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KANSAS LEGENDS
Dodge - A Story of the Old Hell-raising
Trail's End Where the Colt Was King |
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Tombstone, May 26... The
fire originated in a Chinese wash house fronting on Fifth Street, between
Toughnut and Allen. From there it communicated to the Tivoli saloon and the
Grand Hotel on Allen Street; it then crossed Allen, burning north of Allen
Street to Fremont Street and east and north from Third to Fifth Street. The
gallant and unremitting exertions of the Fire Department prevented its
further spread. When it became apparent that the water supply was inadequate
to control the raging element the buildings were demolished with giant
powder and to this is due the safety of the Epitaph Office, Schieffelin Hall
and adjoining buildings. The county records were all saved thanks to the
efficient work of Recorder Jones and his deputies. The Post Office building
was among those sacrificed by giant powder to prevent the spread of the
flames.
Together with all
scores of minor places swelling the aggregate for stock and fixtures to
nearly $550,000, and when losses are fully known on the buildings they will
probably amount to $700,000, with insurance almost $250,000. A good many
were hurt by falling walls, flying debris, etc., but as far as known none
fatally. The body of a man supposed to be named Huggins, was found in the
rear of the Cosmopolitan Hotel. The body was burned beyond recognition. The
people are hopeful and already cleaning away the debris preparatory to
rebuilding. A. C. Bilicke has already made arrangements to rebuild the
Cosmopolitan and steps are being taken to do likewise to the Grand. In all
there were 116 stores and places of business destroyed
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It was in the days when the new railroad was
pushing through the country of the plains
Indians
that a drunken
cowboy
got on the train at a way station in
Kansas.
John Bender, the conductor, asked him for his ticket. He had none, but he
pulled out a handful of gold pieces.
"I wantta--g-go
to--h-hell," he hiccoughed.
Bender did not hesitate an instant. "Get off at
Dodge.
One dollar, please."
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Dodge City,
Kansas,
1876.
This image available for photographic prints
HERE!
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Dodge City
did not get its name because so many of its citizens were or had been,
in the Texas
phrase, on the dodge. It came quite respectably by its cognomen. The
town was laid out by A. A. Robinson, chief engineer of the Atchison,
Topeka & Santa Fe, and it was called for Colonel Richard I. Dodge,
commander of the post at
Fort Dodge
and one of the founders of the place. It is worth noting this, because
it is one of the few respectable facts in the early history of the
cowboy
capital.
Dodge was a wild and uncurried prairie wolf, and it howled every
night and all night long. It was gay and young and lawless. Its sense of
humor was exaggerated and worked overtime. The crack of the six-shooter
punctuated its hilarity ominously. Those who dwelt there were the
valiant vanguard of civilization. For good or bad they were strong and
forceful, many of them generous and big-hearted in spite of their lurid
lives. The town was a hive of energy. One might justly use many
adjectives about it, but the word respectable is not among them.
There were three
reasons why
Dodge won the reputation of being the wildest town the country had
ever seen. In 1872 it was the end of the track, the last jumping-off
spot into the wilderness, and in the days when transcontinental
railroads were building across the desert the temporary terminus was
always a gathering place of roughs and scalawags. The payroll was large,
and gamblers, gunmen, and thugs gathered for the pickings. This was true
of Hays, Abilene, Ogallala, and Kit Carson. It was true of
Las Vegas
and
Albuquerque.
A second reason was that
Dodge
was the end of the long trail drive from
Texas.
Every year hundreds of thousands of longhorns were driven up from
Texas by
cowboys scarcely less wild than the hill steers they herded. The
Great Plains country was being opened, and cattle were needed to stock a
thousand ranches as well as to supply the government at
Indian
reservations. Scores of these trail herds were brought to
Dodge
for shipment, and after the long, dangerous, drive the punchers were
keen to spend their money on such diversions as the town could offer.
Out of sheer high spirits they liked to shoot up the town, to
buck the tiger,
to swagger from
saloon to
gambling hall, their persons garnished with revolvers, the spurs on
their high-heeled boots jingling. In no spirit of malice they wanted it
distinctly understood that they owned the town. As one of them once put
it, he was born high up on the Guadeloupe, raised on prickly pear, had
palled with alligators and
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Also,
Dodge
was the heart of the
buffalo country. Here the hunters were outfitted for the chase.
From here great quantities of hides were shipped back on the new
railroad. R. M. Wright, one of the founders of the town and always
one of its leading citizens, says that his firm alone shipped two
hundred thousand hides in one season. He estimates the number of
buffaloes in the country at more than twenty-five million,
admitting that many, as well informed as he. put the figure at four
times as many. Many times he and others traveled through the vast
herds for days at a time without ever losing sight of them. The
killing of
buffaloes was easy, because the animals were so stupid. When one
was shot they would mill round and round.
Tom Nixon
killed 120 in forty minutes; in a little more than a month he
slaughtered 2,173 of them. With good luck a man could earn a hundred
dollars a day. If he had bad luck he lost his scalp.
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The
buffalo was to the plains
Indian food, fuel, and shelter. As long as there were plenty of
buffaloes he was in Paradise. But he saw at once that this
slaughter would soon exterminate the supply. He hated the hunter and
battled against his encroachments. The
buffalo hunter was an
intrepid plainsman. He fought
Kiowas,
Comanches, and the Staked Plain
Apaches,
as well as the
Sioux
and the
Arapaho. Famous among these hunters were Kirk Jordan, Charles
Rath, Emanuel Dubbs, Jack Bridges, and Curly Walker. Others even
better known were the two Buffalo Bills (William
Cody and William Mathewson) and
Wild
Bill.
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A man stands atop a huge pile of buffalo
bones. |
These three factors then made
Dodge:
it was the end of the railroad, the terminus of the cattle trail
from
Texas the center of the
buffalo trade. Together they made it "the beautiful bibulous
Babylon of the frontier," in the words of the editor of the
Kingsley Graphic. There was to come a time later when the
bibulous Babylon fell on evil days and its main source of income was
old bones. They were
buffalo bones, gathered in wagons, and piled beside the track
for shipment, hundreds and hundreds of carloads of them, to be used
for fertilizer. (I have seen great quantities of such bones as far
north as the Canadian Pacific line, corded for shipment to a
factory.) It used to be said by way of derision that
buffalo bones were legal tender in
Dodge.
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But that was in the far future. In its early years
Dodge rode
the wave of prosperity. Hays and Abilene and Ogallala had their day, but
Dodge had
its day and its night, too. For years it did a tremendous business. The
streets were so blocked that one could hardly get through. Hundreds of
wagons were parked in them, outfits belonging to freighters, hunters,
cattlemen, and the government. Scores of camps surrounded the town in every
direction. The yell of the
cowboy
and the weird oath of the bullwhacker and the mule skinner were heard in the
land. And for a time there was no law nearer than Hays City, itself a burg
not given to undue quiet and peace.
Dodge was no
sleepy village that could drowse along without peace officers. Bob Wright
has set it down that in the first year of its history twenty-five men were
killed and twice as many wounded. The elements that made up the town were
too diverse for perfect harmony.
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Cowboys at water tank in
Dodge
City,
Kansas.
This image available for photographic prints and
downloads
HERE!
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The freighters did not like the railroad
graders. The soldiers at the fort fancied themselves as scrappers. The
cowboys and the
buffalo
hunters did not fraternize
a little bit. The result was that
Boot Hill
began to fill up. Its inhabitants were buried with their boots on and
without coffins.
There was another
cemetery, for those who died in their beds. The climate was so healthy
that it would have been very sparsely occupied those first years if it
had not been for the skunks. During the early months
Dodge was a city of camps. Every night the fires flamed up from the
vicinity of hundreds of wagons. Skunks were numerous. They crawled at
night into the warm blankets of the sleepers and bit the rightful owners
when they protested. A dozen men died from these bites. It was thought
at first that the animals were a special variety, known as the
hydrophobia skunk. In later years I have sat around
Arizona
camp fires and heard this subject discussed heatedly. The Smithsonian
Institute, appealed to as referee, decided that there was no such
species and that deaths from the bites of skunks were probably due to
blood poisoning caused by the foul teeth of the animal.
In any case, the skunks
were only one half as venomous as the gunmen, judging by comparative
statistics.
Dodge decided it had to have law in the community.
Jack Bridges was appointed
first marshal.
Jack was a noted scout and
buffalo
hunter, the sort of man
who would have peace if he had to fight for it. He did his sleeping in
the afternoon, since this was the quiet time of the day. Someone shook
him out of slumber one day to tell him that
cowboys were riding up and down Front Street shooting the windows
out of buildings.
Jack sallied out, old
buffalo
gun in hand. The
cowboys went whooping down the street across the bridge toward their
camp. The old hunter took a long shot at one of them and dropped him.
The
cowboys buried the young fellow next day.
There was a good deal of excitement in the
cow camps. If the boys could not have a little fun without some old
donker, an old vinegaroon who couldn't take a joke, filling them full of
lead it was a pretty howdy-do. But
Dodge stood pat. The coroner's jury voted it justifiable homicide.
In future the young Texans were more discreet. In the early days
whatever law there was did not interfere with casualties due to personal
differences of opinion provided the affair had no unusually sinister
aspect. |
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The first wholesale killing
was at Tom Sherman's dance hall. The affair was between soldiers and
gamblers. It was started by a trooper named Hennessey, who had a reputation
as a bad man and a bully. He was killed, as were several others. The
officers at the fort glossed over the matter, perhaps because they felt the
soldiers had been to blame.
One of the lawless
characters who drifted into
Dodge
the first year was
Billy Brooks.
He quickly established a reputation as a killer. My old friend Emanuel Dubbs,
a
buffalo
hunter who "took the hides
off'n" many a bison, is authority for the statement that
Brooks
killed or wounded fifteen men in less than a month after his arrival. Now
Emanuel is a preacher (if he is still in the land of the living; I saw him
last at Clarendon,
Texas, ten
years or so ago), but I cannot quite swallow that "fifteen." Still, he had a
man for breakfast now and then and on one occasion four.
Brooks, by
the way, was assistant marshal. It was the policy of the officials of these
wild frontier towns to elect as marshal some conspicuous killer, on the
theory that desperadoes would respect his prowess or if they did not would
get the worst of the encounter.
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Abilene, for instance, chose "Wild
Bill" Hickok. Austin had its
Ben Thompson.
According to
Bat Masterson,
Thompson
was the most dangerous man with a gun among all the bad men he knew -- and
Bat knew
them all. Ben
was an Englishman who struck
Texas while
still young. He fought as a Confederate under Kirby Smith during the Civil
War and under Shelby for Maximilian. Later he was city marshal at Austin.
Thompson
was a man of the most cool effrontery. On one occasion, during a cattlemen's
convention, a banquet was held at the leading hotel. The local congressman,
a friend of
Thompson, was not invited.
Ben took
exception to this and attended in person. By way of pleasantry he shot the
plates in front of the diners. Later one of those present made humorous
comment. "I always thought
Ben was a
game man. But what did he do? Did he hold up the whole convention of a
thousand cattlemen? No, sir. He waited till he got forty or fifty of us poor
fellows alone before he turned loose his wolf."
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Ben Thompson
This image available for photographic prints and
downloads
HERE! |
New Releases
Buffalo Bill Entertains
Russian Grand Duke, 1872
It
Lonesome Dove, staring Robert Duval as Gus McCrae with
Tommy Lee Jones as Captain Woodrow Call. Winner of 13 Emmy Awards in 1989, and
best actor Award for Robert Duval, who calls the his best work ever, treasures
his role as Gus as his most challenging and rewarding character he has ever
played. Remember ”Uva uvam vivendo varia fit” - Basically it means that one
grape causes another grape to ripen. Lonesome Dove is the story of two former
Texas Rangers, Augustus McCrae and Woodrow F. Call , who run the Hat Creek
Cattle Company which is situated next to the town of Lonesome Dove on the bank
of the Rio Grande. Another former ranger, Jake Spoon, rides in on the run from
an Arkansas sheriff for accidentally shooting the dentist/mayor (and the
sherfiff's brother) of Ft. Smith. Jake tells about the wonderful unspoiled
country in Montana territory, "A cattleman's paradise". The idea intrigues Call
who wants to go on a journey of a lifetime and be the first to set up a cattle
ranch that far north. Call convinces Gus, who is comfortable being retired, that
they should just pick up stakes and go to Montana, 2,500 miles away. They
'steal' a herd of cattle and horses from Mexican bandidos and head them north.
This is where their adventures begins. They battle storms, snake infested
rivers, horse theives, outlaws, and Indians. It has an astonishing array of
characters, cowboys, outlaws, sportin' women, whiskey peddlers and rivermen,
buffalo hunters and ordinary town folk. They definitely went back to the history
books and researched so many aspects of the movie down to the clothing.
The story won 2 Golden Globes, another 11 Emies wins & 17
nominations throughout the industry. Robert Duval (Gus) says, "It was the best
role I have ever played". The public ate up the mini series like no other
in the history of TV mini series. To date there has been nothing to compare to
its success, Mini series like “Root” was at the time the staple for mini series
but, Lonesome Dove has far exceeded everyone’s dream, it’s the “The Andy
Griffith Show” on mini series, It’s being replayed several times a year on many
different TV channels, The book and DVD continued to be a top selling year
round. I went on ebay there were over 500 Lonesome dove items for sale. They say
if this hit the big screen it would have been the biggest grossing movies of all
time, topping Titanics billion-dollar mark.
Lonesome Dove set the standard for authenticity in cowboy
movie making, right down to metal and wooden buttons. Prior to Lonesome Dove
there were only a handful of films that were true and authentic in every aspect
of movie making. Even though we love John Wayne, most of his cowboy movies were
far from authentic, metal hat bands that shined, hat perfectly shape with dust
or dirt, clean shavin’, perfect hair, pointed toe cowboy shoes, every shirt with
a collar, etc. When in fact there is little evidence of such in the real old
west. Lonesome Dove turn all that all around. They made you realize cowboys
didn’t shower for perhaps months and that they smelled. Yuk!
This week CBS delivered it final Lonesome Dove saga,
“Comanche Moon”. Staring Steven Zahn (Gus) and Karl Urban (Call) , which was the
prequel to Lonesome Dove. Same producers and director, brought forth another
perfect mini series, which I am sure is destine to be a great hit. I cannot wait
till it comes out on DVD.
Lonesome Dove has change the way we look at the old west, I
for one am grateful for it and there authenticity of the old west. Keep up the
good work CBS. Those who love the old west will surely keep Lonesome Dove Alive.
For a complete pictorial of Lonesome Dove, go to:
http://www.theoldwestgallery.com/dove
Some Original Lonesome Dove Trivia:
* Took 16 weeks to film.
* Used between 300 & 600 head of cattle.
* 9 different towns were built. The town of Lonesome Dove was actually built on
the banks of the Rio Grande and the 'stolen' cattle were actually driven from
Old Mexico into Texas. The town was left standing and has been used in at least
one other movie.
* Robert Duvall was originally cast as Woodrow F. Call, but he wanted to play
the part of Augustus McCrea (thank goodness!).
* Next James Garner was choosen to play Woodrow F. Call but couldn't for health
reasons.
* Tommy Lee Jones was then tapped to play Woodrow F. Call and the rest is
history.
* Filming Locations: Texas and New Mexico.
Everybody Wants to Be a Cowboy - Here Comes the Internet to the Rescue
Everybody wants to be a cowboy! Internet is now the new superstore for the old
west. Without the internet it would be impossible almost impossible to find old
west cowboy clothing and memorbilia. The Old West Gallery the largest old west
online store anounces its Internet global launch of its new product line of Wah
Maker Old West Clothing. It seems nowadays that everyone wants to be a cowboy.
Re-inactor groups, old west memorabilia buffs and everyone in between wants to
get in on the action. Everybody wants to be a cowboy, there are no limitations,
from Japan to Great Britain cowboys are the new trend in fashion and fun.
Tempe, AZ (PRWEB)
May 3, 2009 -- It seems nowadays that everyone wants to be a cowboy. Re-inactor
groups, old west memorabilia buffs and everyone in between wants to get in on
the action. Everybody wants to be a cowboy, there are no limitations, from Japan
to Great Britain cowboys are the new trend in fashion and fun.
Small
groups in places like Croatia are starting up cowboy reenators groups putting on
stunt shows and plays. Restaurants are opening all over the globe with old west
themes and everyone dressing old west, guns and all. A new group formed in New
Zealand several years ago and now has its own ranch, old west town, horses,
trail rides, shows and lots of BBQ sandwiches. People from the Far East travel
to New Zealand just to relive the old west.
More
and more cowboy movies are being made, they have never really died, just been
put on hold it seems. Dances With Wolves and the Lonesome Dove Series seems to
have re-ignited the old west movie business. The main difference in today's old
west movies is the fact that they are more authentic then ever, for example, no
more Roy Rogers or Gene Autry version of the old west cowboy dressed up in fancy
duds, silver belts or riding jeeps to save the day. The look, feel, clothing and
equipment are 100% 1800s authentic. The problem is where does the average person
get this stuff to start up a group or look like a real old west cowboy or
cowgirl? There are perhaps a handful of stores in the country that sell the
stuff, but if you're east coast, as they say, "Forget about it"!
Internet to the rescue! Now one can buy anything they want from the old west,
Handcuff, replica guns, hats, boots, bandanas, and period old west clothing
being the biggest demand product. Whether you want to look like Wyatt Earp, Doc
Holliday on Halloween, or become a reinactor, a movie extra, go to work in
Tombstone Arizona, or join the Single Action Shooting Society, the internet is
the place to shop. One company stands out among all the others.
TheOldWestGallery.Com is the largest supplier of everything old west in the
world with over 10,000 products if they don't have it is does not exist as they
say.
TheOldWestGallery.com has outfitted such famous movies as Tombstone, Dances With
Wolves, Comanche Moon, Lonesome Dove and many more. Movie studios are in
constant need of old west clothing and call on companies like these to fill
their needs.
They
even carry copies of all your favorite movie star photos and posters. Whether
you're opening a restaurant and need spittoons and handcuffs or need an old west
outfit, The Old West Gallery is the place to go in my opinion.
http://www.theoldwestgallery.com
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