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Dodge City 1876-1878

6K views 66 replies 21 participants last post by  SIGnature 
#1 · (Edited)
As Wyatt Earp worked as a law enforcement officer in Dodge City from 1876-1878, lets look at some of the things that were written in the cities daily paper.

This is a continuation of another thread that got locked where another member wanted documentation that not being able to carry guns in Dodge [ a gun ban ] during Wyatt Earps tenure preserved the peace and kept violence with firearms at bay..

July 7, 1877 - Dodge City Times:
"Wyatt Earp, who was on our city police force last summer, is in town again. We hope he will accept a position on the force once more. He had a quiet way of taking the most desperate characters into custody which invariably gave one the impression that the city was able to enforce her mandates and preserve her dignity. It wasn't considered policy to draw a gun on Wyatt unless you got the drop and meant to bum powder without any preliminary talk."


July 7, 1877 - Dodge City Times:
"Mr. G. C. Noble, of the Atchison Champion, made the following observations during his recent visit here:

'At Dodge City we found everything and everybody busy as they could comfortably be. This being our first visit to the metropolis of the West, we were very pleasantly surprised, after the cock and bull stories that lunatic correspondents had given the public. Not a man was seen swinging from a telegraph pole; not a pistol was fired; no disturbance of any kind was noted. Instead of being called on to disgorge the few ducats in our possession, we were hospitably treated by all. It might be unpleasant for one or two old time correspondents to be seen here, but they deserve all that would be meeted [meted] out to them. The Texas cattle men and cow-boys, instead of being armed to the teeth, with blood in their eye, conduct themselves with propriety, many of them being thorough gentlemen.

August 11, 1877 - Reminiscences of Dodge by Frank Barnard of the Corpus Christi Gazette, reprinted in the Dodge City Times:

and yet with all this mixture of strange human nature a remarkable degree of order is preserved. Arms are not allowed to be worn, and any noisy whisky demonstrations are promptly checked by incarceration in the lock-up.

September 22, 1877 - Dodge City Times:
Here rowdyism has taken its most aggravated form, and was it not for the exceedingly stringent ordinances (some of which are unconstitutional) and a fair attempt to enforce them, the town would be suddenly depopulated and very much in the same manner as Ireland got rid of her snakes.

December 8, 1877 - Dodge City Times
"There is an evident purpose to malign and create false impressions that a person here is insecure in life, and that the citizens of Dodge City are walking howitzers. This is a bad impression that should by all means be corrected. Having but a short residence in this town, it is our deliberate opinion, from a careful observation, that Dodge City is as quiet and orderly as any town of its size in Kansas. We have been treated with the utmost cordiality. We have observed officers prompt and efficient in the discharge of their duties. There is an ordinance prohibiting the carrying of firearms, which is rigidly enforced. The citizens are cordial, industrious, and display a business alacrity characteristic of the frontier tradesman.

These excerpts from the Dodge City Times above, written by various people who visited or lived in the area when Earp was the law dog there.

From the mouths of those who did witness the cities flavor in that era. Someone wanted proof, here's eye witness accounts, including one who wrote the ban might be unconstitutional but there was a "remarkable degree of order" [ in other words, where the ban was enforced ].

The 1876-1878 years when Wyatt ruled the streets as a law dog and enforced not wearing firearms in the city limits produced some interesting observations. From the writings posted, there's clear evidence violence in general and hearing gun fire was almost non existent when Earp ruled the streets and enforced the carrying of firearms ban.
 
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#2 ·
Not at all what I would have imagined, or how it has been portrayed. Wild Wild West tamed and all civilized (for a time). Of course, I wouldn't have imagined Lewis and Clark using air guns either. Thanks for the post.
 
#4 ·
Gun control worked in that era, in that city, in that environ. For anyone to suggest it didn't save lives, calm the rowdy cowboys passing through moving cattle north down a little, or keep people from becoming a victim of the violence in that city caused by firearms worn openly is to deny the facts as stated above while Earp was the LEO there.

Instituted by him with the approval of the city fathers, Dodge became a fairly quiet and safer city, as those cities went back then. Their efforts in enforcing the new ordinance were also mentioned by the populace as a clear reason for the lull in actionnable offenses with firearms that was taking place before Earp arrived.

As I attempted to explain in the other thread, there are similarities between then and now, but one can clearly determine from the article excerpts during Earp's employ that restricting access to firearms had the desired affect, that of a calmer, quieter, and better place for the citizenry to reside.
 
#10 ·
No, it's not what happened in Dodge City. The city took measures that would allow it's citizenry to walk the streets without fear of being caught up in a gun battle in the streets, stray bullets from the saloons, etc.

Lets not forget, the gun ban was enacted primarily for "outsiders" [ they are the ones who caused all the trouble ] who would visit Dodge while driving cattle north from Texas. Though it effectively did keep the citizens from carrying firearms as well, most of them didn't carry a gun to begin with so it didn't affect them one bit. It affected those who came into town just passing through far more than the citizens of Dodge.

Cause and effect, clearly the banning of wearing firearms within the city limits stopped the cause of the problems within, and worked to great effect in further keeping the peace so that the citizens didn't have to worry about walking down main street and catching a stray bullet.
 
#7 ·
Just where I was going Kevin.

I believe much of what we see in the historical anecdotes that Brownie provided is as much a testament to Wyatt Earp's personal strength and effectiveness as it is to any of the other factors.
 
#9 ·
I just got back from a 2 week gig in the Midwest and am catching up here.

Two things about this.

The first is that many people have a lot of misconceptions concerning the history of the Bill of Rights. Until the Heller case, the 2nd Amendment did not apply to states and local governments. In fact, the 2nd Amendment does not apply, as written, to any government, including the Federal government. The Supreme Court has so ruled.

Second, local forearm bans were not enacted over the objections of the voting populous. They were enacted at the demand of the local populous. The people of these towns wanted and demanded restrictions on firearms carry. And they got them.

The situation is not much different today. Most people want what they consider reasonable restrictions on firearms possession. And, in both Heller and McDonald, the SCOTUS agreed that was both Constitutional and desirable.

This is the main reason why it is so difficult to get any significant change in existing firearms laws at the legislative level.
 
#12 ·
Brownie,

Do you not think that Earp's reputation (and presumably his skills) would have been a considerable factor in the peacefulness of Dodge City during his time as Sheriff?

I just wouldn't want to give undue credit to gun control without looking at contributing factors(?).
 
#14 ·
His reputation garnered respect from the BG's, they feared him. There's no law that has teeth without enforcement of same. The ordinance worked because it was enforced by him and others with him. No question his convictions, skills and rep played a roll in it's success.

Good thought process there collegeboy :thumsup
 
#13 ·
I'm not sure how anyone could expect that the bad elements causing the firearm related issues were not seriously neutered when disarmed. If that was true, then by extension, one would have to agree that the cities citizenry was safer for it, supported it, and LESS people were killed during the ordinance for it.

Of course we need to remember that the ordinance was aimed at transient BG's passing through, not the local citizenry. The ban worked because it targeted the BG's. The ban worked because it was enforced swiftly and with authority.

There are many differences between the then and now, who the laws are targeting now vs then, a prime example. That was then, this is now, and through it all, the thing that has really stumped me was whether I was Sara Schumer or Chuck Brady, or a little of both :rofl
 
#16 ·
I submit it is likely that gun control was but a single factor that contributed to the overall peace of Dodge City in that time period.

Of course. Still cause and effect though. Problem existed, problem was solved through enforcement.
 
#17 ·
Coincidentally, there is a biography/documentary on History International right now on the life of Wyatt Earp. One item that I didn't mention because although I suspected it, I couldn't confirm it until now, was that the gun ban in Dodge City did not apply to the residents. Only the cowboys that came through town on the cattle drives had to check their firearms.
 
#20 ·
They obeyed the law under threat of incarceration or death, their choice. They were forced to obey the ordinance. You're right, there's a huge disparity in the times then and the times now. One of the reasons I started the thread was because another insisted there weren't any differences between them, and we've uncovered numerous differences and why the ordinance to ban firearms was so effective then.
 
#27 ·
So it would be a stretch to think their quoting residents and guests of the city was an inaccurate accounting of the times there? I would think it's a stretch to consider the quoted statements were incorrectly misrepresented and that the calm reported by others would have been quite obviously not true.

Somehow I doubt the representation of the times was different than quoted, but anyone has the right to doubt the veracity of the statements made by those people quoted. They certainly didn't have an agenda when describing what they experienced. In fact, one of the excerpts actually mentioned that they felt the lawlessness that was the reputation of that city and that they had heard before arriving in Dodge did not materialize during their stay.

The city had a reputation for violence, and the people quoted didn't see any of that after the ordinance had been enacted and enforced.
 
#28 · (Edited)
Interesting times and the full story of the Earp family is a fascinating study. The firstborn son of Judge Earp was by a different wife,his first,who later died. He did not journey west with the rest of he Earps but remained in the north and lkittle is known of him or his life.
That would actually have made Wyatt the fourth son,rather than the third. The brothers also had two sisters,one of which died at a very young age,but did reach adulthood,I believe.

As to the banning of firearms in Dodge City,Ks., I will agree that it worked in stopping innocent deaths as a result of drunken gunplay along the Front St area,especially,considered to be the main street in Dodge City during this period.

Here are some of Wyatt Earp's words to his biographer Stuart Lake,excerpted without permission from the book -Wyatt Earp-Frontier Marshall.

"I figured that if the cowboys were manhandled and heaved into the calaboose every time they showed in town with guns on, or cut loose in forbidden territory,they'd come to time qiicker than if we kept them primed for gunplay."

"We made no attempt to cut off the celebrations that the cowmen, teamsters, and hunters put on whenever they hit Dodge, but with a steady run of object lessons in the shape of buffaloed gun-toters, ( buffaloing was striking a man over the head with the full length of the barrel of a Colt revolver) we certainly enforced a change in their ritual.
And we held most of the hurrahing and fighting south of the Dead Line which we drew at the railroad."
"In 1876,Dodge was mostly Front St., a wide road running east and west just north of the Santa Fe tracks, with the principal cross street Bridge St,or Second Ave., which led to the toll bridge over the Arkansas River . For two blocks each way from second Ave., Front St. widened into the Plaza, with business establishments strung along the north side
of the square."

" Below the Dead Line, as far as the Marshall's Force was concerned, almost anything went,and a man could get away with gunplay if he wasn't too careless with the lead. North of the railroad,gun toting was justification for shooting on sight,if an officer was so inclined,and meant certain arrest. Any attempt to hurrah stores,gambling houses,or saloons along the Plaza was good for a night in the calaboose, and by proving that the Dead Line meant something every time anyone broke over it's restrictions,we kept trouble south of the tracks."

The deputies working with Earp at the time included Bat and Jim Masterson,and Joe Mason. Earp's salary during this time was $100 a month.More than Deger's at the time,but the agreement was that Deger would remain Chief Marshall until the end of the year,at which time the job would go to Wyatt.
 
#43 ·
Interesting times and the full story of the Earp family is a fascinating study. The firstborn son of Judge Earp was by a different wife,his first,who later died. He did not journey west with the rest of he Earps but remained in the north and lkittle is known of him or his life.
That would actually have made Wyatt the fourth son,rather than the third. The brothers also had two sisters,one of which died at a very young age,but did reach adulthood,I believe.

As to the banning of firearms in Dodge City,Ks., I will agree that it worked in stopping innocent deaths as a result of drunken gunplay along the Front St area,especially,considered to be the main street in Dodge City during this period.

Here are some of Wyatt Earp's words to his biographer Stuart Lake,excerpted without permission from the book -Wyatt Earp-Frontier Marshall.

"I figured that if the cowboys were manhandled and heaved into the calaboose every time they showed in town with guns on, or cut loose in forbidden territory,they'd come to time qiicker than if we kept them primed for gunplay."

"We made no attempt to cut off the celebrations that the cowmen, teamsters, and hunters put on whenever they hit Dodge, but with a steady run of object lessons in the shape of buffaloed gun-toters, ( buffaloing was striking a man over the head with the full length of the barrel of a Colt revolver) we certainly enforced a change in their ritual.
And we held most of the hurrahing and fighting south of the Dead Line which we drew at the railroad."
"In 1876,Dodge was mostly Front St., a wide road running east and west just north of the Santa Fe tracks, with the principal cross street Bridge St,or Second Ave., which led to the toll bridge over the Arkansas River . For two blocks each way from second Ave., Front St. widened into the Plaza, with business establishments strung along the north side
of the square."

" Below the Dead Line, as far as the Marshall's Force was concerned, almost anything went,and a man could get away with gunplay if he wasn't too careless with the lead. North of the railroad,gun toting was justification for shooting on sight,if an officer was so inclined,and meant certain arrest. Any attempt to hurrah stores,gambling houses,or saloons along the Plaza was good for a night in the calaboose, and by proving that the Dead Line meant something every time anyone broke over it's restrictions,we kept trouble south of the tracks."

The deputies working with Earp at the time included Bat and Jim Masterson,and Joe Mason. Earp's salary during this time was $100 a month.More than Deger's at the time,but the agreement was that Deger would remain Chief Marshall until the end of the year,at which time the job would go to Wyatt.
This was the last intellectual statement made on this topic. Any way to continue the discussion from here?
 
#29 ·
Of course, and we know from the excerpts that once it (gun ban) was enacted and enforced, the violence ended.

Wyatt Earp strutted around clubbing anyone he wanted. Then Wyatt, and his gang, gunned down the Clantons and were arrested for murder. Then the Earps had to hire a big time lawyer.

The volence ended with 'Earp's gun ban' = poppycock
 
#30 ·

Wyatt Earp strutted around clubbing anyone he wanted


Incorrect, he was known to use the butt of his pistol to thump someone in lieu of shooting them outright or as a preemptive measure before having the altercation turn to gun play.

Then Wyatt, and his gang, gunned down the Clantons and were arrested for murder.

Your point? He wasn't convicted. Hell, I've been arrested 3 times myself, no convictions. Getting arrested means NOTHING without a conviction.

The volence ended with 'Earp's gun ban' = poppycock

Really? You know more than newspaper editors at the time reported huh? Please, spare us the melodrama and severe subjective thinking you exhibit here all too often for most of us.
 
#31 ·
Earp is not what I would consider a sterling example of what law enforcement should have represented then or now. He was an inveterate gambler and own several saloons and whore houses. Corruption was the name of the game especially in Dodge City.If you do a little research on the shoot out at the OK corral indicates the Earp and his chorts help provoke the incident. Interesting BG but not someone I would have wanted to meet but definetly kept Dodge city quiet
 
#32 ·
I think Wyatt Earp would be in high demand today.
Pick your city.
 
#41 · (Edited)
Wyatt Earp was a pimp. He wouldn't have lasted ten minutes without the gun ban in town.

Funny, there was no ban for months before it was enforced. That's longer than 10 minutes last I checked.

All his great gunfights were fabricated.

Ya, you can't trust eye witness accounts reported on in the daily newspapers whatsoever. Everything written about his exploits was spoken by him to the reporters and there were no eye witnesses. All the reports were fabricated by the newspapers using people that didn't exist. Everyone was in on the deception because they knew he was going to live long enough to see "go Hollywood" :rofl

Got your logical thinking cap on today? Apparently not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
#42 · (Edited)
This was a very good thread and I really enjoyed reading it with my coffee...up until the end of page 3. I continued to page 4 then said "the heck with it."

Edit:
I really enjoyed the discussion on the mind set of gun control as it was back then as to it is today. Thanks Brownie + company!
 
#45 ·
There will always be multiple views about the truth, the impact, the societal and political motivations of early US history. Methods of documentation were just too primitive in those days. Thus, we can debate Brownie's newspaper excerpts until the cows come home without knowing the absolute truth. Still, it's an interesting exercise.

The old west lawmen, businessmen, cattlemen, miners were surviving in a most hostile environment in hopes peace and prosperity would eventually come about. In the meantime, they did whatever was necessary to move their vision forward. I see Earp's style of law enforcement as necessary in the time, supported by the serious citizens and effective under the circumstances.

We had scoundrels, scumbbags, opportunists, thieves, liars and every other manner of being in the old west just as we see reported in our news today, every day. Throughout US history, some of our most prominent leaders had very dark sides; nonetheless, their positive contributions are viewed with greater weight than their shortcomings. Such is probably the case with Earp.

I believe Brownie's reporting would have been quite acceptable if Earp's tactics had been characterized as 'strict enforcement of town policy against dangerous behavior with firearm's. The whole thing blew up when he carelessly employed the term "gun control".
 
#47 ·
Gunsmith, you judge Earp as though you witnessed his misbehavior; by what authority do you condem him with such conviction? Is it possible he accomplished good results along with the bad stuff? His enigmatic past might be compared to a more recent figure whose history is still the subject of debate; remember J. Edgar Hoover? Did Hoover's total good exceed his total bad? Just an example, not the seed of a new thread.
 
#50 ·






His enigmatic past might be compared to a more recent figure whose history is still the subject of debate; remember J. Edgar Hoover? Did Hoover's total good exceed his total bad? Just an example, not the seed of a new thread.

Hoover was a egotiisical clown. To the point he paraded his lover in public.

His great lawman image was tainted by the massacre at Little Bohemia, and innocnet bystanders at the Biograph theater. I have ofter nheard that Obama was a 'Gifted visionary' but all I see is a clueless clown. But if insist that Hollywood's version of history is correct, then I will obey and sign any statement your wish.
 
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