What was cowtown

The Smoky Hills region had long been home to the Cheyenne and other Indian tribes who roamed the area killing buffalo. However, when the Santa Fe and Smoky Hill Trails came through, they began to raid wagon trains and stagecoaches, prompting the building of nearby Fort Ellsworth, which later changed its name to Fort Harker.

When the railroad extended its line to Ellsworth, it quickly developed into a thriving cattle market, dominating other Kansas cowtowns from to The first settlers came to the area about , living in rough dugouts and sod houses.

The following year, the town was officially formed, soon becoming a secondary market in the cattle trade, complete with shootouts, Texas cowboys, and saloons.

Afterward, Great Bend settled down as a regional trade center. Today, it is the Barton County Seat and is home to about 15, people. Hays City — Hays got its start in as the southern branch of the Union Pacific Railroad worked its way west. Hays City was named after Fort Hays , which was founded in Like Junction City and Great Bend, Hays was never a significant cattle market but did receive some business due to its location on the railroad line and the ready market at Fort Hays.

The combination of railroad workers, freighters, buffalo hunters, and soldiers, plus occasional cowboys, made it a very rough town for several years, at one time sporting 37 saloons and dance halls. Cody , who acquired his nickname of Buffalo Bill by furnishing buffalo to feed the railroad workers in Hays.

Today, Hays has a population of over 20, and is the county seat of Ellis County. Hunnewell — In the s, Hunnewell flourished briefly as a shipping point for Texas cattle. Typical of cowtowns, the business district of Hunnewell reportedly consisted of one hotel, two stores, one barbershop, a couple of dance halls, and eight or nine saloons. Also typical was that violence was not uncommon and was the site of the Hunnewell Gunfight in Though the town never grew very large, it dwindled with the loss of the cattle trade.

Today it only has about 65 residents. Junction City — Junction City, located on the Kansas Pacific Railroad line, was a secondary shipping point for the cattle trade. The city, however, got its start long before the cattle trade was booming in Kansas. The first settlers arrived in the area in , soon forming a town called Pawnee on the military reservation of Fort Riley. The first Kansas Territorial Capitol was built in Pawnee in However, that same year, Pawnee ceased to exist.

Soon another settlement was built to the south of the fort, first called Manhattan, before changing to Millard, Humboldt, and finally to Junction City in In November , the Kansas Pacific Railroad extended its line to Junction City, opening the settlement for more people. Today, Junction City is home to about 21, people.

Nearby Fort Riley is still an active military post. Newton — Before the railroad arrived in Newton, a few homesteaders only sparsely populated the area. In , the railroad had been extended to Wichita, which became the next Kansas cowtown.

Salina — Salina got its start in , and by it was one of the most flourishing towns in the state, featuring several new buildings in its business district. Millions of head of cattle were sold and processed through the meatpacking plants, Armour and Swift, through From cattle drive to auction, there were always plenty of cattle and cowboys in Fort Worth, hence the name. Today, the men and women of the Fort Worth Herd pay homage to the city's humble beginnings through the world's only twice-daily cattle drive.

Every day, twice a day at a. Though Quakers are typically pacifists, Worth nevertheless decided for a life of adventure and service to the country in the army. Worth earned a commission as a first lieutenant in March and was immediately assigned to serve as an aide to Gen. Winfield Scott. Scott became an important mentor and close friend as the two spent years together serving the nation.

Worth fought in a number of fierce battles against the British as American forces pushed into British territory in Canada. However, Worth was still determined to serve in the army. So impressed with his bravery and determination, he was named Commandant of Cadets at the U. Military Academy at West Point in as a major. Sometimes the saloon owner sponsored the gaming. Individual gamblers also worked the taverns looking for an opportunity to ply their trade.

Favorite card games were poker, monte, and faro. Dice games and keno, a game similar to bingo, were also popular gambling activities. Prostitution has traditionally appeared where there is a high percentage of men and a low percentage of women. This was the case in the cattle towns of Kansas.

Brothels were established but many women worked for the dance halls where they earned money from dancing, as well as prostitution. Dodge City boasted of three dance halls for a brief time but for most of its ten years as a cattle town, there were only two. The city also earned an income from these activities by levying taxes on liquor, gambling, and prostitution. Dodge City had the most impressive list of gunmen and lawmen of any town in the West.

Short and his partner, prominent banker and cattleman, William Harris, felt that the law had been unequally enforced since mayor and rival A. Webster had not faced similar prosecution. Short was arrested, then forced to leave town. He appealed justifiably to the governor that he had been denied due process.

A compromise was attempted but Short chose instead to convene his pals to ensure his permanent return. The state's adjutant general was finally able to mediate a settlement before any violence erupted with Short being permitted to stay in town. In the early s, the existence of gambling, drinking, prostitution, and dance halls in town, often in open violation of the law, began to heat up as an issue.

The "Dodge City War" in the spring of was followed by pressure from the Santa Fe Railroad to clean up "their" town. The reform-minded and status quo factions were still feuding when David Mather came to town the following year.

A gambler who went by the nickname "Mysterious Dave," he served as assistant marshal in and and was co-owner of the Opera House Saloon on Front Street. Because of its prominent downtown location, the city council objected to his decision to turn it into a dance hall.

They passed an ordinance banning all dance houses but took no action against the one owned by Mather's successor as assistant city marshal, Thomas Nixon, allegedly because of its remote location.

For several months, Nixon and Mather battled to put each other out of business. The feud escalated when Nixon fired some shots at Mather. Three days later, Mather ended the rivalry by shooting and killing his competitor. Pat Sughrue worked as a blacksmith in Dodge when not serving as a peace officer.

Elected sheriff of Ford County in , he was in office during the final days of the cattle era. An epidemic of splenic fever among the Texas longhorns sent local cattle growers and eastern buyers into a panic. Under orders from the governor, Sughrue had the unsavory task of turning back trail-hardened drovers from the Kansas border. This situation coupled with low beef prices and decreasing availability of empty rangeland, led to the passing of the cattle drive era after Mike Sughrue served as deputy sheriff of Ford County under his twin brother Pat.

For his heroic efforts in capturing a murderer, the citizens of Ashland, Clark County, elected him their town marshal in Caldwell challenged Dodge City for the cattle market in the s. Although it was within the quarantined area, it was so near the border that it was able to conduct business without any problems.