1883 - Wyatt Earp and the "Dodge City War"

[Shotgun Steve]

This 1883 article details Wyatt Earp in Dodge City Kansas. Also mentioned is Doc Holliday, Wild "Bill" Curley, Bat Masterson and more. It states every one of them "has killed a half a dozen men"... Luke Short was calling his fugitive friends to protect his property. In 1883 Short settled in Dodge City, Kansas, where he purchased a half interest in the now famous Long Branch Saloon, partnered with friend W.H. Harris. This put him at odds with the mayor of Dodge and his allies, who made attempts to run him out of town as an "undesirable". In what became known as the Dodge City War, Luke's friends rallied a formidable force of gunfighters to support him, including Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and Charlie Bassett. Faced with the threat of force, Short's opponents allowed him to return without a shot being fired. Later that year he sold his interest and moved to Fort Worth, Texas. The "Dodge City War" was over without any deaths. Seven of the gunfighters posed with Short for the most famous Dodge City Peace Commission photo.

[Will Ketchum]

And not a gun in sight!

Will Ketchum

[Stillwater]

I see two cigars..., bottom row, extreme right and extreme left.

[kflach]

The following link is to "just another web site" so I can't say that everything he says is correct (although it's consistent with other info I've read on the web. The reason I'm posting it is that he's got several variations of the photo on his "photos" page as well as information on who is who in this photo.


http://captyak.tripod.com/dodgecitypeacecommission/index.html