Dodge City Cow-boy Band

A Kansas Portrait

Through the years, Dodge City, Kansas, has developed a number of attractions that have capitalized on its image of the "Cowboy Capital of the United States, " among the most famous of which was the Dodge City Cow-boy Band.

While their musical performance was judged to be of high quality, it was the appearance of the musicians which generated the greatest notice. Sporting flannel shirts, gray cowboy hats, leather chaps, spurs and pearl-handled revolvers, their leader kept time with a revolver instead of a baton. In the decade that followed, the Dodge City Cow-boy Band was to play in a number of cities across the U.S. including Denver, Chicago and Minneapolis. Their greatest achievement came in 1889 when they arrived in Washington, D.C., to play at the inaugural celebration of President Benjamin Harrison. While its members were being billed as cowboys in every sense of the word, the band's personnel were all professional musicians from Denver, St. Louis, Chicago and Kansas City.

One fact that cannot be disputed, however, is that during its brief existence the Dodge City Cow-boy Band brought greater fame to the city and represented another aspect of nineteenth century boosterism.