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

Copies in the Library

Location Call Number Status Location Service Notes
Firestone Library - Stacks F689.D64 D95 2017 Browse related items Request

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    Subject(s)
    Author
    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.
    ISBN
    • 9780700624751 ((hardcover : alkaline paper))
    • 0700624759 ((hardcover : alkaline paper))
    • 9780700624768 ((paperback : alkaline paper))
    • 0700624767 ((paperback : alkaline paper))
    LCCN
    2017020136
    OCLC
    984899051
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