Legends of the Old West - ENCORE I DODGE CITY Ep. 5: “The Last Hurrah”

Episode Date: June 29, 2022

In Tombstone, Arizona, events lead Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday to the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. And then Wyatt and Doc seek further justice on the outlaws who attack Wyatt’s brothers. Wyatt’s posse ends up in Colorado where Bat Masterson intervenes to save their lives. And then Wyatt, Bat and several more lawmen from the old days return to Dodge City for days of tension known as the Dodge City War. Join Black Barrel+ for bingeable seasons with no commercials: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The mayor of Dodge City and the county sheriff nervously peered out the window of the telegraph office. Their furtive glances shifted from the quiet street outside to the telegraph machine sitting silently on the desk. The silence was the problem. It dragged out, minute after minute. The men were anxiously waiting for a telegram from the governor that would say he was sending help, hopefully two full companies of state militia. The mayor and the sheriff thought they needed that much firepower to counter the firepower that was building on the other side of the dispute. The other side not only had literal firepower in the form of dozens of men who were good with guns, but some of those

men now had legendary reputations as well, and that was a powerful combination, reputation and the skill to back it up. The men with skill and reputation had names like Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, and Charlie Bassett. They'd been notable lawmen in Dodge just a few years earlier, but in the intervening years, at least two of them had become household names nationwide. And now they were all coming home to Dodge to support their friend Luke Short in his battle against the mayor and the sheriff. When the posse that had been formed by the mayor and the sheriff discovered that some of the toughest lawmen in the West were returning to Dodge, it quickly melted into the shadows. And so now the mayor and the sheriff stood in the telegraph office staring at the silent machine, willing it to begin a tap dance that told them the governor was sending help.

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From Black Barrel Media, this is Legends of the Old West. I'm your host, Chris Wimmer. This season, we're telling a five-part story about Dodge City and the duo of Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp. This is Episode 5, The Last Hurrah. Two years before some of the nation's most famous lawmen converged on Dodge City, Bat Masterson had rushed from Tombstone to Dodge to help his younger brother, Jim. Bat's arrival kicked off a shootout in town that was called the Battle of the Plaza.

That was in April 1881. Six months later, Wyatt Earp ended up in a shootout in Tombstone. Its notoriety far eclipsed the Battle of the Plaza, and in fact, every other shootout in American history. In the months following Bat's departure from Tombstone, tension continued to build between the Earps and the outlaw gang called the Cowboys. On a cold, blustery day in October 1881, the water came to a boil. Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan Earp, and their friend Doc Holliday, confronted four members of the gang in a vacant lot behind the O.K. Corral.

The lot was sandwiched between Fly's Photography Studio and William Harwood's home. It was only about the size of a two-car garage, and in the span of about 30 seconds, seven men fired around 30 shots at each other while standing just a few feet apart. The cowboys were two sets of brothers, Ike and Billy Clanton and Frank and Tom McClowry. Ike was unarmed and ran away when the shooting started. Billy, Frank, and Tom died during the gunfight. Frank was shot dead right in the middle of Fremont Street, and for the first 50 years after the shootout, it was called the Fight on Fremont Street, or the Street Fight on Fremont. But history now knows it as the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. It was big news, but the events that came after it turned Wyatt Earp into a celebrity. After the shootout, Ike Clanton charged the Earps and Doc

Holliday with murder. A heated legal proceeding lasted for a month, but a judge ruled in favor of the Earps and Holliday. Ike Clanton and the other cowboys would not get to see the Earps and Holliday hanged, so they took revenge themselves. Three days after Christmas 1881, Virgil walked out of the Oriental Saloon at 11.30 p.m. As he crossed Fifth Street, he was shot in the back and the left arm by three double-barrel shotguns. The would-be assassins fired from a vacant building across Allen Street. Virgil nearly died that night. He eventually recovered, but he was never able to use his left arm again. And his ambush was just the first attempt to strike a deadly blow against the Earps. The next

one succeeded. Three months later, in March 1882, Morgan Earp was shot and killed right in front of Wyatt. Morgan was playing pool after an evening at the theater with Doc Holliday, and gunshots exploded through the glass door of the establishment. Again, the assassins fired from distance in the dark of night. After Morgan's death, Wyatt packed up all the remaining Earp family members and put them on a train to California. Then he and a small group of supporters, including Doc Holliday, began what would later be called the Vendetta Ride. Over the course of three weeks, Wyatt and his crew rode the hills of southern Arizona looking for the cowboys.

They killed three men during the pursuit, one of whom was a leader of the gang, Curly Bill Brocious. The shootout with Curly Bill took on mythical proportions and added to the legend of Wyatt Earp. By the time the Vendetta ride ended, Wyatt's actions to get justice for his brothers were front page news across the country, and he was one of the most famous men in America. The end of the Vendetta Ride was not the end of the Tombstone Saga, and Bat Masterson

had a part to play in the finale. When Wyatt and his men felt their work was done, they fled Arizona. They went east to New Mexico and then up to Trinidad, Colorado, where Bat Masterson was the town marshal. The group from the Vendetta ride parted ways in Trinidad. Wyatt and his youngest brother Warren stayed in town for a while to hang out with Bat, but then they left as well. Warren stayed in town for a while to hang out with Bat, but then they left as well. They hunkered down in Gunnison, but Doc Holliday continued on up to Denver, and that's where he would need the help of Bat Masterson. In Denver, Doc was confronted on the street by a man who claimed Doc had killed his partner. They caused such a commotion that both were thrown in jail. The event made it into the newspapers, and now the authorities in Arizona knew the location of Doc

Holliday. The anti-ERP faction back in Tombstone was trying to track down and extradite Wyatt and Doc and put them on trial for the vendetta ride. In some thin legal sense, Wyatt and Doc and the other men were on the run. Wyatt was keeping a low profile and working back channels to get a pardon from the governor of Arizona. But keeping a low profile was not Doc's style. Now their cover was blown and there was fervor coming out of Arizona to have them returned. Batmasterson intervened on Doc's behalf in Denver, and then on behalf of the whole crew. Bat spoke to the governor of Colorado and made a strong case that if the guys were sent back to Arizona,

they'd be killed. The governor was able to deny extradition based on a legal technicality, and Bat arranged for a warrant to be sworn out against Dock in Pueblo so that the governor could keep Dock in Colorado. The case was essentially closed, and Wyatt and Dock never set foot in Arizona again. And this episode in southern Colorado was the last time Wyatt and Batt saw Dock Holliday alive. Southern Colorado was the last time Wyatt and Bat saw Doc Holliday alive. Doc stayed in Colorado for the rest of his life, which turned out to be another five years.

His tuberculosis and his nightlife caught up with him on November 8, 1887. He passed away at Glenwood Springs at the age of 36. Wyatt and his brother Warren stayed in Colorado for several months after that flurry of activity with the governor, and then they went to California late in 1882. Wyatt reunited with the true love of his life, Josephine Marcus, whom he'd met in Tombstone, and they embarked on a series of adventures over the next 46 years. But before they could really begin those adventures,

Wyatt was called back to the town that really put him on the map, Dodge City. Wyatt's friend Luke Short was in trouble. Luke had sent a telegram to Bat Masterson in Denver and Bat had immediately taken a train to Kansas City. Luke explained the series of events that had recently forced him out of Dodge, and he and Bat decided to assemble an all-star team to escort him back to town. It was the genesis of the fabled Dodge City Peace Commission. Relatively little is known about Luke Short when compared with his friends from Dodge City,

men like Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and Bill Tillman. But Luke certainly endeared himself to those men and many others, even though he was never an official lawman. He willingly rode with posses organized by the lawmen, and he hurried to Tombstone when Wyatt called, but he never wore a badge himself. Two things seemed consistent about Luke. He was a good gambler and a good gunfighter, and his success as a gambler in Dodge looked like it was going to lead to one hell of a gunfight. Luke started as a Texas cowboy at the tender age of 15, which obviously led him to cow towns in Kansas. He'd also been a scout for the Army and had survived Native American attacks on the Northern Plains. He'd seen his share of barroom gunfights, one of which happened in Tombstone in the spring of 1881,

right before Bat Masterson had to rush back to Dodge to help his brother Jim in the Battle of the Plaza. It was after that gunfight outside the Oriental Saloon in Tombstone that Luke returned to Dodge City. And Dodge City of the early 1880s was becoming a vastly different place from the Dodge City that Wyatt and Bat left in 1879, its days as the queen of the cow towns were done. Longhorn cattle from South Texas had been spreading sickness to other cattle as they moved north to Kansas. Ranchers began forcing cattle from South Texas away from their properties at the barrel of a gun. The cattle drives to Kansas began to wane in the early 1880s, and the last big cattle season in Dodge was the summer of 1881.

The next year, the frontier was considered tamed, and nearby Fort Dodge closed down. Three years later, in 1885, the state of Kansas closed its borders to all cattle from Texas. the state of Kansas closed its borders to all cattle from Texas. So the first half of the 1880s was a time of great change in Kansas as a whole, and especially in Dodge. Some of the men who had been friends with, and loyal to, the old guard lawmen in Dodge City now found themselves under political attack. The trouble started in earnest in April of 1883. By then, Luke Short was the co-owner of the Long Branch Saloon with his partner Bill Harris. Bill had just lost the

election for mayor. The new mayor was the hand-picked successor of the old mayor, and they both wanted to drive out people who were connected to the old guard lawmen of the 1870s. The new mayor was Larry Dager. He'd been the town marshal back in 1876 when Wyatt Earp had been hired for his staff. The next year, Dager lost the election for county sheriff to Bat Masterson, and then he lost his job as a deputy. So Dager had a grudge against Wyatt, Bat, and all those connected to them. Luke Short was a longtime friend of Bat and Wyatt,

and Luke's current partner, Bill Harris, had also been in business with Wyatt at the Oriental Saloon in Tombstone. So Luke Short and Bill Harris represented the last big connection to the old guard. Larry Dager was now the mayor, and he had the power to run them out of town. He helped enact laws against brothels and prostitution, but they only seemed to apply to the Long Branch, owned by Luke Short and Bill Harris. The former mayor, who had picked Dager as his successor, owned a competing saloon. So if Dager and the former mayor and their supporters could force the Long Branch out of business and force Luke Short and Bill Harris out of town, it would be two wins for the price of one.

In April 1883, women working at the Long Branch were arrested. They were identified as singers, which was sometimes a euphemism for prostitutes. But this time it appeared to be literal. On this night, they appeared to be just singing. When Luke Short found out they'd been thrown in jail for singing, but none of the singers at the other saloons had been arrested, he strapped on his guns and went to the jail.

That night, Luke Short had a brief exchange of gunfire with a very frightened deputy. Luke thought he'd killed the man, but in the extreme darkness, he couldn't see that the man had tripped and fallen and had not actually been shot. Over the next couple days, Luke was arrested twice and thrown in jail. After the second time, the mayor and the police force marched Luke through the town to the train station. They didn't care if he took a train east or west, but he had to go. Luke went east to Kansas City, where he sent a telegram to Bat Masterson in Denver. Bat hopped a train to Kansas City, and Luke filled him in on the backstory.

By this point, all Luke wanted to do was sell his interest in the Long Branch and get out of Dodge. He and Bat agreed. If they were going to pull this off, they'd need help. Luke contacted the governor of Kansas, and Bat contacted lawmen from the old days. The governor had heard some disturbing things about the so-called reforms happening in Dodge. Reports were coming in that the town was basically in the possession of vigilantes, but the governor was hesitant to take firm action. He didn't want to send in the militia and possibly start a gun battle, so he told Luke to go back to town, under his nominal protection, for 10 days and settle his business affairs, then get out for good. Luke realized it was the only option, but he wasn't going alone. Batmasterson recruited several men to support Luke, and he began with Wyatt Earp. Wyatt recruited four more men and they headed for Dodge. Wyatt's five-man team was the first to arrive. A town

policeman, whom Wyatt knew from his time as a lawman in Dodge, met the group at the station. There was no way the policeman could disarm the five heavily armed arrivals, so Wyatt convinced him to deputize the group, even though the policeman probably didn't have the power to do so. Wyatt assured the policeman that he didn't want trouble. He was only there to see that Luke Short got a fair shake, but they were going to carry guns in town regardless of the laws, so the policemen might as well deputize them so that it wouldn't be a problem. The policemen agreed, and suddenly Wyatt was back on the force in Dodge. Kind of. He directed his men to take up positions around town. And then the next wave of Luke's friends arrived.

Former County Sheriff Charlie Bassett stepped off the train with at least three others. Word spread quickly through Dodge that Wyatt Earp, Charlie Bassett, and a whole host of others were in town to back Luke Short's play. Wyatt dutifully informed the town marshal that Bat Masterson would arrive the next day, and when he did, they would start the ball. Hostilities, as he called them, would begin. The next arrival was Luke Short himself. It was reported that he had a pistol strapped to each hip and carried a double barrel shotgun. He also announced that Bat Masterson was on his way. Now, the mayor and his faction were seriously nervous. The mayor urgently wired the governor to send troops, but the governor

refused. The mayor and his supporters would have to handle this on their own. And the newspapers fanned the flames by churning out stories about the impending battle they were calling the Dodge City War. Bat Masterson arrived the next day, as advertised. He carried a loaded shotgun, and no doubt had his ivory-handled pistols tied down. Wyatt greeted him at the train station, and by that point, there were more than 50 men in town to support Luke Short. There was no way the former mayor and the current mayor and their allies could hope to compete with that kind of force And beyond the sheer numbers many of the men who backed Luke Short had prominent reputations as lawmen or gunmen or both

and the reputations were well earned The mayor's allies had no such reputation or experience. The dramatic buildup and the show of force worked. The mayor and his allies backed down. They agreed to let Luke Short stay in town, and the Long Branch could resume normal operations, with some minor modifications. The saloon could once again feature gambling, but the tables had to be screened off from the rest of the joint,

and women could return to the saloon with no fear of being arrested for singing. Luke Short agreed to the plan and was surely grateful to Wyatt, Bat, Charlie, and all the others who'd committed their time and willingness to get into a fight to help him settle the dispute. And with that, the Dodge City War was done. It ended up being one of the few wars in which there wasn't a shot fired, much to the dismay of the local newspapers that hyped up the event and really wanted some action to write about. For the finale, eight members of what was then called the Dodge City Peace Commission posed for a photo on June 7, 1883. The photo features Luke Short and his business partner Bill Harris,

two other friends of Luke's, and four lawmen from the glory days of Dodge City, Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Charlie Bassett, and Neil Brown. The day after the immortal photo was taken, the members of the Dodge City Peace Commission began to drift away. After all the effort and tension, Luke Short only stayed in Dodge for a few more months. In November of 1883, he sold his interest in the Long Branch

and moved to Fort Worth, Texas. The following spring, in April 1884, voters kicked out the mayor who'd caused so much trouble. They reinstalled the man who'd been their first official mayor, the man who had hired Wyatt Earp almost exactly eight years earlier in 1876. One of the mayor's first official acts of business was to appoint an old stalwart of Dodge City law enforcement to the post of town marshal, Bill Tillman. The next year, in 1885, the state of Kansas banned all cattle coming up from Texas because of a fever they carried with them. Some breeds of Longhorns were immune to the disease, but Kansas cattle were not. That was the true end of the Texas cattle drives in Dodge City, and the true end of the rowdy old days.

the rowdy old days. The town that began as a crude camp for hard-drinking soldiers and buffalo hunters grew into a lawless settlement that expanded into a community that featured the most prominent collection of lawmen in American history. Throughout the 1890s and into the new century, Dodge City transitioned from a frontier town of about 1,700 people to a small city of nearly 30,000. The town that once sported nicknames like the Wickedest Town in the West and the Wickedest Little Town in America and Queen of the Cowtowns faded into memory. Like the men who had once walked its streets to keep Texas cowboys in line. They transitioned into the modern world, just like Dodge. After the Dodge City War, Wyatt Earp and his wife Josephine traveled all over the West, from Colorado to Nevada to Alaska and eventually to California.

They settled in Los Angeles, where Wyatt started working with Stuart Lake on the biography that initiated many of the myths that still survive today, including one of the great misnomers of all time, the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Wyatt worked as a kind of technical advisor for the burgeoning movie industry until he passed away in 1929 at the age of 80. Though Wyatt was older than his good friend Bat Masterson, he survived Bat by eight years. Bat reinvented himself in the second half of his life. After the Dodge City War,

he continued his usual routine of working gambling tables in the mining towns of Colorado. But along the way, he also developed as a writer. He wrote political editorials and letters to the editor, and he'd also been a sports fan. When he'd helped Doc Holliday out of the jam in Denver, he'd been on the way to see a horse race. When the 20th century dawned, horse racing and boxing were two of America's big sporting interests, and Bat turned himself into a sports writer and a sports promoter. Bat and his wife Emma spent 12 years in Denver as Batt ran sports emporiums and wrote stories for publications. Along the way, he met future President Teddy Roosevelt, and the two became friends for the rest of their lives. Just before the turn of the 20th century, Batt and Emma moved to New York City. Batt initially worked as a gambler and a boxing promoter,

but some of the writers at the Morning Telegraph newspaper noticed his stories from Denver. The paper hired him to write three columns per week called Masterson's View on Timely Topics. He covered pretty much everything. Sports, local politics, national politics, gambling, cultural events, and the theater. Readers loved his straightforward style and the frontier perspectives he laid into the stories. His popularity grew, and soon he and Emma were part of high society in New York. When Teddy Roosevelt became president, he offered Bat the job of U.S. Marshal in Oklahoma Territory. But Bat and Emma were having too much fun in New York to head back to the dusty life on the

southern plains. After Bat declined, Roosevelt offered him the cushy job of U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of New York. That was more to Bat's liking. It was part-time and mostly ceremonial anyway, and now he was allowed to walk around town with a gun, just like the old days. And of course, that furthered his reputation as a legendary lawman and gunfighter. In New York City in 1921, Bat Masterson passed away at the age of 67. He sat at his writing desk with his pen in his hand. Thanks for listening to the story of Dodge City, Wyatt Earp, and Bat Masterson here on Legends of the Old West. Next time on the show, it's our year-end finale, and it's a big one. It's the story of the last great outlaws of the West,

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. That series begins on October 28th on the regular podcast feed, but members of our Black Barrel Plus program received the entire series to binge one week earlier, October 21st. You can join the program through the link in the show notes of this episode or on our website, blackbarrelmedia.com. Lastly, here are some book recommendations about this story. Dodge City by Tom Clavin.

Batmasterson, The Man and the Legend by Robert D. Arment. And Wyatt Earp, Life Behind the Legend by Casey Tiefertiller. This season was researched by Aaron Aylsworth and written by Aaron and myself. Audio editing and sound design by Dave Harrison. Original music by Rob Valliere. I'm your host and producer, Chris Wimmer. If you enjoyed the show, please leave us a rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening. Check out our website, blackbarrelmedia.com, for more details.

And join us on social media. We're at Old West Podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Thanks for listening.