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The "Dodge City War" was a bloodless dispute that occurred during 1883 in Dodge City, Kansas. It came after the first 10 years of the city's history, at a time when whiskey and saloons were decreasing as a major force in the city's politics.

From its founding, Dodge had a reputation for corruption and was sometimes called "the Wickedest City in America." The informal association known as the Dodge City Gang dominated the law enforcement and much of the political life of the community, and monopolized the whiskey trade. In 1879 the anti-gang faction won a closely-fought election for Ford County, defeating popular gang member Bat Masterson. This was the first of a number of elections that ousted the members of the gang from positions of authority.

While the new political faction identified themselves as reformers, it seems more likely that they wanted the profits of the whiskey trade for themselves. Mayor Alonzo B. Webster, elected mayor during 1881, owned two saloons himself. The new mayor soon dismissed Bat's brother Jim Masterson as city marshal and posted a series of new 'moral' ordinances, complete with a warning.

"To all whom it may concern: All thieves, thugs, confidence men, and persons without visible means of support, will take notice that the ordinance enacted for their special benefit will be rigorously enforced on and after tomorrow."

Tensions built between the Mastersons and Webster and his allies over the next several months. What began the dispute was the purchase of a half interest in the Long Branch Saloon by a gambler and gunfighter named Luke Short in 1883. Short was a friend of the Mastersons and other gang members.

Webster hoped to end Short's business and had several of the prostitutes who worked for the Long Branch arrested. Luke went to the jail to protest the matter but was confronted by city policeman Louis C. Hartman and there was an exchange of gunfire. Neither man was hurt, but Short believed mistakenly that he had killed the officer and barricaded himself in the Long Branch. When Short learned that Hartman was unharmed he submitted to arrest. He was sent out of town as an 'undesirable' several days later.

Short contacted his friends to protest the matter and Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp began to assemble a small army of gunfighters to support him. The group included such noted gunmen as Charlie Bassett, as well as a large number of lesser-known gunfighters. Daunted by this show of force, Webster negotiated peace with Wyatt Earp. He let Short return to his place of business in return for a promise there would be no violence.

The dispute ended without any deaths. Seven of the gunfighters posed with Short for the most famous Dodge City Peace Commission photo (see above). Shown are: Charlie Bassett, Wyatt Earp, Frank McLain, Neal Brown, W. H. Harris, Luke Short, Bat Masterson, and W. F. Petillon. However, more than one photo was taken, and there was at least one man not pictured in this most well circulated photo, who was better known as a gunman than Petillon, Brown, Harris or McClain, and who was present in at least one other photo taken at the same time. That other gunman was famed lawman Bill Tilghman, who in one photo replaces W. F. Petillon. In another photo, Petillon does not appear at all, nor does Tilghman.

Ironically, Short sold his interest in the Long Branch only months after the dispute ended in his favor. He moved to Texas where he purchased another saloon. Despite rumors that Doc Holliday took part in the "Dodge City War", on the side of Wyatt Earp and Luke Short, he was not present.

Sources

http://www.historynet.com/we/bldodgecitywar/

• Dodge City Peace Commission
• Dodge City Peace Commission June 1883. Original photograph, Ford County Historical Society
• Series of Photographs

• Conflicts in 1883
• History of Kansas
• Dodge City, Kansas