The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1896-05-14
WHEN DODGE WAS WICKED
Desperate Deeds Mere of Everyday Dc
currence in Frontier Days.

|
From the st. Louis Post-Dispatch
Judge Colborn. secretary of the
Chamber of Commerce of Salt Lake
City. who is in the city. was prosecut-
ing attorney at Dodge City. Kan. when
gambling houses, saloons. hurdy-gur-
dys, dance houses and impromptu
duels were the prevailing amusements.
Judge Colborn talked entertainingly of
those good old days to a Post-Dispatch
reporter yesterday.
Dodge City was in the height of its
fame" he said, from 1872 until 1882. /
That decade covered two eras, the buff
falo hunting era and the cattle raising /
era. From 1872 till about 1875 there /
were $4,000 buffalo hunters on the |
plains and Dodge City was their mar |
ket. There they spent their money |
after disposing of their hides. and |
these were hot times. All the celebri- |
ties of the plains of 20 years ago made |
that headquarters.
1.-The hunters were not bad men in |
the usual aceptation of the term. We
had killing every day or two. but
they did not go out to murder each
other. II a quarrel arose the six
shooter was the only arbiter. Men who |
would settle a difference by fist fight
in st. Louis would settle 1t with guns
there.
1T was the custom of the country
and everybody fell in with it.
| Dodge City, however, when so much
money was floating around, was newt
| ably the stamping ground of hundreds
| of gamblers, thieves, bunko and sure
thing men, dance hall proprfetors. sa-
| loon keepers and hard men of every de-
| scription. There have been Abilenes.
! Tombstones, Deadwoods and other
frontier towns, but in their best days
not a one of them could ever hold
candle to Dodge City. 1 believe Ii was
| he \, r6a haf
the face of the earth.
Society was badly mixed. There
| were some nice people, some nice pure
ladies among them, but the hard ele-
ment predominated. There is this diff
ference between a mining town and
town like Dodge City:
I'm a mining town there are per-
haps a hundred quiet citizens to one
warrior. In Dodge City the conditions
were exactly reversed. The women OF
the hurdy-gurdys and dance halls were
welcomed everywhere by the male
population, and no man lost social
standing by being publicly seen talk
ing to a notorious woman.
81 will never forget a funeral I at
tended which illustrates how badly
mixed society was. The sherins girl
had died, a woman called Joe Ann
Josephine Ann was her name; If she
had any other no one knew 1t. Every
body went to funerals. In the room
where the body lay all the gamblers
and women of the town assembled with
the decent people, on equal terms. The
women were all dressed In mourning,
a custom they always followed when
| one of the sisterhood was to be buried.
The preacher, Rev. o. w. Wright, OFF,
ciated His wife, a sweet, pure little
woman, was with him. A hymn wes
given out, Just as / Am. Without One
Plea The preacher held one cover of
/ the book, his wife the other and be-
> tween them was Fanny Garrison, the
pr.ma donna of the frontier town va
riety shows, who led the singing. The
! hymn was sung as impressively as
| ever heard it in my life by that mot
ley congregation of saints and sinners.
r Fanny Garrison has since reformed
, and is leading a thoroughly reputable
( life.
plug hats were barred in those days
, and new suits of clothing didn't go. A
: plug hat would not last half block.
and new clothes would be doused with
: dirty water from every convenient
| window 1t made no difference who
: wore these prescribed garments. re-
8 member once a delegation of visiting
q editors stopped over a few hours. A
| few wore plug hats-when they landed
They were made the targets of rotten
n | eggs, apples, any missile that came
. handy and the wearers were glad 70
: escape bullets. Mayor Kelly got me a
p plug once and dared me to wear II.
: wore IL a block and IL cost me $3.50 10
square myself with the boys. The mai
z was a total wreck.
y There was time-that was in the
cattle raising days-when relative OF
mine, A. b. Webster, was made mayor
Things had got so bad the Santa Fe
was afraid to operate its trains and
e he was induced by that company "a
e run for mayor. Webster was a brave
! a man as ever lived. He was scout
o for Custer and spent his life on the
o frontier He promptly issued proc
# lamation. which ran something like
Y this:
: "I have been elected mayor and
: chief of police of Dodge City. The six
4. shooter will take the place of the po
d liceman's club. All thieves. thugs
2 bunko men and - of every descrip
.e ton are notified to leave at once
le 'They knew he meant business, ant
e. n sudden hegira of Objectionable char
= acters set in.
re webster killed N. ]. weise, tn
n most desperate man on the plains. III
s. was forced TO do II or die. Wjese ha'
= given it out that he would kill the maj
4 who dared serve notice on him TO leav
ne the town (This was not at Fort Dodge
IN however) Webster had the notice an
ct ! Wiese was looking for him. Whel
they met Webster was the quicker.
"A gang of Wiese's followers had
all liked up 10 asSassinale NepStei
They would have done IL but for Bi
A Hickok. wild BILL who was afterwar
=, killed by Jack Mccall at Deadwooc
"a | Wild Bill announced himself as on IN
as | side of Webster. and the assassin
n knew Wild Bill well enough not to e
he him on their trail.
is The toughest days were in the ca
"A tie raising times. The cowboys wei
an ignorant. turbulent lot, who woul
IN fight and who would take an advan'
=. age every time they could. Bat Ma
- terson was sheriff. Ed Masterson wa
"a city marshall. Charlie Bassett was a.
sistant city marshal and Wyatt Ear
and Jim Masterson were on the polio
.. force. A more courageous set of OF
~ GERS than that would be hard to pic
&c up. The carp brothers were the me