Dodge City by Tom Clavin

 

Tom Clavin has written an informative and interesting history of Dodge City during the 1880's when the city had the reputation of being 'the wickedest town in the American West'.  This was the decade of the big cattle drives and when the cowboys made it to their destination, they were ready to cut loose and drink, gamble and seek female companionship.  The job of sheriff or deputy was low paid although there was an extra amount given for each arrest and there were plenty of those.  The job was also dangerous as alcohol and guns were a deadly match and tempers were often short.

The book focuses on three men in particular.  Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson and Doc Holliday were all known for their fast draw and gun shot accuracy.  Clavin gives the men's backgrounds and then follows them through their time in Dodge City.  Both Earp and Masterson had several brothers and these relatives floated in and out of the story.  Holliday was a dentist by trade but in reality a gambler and alcoholic who mainly backed up his friend, Bat Masterson.  He and Earp didn't get along that well but Earp put up with him due to his friendship with Masterson.

Clavin also covered the fight in the OK Corral.  It was a short fight as opposed to the reputation and fame the battle gained.  He also covers the various battles against train robbers, stagecoach drivers and trail bosses with their cowboys.  Other interesting topics were Boot Hill, Billy the Kid and various other famous outlaws of the time.

There was a lot to learn in the book.  The first was the relative shortness of the time period that Dodge City was so wild and wooly.  It was mainly one decade, the 1880's.  Another was the relative shortness of the time that the men were lawmen.  It was a young man's game and both Masterson and Earp were pretty much done by the time they were out of their twenties.  Masterson ended up in New York as a newspaper writer and Earp in California.  Earp was married four times and his last wife was the longest relationship and was with him at the end.  Masterson also had multiple marriages and his last wife started as a bigamous marriage but they remained together for many years.  This book is recommended for nonfiction readers and especially those interested in the Western expansion and settlement.