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Dodge City and the birth of the wild west / Robert R. Dykstra and Jo Ann Manfra.
Author
Dykstra, Robert R., 1930-
[Browse]
Format
Book
Language
English
Published/Created
Lawrence, Kansas : University Press of Kansas, [2017]
Description
236 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm
Availability
Available Online
JSTOR DDA
JSTOR DDA
Copies in the Library
Location
Call Number
Status
Location Service
Notes
Firestone Library - Stacks
F689.D64 D95 2017
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Details
Subject(s)
Frontier and pioneer life
—
Kansas
—
Dodge City
[Browse]
Violence
—
Kansas
—
Dodge City
—
History
—
19th century
[Browse]
Dodge City (Kan.)
—
History
—
19th century
[Browse]
Author
Manfra, Jo Ann
[Browse]
Summary note
"Raised on Gunsmoke, Bat Masterson, and The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, we know what it means to get outta Dodge - to make a hasty escape from a dangerous place, like the Dodge City of Wild West lore. But why, of all the notorious, violent cities of old, did Dodge win this distinction? And what does this tenacious cultural metaphor have to do with the real Dodge City? In a book as much about the making of cultural myths as it is about Dodge City itself, authors Robert Dykstra and Jo Ann Manfra take us back into the history of Dodge to trace the growth of the city and its legend side-by-side. An exploration of murder statistics, court cases, and contemporary accounts reveals the historical Dodge to be neither as violent nor as lawless as legend has it - but every bit as intriguing. In a style that captures the charm and chicanery of storytelling in the Old West, Dodge City and the Birth of the Wild West finds a culprit in a local attorney, Harry Gryden, who fed sensational accounts to the national media during the so-called Dodge City War of 1883. Once launched, the legend leads the authors through the cultural landscape of twentieth-century America, as Dodge City became a useful metaphor in more and more television series and movies. Meanwhile, back in the actual Dodge, struggling on a lost frontier, a mirror image of the mythical city began to emerge, as residents increasingly embraced tourism as an economic necessity. Dodge City and the Birth of the Wild West maps a metaphor for belligerent individualism and social freedom through the cultural imagination, from a historical starting point to its mythical reflection. In this, the book restores both the reality of Dodge and its legend to their rightful place in the continuum of American culture."--Amazon.com.
Bibliographic references
Includes bibliographical references (pages 187-222) and index.
Contents
Introduction: gettin' outta Dodge
Pioneers
Year of living dangerously
Deadly prose
Case histories
Circle Dot cowboys
Dodge City's sensations
End games
Contesting Boot Hill
Epilogue: homicide, moral discourse, cultural identity.
Show 7 more Contents items
ISBN
9780700624751 ((hardcover : alkaline paper))
0700624759 ((hardcover : alkaline paper))
9780700624768 ((paperback : alkaline paper))
0700624767 ((paperback : alkaline paper))
LCCN
2017020136
OCLC
984899051
Statement on language in description
Princeton University Library aims to describe library materials in a manner that is respectful to the individuals and communities who create, use, and are represented in the collections we manage.
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Dodge City and the birth of the wild west / Robert R. Dykstra and Jo Ann Manfra.
id
99104000863506421
Dodge City and the birth of the wild west / Robert R. Dykstra and Jo Ann Manfra.
id
SCSB-11734989