All agreed that tipping a few beers outside of the sun would be a nice relief. Lucky for all, the soldiers lost the game and the building materials promptly showed up. Before long, the Long Branch Saloon was born.

The saloon was purchased by Chalkley Beeson and William Harris in 1878 and through their efforts it soon became the most popular and refined place for the cattlemen of Dodge City. Chalkey Beeson's five-piece orchestra played nightly for the entertainment of the cattlemen. Beeson also organized and led the famous Cowboy Band which entertained all over the west at cattlemen's conventions, concerts, dances and in Washington, D.C. at the inauguration of President Harrison.

Gambling ranged from a game of five cent "Chuck-aluck" to thousand dollar poker pots. The Long Branch Saloon served milk, tea, lemonade, sarsaparilla, all types of alcohol including champagne, and of course beer. Anheuser-Busch was the original beer served in theLong Branch. Everything was kept cold in the winter from ice that came from the river, and in the summer it was shipped out on the train from the mountains in Colorado.

The Long Branch Saloon was one of 16 rowdy saloons during Dodge City's Wild West Days. Soon, however, lawmen, such as Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, Bill Tilghman, Charlie Basset and others helped to tame the town.

In 1885, the original Front Street buildings were destroyed by fire and as the cattle drives were ending with the coming of the railroad, they were never rebuilt.

Today you can see a reconstruction of Front Street that began in 1947. Located on a section of the original 1870s cemetery, the buildings represent Dodge City as it appeared in 1876. Carefully researched through historic photographs and newspapers, you feel as if your stepping into the past when you enter the grounds of the Boot Hill Museum.

Various exhibits and hundreds of original artifacts can be seen throughout the museum which depict early life in Dodge City. There is a collection of over 200 original guns on display, a working print shop, an extensive collection of drug store items, a Victorian era cattleman's home, one-room school house, railroad depot, dry goods store, saddlery, and many other special exhibits. Each of the more than 20,000 artifacts displayed throughout the complex are authentic.

Dodge City in 1874, courtesy Ford County Historical Society

"Kansas has but one Dodge City, with a broad expanse of territory sufficiently vast for an empire; we have only room for one Dodge City; Dodge, a synonym for all that is wild, reckless, and violent; Hell on the Plains."

-- A Kansas Newspaper in the 1870's