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Citizens of Dodge City to Governor George W. Glick
Creator: Citizens of Dodge City, Ford County, Kansas
Date: May 15, 1883
Twelve citizens of Dodge City, Kansas, write Governor George W. Glick, of Topeka, protesting the forcible removal of Luke Short from Dodge City. The letter recounts the events which led to Mr. Short's removal and testifies regarding his character. The events recounted occurred between April 26 and May 1, 1883. The letter refers to Short's employment of women singers at his Long Branch Saloon and their subsequent arrest, a shooting between Short and Louis Hartman (special policeman), the arrest of Short and Hartman, the intimidation of Short's attorneys, and the Mayor's (L. E. Deger) insistence that Short (and others) be escorted out of the city. An appended newspaper article recounts events occurring between May 1 and May 10, 1883, specifically the attempted return of two men formerly jailed with Short. Dodge City Times editor, Nick Klaine, wrote the article and was an enthusiastic supporter of Deger's recently elected reform party. The arrest of Short's women employees is often credited as beginning the "Dodge City War," a bloodless conflict between competing political-business factions.
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