The Long Branch Saloon was a well-known saloon in

Dodge City, Kansas Dodge City is a city in and the county seat of Ford County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 27,788. It was named after nearby Fort Dodge, which was named in honor of Grenville Dodge. The city ...

, from about 1874 to 1885. It had several owners, most notably Chalk Beeson and

gunfighter Gunfighters, also called gunslingers () or in the late 19th and early 20th century gunmen, were individuals in the American Old West who gained a reputation of being dangerous with a gun and participated in shootouts. Today, the term "gunslin ...

Luke Short. The establishment provided gambling and live entertainment, including Beeson's five-person orchestra. It was the scene of several altercations, shoot-outs, gunfights, and standoffs often associated with cattle towns in the

American wild west The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the Geography of the United States, geography, History of the United States, history, Folklore of the United States, folklore, and Cultur ...

. Most famous was the 1879 Long Branch Saloon Gunfight, in which Frank Loving killed Levi Richardson.

Origins

The saloon was built as the result of a wager between cowboys and soldiers playing ball. Bets were placed and if the cowboys beat the soldiers, the soldiers agreed to provide building materials to construct a saloon. Chalkley Beeson, a wealthy farmer and rancher, and William Harris bought the saloon in 1878. Harris named it after his hometown of

Long Branch, New Jersey Long Branch is a beachside city in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 31,667, an increase of 948 (+3.1%) from the 2010 census count of 30,719, which in turn reflect ...

. It was a plain storefront bar with little ornamentation, typical for frontier saloons of the time. The saloon prospered until the railroad replaced the cattle drive. The establishment burned down in 1885 and was never rebuilt.

Entertainment

Beeson was a talented musician and led a five-piece orchestra that played at the establishment nightly. The Long Branch served milk, tea,

lemonade Lemonade is a sweetened lemon-flavored drink. There are many varieties of lemonade found throughout the world. In some parts of the world, lemonade refers to an un-carbonated, traditionally, homemade drink, using lemon juice, water, and a sw ...

, sarsaparilla, and many types of alcohol, including champagne and beer.''The Long Branch Saloon''
; retrieved March 11, 2010.

Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC ( ) is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple ...

was the original beer served at the Long Branch. Drinks were kept cold in the winter with ice hauled up from the river; in the summer, ice was shipped by train from the mountains of Colorado. Gambling ranged from five cent

chuck-a-luck Chuck-a-luck, also known as birdcage, or sweat rag, is a gambling, game of chance played with three dice. It is derived from grand hazard and both can be considered a variant of sic bo, which is a popular casino game, although chuck-a-luck is m ...

to thousand dollar poker.

Notable patrons and events

The saloon hosted many Old West characters including Clay Allison,

Wyatt Earp Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) was an American lawman in the American West, including Dodge City, Kansas, Dodge City, Wichita, Kansas, Wichita, and Tombstone, Arizona, Tombstone. Earp was involved in the gunfight ...

Doc Holliday John Henry Holliday (August 14, 1851 – November 8, 1887), better known as Doc Holliday, was an American dentistry, dentist, gambling, gambler, and gunfighter who was a close friend and associate of Sheriff, lawman Wyatt Earp. Holliday is b ...

, Frank Loving, Mysterious Dave, Charlie Bassett ( town marshal), and brothers Ed, James, and

Bat Masterson Bartholemew William Barclay "Bat" Masterson (November 26, 1853 – October 25, 1921) was a U.S. Army scout, lawman, professional gambler, and journalist known for his exploits in the late 19th and early 20th-century American Old West. He was bo ...

. The saloon was the site of a gunfight on April 5, 1879, between Frank Loving and Levi Richardson. Loving accused Richardson of making disrespectful advances towards his wife, and the two got into an argument that turned into a gunfight across a table. Loving was grazed on the hand by one bullet; Richardson was shot three times and died. Town Marshal Bassett arrested Loving, but on April 7, a

coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death. The official may also investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

′s inquest ruled that Loving had acted in

self-defense Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of Force (law), ...

and he was released without charges. Professional gambler and gunfighter Short's purchase of a partial interest in the saloon in 1883 was credited as one of the causes of the bloodless Dodge City War.

In popular culture

A saloon of the same name was featured in the long-running

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

and

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

drama, ''

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central charact ...

''. A new establishment named the Long Branch Saloon, largely based on the ''Gunsmoke'' series, was built as part of the modern Boot Hill Museum entertainment and exhibit complex in Dodge City. The exterior was modeled on period photographs of the original building, while the interior is consistent with period saloons of the era. It is furnished with an 1881 bar and two Golden Eagles on top of the back bar that were once owned by Beeson.

Origins

Entertainment

Notable patrons and events

In popular culture

References

Further reading