The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1883-05-31
DODGEcTrY

Inc Town As describes DY En9 chicago
Inter Ocean.
Dodge City, Kansas, was recently de-
scribed by correspondent of the Inter
Ocean as "the toughest town on the
line" although q citizen he interviewed
was hopeful OF its moral improvement
from the fact that "there were few de-
cent women and two or three children
there now" It is the end of ''the long
drive, "where the herds from the ranches
OF Texas, Indian Territory, New Mext-
CO, and western Kansas reach the cars,
and Is mostly populated by the cow
boys, drovers, gamblers and prostitutes.
The rsnchmen hold their assemblies
there and il is sort Of rendezvous,
employment agency, pay station and
loating place for the cowboys. If
ranchman wants gang of herdsmen he
goes to Dodge City, where hundreds are
usually lying around waiting an engage
ment. Those who are employed buy
their outfits there-their ponies and
blankets and saddles, and the supply of
bacon, -four, coffee and canned goods for
the camp commissary. After the
ground up" in the spring the COWS
and calves and bulls are turned loose up
on the plans, and the steers are driven
to Dodge City, where the owner receives
his money from the Chicago Or Kansas
City buyer. and the cowboy is paid off
for his winters work. Then pandemo-
mum reigns. The reckless youth who
has been lying idle on The plains all
winter. sleeping in 6 shack or tent and
watching the herds, takes a vacation, the
length of which is determined by the
supply of funds, and he generally man.
ages TO make Rome, or, rather, Dodge
City, "howi."
As the cowboy population is migrs-
tory, the permanent residents of the
place are the saloon keeper the gamb-
lers, and the occupants of dens of vice,
who liYe on the spring harvest. They
control the town and its government,
community OF harpies, human vultures,
preying upon the weaknesses and the
wees of reckless men. a distinction
should always be drawn between a
trough" and slough" in the language
of the frontier. A tough" Is q reckless
man, but not q vicious one. He will fight
and shoot, but will not steal. He has
a kind heart, and generally, when sober,
q go0d-natured and accommodating dis
position. He is immoral but not GRIM
inAl. A trough" is the reverse. He
lives to plumber and plumbers to lrve, and
the cowboy Is his victim. Nearly every
spring there is grand row at Dodge City
between the cowboys and the roughs,
and in the parlance of the former class it
sometimes becomes necessary for them
to stake the town." They will spend
their money recklessly in all forms of
debsuchery and dissipation, and the
gambler, with his worst associates, will
gather it ali in; but when it comes to ac-
tual robbery, the cowboys resist and
have their revenges. Last spring they
murdered the chief of police. As one
of them related the circumstance
to our correspondent, this official,
gambler, was IN the habit OF locking
| up slender feet"-tkat lie, new comers-
and, AFTER robbing them of their money,
notify them to leave the town. This
was all right as long as the operation
was confined to tenderfeet, but it was
| tried last spring on cowboy who had
been east on q visit and came
back wearing "a short horn collar and a
bald-faced shirt" By these signs he
was supposed to be greenhOrn, and the
plan of official robbery was tried on
him. He resisted, and the cowboys
came to his aid. The chief of police
was plugged" as the narrator ex-
pressed 1t, and the cowboys 'took the
town."
The annual rumpus is now in pro-
| gress, and, while the facts are meagre,
| it is probable another case of the same
kind. The mayor, who is proprietor of
a dance-house and variety theatre, has
organized vigilance committee and it
| means murder. There will be great
deal of shooting and many will die
with their boots on;" but when it
comes time for the cowboys to return
to their ranches the trouble will expire,
| to be revived again next spring. One
i e
can not realize the fury of these feuds
and absolute recklessness of those who
/ participate in them. Human life is not
held in even as great value as the cattle
| that are driven to market. The man who
steals steer dies; he who murders a
fellow creature goes unpublished and
unrestrained.