Dodge City, Kansas

Dodge City was founded in 1872. It was originally a town for buffalo hunters but it became a cattle town when the railroad reached it in 1875. It became more important than Wichita and was soon shipping more than 200,000 head of cattle a year.
In 1875 Bill Tilghman, although a life long teetotaler, opened a saloon in Dodge City. Three years later he accepted the offer of his friend, Bat Masterson, to become his deputy sheriff. Masterson's first success was the capture of Dave Rudabaugh and Edgar West after they attempted to rob a train. Masterson was also part of a posse that including Wyatt Earp, Bill Tilghman and Charlie Bassett that captured James Kennedy. In January 1879 he successfully arrested Henry Borne.
Ed Masterson became marshal but when he was murdered he was replaced by Charles Bassett. Later that year Fannie Keenan was shot and killed by James Kennedy. Bassett was involved in the pursuit and capture of Kennedy. He also arrested Frank Loving who killed Levi Richardson in a gunfight. Later that year Wyatt Earp was appointed assistant city marshal under Bassett. Charles Bassett resigned in November 1879 and was replaced by Jim Masterson. He lost the job with a change in the city government on April 6, 1881. Ten days later he shot Al Updegraff. As a result of this incident Masterson was ordered out of Dodge City. In February, 1883, Luke Short moved to Dodge City and purchased the Long Branch Saloon with W. H. Harris. A power struggle took place between Short and Nicholas B. Klaine, the editor of the Dodge City Times. In the election for mayor of the city later that year Klaine supported Larry Deger against Short's partner, W. H. Harris. Deger defeated Harris 214 to 143. Soon after gaining power Deger published Ordinance No 70, an attempt to ban prostitution in Dodge City. Two days later the local police arrested female singers being employed in Short's Long Branch Saloon and accused them of being prostitutes. That night Short and L.C. Hartman, the city clerk, exchanged gunfire in the street. Short was now arrested and forced to leave town. Short had some powerful friends and in June 1883 he returned to Dodge City with Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Charlie Bassett, Doc Holliday, and other well-known gunfighters such as, M. F. McLain, Neil Brown and W. F. Petillion. However, Deger and Klaine refused to be intimidated and when they refused to back down, Short and his friends had to accept defeat. In November 1883 Short and Harris sold the Long Branch Saloon and moved to Fort Worth, Texas.
Dodge City had more famous (and infamous) gunfighters working at one time or another than any other town in the West, many of whom participated in the Dodge City War of 1883. It also boasted the usual array of saloons, gambling halls, and brothels established to separate a lonely cowboy from his hard-earned cash, including the famous Long Branch Saloon and China Doll brothel. For a time in 1884, Dodge City even had a bullfighting ring where Mexican bullfighters imported from Mexico would put on a show with specially chosen longhorn bulls. As more agricultural settlers moved into western Kansas, pressure on the Kansas State Legislature to do something about splenic fever increased. Consequently, in 1885 the quarantine line was extended across the state and the Western Trail was all but shut down. By 1886, the cowboys, saloon keepers, gamblers, and brothel owners moved west to greener pastures and Dodge City became a sleepy little town much like other communities in western Kansas.