When Cowboys Came to Town By Lynne Hewes

Cowboys during the l880s were fortunate that not all their time had to be spent on the trail. Once in a while, they got to come into town. In his book Cattle Kingdom: The Hidden History of the Cowboy West, Christopher Knowlton says that a cowboy's first thought was to get clean once in town after a stint on the dusty trail. A boarding house, often just a simple dormitory with cots, offered a chance to shave and take a much-needed bath. Knowlton says that in such an establishment, cowboys "often encounter[ed] rows of bathtubs and sinks where communal toothbrushes hung on strings, alongside communal towels, hairbrushes, mirrors, and combs." 
The Dodge House, which opened in l873, advertised, "Sheets will be changed...once in six months-oftener if necessary...beds with or without bugs".
 After becoming "presentable," a cowboy would walk the streets of town, looking at merchandise in shops, stopping for a haircut, or even having his photograph taken. He would make some purchases: tobacco or thread, perhaps. But the next stop was almost always the local saloon. 
A high-end saloon like the Varieties in Dodge City would have brass cuspidors for spitting tobacco and gaming tables and perhaps a dance floor. A shot of whisky usually costs fifty cents, while a quarter would buy a beer. And, yes, there were women: hurdy-gurdy girls were around to dance with—but nothing more. Prostitutes were available for between one to five dollars, although some charged more. 
Knowlton says that Cowboy Teddy Blue recalled, "I suppose those things would shock a lot of respectable people. But we weren't respectable, and we didn't pretend to be". 
There was gunplay, too, of course, but perhaps not as much as Hollywood movies lead us to think. According to Knowlton, "Most cowboys did not carry weapons at all....and most cowboys knew that wearing a six-shooter in a cattle town was an invitation to gunplay". 
The important thing, instead, was to get to town, get cleaned up, and have a good time—then return to the cattle drive the next day. 
For more information on the history of the cattle industry in the 1800s, you can join us at www.westerncattletrailassoc.com. Join us today as we celebrate our 150th anniversary.

Source: Knowlton, Christopher. Cattle Kingdom: The Hidden History of the Cowboy West. First Mariner Books. 2018.