With the coming of spring, renewed activity returned to the cattle frontier from Texas to Kansas and beyond. In the early years of trailing cattle, big rangy steers with horns that spread across the horizon were a common sight.

By the late 1870s the big ones, “old mossy horns,” were few in number. Most of the big cattle had been turned into steak dinners for hungry easterners. A good number of them were sold on government contract to the Indian agencies.

On the trail, a lame “wo-haw” (Indian name for beef ) was often cut out of the herd as payment for crossing reservation land. The old mossy horns gave way to cows and young stock meant to fill new ranches in the Dakotas, Wyoming and Montana.

Two hundred thousand head of cattle were expected to be driven into Kansas for the 1879 season. Speaking of the coming trail driving season, a correspondent reported “The larger part of them are young steers, from 1 to 2 years old. They will probably reach the Arkansas Valley about the middle of May.”

The Chisholm Trail brought cattle into Indian Territory, making boom towns out of Kansas border towns like Arkansas City, Coffeyville and Caldwell. All classes of cattle could be seen moving north, including outfits who specialized in horses only.

C. M. Scott, a correspondent for the Arkansas City Traveler, wrote from Indian Territory, dateline May 21, 1879, that, “James Steen was on the road with 900 head of ponies, and is probably at Caldwell now. Others were behind him with from one to 300 head (of cattle). All horned stock looked a little thin on account of the hard winter, and grass was short for want of rain. Young stock — yearlings and 2-year-olds — could not be bought — there were none for sale — but thousands on the range … We conversed with several owners of large herds of stock that declared their intentions to make Arkansas City their headquarters this fall.”

So remake your vision of big Texas steers trailing north to Kansas railheads. That happened in the early years, but once they were gone, the young stuff ruled the trail.

Dodge City in 1879 was headquarters for cattlemen using the Western Trail. Cowboys filled the streets. Whiskey flowed and six-shooters barked as trail hands celebrated in high style.

Standing between the cowboy revelry and the peace-loving citizens were Dodge City’s lawmen. Cowboys were warned to check their weapons and hold themselves in check as well. But “boys will be boys,” as they say. An almost daily sight during cattle season was that of the mounted cowboy flourishing his pistol on his galloping pony, firing into the air as he bravely left town to return to the tedious life of herding cattle.

In that atmosphere, cowboys weren’t the only ones to push the limits of the law. In May 1879, Assistant Marshal Wyatt Earp waded into three unruly Missourians on their way to the silver mines in Colorado. Earp had one man by the ear when the other two threatened to “throw lead.”

Fortunately, Ford County Sheriff Bat Masterson arrived at that moment, bringing “the broad side of his revolver down over the head of the Missourian...” next to the well-pinched ear. He was lucky. Bat could have easily shot him under those circumstances. All three were arrested. The next morning they were released and told to leave town.

However, that night they returned, and secreting themselves in a dark warehouse, a message was sent that “a man” wanted to see them in the alley. Marshal Masterson wasn’t born yesterday. He posted guards at each end of the alley and one at the front door. All Masterson had to do was wait. When they decided that Masterson wasn’t coming, the men naturally walked into the marshal’s trap. They were easily taken in and slapped back in jail.

The editor of the Dodge City Times noted, “These fellows remarked that they had ‘run things in Missouri,’ and believed that they could ‘take’ Dodge City, but admitted they were no match for Dodge City officers.”

Contrary to popular opinion, a city lawman was expected to follow lawbreakers wherever they might roam. On Wednesday, May 21, 1879, Assistant Marshal Wyatt Earp and Deputy James Masterson, Bat’s brother, rode to a horse camp on Duck Creek to collect money owed in Dodge City for “services rendered.”

As reported by the Dodge City Times, the scene could be played out today in the bright lights of the silver screen.

“Seven brave horse herders stood against the officers.” The odds were against the lawmen, but Earp and Masterson stood firm against the horse drovers, who were “showing no signs of weakening.” The situation called for nerves of steel. One wrong move could mean death. The cowboys finally “blinked” and the money was collected. The Times boasted that Dodge City lawmen were not about to be “buffaloed.”

With each encounter, the story of the cowboy and the lawman grew until both became more than flesh and blood, but legends whose shadows taller than the men who cast them, on The Way West.

“The Cowboy” Jim Gray can be reached at 220 21st Rd., Geneseo, KS 67444, (785) 531-2058 or kansascowboy@ kans.com.