Dodge City, KS

This town was one of the most lawless cowtowns when the west was opening up. Fort Dodge was built to keep travelers safe on the Santa Fe Trail. The town's lawless ways were not governed by the soldiers. Some of the famous lawmen who took the job of bringing law and order to the town were Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Bill Tilghman and Charlie Bassett. The original town burned town. What is there now is a reconstruction and moved up a ways from the original site.

Fort Scott, KS

Forts were a big help in the settling of the west. During its roughest years, Kansas became known as "Bleeding Kansas" due to the issues of being a slave state or not. During this time, John Brown and his sons killed 5 pro-slavery advocates. The fort was abandoned in 1853 and the buildings were sold. A couple of hotels were opened. The fort was reoccupied for the Civil War in which Kansas joined with the Union side. This is very well preserved site and worth the visit.

Shakespeare is in New Mexico??

Yes!!! The town that is. Shakespeare was host to the likes of Billy the Kid, Johnny Ringo and The Clantons. It was also part of the Butterfield Stage Line along with Steins, NM. It was a mining town without law. It started dying when a railroad was built in Lordsburg, NM. The is a website you need to look about Shakespeare. It had a fire in 1997 and lost 3 buildings and irreplacable materials. http://www.shakespeareghostown.com/history.html

Steins, NM

Has anyone heard of Steins, NM? It is a railroad ghost town and very interesting place to see.It survived attacks by the Apache Chief Cochise and outlaw Balck Jack Ketchum. When the railraod went to diesel engines, the town started dying.

July 21, 1878

This date, July 21,1878, was Sam Bass's 27th birthday and also the date of his death. He was considered an honest man and worked for Sheriff Eagan in Denton, TX. He had a weakness for gambling and it was that weakness that lead to his lawless ways.He started with scamming people by fixing horseraces. From there, he went onto sell a herd of cattle and kept the money without ever paying for them.He was into robbing stage coaches and trains before his luck ran out. He eluded being killed while he was surrounded several times and that is what made Sam Bass a folk hero.

Old west and the law

Jack Slade was born in Carlyle, Illinois. At age 24, he killed his first man there and never returned. He was hired for his shooting ability by the Overland line (stagecoach). They made him superintendent for the line. He was a gun fighter who would kill for the pleasure of killing. He was a heavy drinker and nasty when he was drinking. His drinking problem got him fired from The Overland. He was living in Virginia City, Montana when he met his end. He was on a drinking spree when the towns' people grew tired of it and hanged him. His body, preserved in alcohol, was taken to Salt Lake City and buried in a Mormon cemetary.