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Famous Cattle Towns

Dodge City, Kansas: The Queen of the Cowtowns and the Western Trail

Built on buffalo hides and the Santa Fe Railroad, Dodge City shipped Texas cattle by the thousands until quarantine lines closed the trade in 1885.

How did Dodge City begin?

Dodge City was established in 1872, just before the Santa Fe Railroad arrived. According to the Kansas Historical Society's Kansapedia entry on Dodge City, its early business centered on buffalo bones and hides, and the town served as a rendezvous for soldiers from Fort Dodge.

The buffalo trade did not last, but the same rail connection that carried hides east was ready for another cargo. By 1875 Dodge City had become a cattle town.

Why was Dodge City called the Queen of the Cowtowns?

For about ten years the town was called the Cowboy Capital of the world and the Queen of the Cowtowns. The Kansas Historical Society's article on Kansas cow towns says Dodge City, founded in 1872, became the principal cowtown after quarantines closed other towns, and that from 1875 to 1885 more than 75,000 head were shipped annually.

An 1876 act of the legislature moved the quarantine line west and cut Wichita out of the cattle trade. Quarantines, together with homesteaders' fences, pushed drovers toward Dodge City. Shipping peaked in 1883 and 1884.

Gamblers, lawmen and the saloon economy

Drovers came to town for gambling, liquor and other entertainment. The Kansas Historical Society says saloon-owning businessmen ran the city and paid fines of more than $5,000 a year rather than enforce temperance laws.

Wyatt Earp, Bat, Ed and Jim Masterson, Doc Holliday, William Tilghman, Clay Allison, Ben and Billy Thompson and Lake Short all spent time in Dodge City.

The Key to Dodge City's Cattle Boom

Dodge City became the main cattle market because of timing, geography and law. It sat on a railroad, it was far enough west to stay beyond the advancing quarantine line, and its leaders welcomed the drovers.

That position was fragile, and it depended on rules set far away. When the rules moved, the trade went with them.

  • Had a railroad: the Santa Fe arrived as the town was founded in 1872.
  • Inherited an existing economy: buffalo hides and the Fort Dodge soldiers brought people and business before cattle did.
  • Benefited from quarantine law: the 1876 act moved the line west and removed Wichita as a competitor.
  • Welcomed the drovers, with saloons and entertainment, and paid the fines described above.
  • Shipped more than 75,000 head a year for a decade, peaking in 1883 and 1884.

What ended the cattle trade in 1885?

By 1885 new irrigation and farming in the arid Southwest led the quarantine border to move to the Colorado line, ending Dodge City's cattle trade. Two fires in 1885 destroyed much of the early commercial district, and by 1887 the city had rebuilt with brick structures.

Across the state, the broader cow town era ended as rail lines reached directly into Texas, demand grew for better-bred stock, and homesteaders filled the open range. In 1884 an epidemic of splenic fever among Texas longhorns caused panic, and Sheriff Pat Sughrue turned drovers back at the Kansas border under the governor's orders. Low beef prices added to the pressure, and trail drives ended after 1885. Kansas remained a major cattle state, ranking third nationally in cattle production by 1890.

Dodge City after the cattle drives

The population grew rapidly in the first three decades of the 1900s. In the 1930s Dodge City was the subject of several Hollywood films, and a movie of the same name premiered there. It was also the setting of the television western Gunsmoke, and downtown was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.

The Kansas Historical Society page does not cover the Western Trail by name, Boot Hill or beef packing, so this profile does not describe them in detail. For a general overview see the Wikipedia article on Dodge City.

Learn more about Dodge City and the cattle drives

Abilene, an earlier railhead, makes a useful comparison, and McCoy's story is told at the Abilene history page on Joseph McCoy and the Chisholm Trail.

For more cowboy and cattle drive history, see the ranching pages on farm.FM, or read a farm.FM story about Kansas cattle towns and cowboys.

Timeline

  1. 1872Dodge City is established just before the Santa Fe Railroad arrives
  2. 1875Dodge City becomes a cattle town
  3. 1876Legislature moves the quarantine line west, cutting out Wichita
  4. 1883Cattle shipping peaks, with 1884 as the other top year
  5. 1885Quarantine line moves to the Colorado border; two fires hit downtown
  6. 1887Downtown rebuilt with brick buildings
  7. 2009Downtown listed on the National Register of Historic Places

Frequently asked questions

Why was Dodge City called the Queen of the Cowtowns?

From about 1875 to 1885 it was the principal Kansas cattle town, shipping more than 75,000 head a year after quarantines closed other towns.

When was Dodge City founded?

In 1872, just before the Santa Fe Railroad arrived. Its early business was buffalo bones and hides and trade with Fort Dodge soldiers.

Why did Dodge City's cattle trade end?

In 1885 the quarantine border moved to the Colorado line, ending the trade. Rail lines reaching Texas, homesteaders and low beef prices also ended the long drives.

Which famous lawmen were in Dodge City?

Wyatt Earp, Bat, Ed and Jim Masterson, Doc Holliday and William Tilghman are among those who spent time there.

Sources and further reading

Profiles are compiled from public sources and reviewed against them. See our editorial policy to suggest a correction.

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