Wild West Podcast
Welcome to Wild West podcast where fact and legend merge. The Wild West Podcast presents the true accounts of individuals, who settled in a town built out of hunger for money, regulated by fast guns, who walked on both sides of the law, patrolling, investing in and regulating the brothels, saloons and gambling houses. These are stories of the men who made the history of the Old West come alive - bringing with them the birth of legends, brought to order by a six-gun and laid to rest with their boots on. Join us now as we take you back in history, to the legends of the Wild West.
Wild West Podcast
Unveiling the Wild West: The Courage and Chaos of Billy Brooks' Life
Prepare to be transported back to the Wild West as we uncover the life and trials of Billy Brooks, infamously known as Buffalo Bill. Witness the birth of a legend in the plains of Kansas as we follow his journey from being a part of the Great Buffalo Hunt to becoming the first marshal of Newton, Kansas, a formidable man whose name is synonymous with fearlessness and prowess in weaponry. Brace yourself for an exhilarating narrative of a suspenseful encounter in a saloon that ends with Brooks shot in the shoulder.
But the tale of Billy Brooks doesn't end there. We venture further into the lawless town of Dodge City, where he was tasked with maintaining order amid the chaos of buffalo hunters, railroad laborers, and drifters. Immerse yourself in a terrifying shootout in a dance hall and a captivating encounter with a buffalo hunter named Jordan. From high-stakes action to unexpected antics, this episode promises a raw and unfiltered peek into the tumultuous life of Billy Brooks and the indomitable spirit of the Wild West. Be sure to catch this thrilling episode that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
The Return of Billy Brooks, the Long man who Turned Bad. In August of 1872, two months after a man named George Hoover had opened the first business, the men of the town and a few officers from Fort Dodge met to organize a real village called the Buffalo City. Since the name Buffalo had been chosen by another town and could not be used again in Kansas, the new little city became Dodge City. Perhaps this name was suggested because Colonel Richard I Dodge, commandant at Fort Dodge, was one of the town company members, or probably because the town was near Fort Dodge. In September 1872, the first train arrived on the newly laid tracks. Already buffalo hides were stacked high waiting to be shipped to the east. This explains four reasons a town had to be started in this place and why it would grow.
Speaker 1:The big business of buffalo hunting caused a need for stores to sell supplies and buy hides and meat. The railroad allowed provisions to be brought to the stores and haul out the goods that the cityans wanted to sell. The railroad boosted the population by bringing new people who worked for the rail company. It also made the small town the center of a large trade area, even though a town company had organized the small settlement in August 1872, the city was still unincorporated. The town had no elected or appointed officials. A county government had not yet been organized. Consequently, there were no courts, jails or official law enforcement in the region. The closest known law was located in Hayes City, over a hundred miles away. Initially, there was no law enforcement in the burgeoning settlement, and Dodge City quickly acquired its infamous stamp of lawlessness and gunslinging as the many buffalo hunters, railroad workers, drifters and soldiers streamed into the town. After long excursions on the prairie, they quickly found the saloons and the inevitable fights that ensued. The men who set up the business decided they would hire protection and when they did, they found Billy Brooks.
Speaker 1:Wild West podcast is proud to present the return of Billy Brooks, the lawman who turned bad. I am about to tell you a story about a gunman named Billy Brooks who once resided in Dodge City Now. Billy Brooks was a strangefeller with an itchy trigger finger and loved the smell of a smoking gun. For those who knew him, like me, immanuel Dubbs might have laughed at the suggestion that Brooks was a great and efficient lawman. He was not, but all who experienced his presence would agree that Brooks indeed went bad. They would also agree that he was a gunfighter of top-notch caliber. This is a story that I witnessed while in Dodge City, while Brooks was in action, and it should be noted that Billy was wonderfully quick with a gun. He carried two guns, one on each hip, as did nearly everyone else, and in the flash of an eye he could draw one in each hand and fire.
Speaker 1:From what I have been told, billy was born in Ohio in 1849. He being the eldest son of Blacksmith Edmund Brooks and his wife Cynthia, and as a teenager he found his way to the plains of Kansas. There he joined the great Buffalo Hunt, which was getting underway. While Billy was in those buffalo fields, he demonstrated skill with weapons that eventually earned him the Appalachian Buffalo Bill. By 1870, when he reached the age of 21, he took employment with the Southwestern Stage Company as a driver of coaches between El Dorado and Wichita. It was a tough, demanding job, and Billy soon gained the respect of his employers and the travel in public for his courage, stamina and dogged dedication to duty. At this time, a story demonstrating his virtues made the rounds. After a torrential storm, brooks and his stagecoach came on Swollen Chisholm Creek surging out of its banks. Most drivers would have turned back, but Brooks drove his mule team forward and carried the mail across the flood successfully From the Atchison, topeka and Santa Fe Railroad reached Newton in July 1871, the El Dorado to Wichita stage line was discontinued and Brooks took a new run from Wichita to the burgeoning town of Newton.
Speaker 1:Like most end-to-track towns of the American West, newton attracted the debris of the frontier, thugs and saloon loafers, gamblers and whores, the entire roster of border riffraff, and with them assuredly came wanton violence. As residents of the closest railroad shipping point in Kansas for Texas Cattlemen, newtonians braced themselves in the coming 1872 season for another invasion hordes of trail-tough Texas cowboys. This was when a hard-bitten, no-nonsense lawman was needed to ride herd on this volatile mixture, and young Billy Brooks was tapped for the chore. In February 1872, residents of Newton organized their community as a third-class city and at elections two months later elected James H Pop Anderson Mayor. On April 1st Anderson appointed Billy Brooks the town's first city marshal at the munificent salary of $75 a month.
Speaker 1:The reputation of the former Buffalo Hunter and stagecoach driver for fearlessness and proficiency with weaponry no doubt had much to do with his selection. Rumors about town were rampant. Brooks had already gunned down evil men in other rough railroad towns. A little over two months after pinning on the city marshal's badge in Newton, billy Brooks had an opportunity to display the Bulldog 10 for the city and the fighting spirit for what she was noted.
Speaker 1:On Sunday night, june 9th 1872, a bunch of Texans fresh from the trail took over a Newton saloon in Dancehall and corraled the proprietor, edward T Redbeard, with their six-shooters. This beard fellow was a mighty tough hombre, as he would often prove before his sudden demise at the hands of saloon competitor Rowdy Joe Lowe, and celebrated gunfight at West Wichita a year later. Still, he was unable to control the rebellious Texans on this occasion, so he sent for Marshall Brooks Hurrying to the scene. Brooks managed to talk to the cowboy leaders into leaving the establishment. They mounted up and appeared to be going when suddenly one of them pulled a gun and fired at the officer, hitting him in the shoulder. Both of them put spurs to their ponies and rode hard for their outlying camp. The bullet lodged next to his collarbone, brooks swung into the saddle and tore off in pursuit. In the run and fight that ensued, he was hit twice more. A Wichita paper reported that he continued his quest for ten miles before returning to have his wounds dressed. One shot passed through his right breast and the other two were in his limbs. None of the wounds were life-threatening and the next day Brooks swore out John Doe and Richard Rowe complaints against the two drovers who had been identified as James Hunt and Joe Miller. Harvey County Sheriff WB Chamberlain arrested Hunt, but Miller was not to be found. After a hearing in which Brooks, beard and several other witnesses testified, a magistrate bound Hunt over to the district court and ordered him jail at Emporia, perhaps in need of arrest.
Speaker 1:To recuperate from his wounds, billy Brooks resigned as Newton City Marshal on June 17, 1872, and accepted $10.10 to cover his salary. After receiving his compensation for the month of May, he parted ways with the city of Newton. From Newton, brooks drifted on to Ellsworth and, while recovering from his injuries, he took a short stint as a policeman. Finally, on August 7, 1872, the Ellsworth City Council authorized payment of $17.50 to Brooks for his services. In October 1872, brooks relocated to a crude outpost called Buffalo City. This was to be the town called Dodge City, created by the AT&SF Railroad Arrival on September 5, 1872, a town that sprang up and became an outfitting and marketing center for the hide hunters. The hide hunters were carrying on the great Buffalo slaughter that was in progress on the plains of western Kansas.
Speaker 1:Billy Brooks was one of Dodge City's first privately hired lawmen. Brooks, a lawless, shabby character who drifted into town as a noted gunslinger, was hired to keep order in a lawless town. When he arrived in Buffalo City he sported a small mustache with a long, rounded face trimmed out in a van dyke goatee. Brooks donned his dark broad cloth coats. About town he brandished two revolvers, well in sight of those he chose to intimidate. His hat was a tall, round, crowned black item supported by his colorless linen shirt. This slip-shod dress gave the appearance to everyone who saw him as a dangerous nature of a man. Living with Billy Brooks at Buffalo City was one of the dance hall damsels, a 21-year-old named Matilda. Matilda was small in stature with pale and delicate features, large, bright eyes and short, curly hair. She took his name and passed as his wife, although it is unlikely there was ever a formal marriage.
Speaker 1:In the early days of Dodge City, the propensity for violent behavior that characterized Brooks' short career became evident. It was there that he lost the Appalachian Buffalo Bill and came to be called Bully Billy, according to the infamous character of Billy Brooks was his shooting of a man two days before Christmas in 1872. Brooks, acting assistant marshal, shot Brownie, the yardmaster, through the head over a girl named Captain Drew. Brownie was removed to an old, deserted room at the Dodge House and his girl, captain Drew, waited on him. Indeed, she was a faithful nurse. The ball entered the back of his head and one could plainly see the bloody matter oozing out of the wound until it matted over. One of the finest surgeons in the United States Army attended him.
Speaker 1:On the second day after the shooting I went with his surgeon to see him. He and his girl were both crying. He was crying for something to eat. She was crying because she could not give it to him. She said, doctor, he wants fat bacon, cabbage, potatoes and greasy beef and says he's starving. The doctor said to her oh well, let him have whatever he wants. It's only a question of time and a short time for him on Earth, but it's astonishing how strong he keeps. You see, the ball is in his head and if I probe for it it will kill him instantly. Now there was no ball in his head. The ball entered one side of his head and came out the other, just breaking one of the brains or cell pans at the back of his head. On the third day and the fourth day he was alive. On the fifth day they took him east to a hospital. As soon as all the old blood and matter were washed off, they saw what the issue was and he soon got well and was back at his old job in a few months.
Speaker 1:The story I'm about to tell you is when four of the Barry brothers came to Dodge City. This was after Brooks killed one of their brothers. This is a story of revenge. Revenge is not a dish to serve cold. It's a gun chambered with lead, kept by one with blood on their hands. It is a disfigurement of shame that has been hidden from the self. You can devise all the justifications you want for revenge, yet it will always be the work of an inner tantrum. That must have been the state of mind when the Barry brothers entered the town.
Speaker 1:You see it was late one evening when I pulled into town with two loads of buffalo meat. This was in early December of 1872. After putting up our teams, I decided to eat supper and passed over the tracks to the north side of town, to the Cox Hotel. After eating. I went into George Hoover's store. I was to make arrangement to dispose of my meat and buy supplies so we could get off early the following day.
Speaker 1:When arriving, I noticed the quiet streets, darker than usual, unlike the many occasions before, where ruffians were about the town casting well-lit shadows in the street, celebrating with echoing yells and pistol shots in the air. I approached the general's door, noting a lamp light was glimmering through the window on the other side of the door. The door was not locked and the bell chimed over me as I entered the poorly lit store. As I entered, a man's voice from the dark end of the store yelled out to me close the door, lock it behind you, get down. I immediately stopped and quickly dove behind the counter, finding the store clerk sitting on the floor hiding behind a stack of flower sacks. What's all this commotion, I asked. Why are the streets vacant and dark? The proprietor was badly frightened and wanted to close up.
Speaker 1:The proprietor exclaimed four men appeared in town to get even with a man named Billy Brooks. Why Billy Brooks, I asked. A few days ago Billy Brooks killed a man named Barry in a gunfight over a car dispute. The proprietor said. I looked over to the dark corner of the room where I could see a faint light outlining the bleak face of a frightened man. The clerk's voice shook because he clambered out of the darkness and stood up right before me.
Speaker 1:The four men causing the scare were the Barry brothers, said the clerk. They told many bar owners they came to Dodge to kill Brooks and get up steam. They had been filling up on Bad Whiskey. Just before you arrived they started shooting out lights and smashing mirrors in the business part of town. Several muffled gunshots echoed through the walls. Interrupting the clerk's story. We heard a woman scream for help in Zimmerman's gun and ammunition store adjoining. I ran and started for the door of the gun store when the shooting was going on. Just before I got to the entrance there were a half a dozen shots through the door from the inside. I quickly concluded that I stood in an unhealthy place and returned to Hoover's store where I had been trading.
Speaker 1:After a bit of time had passed, I saw four men come out of Zimmerman's. They walked across Front Street to the railroad tracks and crossed over to the south side of town. The south side of the tracks was where there was a dance hall. The dance hall was going full blast, as this was the nightly resort of such personalities as Billy Brooks and Lude Women. Stepping outside and into the street, I could see the four brothers going in the direction of the dance hall.
Speaker 1:Having by this time become intensely interested in the conduct of these four men, knowing that their purpose was evil, meaning danger to some person or persons, I followed them in a short distance to find out what their purpose was and prevent mischief if possible. Just as I crossed over the railroad tracks, an old comrade and buffalo hunter named Fred Singer overtook me. Fred informed me that the four brothers were after Billy Brooks. Fred and I entered the dance hall door together and Fred shouted a warning to Billy Brooks. The four brothers fired several shots back at us, which we returned. Then from the dance hall door came a fuselod of shots from the revolvers in the hands of Brooks, who stood in bold relief against the light of the door. It appeared to me as if a whole company of men had fired at the same time and with the smoke cleared away, two of the four brothers were dead and the other two mortally wounded. Billy Brooks escaped, as usual, with only a slight wound in the shoulder. A stray shot seriously wounded one girl in the room. Afterward I learned that the men who made the attack were from Hayes City. The citizens of Dodge City gave Fred Singer and me an out. They decided not to investigate the situation. The residents were so upset that the four brothers for shooting out lights and smashing mirrors in the business district. They at last got what the people thought they deserved. Anyway, there was no inquiry, of which I was well pleased because of the unintentional mix-up I had in it myself. A traveler from Illinois by the name of Raymond Ritter, who was in Dodge City at the time, witnessed the following frolic between Billy Brooks and a buffalo hunter by the name of Jordan.
Speaker 1:March 4 was a fine day to walk down Dust-Ridden Front Street under the late morning sun. The sun rays warmed my brow under my hat as a piano. Music blazed away from inside the saloons. The clouds were puffs of radiant joy ready to disperse into the wind. I watched them, eddy pure, reflected, dappled and swirling, until all that remained was that perfect baby blue.
Speaker 1:I had just finished Dackin Hay at the livery and decided to join the boys for an afternoon lunch and beer. I spotted Mike McCabe. He was headed east to the end of Front Street. I decided to follow him to any place Mike went. There was fun to be had. He was a joy to be around. Mike was good at clowning around. He was full of antics, a kind social doctor and healer of goodwill. He never knew it, but he was good at putting everyone around him in a health elevator.
Speaker 1:As I trailed Mike McCabe down the street, I watched him step up on the boardwalk of James Hanrahan's saloon. Looking in Mike's direction, I saw a man's shadow standing in the saloon's doorway. The man peered around the corner of the door. He was holding in the crook of his arms a sharp fifty buffalo gun. The son lit up the man's face and I immediately recognized him as Kirk Jordan. Kirk had been with us on a few buffalo hunts. He was known in these parts as a dead-eye shot. Kirk existed in the saloon doorway of the same saloon that Mike was entering.
Speaker 1:Then, up the street, I saw the new city marshal, a man named Brooks, a highfalutinfeller and a mean rip. Brooks took a resting place against an awning pole east in front of Hoover's saloon. Brooks looked out into the street with some confidence while flashing his two pearl-handled holster revolvers. I looked back in the direction of the saloon and saw Jordan lower his rifle. He stedded against the door facing, took aim and was about to fire when Mike McCabe stumbled in between Jordan and his target. Jordan raised the gun to avoid shooting Mike. From his vantage point, brooks must have caught the motion of Jordan's gun barrel.
Speaker 1:Brooks suddenly threw himself into a sitting position on the ground between two barrels of water, trying simultaneously to draw one of his guns. Somehow the gun hung and he failed to pull it from the scabbard, thinking Brooks ducked behind the barrel. Jordan fired at the barrel. Brooks hid behind The.50 caliber bullet from Jordan's sharps rifle spat a red flame against the afternoon sun. The bullet went through the barrel and lodged in the metal hoop but cut a hole through it. So water spouted out and ran down Brooks's neck. Brooks's ears strained for more sounds, more clues as to where the next shot would land. Thinking his single shot had killed Brooks, jordan jumped up on his horse and rode off. Brooks stood up once Jordan cleared.
Speaker 1:Startled from all the commotion, mike fell back into the streets, quickly stood up, rubbed his hand on his left ear and said Ain't that the damnedest thing you ever saw? I could tell Mike was bum-fuzzled by nearly being shot by Jordan. Still frozen in the middle of the street, mike yelled Look at that boy, ride the muzzle. Fire from the gun must have confused Mike, because he stepped back once more, almost as if he needed to see a wide-angle vision of what had just happened. Mike then ran to Brooks's hiding place and fished the bullet out of the barrel. Once Mike retrieved it, he held the lead slug in his hand and began laughing. His laughter was like ripples and is still pawned after a stone had been thrown in. It radiated outward through the packed streets of onlookers who had been silent until that moment. The onlookers too began to titter and soon the ripples of laughter became great waves of hilarity. Mike held the retrieved slug high in the air and carried it with him until he reached the front of the saloon.
Speaker 1:I decided to join this roughly bunch and grab my violin from my saddlebag. I went over to Henry Han Saloon. I started playing a lively tune when Mike started his Irish jig. Given any opportunity, mike would dance for a crowd. Mccabe's jig hadn't changed since I last saw him on a buffalo hunt. He gave all the fancy steps and dances if a full orchestra was playing, although his legs were no longer a blur and the toes weren't pointed, he could amaze the crowd by a raisin sand.
Speaker 1:Upon seeing Brooks entering the saloon, he stopped dancing as Brooks seemed displeased. Mike's conduct was somewhat laughable, but he got the slug from Brooks for his effort. Afterward he joined in with Brooks, who no doubt needed to celebrate his survival. Mccabe held his well-earned lead slug from Jordan's rifle high in the air. The hunters laughed with their hearty tones. Mccabe collected the drinks he'd been promised and everyone bent an elbow. At the bar there was a feeling of jubilation in the crowd. We were both firmly on solid ground and levitating all at once.
Speaker 1:It's not clear what precipitated the trouble between Brooks and Jordan. Some say that the two men were at odds over the affection of Lizzie Palmer, the madam of Dodge City Bravo, or one of her girls. However, brooks would not remain on duty long in Dodge, for his less-than-heroic performance that day in March 1873 spelled the end of his effectiveness as a fearsome gunpacking keeper of the peace in town. He was soon off to other venues, leaving as his legacy the memory of the most dangerous killers of the most violent period in one of the most violent towns in western frontier history, with the dearth of governmental criminal records, newspaper reports and old-timers' tales that became confusing and contradictory accounts, it's impossible to determine Billy Brooks' contribution to Dodge City.
Speaker 1:It has been said that shortly after leaving Dodge City Brooks returned to his old position as a stage driver for the Southwestern Stage Company in early 1874. However, several months later the company had lost a male contract to a rival company and Brooks lost his job. Then, in June of that year it was reported that several horses and mules owned by that competing stage line were stolen. It was soon discovered that former city marshal for the city of Newton, billy Brooks, and two other men, lb Hashbrook and Charlie Smith, stole the horses and mules. Brooks and the other two men were arrested near Caldwell, kansas, by early July. It was believed that they were heading to Texas and away from the law. After it was determined that Brooks attempted to hurt the rival stage company of the Southwestern Stage Co, the three were charged with stealing horses and mules.
Speaker 1:On July 29, 1874, while jailed in a waiting trial near Caldwell Kansas, a lynch mob stormed the jail. Brooks and the other two men were taken to a nearby tree. There they pled their case and cried out for a fair trial. They cried out for mercy, but soon. All three were hanged, despite their pleas. As for Billy Brooks, he struggled and fought to get loose, even after the rope didn't break his neck. His struggle was in vain, since he was left there to strangle to death.
Speaker 1:It was believed that Brooks stole the horses and mules to get back at the mail delivery contract for the Southwestern Stage Company. Of course, before the trial started and they were being held, talk began to swirl and soon people started asking if the Southwestern Stage Company was behind what took place. One of the questions that no one could answer had to do with Brooks's money to pay his two cohorts to help him carry out the crime. So if the three decided to steal the horses and mules to hurt a rival stage line and not sell them, where did Brooks get the money to pay two men to help him commit that crime? And really, what did they plan to do with the horses? Of course, as it turned out, no one would ever find the answers to those questions. While much of the life of Billy Brooks is a mystery, some say even his life ended in mystery After all. Some still ask if Billy Brooks could have been framed for stealing those horses and mules. And yes, the bigger question is why a lynch mob would hang three horse thieves who were already caught in a waiting trial. If they were killers then no one would ask. But to hang a horse thief for trying to help an employer get back a mail contract seemed pretty extreme, even for those back in the Old West.
Speaker 1:That's it for now. Remember to check out our Wild West podcast shows on iTunes podcast or Wild West podcast dot buzzsprout dot com. You can also catch us on Facebook at facebookcom slash Wild West podcast or on our YouTube channel at whiskey and westerns on Wednesday. Thank you for listening to our podcast. Join us next time as we take you back to the life and times of bat Masterson. Part four, the Royal Gorge War. You can learn more about the legends of Dodge City by visiting our website at world famous gunfighters dot weebly dot com. If you would like to purchase one of our books, you can go to worldfamousgunfighters dot weebly dot com. Slash books dot html. If you like this podcast and these episodes, please do us a favor and click subscribe so that you can get continuous updates on our new and exciting episodes.