Long Branch Saloon

The Long Branch Saloon in Dodge City, Kansas, 1874

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.[1]

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.[2] 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.[3]

The saloon soon became the most popular and refined saloon in Dodge City. Beeson was a talented musician and led a five-piece orchestra that played nightly. The Long Branch served milk, tea, lemonade, sarsaparilla, and all types of alcohol including champagne and beer.[4] Anheuser-Busch was the original beer served at the Long Branch. Drinks were kept cold in the winter with ice from the river; in the summer ice was shipped by train from the mountains of Colorado. Gambling ranged from five cent chuck-a-luck to thousand dollar poker.[3]

Chalkley "Chalk" Beeson, co-owner with William Harris of the Long Branch Saloon

The saloon hosted many Old West characters including Clay Allison, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Frank Loving, Dave Mather, Town Marshal Charlie Bassett, and brothers Ed, James, and Bat Masterson.

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′s inquest ruled that Loving had acted in self-defense 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.

A saloon using the same name was featured in almost every episode of the long-running radio and television drama, Gunsmoke. A new establishment named the Long Branch Saloon, largely based on Gunsmoke, was built as part of the modern non-profit Boot Hill Museum entertainment and exhibit theme park 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.[3]

• Complete List of Old West Gunfighters