Dodge City: Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and the Wickedest Town in the American West.
By Tom Clavin. St. Martin’s Press.
An apocryphal story tells of a despondent man getting on a train. The conductor asks where he’s going, and the man tells him, “To hell, most likely.” Replies the conductor, “Thatap two dollars, and get off at Dodge City.”
The town’s questionable reputation was well deserved, according to Tom Clavin in this lively account of one of the wildest towns in the West. Itap all here: the cattle drives and Indian attacks, the brawls and fights and killings. Nearly every bad man, lawbreaker and shootist in the post-Civil War West turned up in Dodge during its golden decade, 1872 to 1882. The James Brothers, Johnny Ringo, Doc Holliday, Big Nose Kate and dozens of others spent time in Dodge. The best-known residents, however, were Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson, the Westap two most famous lawmen.
Both were fearless and deadly with their guns. They were intensely loyal and would fight to the death for their brothers and friends. Both preferred “buffaloing,” however — using their guns to subdue opponents by knocking them on the head. Wyatt was quiet and laconic, while Bat was boisterous and loved practical jokes; they were fast friends.
Bat and some friends, for instance, came up with a Dodge City cure for alcoholism. When a well-known drunk passed out, they powdered his face white and placed him in a coffin with a mirror above his head. The idea was to scare the man into sobriety. The man was indeed frightened, but whether he turned sober or went on a bender is unknown.
Dodge’s last big cattle drive was in 1881, about the time of the Dodge City War, a kind of last hurrah that fizzled out. Wyatt went on to Tombstone, and in his last years became a Hollywood favorite. Cowboy actor William S. Hart helped pay for his funeral. Bat wound up a sports columnist for a New York newspaper.
The Denver Civic Center: The Heart of the Mile High City.
By Phil Goodstein. New Social Publications.
Historian Phil Goodstein has written about virtually every other part of Denver, so why not the city’s heart: Civic Center. This book is not just about the Capitol complex but also a wide swath of the surrounding area. Goodstein includes the Golden and Silver Triangles, West Colfax and Broadway.
As with his other books, Goodstein presents a dizzying collection of facts — names and addresses and dates, but there are wonderful stories, too. They range from the KKK to Elvis.
Virtually all of that land is commercial today, but 150 years ago, it included Denver’s first elegant residential area. William B. Daniels, half of Daniels & Fisher, lived in a showplace at 1422 Curtis. Wealthy physician John Elsner lived at 1014 14th St., in a house built by one-time mayor Wolfe Londoner. Elsner’s daughter inherited the house and an adjacent property. After going through the family fortune, she tore down one structure for a parking lot and personally collected the parking fees.
The early mansions disappeared, replaced by non-residential buildings. Broadway became a street of car dealerships. The Denver Athletic Club, the Cactus Club and the Denver Press Club were clustered in one area, museums in another.
Goodstein can be a curmudgeon, and one of the pleasures of reading his books is to come across his personal views. He refers to a guide at the Byers-Evans house as “snooty” and points out that the term “Civic Center Park” is redundant. And as someone who loves history and historic architecture, he castigates the Denver Urban Renewal Authority as “the bureau that wrecked the heart of Historic Larimer Street in the 1960s.”
Once again, Goodstein produces a highly detailed history that both informs and entertains.
A Compendium of Curious Colorado Place Names.
By Jim Flynn. The History Press.
Ever wonder how Slumgullian Pass got its name? Or Saguache? Or Rifle?
Author Jim Flynn wondered the same thing. So he’s written “A Compendium of Curious Colorado Place Names” about the origin of many of the intriguing names of the state’s cities, towns and geological features.
Not surprisingly, many honor politicians and early settlers. Creede was named after Nicholas Creede, a successful prospector. Denver came from James Denver, governor of Kansas Territory. Mount Evans was named for Gov. John Evans. Others places were named for geology, such as Silt and Leadville and Rabbit Ears Pass.
Flynn includes hundreds of place names, although the list is hardly complete. What about Gothic and Tin Cup and Oh-Be-Joyful?
Slumgullian Pass, by the way, has a landslide that reminded early settlers of slumgullian stew. Saguache is a Ute word meaning “water at blue earth.” And Rifle came about when a trapper (or soldier) left a firearm beside a creek, and came back to retrieve it.
