Cattleman Henry Sitler watched as the survey stakes inched ever closer to his sod ranch house on a stretch of land along the Santa Fe Trail just outside the Fort Dodge military reservation. Recognizing the commercial opportunity of such a location, George Hoover and John McDonald set up a tent saloon near the Sitler ranch house on June 17, 1872.

Following closely on Hoover and McDonald’s heels, buffalo hunterturned entrepreneur Hoodoo Brown and partner Charlie Stewart built a more substantial saloon out of lumber hauled from the Kansas Pacific Railroad depot at Russell. Drinks were downed to the order of 25 cents a throw.

In anticipation of a new town, buffalo hunters began stacking dried hides nearby the survey stakes, intending to ship east by rail as soon as the Santa Fe Railroad arrived at the isolated location. Folks were already referring to the town as Buffalo City.

Buffalo City was dropped for Dodge City in honor of the commander at Fort Dodge, Maj. Richard Irving Dodge. The Dodge City Town Company succeeded in making the townsite official on Aug. 21, 1873.

By the summer of 1878, Dodge City was a wide-open cattle town. The cowboy was king in Dodge and the town was struggling to keep him in line. Without a doubt, Dodge City was the latest wild and woolly end of trail town.

Marshal Ed Masterson was killed in a wild shoot-out in April. Squirrel Tooth Alice, a well-known dance hall girl, was beaten to death by a drunken lover in May. Dirty Dave Rudabaugh and three others were pleading their case in a sensational trial over a botched train robbery at Kinsley. Deputy U. S. Marshal Harry McCarty was killed in a saloon fight on July 13, 1878.

Trouble seemed to be lurking around every corner.

A young cowboy by the name of “Spike” Kenedy rode up to Mayor “Dog” Kelly’s window and let loose a barrage of bullets in a cowardly attempt to assassinate the city official. Unfortunately, he killed a singer and stage performer Dora Hand, “The Cowboy’s Sweetheart.”

Kenedy was tracked down and shot out of the saddle by Dodge City’s finest, including Sheriff Bat Masterson, Deputy Sheriff William Duffy, Deputy Bill Tilghman, Marshal Charlie Bassett and Assistant Marshal Wyatt Earp. Spike lived the rest of his life as a cripple.

Few men were sympathetic toward Spike Kenedy, but hard feelings were developing between the cattlemen and the Dodge City police force.

The cowboys had a different opinion on who the bad men were. Pink Simms later recalled that cowhands had been “robbed, shot and beaten over the head with revolvers and the cowmen were indignant about it.”

Matters grew even worse when George Hoy was shot from the saddle while charging his pony through the streets and shooting his pistol in the air. The activity was referred to as “hurrahing the town.” Hoy died 20 days after the shooting. The Aug. 27, 1878, Ford County Globe observed, “He had many friends and no enemies among Texas men who knew him. George was nothing but a poor cowboy, but his brother cowboys permitted him to want for nothing during his illness and buried him in grand style when dead, which is very creditable to them.”

Charlie Siringo rode into town on Sept. 19, 1878. “Riding up the main street … I saw 25 mounted cowboys holding rifles in their hands and facing one of the half-dozen saloons … In passing this armed crowd, one of them recognized me. Calling me by name he said, ‘Fall in line quick, h—l is going to pop in a few minutes.’” Siringo continued, “We jerked our Winchester rifles from the scabbards and fell in line, like most any other fool cowboys would have done. In a moment, Clay Allison, the man-killer, came out of one of the saloons holding a pistol in his hand.”

Allison was one of the most feared gunmen in the west and he was in town to clean out the corrupt lawmen. To no one’s surprise, all of the lawmen seemed to be missing when Allison came looking. Saloon keeper Chalk Beeson and cattleman Dick McNulty courageously stepped forward to calm Allison. According to Beeson’s account, “We took our lives in our hands and went to Allison and his gang and told them, as friends, that they had better not start anything. We argued with them while the lines were forming for a general battle. They finally yielded and handed us their guns, which we kept until they got ready to leave town.”

Charlie Siringo’s account showed a bit of cowboy bravado, but he essentially agreed with Beeson. “After all the saloons had been searched, Mr. McNulty succeeded in getting Allison to bed at the Bob Wright Hotel. Then we all dispersed. Soon after, the city law officers began to crawl out of their hiding places and appear on the street.”

The Sept. 21, 1878, Dodge City Times disapprovingly reported, “A disgraceful row occurred in the afternoon in which it is said the officers failed to appear. These occurrences are the subjects of much comment on the conduct of the officers.” That much of the story was true, but at least this time, everyone who was on the street lived to tell the tale 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.