The Dead Men Who Made Dodge City Infamous Walk Again Through Their Stories

While most Western history fans know the famous lawmen and outlaws who made Dodge City legendary, the actual souls buried on Boot Hill Cemetery have remained largely forgotten—until now. These weren't just nameless bodies; they were real people whose violent deaths created the reputation that still defines Dodge City nearly 150 years later.

The summer of 1872 marked the beginning of Boot Hill's dark legacy when Jack Reynolds, described as a "notoriously contemptible desperado," was shot six times by a railroad worker during an altercation. Newspaper accounts coldly reported that "law-abiding people of the Southwest had been rid of a terror." This callous attitude toward violent death became the norm in early Dodge, where murders occurred with shocking frequency.

From the gambler Denver who shot a man called "Blackjack" simply "for the pleasure of watching him kick," to dance hall owner Tom Sherman who publicly executed a troublemaker named Burns by asking bystanders, "Well, I better shoot him again, hadn't I boys?" before putting a bullet between his eyes—these stories reveal why Dodge earned its nickname as "the wickedest little city in America." The turning point came in June 1873 when William Taylor, a Black cook for Colonel Richard Dodge, was murdered by drunks, prompting military intervention and the establishment of Ford County's first official law enforcement.

Boot Hill was never a proper cemetery but a convenient dumping ground for those nobody claimed or cared about. By 1879, civic leaders had grown weary of Dodge City's association with Boot Hill and closed it down, attempting to reshape the town's blood-soaked image. Yet the forgotten stories of those buried there—ordinary people caught in extraordinary violence—reveal more about the real Wild West than any Hollywood portrayal ever could.

What forgotten stories from America's frontier past fascinate you? Subscribe to hear more untold tales from the Wild West that challenge everything you thought you knew about our shared history.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:08

you're here on wild west podcast we talk a lot about the, the big, famous names that came in and out of dodge city over the years and just the the american west in general. You know the names that that everybody knows the bat mastersons, the bill tillman's, the wyatt herpes, all these guys. We even talk about some of the lesser known folks, the infamous ones, the ones that don't get movies and TV shows and big books dedicated to them, but were every bit as important in telling the story of Dodge City and Western development as the names that every school kid knows. We even talk a lot about Boot Hill in Dodge City and what that represented to the town and to Western culture and why Boot Hill kind of put Dodge City on the map, so to speak, in a I guess in a derogatory sense. What we never talk about and what most people never talk about is the actual names that were buried on Boot Hill, those bodies everyone used to be a living person and and I think that their stories person and I think that their stories deserve to be told, at least in some cases, the very few details that we truly do know about them. These are the guys who made Boot Hill the location that it was and their stories definitely deserve to be told.

Speaker 1 2:10

Boot hill started to be populated in dodge city as early as the the summer, early fall of 1872, when dodge city was very much in its infancy. Dodge city was known by many monikers over the years the wickedest little city in america. Comparisons to babylon were not at all unfounded and it's these stories of violence and death that populated Boot Hill that gave rise to those monikers and, honestly, when we read some of these stories they didn't even hardly scratch the surface. So one of the earliest names that we do know, who was buried on Boot Hill in Dodge City, was a man by the name of Jack Reynolds. The date was September 5th 1872. Jack was described as a notoriously mean and contemptible desperado. Jack, for whatever reason we don't know the cause of the affair got in a fight with one of the track layers who was still coming through through Dodge City at that time. The, the Atchison Topeka and the Santa Fe Railway arrived in Dodge City in early September of 1872. So it was a very, very active hub for for railroad development. A lot of track layers, a lot of railroad workers there in the midst of the, the soldiers from the all of the itinerants, the buffalo hunters, all of the alcohol intake that was happening in the growing town. Violence was bound to happen. It was a combustible powder keg ready to blow, and Jack was one of the first that really set off that match. So he got in a fight with a track layer and the track layer was apparently having none of it. Rather than mince too many words with Mr Jack Reynolds, the track layer pulled his six-shooter and put six balls in rapid succession into Jack's body. The newspaper account that we have regarding the affair at the time read that the law-abiding people of the Southwest had been rid of a terror. The next body that we know was buried on Boot Hill. We know the story but we're not exactly sure of the name. He went by a couple of different monikers. One was Black Jack. He was also known by Tex or Texas from different sources.

Speaker 1 4:39

The story goes there was apparently a ruckus out in front of Dog Kelly's house. Kelly was an early saloon owner, early mayor of Dodge City. There was a platform out in front of Kelly's house and a crowd had gathered out in front of it. As the railroad traffic increased in Dodge City, so did the people coming in and out of town. The businesses got busier, the streets got busier and it was not uncommon to see crowds gathered out in the streets with all of the liquor that was flowing in and out of most of the businesses in Dodge City at the time, it was not unheard of for these crowds to suddenly turn unruly. We know from the story that some folks on one side of the crowd started firing shots over the heads of the people in the streets from the other side. A general ruckus ensued and one of the members of the crowd was a gambler by the name of Denver Guess, where he was from. Well, denver took advantage of the ruckus, pulled his gun and saw this man, this blackjack, standing on the platform in front of Kelly's house, a little bit above and and within view of of the crowd, kind of had a clear shot, which denver took. He pulled his gun, he leveled it at blackjack's head and pulled the trigger. Now, those bystanders standing around there, they they assumed, just due to the general melee, that they just assumed it was an accident and that's the story that was told for many years, although there were rumors of a beef between the two men, although no one seemed to know what had caused it. It was not until years later that word got back to Dodge City, into the, the hand of Robert Wright. That said, this gambler, denver, who, long after he had passed through Dodge City to parts elsewhere, was bragging about the murder of Blackjack. He said that he had killed Blackjack, shot him through the top of the head out of pure cussedness and just for the pleasure of watching him kick.

Speaker 1 7:06

The fall of 1872 started off as equally as violent as the summer had been in Dodge City and as the businesses started growing. You had not just bars and retail establishments. Dodge got its first hotel in the form of the Essington House, owned by carpenter JM Essington. Again, as we keep stressing, dodge City was founded on whiskey and definitely made a name for itself in those who partook in the good spirits. Now, mr Essington seemed to be taking a little bit too much time in his own stores there, in the hotel stores there in the hotel, and if anybody has ever been involved in the restaurant industry, one of the first things you learn is don't antagonize the cooks. Well, mr Essington learned that lesson a bit too late, when he got drunk, spent a little bit too much time digging into his own stores there and began to antagonize his cook. The cook also was having none of it pulled his gun, leveled it and killed Mr Essington. Essington was the next burial on Boot Hill. His business partners then took advantage of their now silent partners' sudden demise, rebranded the Essington House into the Dodge House Hotel, which became a Dodge City legend on its own.

Speaker 1 9:02

December 3rd 1872, there was yet another bar fight, this time in a place called Tom Sherman's Dance Hall. Remember that name, tom Sherman, because we'll visit him again later. There was a fight in Tom Sherman's place between a group of gamblers and a group of soldiers off-duty from Fort Dodge gamblers and a group of soldiers off duty from Fort Dodge. One of the soldiers, a man named Hennessy, who was apparently a bully of the company, was also killed in the fracas. But a man named Charlie Morehouse, possibly one of the gamblers, morehouse got drunk and tried to flirt with a girl who was on the arm of a young man named Billy Playford. Billy took advantage of the general ruckus and killed Charlie Morehouse. On December 3, 1872, charlie Morehouse was the next burial on Boot Hill, was the next burial on Boot Hill. If the summer, fall and winter of 1872 weren't enough to cement Dodge City's wicked and wild reputation.

Speaker 1 10:16

New Year's Day of 1873 opened with a bang, and that bang came from the gun in the hands of a buffalo hunter named mcgill, who killed a 16 year old boy. We don't know the boy's name or anything more to the story, but mcgill apparently continued to run free throughout. Dodge well into the coming year and remember that name because, like tom sherman, we'll see him again later. Later that month, on January 17th of 1873, a man by the name of Ed Hurley was crossing the street, probably going from one saloon to another. As he crossed the streets, navigating the crowd, between the buildings, there was a buffalo hunter that he passed who was being too loud and belligerent, hooping it up a little more than Mr Ed Hurley could stand. Hurley shot and killed the buffalo hunter, left him laying in the street and continued to walk into the next saloon. There he saw a man named McDermott who was flirting with a girl by the name of Nellie Rivers. Jealous, ed Hurley pulls his gun and starts shooting at McDermott. Mcdermott then returns fire and Ed Hurley pays for his act of violence on the buffalo hunter in the street. Ed Hurley was the next victim, buried on boot hill, although a possibly innocent bystander who had nothing to do with the the beef between the two over the girl. A man by the name of barney cullen, was also caught up in the violence, killed and joined ed hurley in a grave next to him on boot hill.

Speaker 1 12:12

Mcdermott's story was not over yet either, and joined Ed Hurley in a grave next to him on Boot Hill. Mcdermott's story was not over yet either, although it was about to be. His story came to an end on February 18, 1873, when a friend of Ed Hurley, a man by the name of Casey, took his revenge out on Mr McDermott, this time in AJ Peacock's saloon. He stormed into the saloon, found McDermott there sitting and shot him dead. When Nellie Rivers, the girl in question of the fight between Ed Hurley and McDermott earlier the previous month, when she heard that McDermott had been killed, she stormed across the street, entered Peacock Saloon, saw the dead man there laying on the floor and took her own revenge out and slapped his dead face silly. That same month, february of 1873, a sudden blizzard north of Dodge City caught five buffalo hunters unawares. They were found a day or two later, brought back into town and all buried together on Boot Hill.

Speaker 1 13:37

February 1873 was becoming a busy month. With all of the violence in Dodge City, some of the more upstanding citizens of Dodge had begun to have enough. Citizens of Dodge had begun to have enough. They got together and formed a group of vigilantes seeing how there was no legitimate law enforcement yet in Dodge City. The vigilantes included names that we've talked about on this podcast before, men like James Hanrahan of Adobe Walls fame, and one of those names I told you we'd mention again, mr Tom Sherman, and one of those names I told you we'd mention again, mr Tom Sherman. There was a certain gang apparently operating in Dodge City at the time that had at least seven men who were sort of hoorah in the town, the leaders of which we have the names of Ed Williams and Charles Hill, often known as Charles Texas Hill. On February 9, 1873, the vigilantes caught up with the gang. They captured the two leaders and executed them. The other five members of the gang were given a choice either join their friends or leave Dodge City on the first train. They chose the second option. Ed Williams and Charles Texas Hill were buried on Boot Hill On March 11, 1873,.

Speaker 1 15:19

That buffalo hunter by the name of McGill, that same one who would kill the 16-year-old boy on New Year's again rears his ugly head. He'd been riding herd over Dodge City for several months already and was next on the vigilantes list. Mcgill was finally caught up to by vigilantes james hanrahan and john scott. The newspapers reported at the time. After mcgill's demise, it was reported that he was known to entertain himself by shooting bullets through the windows of every building that he passed by and that he would not pass this way again.

Speaker 1 16:02

The following day, on March 12, 1873, tom Sherman, possibly caught up in the spirit of the vigilante violence, took part in a shooting that has sort of gone down in history, although most folks don't know exactly how. On the day in question, a man named Burns was causing a bit of a disturbance in Tom Sherman's dance hall. Mr Sherman had enough. He threw Burns out in the street and shot him through the doorway, followed him out and, as the Johnny Cash song goes, he stood over Burns there in the mud and the blood and the beer, looked around the street and any passers-by within earshot. Mr Sherman spoke loudly. He said well, I better shoot him again, hadn't I boys? Put his gun between Burns' eyes and blew his brains out. Burns' body was left there for an entire day On June 3rd 1873, a burial on Boot Hill was a result of a particular murder in Dodge City.

Speaker 1 17:28

That was very much to change the course of law enforcement in the town. Very much to change the course of law enforcement in the town. William Taylor, who was a black man, a friend and the private cook of the commander of Fort Dodge, colonel Richard Dodge Taylor, was hired by a group of drunks, including some of the vigilantes a group of drunks including some of the vigilantes to transport them in his mule-drawn wagon from one saloon to another sort of a party bus in 1872. After several trips back and forth, taylor had had enough. He told the men that his mules were tired and that he was going to be quitting the ride-giving service. In response, one of the men shot one of Taylor's mules. Taylor, of course was indignant. He told them so and in defiance they shot William Taylor. They shot William Taylor. Taylor's body was then hauled by friends across the street into Herman Fringer's drugstore. However, the the vigilantes and the the rest of the drunks, they went inside. They drug William Taylor's body back out into the street and it was a mass execution. They all continued just pumping bullets into Taylor's body until their guns were empty, two of these men, one vigilante, john Scott, and another by the name of Bill Hicks.

Speaker 1 19:07

The following day, when Colonel Dodge got wind of what had happened to his friend William Taylor, colonel Dodge was also, let's just say, indignant. He wired the governor of the state of Kansas for permission to use military force to go into Dodge City and arrest the perpetrators, which he could still do at the time. This was not long before the Posse Comitatus Act was passed in the United States, which prohibited federal military force being used on civilian populations. Well, permission was granted, colonel Dodge took a contingent in and basically declared martial law over Dodge City while he was hunting down the perpetrators. And on June 4th 1873, bill Hicks was arrested by Colonel Dodge. Scott, however, got away. He was hiding in the icebox of AJ Peacock's saloon. The very next day and this is why I say it that killing very much changed the course of law enforcement in Dodge City was June 5th 1873.

Speaker 1 20:24

With the violence in Dodge City, the wickedest little city in America had gotten completely out of hand. Boothill was already filling up and Dodge City had barely been open for a year. Ford County was officially established and the first elections kind of emergency elections took place and Charlie Bassett was elected as the very first Ford County Sheriff. So now, for the first time, there was some actual legal law enforcement in Dodge City and Ford County, which, for the sake of judicial purposes, ford County essentially occupied the entire southwest corner of the state of Kansas. So Dodge City was now the law in the entire southwest corner of the state, was now the law in the entire southwest corner of the state, and Sheriff Charlie Bassett and his deputies were tasked with keeping the law which, as the stories that we've told so far show in Dodge City, was not to be an easy task. Of course, now that there was law enforcement in Dodge City of the legal kind, we're trying to get past the vigilante days. There was now city ordinances, county ordinances.

Speaker 1 21:46

One of the misconceptions about law in Dodge City is that the law was the same all over town, no matter what side of the railroad tracks you happened to be on. Now how they were enforced differed. The south side was generally accepted to be more wide open. The north side was more subdued, more enforced. It was illegal to carry and discharge a firearm anywhere inside the city limits of Dodge City. However, on the south side of the tracks. If you didn't get in trouble for it, you weren't going to get in trouble for it. The north side was a little more strictly enforced, not just in regards to firearms, but in regards to women in saloons as well.

Speaker 1 22:39

Now, as everyone knows, a woman in a saloon is a prostitute. That's how it was assumed to be. Why else would a woman be in a saloon in Dodge City? Now, if you bring a woman into a saloon, that's the way you're treating her. You're treating her like a prostitute. Well, that just wasn't done. A woman is a lady and she will be treated as such, no matter what she does for a living. That was commonly understood. On the north side of the railroad tracks, there were no licensed dance halls, which meant there were no women allowed in the saloons.

Speaker 1 23:21

A man by the name of William Ellis apparently did not get that memo, because on July 20, 1873, he attempted to escort a woman into the Dodge House Saloon, which was on the north side of the railroad tracks, directly north of the train depot, and the bartender, dave Burrell, seeing Mr Ellis trying to bring this woman in the front door of the saloon, thought how dare you? And shot Mr Ellis dead. Of course, dodge City being what it was. Dave Burrell the bartender was then immediately killed by one of Mr Ellis' friends and they both wound up on Boot Hill. But a Wichita newspaper reporting on the event did say that Ellis was well-liked and would be very much missed by his parents. It's doubtful that they knew he was bringing women into saloons in Dodge City. As we've seen from these stories already.

Speaker 1 24:26

I think it becomes obvious that Dodge City's reputation was well earned. There are any number of historians of late that do try to make the case that Dodge City really wasn't as violent as the stories and the reputation would seem to indicate, although they do seem to be largely looking at more of the heyday of Dodge City, that post-1875 period where after Dodge City was incorporated and there was not only county law enforcement but city law enforcement as well for the first time. And from that point, moving forward what I call the Boot Hill stories, they did kind of seem to slack off a little bit. But that first year and a half, two years of Dodge City definitely cemented the across the state who were sending reporters out, fascinated, telling their readers what was going on in Dodge City. That reputation of that first two years made Dodge City what it was and Dodge never really recovered from that, never really recovered from that.

Speaker 1 26:02

Boot Hill, as the kind of geographical focal point for so much of that violence, also became a byword for the wickedness and evil and den of iniquity that Dodge City was. Dodge City was so identified with what Boot Hill represented that it wasn't long before Dodge finally got sick of that reputation and wanted to close down that focal point, boot Hill. Boot Hill was never a cemetery. Boot Hill was a dumping ground.

Speaker 1 26:32

Boot Hill was never a cemetery. Boot Hill was a dumping ground. The cemetery was at Fort Dodge. Anybody who actually mattered, anybody with means, with people who knew them, anybody cared about, was buried out at Fort Dodge. That was the legitimate cemetery. The city being kind of an extension of what was needed to supply and assist the fort, it was a natural extension to continue to use that cemetery as a base. Boot Hill was just as far outside of town as they felt like dragging a dead carcass that nobody knew and nobody gave a damn about. And, as I said, by 1879, even by the summer and fall of 1878, dodge City had gotten beyond their willingness to deal with that reputation any further and Boot Hill was closed. Thank you.