vest, a tactical vest that accepts their soft-armor panels and rifle plates, as well as a rifle plate only carrier depending on their needs. Ballistic helmets and shields are also available.

Surveillance airplanes
The U.S. Marshals Service has planes registered under a front company named Early Detection Alarm Systems, which has an address of a UPS Store mailbox in Spring, Texas. This operation has been in place since at least 2007, and by 2014 were based in five airports across the country.

The planes tend to fly in a tight circle; GPS/radio trackers, cameras, video recorder, and video transmitter installations are documented. It is also presumed to include an IMSI-catcher such as the Stingray phone tracker or the Boeing DRTbox (Dirtbox), which are used by the Marshals' Technical Operations Group.

 * Observed locations of U.S. Marshals planes:
 * Mexico states of Sinaloa and Durango during April–May, July, and November 2017, including during the capture of a Sinaloa Cartel member in El Dorado, Sinaloa on May 1, 2017
 * Guatemala
 * Carver Shores, Orlando, Florida, January 2017

Organization

The Marshals Service is based in Arlington County, Virginia, and, under the authority of the Attorney General, is headed by a director, who is assisted by a deputy director. The Director is supervised by the Deputy Attorney General. The Marshals Service headquarters provides command, control, and cooperation for the disparate elements of the service.

Headquarters

 * Director of the U.S. Marshals Service
 * Chief of Staff
 * Office of General Counsel
 * Office of Equal Employment Opportunity
 * Deputy Director of the U.S. Marshals Service
 * Chief of District Affairs
 * Office of Professional Responsibility
 * Associate Director for Operations
 * Judicial Security Division
 * Office of Protective Operations
 * Deputy Attorney General's Protection Detail
 * Secretary of Education's Protection Detail
 * Investigative Operations Division
 * Witness Security Division
 * Tactical Operations Division
 * Prisoner Operations Division
 * Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System
 * Chief Financial Officer
 * Financial Services Division
 * Associate Director for Administration
 * Training Division
 * Human Resources Division
 * Information Technology Division
 * Office of Public and Congressional Affairs
 * Management Support Division
 * Asset Forfeiture Division

Federal judicial districts
The U.S. court system is divided into 94 federal judicial districts, each with a district court (except the territory of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, which share a U.S. Marshal). For each district there is a presidentially-appointed and Senate-confirmed United States marshal, a Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal (GS-14 or 15) (and an Assistant Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal in certain larger districts), Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshals (GS-13), and as many deputy U.S. Marshals (GS-7 and above) and special deputy U.S. Marshals as needed. In the United States federal budget for 2005, funds for 3,067 deputy marshals and criminal investigators were provided. The U.S. Marshal for each United States courts of appeals (the 13 circuit courts) is the U.S. Marshal in whose district that court is physically located.

The director and each United States Marshal are appointed by the President of the United States and subject to confirmation by the U.S. Senate. The District U.S. Marshal is traditionally appointed from a list of qualified law enforcement personnel for that district or state. Each state has at least one district, while several larger states have three or more.

Titles
Agency executives
 * The director (Ronald L. Davis): originally titled the Chief United States Marshal, overall head of the USMS and overseer of the Marshals.
 * The deputy director (Roberto Robinson): principal deputy and first in line of succession to the director.

Marshals
 * United States Marshal: the top executive of the Marshals Service in each of the 94 federal judicial districts, appointed by the president subject to confirmation by the senate
 * Chief Deputy United States Marshal: the senior career manager for the federal judicial district who is responsible for management of the Marshals office and staff
 * Supervisory Deputy United States Marshal, responsible for the supervision of three or more deputy U.S. Marshals and clerks
 * Deputy United States Marshal: for all nonsupervisory positions

Deputy Marshals
Deputy U.S. Marshals start their careers at the GS-7 pay grade. After the first year in grade, they are promoted to GS-9, then to GS-11 after a second year, and then to GS-12 after a third year. Once deputies reach the GS-11 pay grade, they are reclassified as 1811 Criminal Investigators. Criminal Investigators work additional hours and receive an additional 25% Law Enforcement Availability Pay on top of their base pay.

Duties performed include criminal investigations, execution of warrants, and other investigative operations. They also protect government officials, process seized assets of crime rings for investigative agencies, and relocate and arrange new identities for federal witnesses in the United States Federal Witness Protection Program, which is headed by the USMS. After Congress passed the Adam Walsh Act, the U.S. Marshals Service was chosen to head the new federal sex offender tracking and prosecution team.

Special Deputy Marshals
The Director of the United States Marshals Service is authorized to deputize the following persons to perform the functions of a Deputy U.S. Marshal in any district designated by the Director:
 * Selected officers or employees of the Department of Justice;
 * Selected federal, state, or local law enforcement officers whenever the law enforcement needs of the U.S. Marshals Service so require;
 * Selected employees of private security companies in providing courtroom security for the Federal judiciary;
 * Other persons designated by the Associate Attorney General pursuant to 28 CFR 0.19(a)(3).

Coast Guard as Deputy Marshals
Commissioned officers in the United States Coast Guard may be appointed as United States Deputy Marshals in Alaska.

Court Security Officers
Court Security Officers (CSOs) are contracted former law enforcement officers who receive limited deputations as armed Special Deputy Marshals and play a role in courthouse security. Using security screening systems, Court Security Officers attempt to detect and intercept weapons and other prohibited items that individuals attempt to bring into federal courthouses. There are more than 5,000 Court Security Officers with certified law enforcement experience deployed at more than 400 federal court facilities in the United States and its territories.

Inspectors
The Marshal Service has the positions of Inspector, Senior Inspector and Chief Inspector, depending on the duties and position to which a Deputy Marshal has been assigned to. This title was created for promotions within the service usually for senior non-supervisory personnel. Senior Deputy Marshals assigned to regional fugitive task forces or working in special assignments requiring highly skilled criminal investigators often receive the title Inspector. Operational non-supervisory employees assigned to the Witness Protection Program are given the title Senior Inspector. Deputy Marshals assigned to the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) department within the USMS also hold the title of Senior Inspector. Senior Inspectors receive a GS-13 pay grade level.

Line-of-duty deaths
More than 200 U.S. Marshals, deputy marshals, and special deputy marshals have been killed in the line of duty since Marshal Robert Forsyth was shot dead by an intended recipient of court papers in Augusta, Georgia, on January 11, 1794. He was the first U.S. federal law enforcement officer to be killed in the line of duty. The dead are remembered on an Honor Roll permanently displayed at Headquarters.

Notable marshals and deputy marshals

 * Nathaniel P. Banks (1816–1894), U.S. Marshal for Massachusetts 1879–1888
 * Jesse D. Bright (1812–1875), U.S. Marshal for Indiana; later served as U.S. senator for that state
 * Seth Bullock (1849–1919), businessman, rancher, sheriff for Montana, sheriff of Deadwood, South Dakota, U.S. Marshal of South Dakota
 * John F. Clark, U.S. Marshals Service Director and U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Virginia
 * Charles Francis Colcord (1859–1934), rancher, businessman and U.S. Marshal for Oklahoma
 * Phoebe Couzins (1839–1913), lawyer, first woman appointed to the U.S. Marshals
 * Henry Dearborn (1751–1829), U.S. Marshal for the District of Maine
 * Frederick Douglass (1818–1895), former slave and noted abolitionist leader, appointed U.S. Marshal for the District of Columbia in 1877
 * Morgan Earp (1851–1882), Deputy U.S. Marshal, Tombstone, Arizona, appointed by his brother Wyatt
 * Virgil Earp (1843–1905), Deputy U.S. Marshal, Tombstone, Arizona
 * Wyatt Earp (1848–1929), Deputy U.S. Marshal (appointed to his brother Virgil Earp's place by the Arizona Territorial Governor)
 * Frank Eaton (1860–1958), Deputy U.S. Marshal for Judge Isaac C. Parker, author, cowboy, scout, Indian fighter, and mascot for Oklahoma State University ("Pistol Pete")
 * Richard Griffith (1814–1862), Brigadier General for the Confederacy during the Civil War
 * Wild Bill Hickok (1837–1876), noted Western lawman; served as a Deputy U.S. Marshal at Fort Riley, Kansas 1867–1869
 * Ward Hill Lamon (1826–1893), friend, and frequent bodyguard of President Abraham Lincoln, who appointed him U.S. Marshal for the District of Columbia
 * J. J. McAlester (1842–1920), U.S. Marshal for Indian Territory (1893–1897), Confederate Army captain, merchant in and founder of McAlester, Oklahoma as well as the developer of the coal mining industry in eastern Oklahoma, one of three members of the first Oklahoma Corporation Commission (1907–1911) and the second Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma (1911–1915)
 * Benjamin McCulloch (1811–1862), U.S. Marshal for Eastern District of Texas; became a brigadier general in the army of the Confederate States during the American Civil War
 * Henry Eustace McCulloch (1816–1895), U.S. Marshal for Eastern District of Texas. Brother of Benjamin McCulloch; also a Confederate General
 * James J. P. McShane (1909–1968), appointed U.S. Marshal for the District of Columbia by President John F. Kennedy then named chief marshal in 1962
 * John W. Marshall, U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Virginia (1994–1999), first African-American to serve as Director of the U.S. Marshals Service (1999–2001)
 * Bat Masterson (1853–1921), noted Western lawman; deputy to U.S. Marshal for Southern District of New York, appointed by Theodore Roosevelt
 * Joseph Meek (1810–1875), territorial marshal for Oregon
 * Thomas Morris (1771–1849), U.S. Marshal for New York District
 * David Neagle (1847–1925), shot former Chief Justice of California David S. Terry to protect US Supreme Court Justice Stephen Johnson Field, resulting in U.S. Supreme Court decision In re Neagle
 * John L. Pascucci (1948–present), former Chief of International Operations for the U.S. Marshals Service and author of The Manhunter: The Astounding True Story of the U.S. Marshal Who Tracked Down the World's Most Evil Criminals. Charged with extortion in 1989.
 * Bob Pavlak (1924–1994), U.S. Marshal for the District of Minnesota and Minnesota legislator
 * Henry Massey Rector (1816–1899), U.S. Marshal for Arkansas, later governor of that state
 * Bass Reeves (July 1838 – January 1910), is thought by most to be one of the first Black men to receive a commission as a Deputy U.S. Marshal west of the Mississippi River. Before he retired from federal service in 1907, Reeves had arrested over 3,000 felons.
 * Porter Rockwell (c.1813–1878), Deputy U.S. Marshal for Utah
 * William Stephens Smith (1755–1816), 1789 U.S. Marshal for New York district and son-in-law of President John Adams
 * Dallas Stoudenmire (1845–1882), successful city marshal who tamed and controlled the remote, wild and violent town of El Paso, Texas; became U.S. Marshal serving West Texas and New Mexico Territory just before his death
 * Heck Thomas (1850–1912), Bill Tilghman (1854–1924), and Chris Madsen (1851–1944), the legendarily fearless "Three Guardsmen" of the Oklahoma Territory
 * William F. Wheeler (1824–1894), U.S. Marshal for the Montana Territory
 * Cal Whitson (1845–1926), one-eyed Deputy U.S. Marshal for the Oklahoma Territory; served as the basis for the character Rooster Cogburn of the novel and films True Grit
 * James E. Williams (1930–1999), U.S. Marshal for South Carolina, Medal of Honor recipient

Inspector General audits
An audit by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) (November 2010) of the Justice Department found "weaknesses in the USMS's efforts to secure federal court facilities in the six USMS district offices we visited". The report found, among other things, that the Marshals Service's Judicial Security Division had contracted private security firms to provide Court Security Officers without having completed background checks. Another incident involved the Marshals Service awarding a $300 million contract to a security guard company named USProtect Corporation, which had a known history of numerous criminal activities leading to convictions for mail fraud and bank fraud and false insurance claims in addition to a civil judgment against its chief financial officer. Technical problems included court security officers not being properly trained on security screening equipment, which also meant equipment not being used. The OIG noted that in February 2009, several courthouses failed to detect mock explosives sent by Marshals Service Headquarters in order to test security procedures. They also found that 18% of court security officers had outdated firearms qualifications.

Internal thefts
On March 26, 2009, the body of Deputy U.S. Marshal Vincent Bustamante was discovered in Juárez, Mexico, according to the Marshals Service. Bustamante, who was accused of stealing and pawning government property, was a fugitive from the law at the time of his death. Chihuahua State Police said the body had multiple wounds to the head – apparently consistent with an execution-style shooting.

In January 2007, Deputy U.S. Marshal John Thomas Ambrose was charged with theft of Justice Department property, disclosure of confidential information, and lying to federal agents during an investigation. Deputy Ambrose had been in charge of protecting mobster-turned-informant Nicholas Calabrese, who was instrumental in sending three mob bosses to prison for life. A federal jury convicted Ambrose on April 27, 2009, of leaking secret government information concerning Calabrese to William Guide, a family friend and former Chicago police officer who had also served time in prison for corruption. Ambrose also was convicted of theft of government property but acquitted of lying to federal agents. On October 27, 2009, Ambrose was sentenced to serve four years in prison.

Racial discrimination
In 1998, retired Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Matthew Fogg won a landmark EEO and Title VII racial discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against the Justice Department, for which he was awarded $4 million. The jury found the entire Marshals Service to be a "racially hostile environment" which discriminates against black employees in its promotion practices. U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson summarized the jurors' decision by stating that they felt there was an "atmosphere of racial disharmony and mistrust within the United States Marshal Service". As of 2011, Fogg is president of "Bigots with Badges", and executive director of CARCLE (Congress Against Racism and Corruption in Law Enforcement), and is also associated with Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), a drug law reform organization of law enforcement officers.

In September 2023, U.S. Marshals Service settled a $15 million, nearly 30-year-old EEOC class action lawsuit filed by Matthew Fogg in January, 1994. Alleging discrimination against African-American Deputy U.S. Marshal applicants, employees and Detention Officers with regards to hiring, promotions, recruitment and headquarter assignments.

Ruby Ridge
The Department of Justice under Janet Reno acknowledged wrongdoing in U.S. marshals decisions surrounding a firefight at Ruby Ridge in 1992, where a deputy U.S. marshal shot 14-year-old Samuel Weaver in the back. Afterwards, deputy U.S. marshals became involved in a gunfight with Weaver's father, who was wanted on a federal warrant for failure to appear, and another person. Deputy United States marshals dispute this claim. Deputy U.S. marshal Billy Deegan was killed during a surveillance operation after identifying himself as a federal agent. This led to an extended gunfight in which both sides fired several rounds. Samuel Weaver was shot and killed. His body was taken to a small building for more than a week and an autopsy was unable to determine entry and exit wounds (see Idaho Federal Court Transcripts for clarification of this incident). Newsweek described the incident as "one of the most shameful episodes in the history of American law enforcement".

In popular culture

 * Deputy Marshal Raylan Givens stars in the modern western crime TV series Justified and the spin-off miniseries Justified: City Primeval, both of which are based on Elmore Leonard stories.
 * Deputy Marshal Karen Sisco stars in the crime comedy film Out of Sight, and a spin-off crime drama TV series, Karen Sisco. The character, created by Elmore Leonard, also appeared in a season 3 episode of Justified, while a second character, a police detective from Out of Sight, also appears in Justified: City Primeval.
 * Marshal Matt Dillon stars in the Western drama radio and television series Gunsmoke.
 * Deputy Marshal Mary Shannon stars in the crime drama TV series In Plain Sight
 * Deputy Marshal "Rooster" Cogburn stars in the western drama films True Grit (1969), Rooster Cogburn and True Grit (2010)
 * Deputy Marshals Wyatt Earp and his brothers Virgil and Morgan, all based on real life U.S. Marshals, star in the western drama film Tombstone, one of many films and TV shows to star the Earp brothers, that also include Newton, James and Warren Earp. Another such film is the biographical western drama Wyatt Earp, which cast most of the Earp family and followed Wyatt and his brothers from their childhood on their parent's farm to adulthood and becoming lawmen.
 * Deputy Marshal J.D. Cahill stars in the western drama film Cahill U.S. Marshal.
 * Supervisory Deputy Marshal Samuel Gerard stars in the action thriller films The Fugitive, and its spin-off U.S. Marshals
 * Deputy Marshal Carrie Stetko stars in the crime thriller graphic novel Whiteout, as the lone Deputy Marshal assigned to Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica.
 * Deputy Marshal Winston MacBride stars in the action drama series The Marshal, as a lone marshal pursuing fugitives across the country.
 * Deputy Marshal Vince Larkin stars in the action film Con Air, which largely takes place aboard a hijacked Marshal Service prisoner transport plane, nicknamed "Con Air".
 * Deputy Marshal Annie Frost stars alongside a group of Marshals out of Houston who form the Fugitive Apprehension Team on the drama series Chase.
 * A team of Deputy Marshals star in the action comedy TV series Eagleheart
 * Retired U.S. Marshal James Anderson is a main character in video game Outlaws.
 * U.S. Marshal Jose Lopez is a main character in BIOHAZARD: To the Liberty (novel, 2002) set in Resident Evil universe.

title: United States Marshals Service


text:
Montu

Montu was a falcon-god of war in the ancient Egyptian religion, an embodiment of the conquering vitality of the pharaoh. He was particularly worshipped in Upper Egypt and in the district of Thebes. "[Ramesses II] whom victory was foretold as he came from the womb, Whom valor was given while in the egg, Bull firm of heart as he treads the arena, Godly king going forth like Montu on victory day."

Name
Montu's name, shown in Egyptian hieroglyphs to the right, is technically transcribed as mn t w (meaning "Nomad" ). Because of the difficulty in transcribing Egyptian vowels, it is often realized as Mont, Monthu, Montju, Ment or Menthu.

Role and characteristics
A very ancient god, Montu was originally a manifestation of the scorching effect of Ra, the sun – and as such often appeared under the epithet Montu-Ra. The destructiveness of this characteristic led to him gaining characteristics of a warrior, and eventually becoming a widely revered war-god. The Egyptians thought that Montu would attack the enemies of Maat (that is, of the truth, of the cosmic order) while inspiring, at the same time, glorious warlike exploits. It is possible that Montu-Ra and Atum-Ra symbolized the two kingships, respectively, of Upper and Lower Egypt. When linked with Horus, Montu's epithet was "Horus of the Strong Arm".

Because of the association of raging bulls with strength and war, the Egyptians also believed that Montu manifested himself as a white, black-snouted bull named Buchis (hellenization of the original Bakha: a living bull revered in Armant) — to the point that, in the Late Period (7th-4th centuries BC), Montu was depicted with a bull's head too. This special sacred bull had dozens of servants and wore precious crowns and bibs. In Egyptian art, Montu was depicted as a falcon-headed or bull-headed man, with his head surmounted by the solar disk (because of his conceptual link with Ra ) with either a double or singular uraeus, and two feathers. The falcon was a symbol of the sky and the bull was a symbol of strength and war. He could also wield various weapons, such as a curved sword, a spear, bow and arrows, or knives: such military iconography was widespread in the New Kingdom (16th-11th centuries BC).

Montu had several consorts, including the little-known Theban goddesses Tjenenyet and Iunit, and a female form of Ra, Raet-Tawy. He was also revered as one of the patrons of the city of Thebes and its fortresses. The sovereigns of the 11th Dynasty (c. 2134–1991 BC) chose Montu as a protective and dynastic deity, inserting references to him in their own names. For example, four pharaohs of the 11th Dynasty were called Mentuhotep, which means "Montu (Mentu) is satisfied":

 * Mentuhotep I (c. 2135 BC) — maybe a fictional figure;
 * Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II (c. 2061–2010 BC);
 * Sankhkare Mentuhotep III (c. 2010–1998 BC);
 * Nebtawyre Mentuhotep IV (c. 1998–1991 BC).

The Greeks associated Montu with their god of war Ares – although that did not prevent his assimilation to Apollo, probably due to the solar radiance that distinguished him.

Montu and the pharaohs at war
The cult of this military god enjoyed great prestige under the pharaohs of the 11th Dynasty, whose expansionism and military successes led, around 2055 BC, to the reunification of Egypt, the end of a period of chaos known today as the First Intermediate Period, and a new era of greatness for the country. This part of Egyptian history, known as the Middle Kingdom (c. 2055–1650 BC), was a period in which Montu assumed the role of supreme god — before then gradually being surpassed by the other Theban god Amun, destined to become the most important deity of the Egyptian pantheon. From the 11th Dynasty onward, Montu was considered the symbol of the pharaohs as rulers, conquerors and winners, as well as their inspirer on the battlefield. The Egyptian armies were surmounted by the insignia of the "four Montu" (Montu of Thebes, of Armant, of Medamud, and of El-Tod: the main cult centers of the god), all represented while trampling and piercing enemies with a spear in a classic pugnacious pose. A ceremonial battle ax, belonging to the funeral kit of Queen Ahhotep II, Great Royal Wife of the warlike pharaoh Kamose (c. 1555–1550 BC), who lived between the 17th and 18th Dynasty, represents Montu as a proud winged griffin: an iconography clearly influenced by the same Syriac origin which inspired Minoan art.

Egypt's greatest general-kings called themselves "Mighty Bull", "Son Of Montu", "Montu Is with His Strong/Right Arm" (Montuherkhepeshef: which was also the given name of a son of Ramesses II, of one of Ramesses III and one of Ramesses IX). Thutmose III (c. 1479—1425 BC), "the Napoleon of Egypt", was described in ancient times as a "Valiant Montu on the Battlefield". An inscription from his son Amenhotep II (1427–1401 BC) recalls that the eighteen-year-old pharaoh was able to shoot arrows through copper targets while driving a war chariot, commenting that he had the skill and strength of Montu. The latter's grandson, Amenhotep III the Magnificent (c.1388–1350 BC), called himself "Montu of the Rulers" in spite of his own peaceful reign. In the narrative of the Battle of Kadesh (c. 1274 BC), Ramesses II the Great — who proudly called himself "Montu of the Two Lands" — was said to have seen the enemy and "raged at them like Montu, Lord of Thebes".

"[...] his majesty passed the fortress of Tjaru, like Montu when he goes forth. Every country trembled before him, fear was in their hearts [...] The goodly watch in life, prosperity and health, in the tent of his majesty, was on the highland south of Kadesh. When his majesty appeared like the rising of Re, he assumed the adornments of his father, Montu. [...]"

Medamud
The Temple complex of Montu in Medamud, the ancient Medu, less than five kilometers north-east of today's Luxor, was built by the great Pharaoh Senusret III (c. 1878–1839 BC) of the 12th Dynasty, probably on a pre-existing sacred site of the Old Kingdom. The temple courtyard was used as a dwelling for the living Buchis bull, revered as an incarnation of Montu. The main entrance was to the north-east, while a sacred lake was probably on the west side of the sanctuary. The building consisted of two distinct adjoining sections, perhaps a temple to the north and a temple to the south (houses of the priests). It was built in raw bricks, while the innermost cella of the deity was built of carved stone. The templar complex of Medamud underwent important restorations and renovations during the New Kingdom, and in the Ptolemaic and Roman period.

Armant
At Armant, the ancient Iuni, there was an impressive Temple of Montu at least since the 11th Dynasty, which may have been native of Armant. King Mentuhotep II is its first known builder, but the original complex was enlarged and embellished during the 12th Dynasty, the less well-known 13th Dynasty (c. 1803–1649 BC), and later in the New Kingdom (especially under King Thutmose III). Ramesses II (1279–1213 BC) and his son Merneptah (1213–1203 BC) of the 19th Dynasty added colossi and statues. It was dismantled, except for a pylon, in the Late Period (7th/4th century BC) — but a new temple was begun by King Nectanebo II (360–342 BC), the last native pharaoh of Egypt, and continued by the Ptolemies. In the 1st century BC, Cleopatra VII (51–30 BC) built a mammisi and a sacred lake there in honour of her son, the very young Ptolemy XV Caesarion. The building remained visible until 1861, when it was demolished to reuse its material in the construction of a sugar factory; however, etchings, prints and previous studies (for example the Napoleonic Description de l'Égypte) show its appearance. Only the remains of the pylon of Thutmose III are still visible — in addition to the ruins of two entrances, one of which was built under the 2nd century AD Roman emperor/Pharaoh Antoninus Pius. In the large Armant complex, moreover, there was the Bucheum, necropolis of the Buchis sacred bulls. The first burial of a Buchis in this special necropolis dates back to the reign of Nectanebo II (c. 340 BC), while the final one took place at the time of the Emperor/Pharaoh Diocletian (c. 300 AD).

Karnak and Uronarti
In the great Karnak Temple Complex, north of the monumental Temple of Amun, King Amenhotep III built a sacred enclosure to Montu. Another temple had been dedicated to him at the little-known fortress of Uronarti (near the Second Cataract of the Nile, specifically to the south of it) during the Middle Kingdom.

title: Montu


text:
Buchis

In Egyptian mythology, Buchis (Βουχις, ⲃⲱⲱϩ, ⲃⲟϩ) (also spelt Bakh and Bakha) was the deification of the kꜣ ("power, life-force", Egyptological pronunciation ka) of the war god Montu as a sacred bull that was worshipped in the region of Hermonthis. In order to being chosen as the Buchis incarnation of Montu, a bull was required to have a white body and black face. When these bulls – and in later times also their mothers – died, they were mummified, and placed in a special cemetery known as the Bucheum.

Unlike the other Egyptian sacred bulls – the Apis and the Mnevis – the Buchis cult started towards the end of the pharaonic period, with the earliest known burial taking place in regnal year 14 of Nectanebo II (mid 4th century BC). However, four different bull cults dedicated to Montu were known in earlier times in Upper Egypt, and it seems that the Buchis was the result of their syncretism. Eventually, the Buchis bull was identified as a form of the Apis, and consequently became considered an incarnation of Osiris.

It is uncertain when the Buchis cult disappeared. The last confirmed tomb at the Bucheum is dated to the regnal year 12 of Diocletian (circa 295 CE), while the latest attestation of a Buchis burial is a stela reporting its installation in regnal year 33 of Diocletian (317 CE) and its demise in regnal year 57 of the same pharaoh (more precisely on 4 November 340 CE).

title: Buchis