Dodge City

A Kansas Portrait

Dodge City was established in 1872, just before the arrival of the Santa Fe Railroad. It initially did a booming business in buffalo bones and hides, as well as serving as a rendezvous for soldiers from Fort Dodge. By 1875 its days as a "cattle town" had arrived and for the next 10 years it was the "Cowboy Capital" of the world, and "Queen of the Cowtowns." It was served by more top notch lawmen and gunfighters than any other. Wyatt Earp; Bat, Ed, and Jim Masterson; Doc Holliday; William Tilghman; Clay Allison; Ben and Billy Thompson; Lake Short; and many others spent time in Dodge City.

Dodge City's status as a cattle market was aided by an act of the 1876 legislature which moved the quarantine line west and cut Wichita out of the trade. Thousands of cattle were shipped to Dodge City between 1876 and 1885. It peaked between 1883 and 1884.

To say the town was wild at times is an understatement. It was often difficult to tell the good guys from the bad. An example can be found in the Dodge City Times of June 9, 1877:

Bobby Gill done it again. Last Wednesday was a lively day for Dodge. Two hundred cattle men in the city; the gang in good shape for business; merchants happy, and money flooding the city, is a condition of affairs that could not continue in Dodge very long without an eruption, and that is the way it was last Wednesday. Robert Gilmore was making a talk for himself in a rather emphatic manner, to which Marshal [Larry] Deger took exception and started for the dog house with him. Bobby walked very leisurely-so much so that Larry felt it necessary to administer a few paternal kicks in the rear. This act was soon interrupted by Bat Masterson, who wound his arm affectionately around the marshal's neck and let the prisoner escape. Deger then grappled with Bat, at the same time calling upon the bystanders to take the offender's gun and assist in the arrest. Joe Mason appeared upon the scene at this critical moment and took the gun. But Masterson would not surrender yet and came near getting hold of a pistol from among several which were strewed around over the sidewalk but half a dozen Texas men came to the marshal's aid and gave him a chance to draw his gun and beat Bat over the head until the blood flew.... Bat Masterson seemed possessed of extraordinary strength, and every inch of the way was closely contested, but the city dungeon was reached at last, and in he went. If he had got hold of his gun before going in there would have been a general killing.

Four months later Bat Masterson was on the Dodge City police force.

Law enforcement had deteriorated to a point that in 1883 the governor had to step in. A commission, made up of famous gunmen, was formed to aid the marshal and life returned to what passed as normal.

In order to revitalize the town's prestige the city planned a bullfight for July 4, 1884. Bullfighters were collected from Mexico and a dozen longhorn bulls corralled for the battle. Widely advertised, people arrived from around the state and filled the grandstands. Some of the bulls performed as intended and one of the only real bullfights ever staged in the United States was proclaimed a success.

By 1885 the town's days as a roaring cattle town were numbered. The Western Trail was practically closed to traffic in '85 and most of the gamblers, gunmen, and "sporting women" moved west to greener pastures.