Welcome to day eleven of the A to Z Bloggers Challenge! Thank you for reading my blog, and feel free to comment. I love to talk about the Old West. Today, K stand for Kansas. Dodge city, to be exact, and its importance to the history of the American Old West. Have you been to Kansas? Did you visit Dodge City? Do you live there? If so, leave a comment and share with us, please!
As you may know, my blog was hacked and my computer acquired a nasty virus that no amount of antibiotics could cure. I lost quite a few blog posts before my poor little computer was able to heal itself, so I am rewriting each post. In other words, you may have seen this post before, but I had to rewrite it to keep up with the A to Z Bloggers Challenge, which is very important to me. I appreciate your patience so much and your loyalty. Thanks for coming back, and thank you for reading! 
Wheat fields outside Dodge City, Kansas.
Technically, Kansas is considered part of the Central United States, and its central location is the reason it was so appealing to the railroad companies, and the reason that Kansas played a vital role in the success of American business in the Old West, particularly those involved in the cattle industry. 
Boot Hill "shops" and museum, Dodge City, Kansas.
Dodge City was a wild place in the Old West, but it was also vitally important for the distribution of goods across the country. It has an interesting and slightly complicated beginning. The first time I wrote about Dodge City I was corrected by a gentleman who worked for the museum in Dodge City for many years and provided me with a tremendous amount of detailed information. I wish I could remember his name, but that was five years ago. If you read this blog, I still remember you, sir, and thank you.
The Early Years of Dodge City and its Importance to Commerce in the Old West
In 1871, cattle rancher Henry J. Sitler built a sod house near the Santa
Fe Trail and the Arkansas River at a location that he hoped would help him
properly manage his cattle operation. Sitler’s home became a regular stopping
point for many travelers along the Santa Fe Trail near Fort Dodge.
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe train station in Dodge City.
A year
later, in 1872, Colonel Richard Irving Dodge, former Aide-De-Camp to General
Sherman in the American Civil War, was asked to assist the Atchison, Topeka
and Santa Fe Railway in building a station on the Arkansas River near the
home of Henry Sitler. Henry Sitler most likely never imagined that his tiny
sod house would eventually become the seed for the legendary Dodge City!
Dodge City and the American Buffalo
Due to its prime location, Dodge City was quickly packed with buffalo
hunters and freighters almost overnight. According to the Ford County Historical Society, 1,500,000 buffalo hides were shipped from Dodge City
between 1872 and 1878 during the years when the buffalo were nearly brought
to extinction.
Rath and Wright's Buffalo Hide Yard in 1878 showing 40,000 buffalo hides.
The bones of the buffalo were piled so high they reached the tops of the buildings. When every last bone and hide of buffalo was finally collected
and carted away from Dodge City, the wild American frontier was considered
lost forever. Dodge City was considered one of the last frontier towns in
America.
Birth of a Cattle Town
During the 1870s, the cattle industry was also struggling with Texas
Fever, or Splenic Fever, a devastating disease that wiped out entire herds of
cattle. The cause of Texas Fever was later discovered to be a protozoan
transmitted by ticks and carried into Kansas cattle on the Texas Longhorn.
Texas Longhorn. Photo by Darla Sue Dollman.
The Texas Longhorn cattle would contract the disease at a young age and build
an immunity, though they continued to act as a carrier. To protect other
cattle, a quarantine line was drawn in Kansas and the Texas Longhorns were
not allowed to cross, but parts of Kansas still accepted the Texas cattle.
The Chisholm Trail was expanded for this purpose and a branch called the
Western Trail led straight into Dodge City.
Texas Longhorns. Photo by Darla Sue Dollman
According to the Ford County
Historical Society, nearly five million head of cattle were driven up to
Dodge City in a ten year period. At this point in time, Dodge City was vital
to the success of the American cattle industry.
Gamblers, Gangsters, Saloons and Soiled Doves
Along with the cattle came the cowboys, whiskey, gamblers, soiled doves
and brothels. According to Paul Trachtman, author of The Old West: The
Gunfighters, Dodge City quickly acquired the reputation as one of the
wickedest cities in America.
Wyatt Earp circa 1869.
The famous Masterson brothers and close friend,
Wyatt Earp, were believed by the townspeople to be in complete control of the
town. Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp served as sheriff's deputies and Jim
Masterson was the town marshal. In the 1880s, members of an “anti-gang”
faction attempted to oust the Mastersons from their law enforcement
positions. The mayor of the city, Alonzo B. Webster, who was also a saloon
owner, fired Jim Masterson then posted a series of moral ordinances greatly
restricting business activities in the town.
The Dodge City War
A friend of the Mastersons, Luke Short, owned part of the Long Branch
Saloon and Mayor Webster had Short’s prostitutes arrested in an attempt to
close the Long Branch down.
Luke Short, part owner of the Long Branch Saloon.
Short was run out of town and called on his
gunfighter friends for assistance. Within days, famous gunmen from around the
country were gathering in and around Dodge City preparing for a showdown.
According to The Gunfighters, Short had an eclectic collection of friends,
including such famous men as Bat Masterson, Doc Holliday, and Wyatt Earp, as
well as some less-famous characters, such as Dynamite Sam, and Dark Alley
Jim.
Doc Holliday, dentist and gambler and ally for the Earps during the shootout at the OK Corral.
Intimidated by this roster of gunfighters, the local sheriff repeatedly
begged the governor of Kansas, George Washington Glick, for assistance.
Glick, sensing a battle on the horizon, sent Tom Moonlight, the state’s
Adjutant General, to negotiate. Eventually, Mayor Webster, realizing he was
grossly outnumbered, agreed to allow Luke Short to return to his saloon.
Texas Fever Brings an End to an Era
Most of the townspeople realized that as long as there was cattle in
Dodge City there would also be cowboys with money to spend, and gamblers,
saloons, and soiled doves. Texas Fever brought an end to this situation in
1885 when the quarantine line was extended throughout Kansas and Dodge City
was cut off from the Texas cattle industry. The saloons, brothels and
professional gamblers lost their sources of income. With the loss of the
Texas cattle business, Dodge City settled back into a typical small, Kansas
town.
Legacy of Dodge City
Dodge City is still an important part of the cattle industry as it is
home to Cargill Meat Solutions, one of the largest beef processing plants in
the United States. Dodge City continues to attract tourists and residents for
many reasons, including its fascinating western history. In 2009, American
Cowboy Magazine named Dodge City one of the top 20 towns to live in the
American West due to its active Western lifestyle and True West Magazine
named Dodge City one of the Top 10 True Western Towns.
Hangman's Tree at Boot Hill cemetery in Dodge City, Kansas. The early episodes of Marshal Dillon always begin with Marshal Matt Dillon walking through the Boot Hill Cemetery reminiscing about the people who have lived and died in Dodge City, Kansas.
Fans of the television
series Gunsmoke are also endeared to Dodge City as the employer of their
beloved fictional character, Marshal Matt Dillon.
Sources:
Forbis, William H. The Old West: The Cowboys. Time
Life Books. Canada:1974.
Laughead, George, et al. “Dodge City, Kansas
History: Queen of the Cowtowns, The Cowboy Capital.” Ford County Historical Society Website.
Mallory, P.A. "The Dodge City War." Historynet.com.
Retrieved October 30, 2010.
"Top 10 True Western Towns of 2010." True
West Magazine. Retrieved June 13, 2009.
Trachtman, Paul. The Old West: The Gunfighters.
Time Life Books. Canada: 1974.
Wright, Robert. Dodge City, The Cowboy Capital.
Second Edition: 1913. Web Version, Scanned for Ford County Historical Society: April, 2006.