The Founding of Dodge City: Bad Whiskey Business

Dodge City was founded on June 17, 1872 as makeshift bar setup five miles west of Fort Dodge. The Founding of Dodge City tells the story of when George Brown meets George Hoover who has set up a makeshift whiskey bar in the middle of the plains. Hoover explains to Brown how he had an obligation to feel the needs of railroad workers and buffalo hunters by opening up a bar. Opening a bar was a simple process, he only needed two things: a place to sell it and the barrels to supply it. The story narrated by Brad Smalley and written/produced by Mike King is a part of a historical series describes how Hoover settled on the location of his makeshift bar, "The western border of the reservation was five miles from the Fort itself. So I decided to mark off five miles from the Fort. To take a true measurement of the distance traveled, I tied a rag to a wheel on my wagon.” At the end of the conversation Hoover convinces Brown to go into the whiskey business by opening a bar next to his tent. Soon after Brown sets up the second saloon in Dodge City a make shift town is created of crude framed buildings, half wood, and half dugout. Brown provides a first hand look at then Buffalo City soon to become Dodge City during the months of July and August of 1872. One week after Brown sets up his saloon gamblers and women start to arrive in big bowed, mule-driven wagons. What comes next from those wagons begins to play out as bad whiskey business - as one of the first gunfights erupts in the street between gambler Moorehouse and ruffian by the name of Langford. You can purchase the book by clicking on Buffalo Days. Learn more about Kansas and the early west by visiting Wild West Podcast Facebook Page. Support the showReturn of the Great HuntersCattle Drives WebsiteLegends of Dodge City WebsiteOrder Books