by Kirke Mechem
August,
1933 (Vol. 2, No. 3), pages 294 to 308
Transcribed by lhn; HTML editing by Name withheld upon request
digitized with permission of the Kansas State Historical Society.
THE first and
with perhaps one exception the only real bull fight ever
held in the United States was staged at Dodge City on the
fourth and fifth of July, 1884.1 It was a genuine
Spanish importation, via Mexico, featuring expert Mexican
bull fighters and actual swording of the bulls. In defiance
of the nation-wide protest which arose against this
"barbarous celebration of our national holiday" the Cowboy
Capital, as was its habit in those days, presented the
spectacle as advertised and thumbed its nose at the
clamor. To
A. B. Webster, a former mayor of Dodge City, goes credit for
the town's unique sporting venture. It was while struggling
on the horns of a dilemma presented by the necessity for
concocting something new in the way of Fourth of July
entertainment, that Webster was prodded by his inspiration.
After a moment's consideration of the feasibility of the
idea he made a hasty calculation of the expense involved and
with characteristic frontier promptitude set out to sell his
proposition to the town. Within an hour Dodge's business men
had subscribed and paid in over $3,000. By the end of the
following day the estimated budget of $10,000 had been
raised.2
1.
Under Spanish rule there were many bullfights
bull-and-bear fights, and similar spectacles in the
Southwest. There are vague references to fights
along the Texas and Louisiana borders at a later
period. Despite the opposition of humane societies
there have since been numerous attempts to
introduce bull fighting in the United States. On
July 31, 1880, a Spaniard held a steer baiting in
New York City "when " according to the New York
SemiWeekly Tribune, August 3, Texas steers
showed their docility and good breeding." Rubber
caps were fitted on the horns and the matadors were
not permitted to harm the animals. Henry Bergh,
Jr., president of the American Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, attended and
stopped further exhibitions. In 1895 managers of an
exposition at Atlanta Ga. sold a Mexican collage
concession in the knowledge that bull fighting
would be the principal attraction. Protests brought
about a cancellation, although, according to the
New York Tribune, October 9, 1895, bull
fighters, bulls and horses were on their way from
Mexico. Cripple Creek, Colo., shares honors with
Dodge City for the only fights where bulls were
actually sworded, so far as the writer has been
able to discover. On August 24 and 25, 1895, three
bulls were killed in the ring in a particularly
brutal manner, in the presence of excursion crowds
from Colorado Springs and Denver. Contrary to the
procedure at Dodge City, no attempt, apparently,
was made to secure animals that would fight. Docile
Hereford bulls were cut to pieces trying to escape.
(Denver Republican, August 26, 1895.) The
Humane Society, much criticised, later stopped a
fight one of the same promoters attempted to hold
in Denver. At Omaa, Neb. on July 9, 1901 according
to the New York Tribune of July 10, seven
thousand attended a bull fight attracted by the
goring of a matador the preceding day, which the
Mexican fighters said, could have been prevented if
they had not been prohibited from harming the
bulls. On November 27, 1902, unarmed Mexican
matadors gave a "pleasing demonstration in Kansas
City, Mo., following many protests. Kansas City
Star articles of that week indicate that these
same fighters had appeared in Wichita, St. Louis
and other cities. There are many references in more
recent years to "mild," "modified," "mock,"
"burlesque" and "bloodless" fights. (See New
York Times: February 22, 1922 ; May 26, June 24
29, August 17, 24, 1923 ; August 18 19 and 20 1924
; February 24, 1925 ; January 4, 1926; and February
5 1927.) In 1930 Sidney Franklin, famous American
bull fighter, proposed to stage a fight in Newark.
Because of his prominence the proposal drew
criticism from all over the country and he was
forced to give up the project. (New York
Times, November 21 to 25, 1930.) 2.
Kansas Cowboy, Dodge City, July 12 1884. In
this issue the Cowboy reprinted articles from the
New York Herald and the St. Louis
Globe-Democrat, both papers having sent special
correspondents to report the fight.
MECHEM:
THE BULL FIGHT AT DODGE 295 Webster
and his associates in the project of course had no motive
other than a desire to make money. Certainly they would have
scouted the imputation that any Spanish innovation was
necessary to maintain Dodge City's notoriety as a twogun
metropolis. Yet, whether they realized it or not, Dodge in
1884 stood in need of just the sort of lurid publicity it
immediately received when the bull fight was announced. The
days of its lusty youth were slipping away, and the town was
drifting perilously close to the shores of respectability.
True, it was still the home of Bat Masterson, then
advertised as the killer of thirty-two men, but the outside
world was gaining the impression that it had turned
pacifistic.3 In spite of its past reputation and
the fact that it was still only a fringe on the outskirts of
civilization men were hinting openly that Dodge wasn't as
bad as it once had been. Mostly this was innuendo, but a few
Eastern correspondents were making copy of the gossip.
Indeed, in June of that year one of them boldly
wrote: "People
in the East have formed the idea that Dodge is still the
embodiment of all the wickedness in the Southwest, and that
it is dangerous for a stranger to come into the town unless
he has a strong bodyguard with him. The impression, however,
is a false one. Dodge is a rough frontier town, and it is
populated largely by rough people, but they are not at all
vicious. They are open-hearted and generous. I would have
less fear of molestation in this wild, western town than I
would have on the side streets of Kansas City or Chicago
late in the evening. "Dodge
is a typical frontier town. Cowboys and cattle dealers
constitute the bulk of the population. Incidental to these
are hosts of gamblers and saloonists. The yearly `round-up'
has not yet been completed. In May the cattlemen begin to
drive in their cattle for the round-up, which lasts nearly a
month. The drive this year probably numbered 450,000 cattle.
Of these doubtless 100,000 will be shipped from here the
balance being driven on further. Dodge is a lively business
town. The amount of freight received here over the railway
is enormous, as this is the base of supplies for the immense
country of which this is the centre."4 This
was the sort of publicity that had begun to undermine the
town's reputation. It was insidious, all this talk of cow
hands and round-ups in terms of big business. The glamour of
the ranges was fading, to be replaced by statistics. There
were Kansas writers, even, who used similar language. The
Independent, of a town as far west as McPherson, could
say: "Dodge
City is not the town it used to be. A few years ago at early
candlelight nearly every saloon was turned into a public
gambling or dance house.
3.
In February, 1933, H. B. Bell, of Dodge City, and
D. W. Barton, of Ingalls, who knew Masterson well
while he lived in Dodge City, both stated to the
writer that Masterson may have killed three men,
but neither was certain of more than
one. 4.
Kansas Cowboy, July 12, 1884.
296
THE KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY The
`girls' came out from almost every nook and corner and
solicited custom with as much effrontery as the waiter girls
do for their counters at a church festival. It was trying on
a man's virtue in those days. The cowboys, with a revolver
strapped upon each hip, swung these wicked beauties all
night and made the sleeping hours hideous with their
profanity and vulgarity. This has been stopped. No cowboy is
allowed to carry weapons, few dance halls are allowed to
run, and gambling is only carried on in private quarters.
The saloons are yet running in defiance of law, but
prosecutions are pending against all of them." 5 No
doubt this newspaper man believed he was doing the town a
service in thus calling attention to its conversion. As a
matter of fact he was unduly optimistic about these
ordinances which the city had recently acquired. Dodge had
not reformed; it was merely becoming conscious,
occasionally, of its sins. The conservative Eastern papers,
for the most part, were under no illusions as to its
sanctity, and when the bull-fight story was released they
lost no opportunity to point a righteous finger at its
iniquities. The
Cincinnati Enquirer, calling attention to the fact
that Dodge was distinguishing itself by introducing the
Mexican "sport" to American soil, stated that the town "was
previously known to fame. It is only a few weeks," it
commented, "since the gamblers held the place in a state of
siege for a week. Some two years since the town marshal was
threatened with death. He telegraphed his brother at
Tombstone, 1,000 miles away, who rushed to his aid by the
first train. The two barricaded themselves on the public
square, and with Winchester rifles deliberately picked off
their enemies whenever they appeared. When the Santa Fe
railroad was first built through the place the festive
sports used to amuse themselves by putting bullet holes
through the tall hats of passengers on the trains; and even
yet the depot platforms are decorated with recumbent forms
of dozens of frisky cowboys, sleeping off the effects of the
last night's debauch, each with his huge revolver and full
cartridge belt strapped around him. When the prohibition law
went into effect in other parts of the state, Dodge City
defied the authorities and the saloon keepers made up a
purse and sent it to the mayor with the legend: `To be given
to the widow of the first man who informs against a saloon
keeper.' That interesting town might have sat for the
original of John Phoenix's touching rural
picture:
5.
The McPherson Independent, July 9, 1884. The
Independent, however, held no brief for
Dodge City, for in its issue of July 2 1884, it had
reported: "At Dodge City last week an employee of
the Santa Fe road entered complaint against the
saloon keepers. As a consequence he got badly
pounded, had one eye punched out, was arrested and
fined $50 for disturbing the peace and while
looking for a bondsman he was rotten egged. Dodge
City is the banner antiprohibition city of
Kansas."
MECHEM:
THE BULL FIGHT AT DODGE 297 "All
night long in this sweet little village, You can hear the
soft note of the pistol, And the pleasant shriek of the
victim." No
matter what might be said to the contrary, this, after all,
was Dodge of the Boot Hill as it still existed in popular
imagination and as it was pictured by most Eastern news
writers at the time of the bull fight. With some of the
highlights toned down it was a passably good portrait.
Nevertheless, the very fact that. Dodge City's business men
were willing to employ the spotlight in their effort to
capitalize the town's gaudy atmosphere indicates that the
"first fine, careless rapture" was passing. The Wild West
show and the rodeo, glorifying the American cowboy and
commercializing his exploits, were coming into their
own. That
they were thus helping to officiate at the death of one era
and the birth of another Webster and his fellow promoters,
however, were wholly unaware. With matadors to engage, bulls
to secure, and an arena to build there was no leisure for
historical speculation. In order to handle the business
affairs of the venture they organized the Dodge City Driving
Park and Fair Association. H. B. (Ham) Bell was elected
president; D. M. Cockey, vice president; J. S. Welch,
secretary; and A. J. Anthony, treasurer. Webster was made
general manager. The
first and most important job of the association was to
engage "the genuine Spanish bull-fighters" who were to be
the main feature and principal drawing card. This Webster
was fortunate enough to do through a Scottish lawyer of Paso
del Norte, one W. K. Moore, of the firm of Moore &
Sierra. Moore not only engaged the troupe, but he came with
them as their manager. Also he served as press agent. In
this capacity he apparently came in immediate contact with
the antagonism the fight had engendered, and one of his
first tasks was to pour oil on the troubled
waters. A
perusal of some of the advance publicity Moore prepared
indicates how cannily he undertook to discredit charges that
the fight would be a cruel and brutal exhibition. An
interesting example is found in an interview which he gave
to the Dodge City Kansas Cowboy, wherein he compares
bull-fighting favorably with prizefighting. "Mr.
Moore," said the Cowboy, "is a native of Scotland and
has lived in Paso del Norte ten years. He is a professor in
one of the Mexican colleges. He wishes to disabuse the
prevailing opinion in the minds of the American people as to
the nature of a bull
298
THE KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY fight. He
says that fight is not the proper word; that athletic
exhibition would be more suitable. There is nothing
barbarous in the proceeding. The bulls are not tortured, the
only weapons of offense used by the men being small darts.
The excitement and interest in the `sport' (as termed by the
Mexicans) consist principally in witnessing the skill and
dexterity of the men in evading the assaults of the bull.
Mr. Moore says it is an error to classify it with pugilistic
contests. The governor of Chihuahua is a bullfighter and can
handle the lasso with as much skill as the most accomplished
cowboy."6 Apparently,
however, Moore was not always consulted by the reporters.
Contrasted with his assurance that the fight would be a
gentlemanly and harmless "athletic exhibition" is another
newspaper story stating that it was not unlikely that the
fights of the 4th and 5th would result fatally to some of
the matadors. This was ballyhoo of the most modern and
approved style. The managers had advertised a blood-letting,
and they knew what the crowds expected. But they felt credit
the storm of disapproval they must make some effort to
discredit the storm of disapproval their advertising had
aroused elsewhere. Reports were being circulated that
Governor Glick intended to stop the fight. This threatened
to make serious inroads on the crowds expected from the
East. The management knew that Glick proposed nothing of the
sort, despite the pressure that was being brought to bear on
him. Glick had friends in Dodge, and they reported the
governor had said that if the fight could be held at another
time he would attend. But they were afraid that promises of
too much gore might prove to be a boomerang. There was, of
course, in addition the unverified rumor that the mayor had
received a telegram from the United States attorney's office
saying that bull fighting was against the law in the United
States, to which the mayor was said to have made the classic
answer, "Hell! Dodge City ain't in the United States!" But
this, too, if it occurred at all, was taken no more
seriously than the Glick rumors. While
it is doubtless true that there was no danger of Glick's
stopping the fight, he was subject to considerable
criticism. Among those who protested most volubly was Henry
Bergh, Jr., of New York. Bergh was president of the American
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and had
had experience of bull fights before. In August, 1880, he
had succeeded in stopping a
6.
Kansas Cowboy, July 12, 1854.
MECHEM:
THE BULL FIGHT AT DODGE 299 bull baiting
exhibition in New York City promoted by one Angel
Fernandez.7 On
the Fourth of July Bergh sent Glick the following
telegram: "In
the name of humanity I appeal to you to prevent the
contemplated bull fight at Dodge City this day. Let not
American soil be polluted by such
atrocities."8 On
July 7 Bergh followed this up with a long letter of protest
to the Governor: "SIR:-While
civilization is striving to extend its peaceful and benign
influences over our prosperous and happy country, a spot
within the boundries of your state suddenly invites notice,
where humanity and public decency have been trampled under
feet and the blood-red flag of barbarisim substituted in
their stead. "Millions
of our countrymen, learning through the Press that the
birthday of the nation, for the first time in its history,
has been stained and disgraced by a Spanish bullfight at
Dodge City in the state of Kansas, will be reluctant to
believe the report. While the banner of our nation was being
elevated in every state, town and village in the land,
amidst the thundering of artillery and the shouts of a
prosperous and patriotic people, Dodge City alone stands up
and announces to the world that henceforth the tastes and
habits of the heathen and the savage shall be inaugurated
upon its soil. "It
requires no great stretch of fancy to imagine the solemn
protest which the founders of this great nation would offer
could their voices, now silent in death, be heard again.
Perhaps it would resemble the following, in all respects,
except the feebleness of the language I employ: "
`Fellow countrymen, after years of toil and suffering we
acheieved national independence for you and yours, along
with an almost boundless domain which seems to be the
special abode of everything which a bounteous Providence can
bestow upon its children. To-day, one hundred and eight
years ago, a government was declared whose principles are
based on patriotism humanity and progress. Up to the present
time no act of that government has, by its own election,
tarnished or subverted these heaven-born
precepts. "`In
face of all these blessings, and upon a day consecrated to
freedom and to progress, a portion of the young state of
Kansas, ignoring all these benefits, elects to cast its lot
among those few ignorant and effete states remaining in the
world where a majority of the people still cling to the
cruel and uncivilized pastime which you have to-day
transplanted to your own soil.' "Such,
I say, might be the remonstrance of those noble founders of
the republic who, dying, constituted yourselves and others
the heirs of a nation, whose resources are boundless, whose
people are educated, and to whom the ignorant and oppressed
of the earth are looking for example and
encouragement. "The
same telegram which sends this humiliating announcement into
every home and schoolhouse in the land is intensified by the
report, which it is sin-
7.
See Footnote 1. 8.
Telegram from Henry Bergh, Jr., New York City, to
Gov. George w. Glick, July. 4 1884.-"Correspondence
of Kansas Governors," Archives division, Kansas
State Historical Society.
300
THE KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY cerely hoped
is false, that your excellency has extended your official
sanction to this deed of retrogression, which strives to set
back the hands of time to that period of the past when human
government was content to stand still or move on only in the
direction of cruelty, tyranny and superstition. "That
the rumor is as false as it is humiliating, is shared by
every respectable man and woman in the land, I am
certain. "Americans,
like all other people, seek diversion and amusement, but
they are not willing to give over their country to the
bloody and demoralizing scenes of the bull ring, a pastime
which has, more than any other cause, corrupted and wasted
the minds and energies of the Spanish race, until national
stagnation and degeneracy are recognized in their shrunken
territory, and loss of political influence in the councils
of their sister states. "In
response to the universal sentiment of the people of
thirty-eight states of our beloved country, laws have been
enacted within them, and Kansas among the number, making
cruelty to every living creature, however humble, a crime.
As an evidence of the sincerity of this sentiment, your
excellency may possibly remember the audacious attempt made
a few years ago in this, the greatest city of the republic,
to establish the degrading spectacles to which I refer, and
how sternly and effectually it was rebuked and its authors
sent back to their foreign homes, fully assured that America
is not the soil where so foul and unhealthy a plant can
flourish. "The
publication of the laws of Kansas, which I venture to here
transcribe, along with an expression of your excellency's
condemnation to this stupendous insult to your people and to
every citizen of our country, would do honor to the high
position you occupy and perhaps serve to recall the people
of Dodge City back to that career of prosperity and power
from which they have thoughtlessly suffered themselves to be
diverted. "
`Laws of Kansas, 1879, chapter 81, section 264: Every person
who shall maliciously or cruelly maim, beat or torture any
horse, ox, or other cattle, whether belonging to himself or
another, shall on conviction be adjudged guilty of a
misdemeanor, and fined not exceeding fifty
dollars.' "I
have the honor to be your excellency's most obedient
servant, "HENRY
BERGH, Governor
Glick did not acknowledge this until a week later, and then
he put an exceedingly soft pedal on the affair: "My
Dear Sir: "Your
letter of July 7th is at hand. The bull fight to which you
refer was rather a tame and insignificant affair, and while
advertisements gave it some importance it had little or no
importance at Dodge City or any place else. Your telegram in
relation to the matter dated July 4th was received but not
until after the performance had taken place. "I
am, my dear sir, "Your
obedient servant."10
9.
Letter from Henry Bergh, Jr., New York City, to
Gov. George w. Glick, July 7, 1884.
Ibid. 10.
Letter from Gov. George W Glick, July 14, 1884.
Ibid.
"President of the American Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals."9
MECHEM:
THE BULL FIGHT AT DODGE 301 While
Glick seemingly was unmoved by these and other protests and
made no move to interfere, local opposition was not so easy
to ignore. In Dodge City itself there were many who did not
relish this new accession to the town's already lurid
reputation. The minister of one of the churches publicly
prayed that Dodge City might be relieved from this "stench
in the nostrils of civilization." Nor was criticism confined
within the church; some business men, even, while expecting
to make money from the crowds, deplored the notoriety which
they felt would hinder the future growth of the
city. However,
neither Eastern sensibilities nor local delicacy weighed
heavily upon the conscience of the Cowboy Capital. For the
most part Dodge was enjoying the limelight without qualm or
misgiving. It gloried in its sanguine past and was in no
hurry to succumb to the soft amenities of civilization. It
was getting a lot of fun out of this bull fight. It talked
much and loudly about what was going to transpire, even
though certain of its remarks were made with tongue in
cheek. In the matter of the bulls, especially, Dodge
injected a spirit of levity into the proceedings that would
have been incomprehensible to any Spanish community on the
eve of a serious bull fight. These
bulls the management had decided to secure locally. D. W.
(Doc) Barton, said to be the first man to drive a herd of
cattle from Texas to Dodge City, was given the contract. The
grazing grounds were full of Texas herds containing bulls
about whose fighting abilities and proclivities there was no
question, and Barton's instructions were to choose them for
their ferocity without fear or favor. Accordingly he combed
the ranges with but one idea in mind, and that was to round
up the most agile and pugnacious bovines the cattle country
could produce. In the last week in June he delivered the
twelve of his selection at the arena corral. The
public excitement aroused by the arrival of the bulls was
exceeded only when the matadors put in their appearance a
few days later. The citizens of Dodge were livestock
connoisseurs, and after due inspection they were of
unanimous opinion that. these bulls were decidedly ugly
customers. "By nature," stated one observer, "a Texas bull
is all the time as mad as he can get." The mere presence of
onlookers "was enough to bring them pawing and plunging
against the corral fence till the boards bent like paper and
the braces creaked with the strain." Describing
these bulls the Ford County Globe said: "As
some
302
THE KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY of them are
liable to be numbered with the dead before our next issue,
we deem it proper to give a short sketch of these noted
animals, together with their pedigrees. These pedigrees are
kindly furnished by the famous bull raiser and breeder,
Brother Barton, of the great Arkansas
river."11 Number
1 on the Globe's list was "Ringtailed Snorter, the
oldest and most noted of the twelve. He has been in
twenty-seven different fights, and always came off victor.
Pedigree: Calved February 29, 1883; sire, Long Horns; dam,
All Fire, first of Great Fire, who won big money in a
freeze-out at Supply in 1882." Iron
Gall, Number 3, was "a famous catch-as-catch-can fighter,
and very bad when stirred up." Pedigree: Calved March 25,
1880; sire, Too-Much Gall; dam, Gall, by Gally. Of
Klu Klux, Number 7, the Globe said, "He is a four
year old, and next to Ringtail Snorter is the oldest noted
fighter that will come to the front on next Friday. It is
this animal that the bull fighters most fear, having laid
out his man in Old Mexico, while playing `four you see and
one you don't.' Pedigree: Got by Frank, out of Healy-Boy,
who was given a commission in 1878 in the Neutral
Strip." Number
8 was "Sheriff, an animal that was never tamed or branded
but showed good points in his past go-as-you-please fights
on the plains, and since then has captured several prizes in
different parts of the country." Numbers
10, 11. and 12, were Rustler, Loco Jim, and
Eat-Em-Up-Richard, all two-year olds. "Boyce has been
training Loco Jim for the past month," the Globe
reported, "and he will likely get away with his man. These
animals are all sired by Ringtail Snorter and are the coming
heroes of the day." The other entries were Cowboy Killer,
Lone Star, Long Branch, Opera, and Doe. It was said of the
latter, owned by and named for Doe Barton, that he was "a
splendid formed gentleman, with well-developed muscles, and
there is no doubt but that he will do good work." This
published list of the names and pedigrees of the bulls,
containing allusions to persons and incidents familiar to
everyone in the range country, was typical of the cow town's
semihumorous attitude toward its Spanish-Mexican
entertainment. The cow hands had respect for their bulls,
and it tickled their fancy thus to dignify them with proper
names. There was considerable betting as to the havoc the
bulls would make among the matadors. Public
sympathy
11.
Ford County Globe, Dodge City, July 1,
1884.
MECHEM:
THE BULL FIGHT AT DODGE 303 was not
wholly on the side of the bullfighters. While the cattlemen
had a certain admiration for anyone with the nerve to engage
a maddened bull on foot, they felt that their four-footed
entries were about to do battle for the honor of the cattle
country and were entitled to proper recognition and
support. On
the Sunday preceding the Fourth Manager Moore and the
matadors arrived in Dodge. Their appearance raised the
town's interest and excitement to a fever pitch. The
skeptics were silenced; the promoters redoubled their
optimistic preparations. There
were five of these bullfighters, all native
Mexicans.12 The chief matador was Capt. Gregorio
Gallardo, a merchant tailor of Chihuahua. Gallardo was
billed as the most noted of all the noted bullfighters of
Old Mexico. Several Dodge City citizens remembered his
having killed bulls in a ring at Paso del Norte some years
before. He carried two swords, "used for dispatching
purposes," with straight two-edged blades three feet in
length. These, so Moore said, were made at Toledo, Spain.
One of them, he claimed, was 150 years old and had been
owned and used by Captain Gallardo's great-grandfather, once
a professional matador of high degree in Spain. The
other members of the band were Evaristo A. Rivas, picador,
inspector of public works in the state of Chihuahua; his
son, Rodrigo Rivas, an artist by profession; Marco Moya, a
professional musician from Huejuequillo; and Juan Herrerra,
a musician from Aldama. The
newspapers, especially, waxed enthusiastic over the arrival
of the matadors. They were described in phrases worthy the
ingenuity of the most up-to-date sports propagandist. "They
are a fierce lot," exclaimed one writer, "and fear is an
unknown sensation to them. They have followed this avocation
from boyhood. They have had many narrow escapes from death
and have been seriously wounded at times. They understand
that the people want an exciting and dangerous fight, and
they are ready to satisfy them. Some day, they all feel,
they will come to their death in the bull pit, but they like
the life and would not be satisfied to leave it. Yet they
are as intelligent a party of men as any person would wish
to meet. Their all-redeeming trait is that they cannot be
forced to drink a drop of strong liquor." This
last touch may have been inspired by Manager Moore. In his
efforts to give a tone of respectability to an affair which
its critics stigmatized as a return to barbarism, Moore
continued to
12.
Kansas Cowboy, July 12, 1884.
304
THE KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY lay as much
emphasis on the reputations his charges bore as exemplary
citizens as he did on their records in the bull ring.
Possibly he still questioned the reception Dodge would
accord after so much talk of gore. On
the morning of the Fourth, however, any fears Moore may have
had were set at rest. Before ten o'clock it was evident that
the fight would be a financial success. As the town filled
up it made a bizarre and colorful spectacle. Cowboys from
every section of the Southwest were on hand, armed and
spurred, and tanned by the prairie sun and wind, prepared to
crowd enough excitement into the two days to last through
the next six months of monotony. They had money to spend,
and they had no difficulty in finding places to spend it.
Dance halls filled with girls and gaming places sprinkled
with gamblers were running full blast. The saloons were
doing a capacity business. In the Opera House, the Congress
Hall, the Long Branch, the Lone Star, and the Oasis, milling
throngs of cowmen rubbed elbows with the hundreds of
visitors brought in by the Santa Fe from the East.
Correspondents for metropolitan newspapers in search of
atmosphere made the rounds and, if one may judge from their
stories, found no lack of copy. By
noon Dodge was jammed by eager crowds awaiting the
appearance of the grand parade which was to mark the
beginning of festivities. Cow ponies lined the hitching
racks along the streets and were picketed in every available
vacant lot. Shortly before two o'clock Former Mayor and
Manager Webster, with Manager Moore of the matadors, led the
procession to the fair grounds. Behind them came the town
dignitaries, followed by the famous cowboy band. Then, to
the delight of the spectators, the bullfighters passed in
review. In their red jackets, blue tunics, white stockings
and small dainty slippers, they seemed, in the words of a
contemporary writer, "the perfection of litheness and
quickness, and were heartily applauded as their dark
handsome faces looked on the crowd gathered along the
streets." The
arena, toward which all faces were turned after the parade,
lay on a tract of forty acres between the town and the
Arkansas river, which had been purchased and fenced by the
association. Facing a half-mile track, an amphitheater with
a seating capacity of four thousand had been erected. In
front of the grandstand an eight-foot fence enclosed the
arena proper, which was one hundred feet in diameter. At
intervals along the fence eight light board screens, or
escapes, were provided, where the bull-fighters
could
MECHEM:
THE BULL FIGHT AT DODGE 305 take refuge
when too closely pressed. West of the arena was the bull
corral, connected with the main enclosure by a chute.
Parallel with this chute was a wider passage through which
the bodies of the victims would make their exit. Before
two o'clock the spectators began filing into the
amphitheater." At least a third of the crowd, estimated at
4,000, were women and children. Since some of the ladies of
the town were not remarkable for their sanctity a deputy
sheriff had been detailed to draw a dividing line which
should separate the demi monde from their more respectable
sisters. The name of the frontier St. Peter assigned to this
delicate task is lost to posterity, as are the social
reverberations which must have accompanied some of his
decisions. Immediately over the entrance gate the reporters
and the band were seated, and at both sides sections were
reserved for Dodge's leading citizens and their families.
Opposite sat the cowboys and their ladies. The ambition of
every cowpuncher, one writer reported, seemed to be to get a
big fat girl and a high seat at the same time. "The wait
before the appearance of the first bull," he wrote, "was
filled with chaffing and calling of the usual kind,
variegated with music by the cowboy band." At
half past two the work of driving the bulls from the corral
into the pens opening on the arena was begun by Mr.
Chappell, track horseman and tournament rider. He was
assisted by bullfighter Juan Herrerra, who wielded a red
mantle when the animals proved unusually refractory. When
the bulls were safely penned the tips of their horns were
sawed off and the ends rasped smooth. At
3:40 a bugle sounded the signal for the grand entry. Amid
the enthusiastic cheers of the multitude the matadors and
picadors, four afoot and one mounted, came into the arena.
They had changed into their fighting costumes and their
parade had all the color of a pageant. Gallardo was
magnificent in a scarlet tunic and knee breeches, with a
green sash and sable trimmings. Rivas was attired in a
yellow tunic trimmed with red, yellow knee breeches, and a
white cap surmounted by a pair of horns. The other two
matadors were dressed in red and blue. The picador wore
ordinary cowboy clothes. They circled the arena, made their
obeisance to the officials, and awaited the appearance of
the first bull.
13.
The description here given is a composite of
contemporaneous newspaper accounts. The reporters
did not see the action in the ring with the same
eyes, any more than do our modern sports
broadcasters. Newspapers used were: Kansas
Cowboy, July 12, 1884, in which the New York
Herald and the St. Louis Globe-Democrat
stories were reprinted; the Dodge City
Democrat, July 5, 1884; and the Ford County
Globe, July 8, 1884.
306
THE KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY The
bugle sounded again and the first bull bounded into view of
the crowd. He was a red, fierce-looking brute, and full of
fight. As he passed through the door two decorated barbs
were thrown into his neck, just below each horn. Infuriated
by the darts, he charged madly at his tormentors. Gallardo
attracted his attention and began to play him. Again and
again, encouraged by the roars of the crowd, he drew the
charges of the bull and deftly swerved him from his course
with his mantle, escaping the rake of the horns by inches.
After several of these preliminary passes Gallardo took
refuge behind one of the escapes. The bull made a complete
circle of the enclosure, then halted defiantly in the center
of the ring and pawed the ground, covering himself with
clouds of dust. The
other fighters now approached to display their skill. As
they closed in the bull rushed, but the savage thrust of his
horns met only thin air, and another festooned dart hung
from his shoulders. Time and again he wheeled and charged,
until his back and sides were decorated with a floating sea
of colored streamers that reached from his horns to the end
of his tail. The cow punchers forgot their girls and even
the best citizens stood and applauded. The matador were in
their glory. Here was an animal worthy of their mettle; one
that gave them an opportunity to exhibit all the tricks of
their profession. This
bull was played for thirty minutes before he tired. Then Mr.
Chappell was called on to lasso the bull and take him out.
When the animal had been roped, the cow hands, anxious for a
display of their own technique, set up a cry for Chappell to
throw the brute. This he attempted to do, but the bull was
too strong for him, and it was all he could do to pull the
maddened animal into the chute. Here the bull made a
desperate rush at Chappell, grazing his horse, and broke
loose. Finally he was tied and restored to the pen, furious
but unharmed. When
the second bull was released the spectators anticipated
another display of brute ferocity and human agility. But
they were disappointed; this bull proved to be a coward and
ran from his assailants, and was soon driven out. The third
was little better, merely providing some exercise for the
fighters after they had covered his sides with darts. The
fourth also had to be dismissed. The fifth had even fewer
fighting qualities than his predecessors. He became
entangled in one of the escapes and was whipped out by a
cowboy who sat in the first row of seats, to the derisive
laughter of the onlookers.
MECHEM:
THE BULL FIGHT AT DODGE 307 By
this time the crowd wanted more action and began demanding
that the first bull be returned. It had been announced that
the last bull of the day would be put to the sword by
Gallardo, and the cowboys wanted to see this highly
advertised maneuver executed on an animal worthy of the
swordsman's skill. Accordingly, the fighting red bull was
lassoed and pulled back into the arena. When
Gallardo reentered the enclosure and the spectators saw him
take the Toledo sword which was passed down by Manager Moore
they understood that the most exciting episode of the drama
was at hand. They were aware that Gallardo must repeatedly
attract the rushes of the bull until the precise opening for
the death thrust presented itself. This lightning thrust, as
they knew, must be accomplished by one stroke made from
directly in front of the animal as it charged, and must
result in a clean-cut and instant death. When
the bull caught sight of the matador, therefore, a hush of
anticipation fell upon the noisy crowd. As if it appreciated
its perilous situation the brute charged at once and with
redoubled fury. With a graceful sweep of his cape Gallardo
deflected the animal's first rush safely past his side. The
bull wheeled and flung himself again at the matador. Once
more his horns found nothing more substantial than the
elusive cape. Repeatedly he returned to the attack and
Gallardo's escapes grew narrower and narrower. Then,
suddenly, the crowd gasped in dismay and jumped to its feet.
Gallardo was down. For an instant it seemed the fight was
about to end in tragedy. But fortunately the accident had
occurred at the entrance to one of the established escapes.
At the moment when it appeared to the crowd that Gallardo
was caught between the bull's horns and the high board fence
he threw himself lengthwise on the ground at the animal's
feet and crawled to safety behind the guard. The bull
charged on the light boarding of the screen and almost tore
it down; then, meeting no active resistance, backed angrily
away. Although
Gallardo had received a slight bruise on his left thigh he
immediately stepped into the open to renew the encounter.
Bowing gracefully to acknowledge the plaudits of the
spectators he signaled the band to resume the music for the
swording. Then, with a pardonable touch of bravado, he
slowly began walking directly toward the bull. Through
bloodshot eyes and with lowered head the brute watched him
approach. When the matador was almost upon him the bull
charged. Poised, and with sword balanced
308
THE KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY for the
thrust, Gallardo waited, but at the last possible instant,
not finding the opening he desired, was forced to deflect
the bull's rush with his sweeping cape. Twice more he
parried the furious onslaughts. But at the fourth attack
came the opportunity he sought. Swiftly the blade struck
home, bent, and then penetrated to the vital spot. The bull
staggered a pace or two, stumbled to his knees, and then
sank to the ground. "Thus,"
reported the Ford County Globe, "ended the first
day's bull fight in Dodge City, and for all we know the
first fight on American soil. The second day's fighting,
with the exception of the killing of the last animal in the
ring, was more interesting than the first . . . . The
matadors showed to the people of America what bull fighting
really was. No one could see it and go away saying that it
was not a genuine bull fight. It was not that tortuous or
inhuman punishment inflicted upon wild animals as the term
`bull fighting' would seem to imply, save and except the
single animal that was killed. The punishment, tortures or
cruelty was even less than that inflicted upon animals in
the branding pen." In
the face of strictures by an unsympathetic press, both in
Kansas and the East, the Globe's statement expresses
the reaction of Dodge City's citizens to their first and
only bull fight. What the more inarticulate cowboys thought
of this Spanish entertainment can only be a matter of
conjecture. That they enjoyed themselves may be surmised
from a news item which appeared in the Larned Optic a
few days after the fight: "Quite
a number of our boys visited Dodge last week to see the bull
fight. Some of them returned looking as though they had had
a personal encounter with the
animals."14
14.
The Larned Optic, July 11, 1884.