Guns Of The Old West

Dodge City badges were worn by Bat Masterson (County Sheriff), his brother, Ed Masterson, (a Marshall City killed in the exercise of its functions) and Wyatt Earp (also a marshal of the city), among others. His job was to bring order to this wild cowtown western Kansas, where the railroad, buffalo hunters, soldiers from Fort Dodge and livestock herders came to drink, party and Dillon fight.Matt U.S. TV drama Marshall is based in Dodge City, was probably a composite of several lawyers who actually wore a badge and applied the law in Kansas cowtown.

Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp were the two most famous lawmen who patrolled the streets of Dodge City average, breaking the fighting and reducing further violence by disarming and arresting drunk, noisy and contentious revelers flocked to saloons, brothels and gambling tables. Armed with revolvers Colt Navy and nerves of steel, both had a reputation for being quick on the draw and deadly with a pistol, which generally makes it unnecessary for them to engage in actual shootings. A drunken rowdy or belligerent can usually be controlled by a pat on the head with the long barrel or a heavy butt of a Colt Navy, and few sober men were willing to risk their lives by pulling down on the one of them.

Dodge City, Kansas was born June 17, 1872 on the windswept prairie five miles west of Fort Dodge military reservation. The new facility includes a bar room in a tent, and a three-room house with grass that had been built in 1871 by pioneer farmer, Henry Sitler.

The location is significant: alcohol was banned in Fort Dodge, so that the growing town was located close enough to attract companies of soldiers in the fort, but still legally remain outside its boundaries. Other companies soon followed by the bar room, and August 15, the town was organized in the city of Buffalo. In October the name was changed to Dodge City. There was already a Buffalo, Kansas, USA and the Post Office's policy is to avoid duplicate names in the same state to avoid confusion in mail delivery.

But Ford County, Kansas, where the town got up, was still a wilderness without a government, a large law enforcement less organized. The county did not even have a sheriff until 1873. Dodge City, itself, was not formally incorporated until 1875 and it was during those two years of anarchy that the city has earned its reputation as a haven for dangerous and violent for the wicked.

The military remains the only government in the area, had no jurisdiction outside the fort. The refilled Atchison, Santa Fe and Topeka railroad Dodge City had turned into a booming city with many companies, including many shows and brothels. buffalo hunters, railroad workers, herders of cattle and the nearby fort soldiers fought in the streets, leading inevitably to shootings.Men died with their boots in rapid, violent bursts of fire lit by liquor free flow, which led to the creation of a "Boot Hill" cemetery, further fueling the city's reputation for violence.

The first recorded killing in Dodge City was in September 1872. During the years that followed, fifteen men were dying in the streets of lawless and be planted on Boot Hill, leading to the city's reputation as a haven for thugs and lawless cowboy boys. law enforcement when it came, was a combination of gross and vigilante members whose methods were as violent as the criminals.

Two political factions existed in 1873-those who wanted the city to remain wide open to alcohol, gambling and prostitution, and those who felt more and more the city's reputation as a violent and dangerous place was bad for business. The right and the crowd won, and a sheriff was appointed. The person appointed Charlie Bassett, was reelected in 1875.

In 1875, the great buffalo slaughter had ended, and the huge revenues that flow into Dodge Ci