July 26, 2025 • 43 mins
Step back in time to the dusty, lawless streets of Dodge City, Kansas as we unravel the enigmatic legend of "Mysterious" Dave Mathers over glasses of Knob Creek bourbon. Few characters in Western lore earned their nicknames more honestly than Mathers, whose life story combines gunfights, peculiar behavior, and ultimately, a disappearance that sealed his place in frontier mythology.
We trace Mathers' journey from his early days as a horse thief running with Dave Rudabaugh to his arrival in Dodge City around 1874. After surviving a near-fatal knife attack and forming an unusual business relationship with local physician Dr. Thomas McCarty, Mathers embarked on a colorful career that regularly blurred the line between lawman and outlaw. You'll hear the hilarious tale of "the conversion of Dave Mather," where he exposed a preacher's congregation as hypocrites with a well-placed gunshot, and discover his unique method for testing his sobriety—shooting at the town fire bell after leaving saloons.
The heart of our story follows Mathers through his time with the notorious "Dodge City Gang" in Las Vegas, New Mexico, his return to Dodge as assistant marshal, and his fateful, escalating feud with town founder Tom Nixon. Their rivalry over politics, business competition, and a woman culminated in one of Dodge City's most telling shootouts—where Mathers killed Nixon with four bullets and walked away free on self-defense claims, despite the shooting occurring weeks after Nixon's initial attempt on his life.
What happened to Mysterious Dave after that deadly encounter? Like many aspects of his life, his ultimate fate remains shrouded in mystery—a fitting end for a man whose very nickname acknowledged the enigma of his existence. Join us for this captivating glimpse into frontier justice, personalities, and the complex moral code that governed the American West.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Here we go again.
I demand more, I want it, Ineed it and I'm gonna have it.
This pod show is pleased tobring you Whiskey Westerns on
Wednesday, direct from DodgeCity, kansas, featuring rich
topics on the legends of the oldwest.
Whiskey to motivate Westerns toinspire Get it, play it, drink
(00:29):
it.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Welcome everyone to the Whiskey and Westerns on
Wednesday pod show.
My name is Mike King.
I am the producer and writer ofWild West podcast.
Today we, as it relates to alegend of Dodge City, I have
with me Brad Smalley.
Brad is the narrator of theWild West podcast and a true
(01:04):
historian of the early days ofDodge City.
Before we get started with ourshow, I would like to thank all
of our dedicated listeners.
Each and every one of you hasmade this show a popular release
, especially for those who lovethe stories of the Old West.
(01:25):
Our worldwide listener loyaltyis much appreciated, allowing us
to continue to climb thepodcasting charts to over 13,500
visitors.
Brad, what whiskey have youselected for us on this episode
of Whiskey and Westerns onWednesday?
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Well, mike, today we've got nothing short of just
a classic Kentucky straightbourbon whiskey, your friend and
my old Knob Creek Knob.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Creek.
Ah.
So tell me, well, before we doa taste test on this.
Well, before we do a taste teston this, there must have been a
reason why you selected KnobCreek for tonight's story.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Well, simply put, Mike, you and I are gentlemen
who enjoy drinking whiskey.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
And there's another fella in Old Dodge who enjoyed
drinking whiskey and his namewas Mysterious Dave Mathers.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Mysterious Dave Mathers.
Now, mysterious must havesomething behind it, so we'll
talk about that, but what I wantto do right now is let's take
this Knob Creek to a test,absolutely.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Well, I should lead out Knob Creek.
It's one of those.
There's four of the small batchcollection that comes from Beam
Suntory put out by Jim Beam.
Fred Noe, master distiller man,knows what he's doing.
Knob Creek is one of them.
Then there's three more BasilHayden's Booker's I can't
(03:01):
remember Baker's, Baker's okay,I want to camera them.
Bakers, Bakers that's it Okay,okay.
Bookers, bakers, candlestickmakers and Basil Hayden.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
It almost sounds like .
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Knob Creek.
Just to break the alliteration,it's a good, good whiskey, 100
proof.
Used to be.
It doesn't come with An agestatement anymore.
But If you have an old bottleSitting around, maybe For you
drinking at home Used to be, itdoesn't come with an age
statement anymore.
But if you have an old bottlesitting around, maybe for you
drinking at home, it used to beage nine years.
They took the age statement offof that two, three years ago
(03:35):
Now because there was actually ashortage of Knob Creek.
That actually tells you howgood it is.
They just couldn't keep it in.
So they worked real hard tokeep that same flavor profile
profile.
But there's whiskeys in herethat aren't necessarily there.
Might be a little younger thannine, might be a little older
than nine, but the overall ageis about nine.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
They just take the label off.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
But you know, when you taste it you're thinking
you're tasting nine years.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Well, speaking of flavor profile, I tell you we
discussed this earlier and I'vehad arguments over this more
than once and I'm telling youyou taste that and I swear to
God, mike, you get red, ripegala apples dipped in peanut
butter.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Okay, all right.
So what I'm going to need to do, then, is take a sip of this
and tell you whether or not I'mgoing to taste the red apple and
a little bit of peanut butterRight on the front of your
tongue.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Okay, here we go.
A little bit of peanut butter.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
You see what I'm getting at Well, I get the red
apple, but I'm not getting thepeanut butter.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Well, it's all subjective.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
It's about apple, but I'm not getting the peanut
butter.
Well, it's, it's all subjective, okay.
Well, let me take another shothere, because I definitely want
to see if I get that peanutbutter taste but uh, more more
fun than that.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
After you've you've had a taste, go back there and
just nose that a little bit andit becomes real rich.
Uh, maple syrup yeah, it does.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Yeah, I got to make this maple syrup on the initial
nose.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
It's a lot more than just that whiskey soaked oak
it's, it's 100 proof you're,you're definitely we better slow
down on the peanut butter.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Then we gotta show we gotta we might want to have a
sandwich too.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
I'm thinking, yeah, he's up on it all right.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
So all right, now we've got a taste test done.
I'm saying that I haven't evengot to the peanut butter part
here, but at least I know thatthere's a little red apple in
there and some maple syrup.
So all right, let's talk aboutthis mysterious Dave Mathers.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
One of my favorite fellows in old Dodge.
I mean a lot of these guys, youknow they had their nicknames,
like you know Dirty Dave,rudabaugh, shotgun Collins.
Everybody had a nickname, so tospeak, mysterious.
Dave was aptly named.
He was mysterious for a reason.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Was that because he had a mysterious personality?
Or was that because he was justkind of recluse and sat in the
back of the room in a darkcorner somewhere?
Speaker 3 (06:10):
Well, he definitely wasn't sitting in a dark corner.
He tended to be the fellow thatwould be out there on the
boardwalk leaning back in hischair with his foot up on one of
the awning posts.
Matter of fact, there's a verywell-known painting of Dave
Mather in that exact position.
A lot of folks who knew himsaid he was often could be seen
(06:31):
sitting like that.
But very little is actuallyknown about Dave Mather.
We know where he was born, weknow when he was born.
We know who his parents were.
There are stories that he mayhave been descended from Cotton
Mather.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
He liked that story.
In fact he says to him I thinkhe told that story himself.
Oh, he did.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
I'm from a descendant of the Mather family, and they
did come from New England, soI'm inclined to accept that as
true.
But then everybody with thelast name of Mather in that part
of the country also claimed tobe descended from Cotton Mather.
So whether it is or whether itnot really doesn't have any
bearing on his career from thatpoint.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Would it have any bearing on his personality?
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Well, he definitely liked to be top dog, okay, so he
was kind of a show-off.
Then he wanted to be known,have the reputation.
Not that he necessarily workedthat hard at it, it just sort of
came natural to it.
But really the only things thatwe can set in concrete about
(07:36):
Dave Mather's life and career ismuch of the time that he spent
in Dodge City, a little bit inLas Vegas, nevada, and then of
course back to Dodge.
But beyond that we can get tothis later.
But Dave is one of the guys hejust sort of disappeared from
the pages of history.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
So that's where you get the name Mysterious Dave.
I'll see.
So.
He was very mysterious all inhis entire life, and what I'm
thinking is, down toward the endof our story, there's going to
be a mystery there too.
Oh, absolutely All right.
So let's start out with some ofthe legends of Dave Mathers and
(08:17):
some of the stories that havebeen told around Dodge about
this character Dave Mathersmysterious.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Dave Mathers.
Well, as best as we can guess,a lot of this is just hearsay,
if not heresy.
We have Dave in Dodge, at leastby 1874, some guess even prior
to that, 1974, some guess evenprior to that.
(08:50):
We know that he became goodfriends with Dr Thomas McCarty
of early Dodge who was the onlylegitimate physician and one of
the earliest settlers of DodgeCity.
As the story goes, dave, whohad arrived in Dodge sort of on
the run, he'd been involved witha horse thievery operation down
in Arkansas with Dave Rudabaugh, milton Yarbury.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Some of the good guys of the Wild West.
Yeah, yeah, rudabaugh.
Okay, that's another story tobe told.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
Rudabaugh comes and goes throughout just about
everyone's story.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
But he's involved in wrestling and stealing horses.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
He was a horse thief.
There was a big horse thiefring.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
That's a hanging offense in the West, wasn't it?
Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Absolutely, and that was in.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Arkansas.
So he got the heck out ofArkansas From.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
Arkansas all the way up through Nebraska.
Dodge was kind of a linchpin inthat he was running with a
pretty big crew Of horse thieves, Of horse thieves, Of horse
thieves.
Absolutely that's how BatMasterson got famous actually in
his lawman career tracking downhorse thieves, All right.
So once he arrived in DodgeCity, sort of on the run, he had
(09:56):
gotten in a scrape in the DodgeHouse Hotel.
Apparently he just got slashedright through his gut.
Somebody just took a knife tohim, so he got a big bellyache.
He got one hell of a bellyacheand dr mccarty reportedly saved
his life.
At least that's what matherclaimed.
And during the time that matherspent in dodge city over the
(10:18):
years, he and he made a dealwith dr mccarty that he would
send and occasionally pressureanybody to go and see Dr McCarty
for their medical needs.
There are rumors, of course,that he may have even caused
some of the injuries that theyneeded to go see Dr McCarty for.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
It was more of a persuasive kind of thing.
I'm going to hit you over thehead with my pistol and now you
go see the doctor.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
He definitely felt that he owed Dr McCarty and they
maintained a good relationshipover the years.
They were business partners,you could call it that.
That was as legitimate abusiness in early Dodge as
anything was.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Okay, all right, I conk them out out and you fix
them up well, that's again.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
That's one of those we don't have any concrete
evidence for, but that story hadbeen told so often by the
people who, who that we cantrust and, and you know, had
legitimate reasons for for notlying about that sort of thing.
I tend to believe that that'sone of the true stories about
Dave.
Another one, and it's one of myfavorites, and this story has
(11:31):
been told and retold so manytimes over the years.
I just love it.
I affectionately refer to it asthe conversion of Dave Mather.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Oh, so I hear this one coming.
It's kind of like we're gettingsome religion here, right?
Is that what's happening hereas?
Speaker 3 (11:51):
much as they could.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Okay, so we've got some conversion of Dave Mather.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
Dodge was sort of a goal for a lot of the
missionaries over the years.
If you were out to bring Christto Dodge City and you could
survive your attempt, there wasnothing you couldn't do.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
There may have been some funding going on for that.
Oh, entirely possible.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
But there were a couple of legitimate ministers
who did finally set up shop inDodge.
Most of them who came throughwere just itinerant tent
preachers trying to have arevival sort of thing.
Well, one of these preacherssort of he set up shop.
He really wanted to make it big.
He was seeing some success,sort of a hellfire, brimstone
(12:39):
type guy, holy roller, he wasgetting people falling all over
him, feeling like he was reallydoing a good job bringing
religion to Dodgson.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
So he was getting a good following.
There was a large crowd.
There was people that wereactually coming to church and
listening to his revivals andsaving a lot of souls.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
Well, this preacher man sort of got himself a big
head over the deal.
His success went to his head iswhat I'm trying to say and he
thought that if he had all thesefolks going, he said the
biggest sinner in Dodge Citythat he thought he could single
out was Dave.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Madden.
Okay, so what you're telling meis the preacher's got a big
head now and he's singling outmysterious Dave, Dave Mather.
Oh my, this is headed in thewrong direction.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
I can already see, but go ahead.
He figures that it would be afeather in his cap if he could
bring a man like Dave Mather tothe Lord.
And he made it very well knownall over town.
He says we're going to get DaveMather to the Lord.
And he made it very well knownall over town Says we're going
to get Dave Mather, we're goingto get him to come to church and
we're going to save his souland Dave Mather's going to be
right with the Lord and you'rejust going to see a change in
(13:55):
that man.
And it was getting so big allover town that Dave finally just
decided to take the preacher upon his offer and attend a
service.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
So he sent out his congregation as what it sounds
like to me to recruit DaveMathers to come to church.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
It got to the point where Dave just didn't really
have a choice.
I mean, he could continue toignore it, but that wasn't going
to change, it was only going toget worse.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
The townspeople were pretty much just pestering the
hell out of him.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
They were, they were.
If not him, he was hearing itaround the streets.
The man has got a reputation touphold.
So, dave, being the man that hewas, he decided to attend a
service and when they saw himcoming, of course he got to
place an honor, ushered himexcuse me right up the center
(14:50):
aisle, gave him a spot right infront of the pulpit on the right
hand side and preacher manstarted preaching right to Dave.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
And I guess at that point in time he took his
position on the bench with hisfeet up on the pew.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
He may well have.
I can see him in that.
I've just added to the storyNow.
I can definitely see him doingthat.
But there he sits, preacherspreaching right to Dave, getting
all up in a fury.
He's got the whole crowd withtheir hands in the air.
And finally the preacher helays it on the line, says if a
man like Dave Mather will acceptChrist today, says there is
(15:33):
nothing else on earth that Iwill be able to achieve in the
Lord's work and I'll just beready to die right today and go
straight to heaven.
If only I'll get to go ridingalong with Dave Mather.
And of course, the rest of thecongregation just jumps up and
they're all screaming yes, yes,absolutely.
We're willing to lay down ourlives right now just to support
(15:53):
Dave Mather and his conversion.
And Dave was moved, he wastouched.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
So he got out of his position on the bench on the
pier.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
He got up.
He got up, went up to thepulpit, turned around and
addressed the congregation andhe was very moved.
It was their motions wererunning, running hot and heavy
and he thanked the preacher.
He wasn't all teary-eyed, washe?
I don't know that Dave reallyhad any tear dives, hard telling
(16:29):
but I mean, he was somewhatemotional.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
He was very grateful.
He was grateful for the factthat he could come up in front
of the whole congregation.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Oh yes, there are plenty of witnesses to this and
he thanked him from the bottomof his heart.
He said that he was just sodeeply moved by their
willingness to lay down theirlives just for him, and he was
so touched that he knew the Lordhad spoken to his heart and
Dave was ready to go.
(16:59):
However, however, he knewhimself and he had a terrible
fear of backsliding.
He says, even though I believemy sins as of this point are
completely forgiven, I'm readyto die and go to heaven right
now.
I believe that.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Okay, but I know me.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
I know myself as soon as I walk out the tent.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
It says Dave, I'm going to walk right back into my
sinful ways.
He was fearful then he wasfearful of that walk right back
into my sinful ways.
He was fearful then.
He was fearful of that.
And he says that because ofthat, because I have such a
terrible fear of backslidingthat if I am going to enter the
Lord's presence, I need to do itright now, today, before I walk
out of this tent, and because Iam so grateful to each and
(17:40):
every one of you here in thiscongregation for your
willingness to take this journeywith me.
I'm going to have to just do it.
And he pulls his gun and turnsaround and fires a shot right
past the reverend's ear andpeople start ducking, they freak
out, yelling, they're duckingout the tents, running hiding
behind the pulpits, hiding undertheir pews, running hither and
(18:02):
thither and yon.
Tension is high.
And Dave stands there with hisgun in his hand and says you,
sons of bees, are nothing but abunch of hypocrites.
You're not willing to die withme at all.
And that's just all there is tothat.
And that was the last of thepreacher man in Dodge City.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
So nobody would take Dave Mather's challenge then.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
Nobody took him up on it.
Bunch of hypocrites.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
I'll tell you what.
That is why you call himMysterious Dave, all right.
Well, I tell you what before wego on.
My ice is getting a little thin, all right, so let's help
ourselves to another little bitof knob.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Pull a cork here, see if we can get that.
Oh yeah, I don't know.
I don't know if they heard thator not.
That's a good sound there.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
Thank you, sir.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
I will add a little bit to my glass as well.
Okay, in celebration ofmysterious dave mathers, we're
doing a little bit of knob creekhere, and the reason why we're
doing the knob creek is becausedave was a known whiskey drinker
.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
He liked a good drink as much as anybody, probably
more than most.
A matter of fact, during alsoduring his time in Dodge City,
in compliance with commonpractice and the ordinance, when
he entered a saloon, he wouldfork his guns over to the
bartender and when he got done,ready to leave, he'd take them
(19:30):
back and go out.
Well, dave was a responsibleman and got himself a system
Whenever he was ready to leavethe saloon, got his guns back
from the bartender, he wouldwalk outside and fire a shot at
the fire bell hanging off thebuilding across the street.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Did it alert the fire department?
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Just to see if he could hit it.
It was just one of those shots.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Am I vision good or is it bad, or am I?
Speaker 3 (20:01):
shots.
Good, he figured, if he couldhit the bell and hear it ring,
then he was sober enough.
If he couldn't hit the bell, itwas time to stop drinking and
go home, gotcha.
Okay, well, it was like one ofthose sobriety tests that you
get from the highway patrol.
(20:22):
Well, a little bit more funthan theirs.
You know, my dad was a trooper.
I'm going to try that out.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
On the Smokies out there he could be going down now
as the inventor of that test,the field sobriety test, the
field sobriety test.
Yeah, field sobriety test.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
That's a good one.
We'll have to add that.
All right, but we've talkedabout Luke McGlue in the past
and all the practical jokes thatLuke liked to play.
Well, this one evening thisparticular bartender in question
was part of the Luke McGluecrowd.
This particular bartender inquestion was part of the Luke
McGrew crowd and he decided thatit would be a fun idea to while
(21:04):
Dave was drinking, he tookDave's guns and loaded them with
blanks.
So after another couple hours,Dave was deciding that maybe
it's time to go home.
He takes his gun back from thebartender, heads on out the
front door and levels hissix-shooter at the bell across
(21:27):
the street.
Pulls the trigger.
Gun goes bang, but there's noding on the bell.
Tries it again Gun goes bang,doesn't hit the bell.
Tries it again Gun goes bang,Doesn't hit the bell.
Dave decides he's too drunk, hecan't hit the bell.
It's time to go home, Of course, again, still not knowing he's
(21:47):
got blank in his gun.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
You know that's kind of bad on the bartenders back
end of that because he's notselling any more whiskey to
Mysterious Dave.
Are you kidding?
It's more than worth.
More whiskey to Mysterious Dave, Are you kidding?
Speaker 3 (21:58):
It's more than worth just getting a laugh on Dave
Madden.
That's worth any price.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Okay, so it's not about economics, it's really
about the humor of the story.
So he's now got blanks in hisguns, he's shot at the bell,
he's missed each time, and sonow what happens?
Speaker 3 (22:15):
Dave just feels that he's drunk and depressed and
he's just going to head home forthe evening.
Well, he starts to get a littlebit upset with himself because
that's the first time he'd evermissed the bell.
He's never shot at it andmissed it.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
He's never missed the bell yet, oh my goodness, it
must have been a big bell, or asmall bell, or what Dave was a
good shot, a good shot.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Drunk bell.
Yet, oh my goodness, she musthave been a big bell or a small
bell or what.
Dave was a good shot.
A good shot drunk or sober manwas a good shot.
So by by the time he heads downa couple of blocks down the
street, dave is starting to getpretty irritated and he sees
just a dog start crossing thestreet out in front of him,
comes around the corner of thebuilding and dave just, I mean,
he wasn't necessarily a bad guy,but he was drunk and he was
irritated and the dog was in hisway and he took a shot at it
(23:08):
and didn't hit the dog either Imust have thought he'd gone
blind, fired two, or three moreshots still couldn't hit the dog
point blank.
Not only could.
Or three more shots Stillcouldn't hit the dog Point blank
.
Not only could he not hit thebell, he couldn't hit a full
grown dog, almost point blankrange.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
So he retired his guns that point in time.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
Well, he freaked out a little bit.
Dave was.
I don't necessarily know if hewas a superstitious man, but
seeing that dog completelyimmune to his bullets, it was a
little bit too much for DrunkenDave and he worried over that
for two or three weeks.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
He must have had a little bit of knob creek that
night, perhaps All right.
So now we got him with thepreacher, you got him with
shooting a dog and a bell.
We call him Mysterious Dave,but I'm wondering how in the
(24:08):
world did he get involved withthe Dodge City Gang?
Speaker 3 (24:17):
involved with the Dodge City gang.
Well, dave again was one ofthose fellas that was just as
happy on either side of the law.
He tended towards wearing abadge because that gave him
legitimacy.
But it didn't change hispersonality one iota whether he
(24:37):
was wearing a badge or not.
He still wanted to be top dog.
He still had his reputation.
Even if he couldn't shoot a dog.
He wanted to be top dog.
Yeah, you're right, he had hisreputation and he didn't want to
lose it.
Who does?
But his first real lawman job,so to speak, that we know of
(25:01):
came in 1879, when he wasdeputized by Bat Masterson,
along with a whole bunch ofother guys John Joshua Webb,
dave Rudabaugh he's back againGuys like Ken Shreiley even Doc
Holliday was roped into this.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
So the enforcers are back in town.
The enforcers.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
there was a group of railroaders they're called the
Railroad Wars really, just toput a finer point on it.
There was two differentrailroads that were climbing
right-of-way through the RoyalGorge in Colorado.
Railroad conflict going on hereAbsolute railroad conflict and
it got pretty bad to a pointwhere they started hiring gunmen
(25:46):
and Bat Masterson, who was notonly sheriff of Ford County at
that point but was also a UnitedStates federal marshal, was
brought in, said you hire asmany deputies as you can get
your hands on and we're going togo intimidate the other guys.
And they did.
(26:07):
There was quite the standoffand they wound up lost, but the
important thing is they werewell paid.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
So he went up there, got well paid, joined law
enforcement at that point Right,and I guess he kind of liked
the idea of wearing a badge.
He did, got a handle on it,liked the power so you could
swing your gun and be legalabout it.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
Absolutely so.
After the railroad conflict wassettled, a bunch of these guys
decided that no, they'd doneabout everything they could do
in Dodge City and several ofthem went down to Las Vegas, new
Mexico, and set up shop downthere, and very shortly they had
completely taken over the town.
(26:50):
Dave was a constable down there, hoodoo Brown from Dodge was,
oh, our old Hoodoo Brown thebuffalo hunter, our old friend
Hoodoo Brown.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
He shows up down in Las Vegas, New Mexico.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
Yep, he was Justice of the Peace down there.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
I didn't know he was that smart you didn't have to be
smart Judge.
Roy Bean.
He just picked up a buck andsaid I'm the judge.
Speaker 3 (27:15):
All they needed was numbers and guns and they had
them Completely taken over thetown, the politics, the law, all
the legalities.
They were running the place.
And because everybody knewwhere they were from, all these
guys had been from Dodge City,even down in Las Vegas, new
Mexico.
They were called the Dodge CityGang.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
So their reputation followed them, their reputation
preceded them, preceded them,preceded them.
And so the legends followedAbsolutely, and so here they are
.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
They took over Las Vegas, new Mexico.
They're running the place downthere.
Dave himself was involved in atleast one shootout killed a guy
down in Las Vegas and at leastone shootout killed a guy down
in Las Vegas and it was justgetting more than the town folks
could handle.
So they set up their ownvigilante mob and ran them out
(28:10):
Just about overnight.
They put out an ordinance thatsays all you guys need to leave
or there's going to be ashooting war.
And these guys the Dodge Citygang took it at face value and
they set up shop and they justleft.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
So where do they go from there?
Speaker 3 (28:29):
Oh, dave moves around .
For a little bit Several of theguys came back to Dodge.
A lot of them went aroundthrough Texas for a time.
We're pretty sure that Daveaveagain spent some time, also over
new mexico, but also around intexas.
There's rumors that he andwyatt erp actually got involved
(28:50):
in a scheme where they wereselling fake gold bricks to make
money down in mobidi our mob,our Mobiti story continues yeah
old Mobiti, it just doesn't end,does it?
That's another little nexus thatkeeps popping up, so he's down
here selling gold bars.
He's trying to Him, and againsupposedly Wyatt Earp.
They decide they're going toget a scheme.
(29:11):
They're painting bricks goldand they're just— they're not
real gold bars.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
No, of course not they didn't have any gold.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
They're painting.
They're painting these barsTotally fraud.
However they were doing it, itwas pure fraud on their part.
Fool's gold Problem is thereweren't as many fools as they
thought there might be and theygot run out, didn't work, didn't
make any money and over time,dave again winds up back in
(29:40):
Dodge City.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
Okay, so he's back here in Dodge City.
What year is that?
Speaker 3 (29:45):
Oh, by now we're talking 1880, 82, 83.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
By this point.
Oh, that's the time of theSaloon Wars, absolutely, dave
acquires.
Speaker 3 (29:55):
Does he get?
Speaker 2 (29:55):
called back by Luke Short, or does he just come back
on his own?
Dave's already there, okay.
Speaker 3 (30:00):
He's already there.
Matter of fact, he is assistantmarshal under Jack Bridges.
Oh, he's got his marshal badgeback.
He's got the badge back on.
He's liking that.
I imagine Dave's a man of law.
He starts to settle down just alittle bit Not too much, mind
you, but just a little bit.
He invests in a saloon, a dancehall in town.
(30:21):
He starts flirting around withTom Nixon's wife Whoa, whoa,
whoa whoa, just a second now.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
I know there's Tom Nixon's wife, whoa, whoa, whoa,
whoa.
Just a second now.
I know this, tom Nixon.
We talked about Tom Nixon thebuffalo hunter.
Tom Nixon the buffalo hunter,tom Nixon, was a settler in
these parts, oh yeah, and heowns a ranch outside as early as
1868.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Rancher saloon owner Tom Nixon was one of the oldest
of the old timers.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
But Dave Mathers is trying to make in on his wife.
Speaker 3 (30:53):
Supposedly.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
Is this the second wife or the?
Speaker 3 (30:56):
first wife, tom Nixon's wife.
Did he ever have two wives?
I believe he did, but you know,I can't remember.
I think it might be his secondwife by this point.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Okay, so he's moving in on the second wife.
She's fairly young, she's quitea bit younger than Tom.
Speaker 3 (31:09):
Yeah, because he's been around here for a while oh
yeah, Tom is not aged, but he'sdefinitely seasoned.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
Dave is making a move on Tom Nixon's wife, dave had a
thing for married women.
Speaker 3 (31:23):
I mean not the first time that he'd done that At this
point in Dodge, not thatmarriage vows were necessarily
all that constrictive, forseveral years.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
Some of them were like common law.
Oh, many of them were likecommon law.
They just kind of hooked up andsaid, yeah, you can sleep here
tonight, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
Tom in fact, although he was legitimately married and
things started brewing back andforth, of course the saloon
wars that Dave didn't play toobig of a part in individually.
But after that was all said anddone, as we again, as we've
talked about, through the saloonwars the politics in Dodge
(32:04):
changed rapidly.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
Politics in Dodge has always been.
They always changed rapidly.
Yeah, they always always beenthey always changed rapidly.
Speaker 3 (32:10):
Yeah, they always changed rapidly.
It was a swinging door.
You were on one side of thefence or the other and you never
stayed there for long.
Well, jack Bridges, as marshal,was replaced by Bill Tillman as
city marshal.
Bill was on the opposite sideof the Luke Short faction and
Bill he actually.
(32:30):
Now that he's city marshal, hecan hire the people that he
wants.
He fires Dave Mather and hireshis good buddy Tom Nixon.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
So now you've got a conflict going on with the wife
and now you get fired and hegets your job as if.
Speaker 3 (32:48):
Oh, there has got to be some sore points brewing
right now, as if Madden andNixon needed anything else to
fight about.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
Oh my, they're setting it all up.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
Well as this the politics changed.
Dave, by all accounts, wasn'ttoo put out with losing his
badge.
He still had his saloon to fallback, on which he did the Opera
House Saloon, which was on thenorth side of the railroad
tracks.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
It was on the good side of the track, Well yeah,
the side of the track thatfollows the law.
Speaker 3 (33:20):
Not necessarily any more legal.
Again, it goes back to how thelaws were enforced, which?
Speaker 2 (33:29):
becomes the problem.
Speaker 3 (33:32):
Because while Dave is running the opera house, he
starts to remodel it into adance hall, getting more
business going through there.
Well, the problem is, tom Nixonis also involved at this point
in the Lady Gay Saloon.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
Oh, here we go with another Lady, gay Saloon, on the
south side of the railroadtracks in the sporting district.
Speaker 3 (33:56):
Wow, oh yeah, everybody owned Lady Gay.
Speaker 2 (33:59):
I mean, it's just like turned over a hundred times
, lady Gay.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
Saloon in Dodge City caused more problems than any
other barn.
I would say Nice.
In any other barn I would sayNice, I mean even the Long
Branch, as famous as it hasbecome.
Even it wasn't as notable asthe Lady Gay Sloan, Not even the
Dodge House.
But because of that rivalfaction, one side being on the
(34:26):
other side of the politicalfence, they passed an ordinance
Because, again, Nixon and hispartner were friends with the
people in power, Webster's andthe reformers.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (34:40):
Well, they put out an ordinance that made it illegal
to operate a dance hall in thecity limits of Dodge City
because they were trying to shutdown Dave Mather.
He was just starting, of course, the long, well-established
dance hall of the Lady Gay thatwasn't being shut down, it was
(35:04):
the new ones.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
Okay, but that's the same thing that's happening to
Luke Short at this time.
Speaker 3 (35:09):
Exactly the same, I mean it's Short at this time,
exactly the same.
Speaker 2 (35:10):
I mean, it's almost like favoritism.
Sure is, if I own a saloon andI'm on the right side of the
fence, I can have my ladies.
Speaker 3 (35:19):
The only reason they're passing laws is to make
people that they don't likeillegal.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
I see so they wanted really to own all of the
businesses in town, Right?
Shutting down the competition,and so that would stir a man up.
It did.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
And Dave.
Again, he had weathered losinghis badge pretty well.
That's okay, but this was verypointed.
He knew where this was goingand he wasn't going to stand for
it.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
So right now we're looking at strike three.
Speaker 3 (35:50):
Dave was done talking .
So what he did is he loweredthe price of beer to five cents.
Every beer he was selling fivecents, which undercut not only
the lady gay but everybody elsein town.
Naturally.
Five cent beer where'severybody going to go?
They're going to Dave's OperaHouse.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
Right, that was a good move on his part.
Speaker 3 (36:14):
It was a wonderful move on his part.
He was still making money handover fist he was going to shut
me down everywhere else.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
I mean, why not Offered beer for five cents?
Speaker 3 (36:23):
And of course that ticked off.
The establishment of the LadyGay Always comes back to
politics in Dodge.
So what they did is Nixonreally started pressuring all of
the local brewers and thewholesalers to stop selling beer
(36:44):
to Dave Mather.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
So well-established citizen in Dodge and on the
other side of the fence startshis political maneuvers.
Speaker 3 (36:54):
Problem is he had the power to do it and it was
starting to work.
They were putting the squeezeon Dave.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
That might have been strike four right there it was.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
They weren't even counting strikes anymore.
It was.
Somebody was about to roundhome and I'm talking to Pearly
Gates kind- of oh, I can hear itcoming.
And it was getting hot hotbetween the two.
Everybody in town knew it thatsooner or later Dave Mather and
Tom Nixon were going to come toblows.
And finally Tom sees it comingand he knows the reputation that
(37:29):
Dave has and Tom takes a shotat it.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
Tom Nixon takes a shot at Dave Mather.
Speaker 3 (37:36):
Tom Nixon takes a shot at Dave Mather.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
Okay, well, but he's, I mean he's got the upper hand.
I mean, if you think about it,sure, he does, but he still
takes a shot at him, Sure hedoes.
Speaker 3 (37:49):
Wow, sure he does, but he still takes a shot at him
.
Sure, he does, because this isnot the high noon gunfight on
either end of the street andwaiting for the other fellow to
pull first.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
It's in the back alleys in a shaded dark If you
need to kill somebody.
Speaker 3 (38:02):
you need to do it.
You just ambush them Becausethey're going to kill you.
It wasn't necessarily an ambush.
Speaker 2 (38:07):
You knew it was coming, so you might as well
just finish the business.
Speaker 3 (38:11):
That was the idea.
Well, Tom missed.
He grazed Dave.
Tom was actually arrested.
They posted bond.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
But Dave, Now the buffalo hunter actually missed.
He missed a shot, that was hismistake.
Speaker 3 (38:29):
I would say that was absolutely his mistake, oh.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
I'm telling you, you don't miss a shot like that.
When you got one, he paid forit.
Oh, okay, he paid for it.
Speaker 3 (38:39):
Even though he was arrested, they posted bond.
Dave didn't press chargesagainst.
Tom Ness, good guy, no, no,that's another plan.
Tom Nixon, good guy, no, no,that's another plan.
Dave didn't want Tom Nixon injail.
Dave wanted Tom Nixon out onthe street open where he could
(39:00):
keep an eye on him.
Sure.
And get his revenge when itbecame necessary.
And just a few weeks later,sure enough, they were out in
front of the Opera House Saloon.
Tom Nixon was likely headingthat way to check up on Mather.
Mather knew he was coming, cameup behind him in the street,
(39:23):
whispered behind him just tomake his presence aware.
And while Tom Nixon is turningaround to see who had spoken to
him, Dave Mather pulls his gunand fires four shots.
Speaker 2 (39:35):
And I'm thinking this story he doesn't miss.
Speaker 3 (39:39):
Dave doesn't miss.
One of the four bullets goesright through Tom Nixon's heart.
He's dead before he hit theground.
Speaker 2 (39:47):
Now, here's the kicker for you at the ground.
Now here's the kicker.
It's not kicking on Nixon'sside because he's down on the
ground, not kicking One of themost telling.
Speaker 3 (39:59):
this story is one of the most definitive stories of
Dodge City and how thingsoperate, Because you've got a
man who gunned down another manalmost in the back.
Speaker 2 (40:15):
The tops, one of the top citizens of Dodge.
City, Absolutely one of theleading citizens of Dodge City,
one of the founders of DodgeCity.
Speaker 3 (40:23):
Outright murdered in the street, four bullets while
he was turning around starting,while his back was turned.
And do you think Dave Matherwas arrested?
Speaker 2 (40:36):
Well, I think, yeah, of course he was right.
Speaker 3 (40:39):
Well, he was, but it was a clear-cut case of
self-defense.
How was it self-defense?
Because weeks earlier, tom hadtried to shoot Dave Ah okay, tom
had tried to shoot Dave, ah,okay, so that Tom had pulled the
gun first.
Speaker 2 (40:54):
He must have had a really good lawyer.
Speaker 3 (40:55):
Everybody knew the judge.
If Dave didn't shoot Tom,sooner or later Tom was going to
shoot Dave.
Speaker 2 (41:02):
That was just a well-known Wow.
So no matter who shot who atthat point in time, it was going
to be self defense.
Speaker 3 (41:09):
Dave got off scot-free.
Speaker 2 (41:11):
Everybody would have got off scot-free.
Whoever shot who and killed who, they would have got off
scot-free.
This time it just happened tobe Nixon.
Speaker 3 (41:20):
Had Nixon come back and shot Dave.
I don't know that that wouldhave worked the same way it may
not.
Because it was already theself-defense number.
Speaker 2 (41:29):
He had already planned the, already the
self-defense.
He'd already planned thekilling, the assassination.
You might be right.
So maybe Nixon is better offwhere he was at that point in
time, so he wouldn't have anymore troubles after that.
Speaker 3 (41:44):
One of the great leading citizens of Dodge City
is no more.
Lady Gay goes up for sale andagain we can tell no more.
Lady Gay goes up for sale andagain we can tell more stories
of Lady Gay ad nauseum.
Speaker 2 (41:55):
but Sorry, go ahead.
Okay, I think that's it for now.
Remember to check out all ofour Wild West podcast shows on
iTunes Podcast, spotify, any podat Amazon or at
wildwestpodcastbuzzsproutcom.
(42:19):
We would like to conclude ourshow by thanking our sponsor,
boothillproductionscom, and ifyou would like to sponsor our
show, just send us an email atwildwestpodcast at gmailcom.
We would like to conclude ourshow by reminding all of our
(42:39):
listeners to check out upcomingdigital bookstore by visiting
bootheelproductionscom andselect publications.
The Battle of Cimarron is ournewest digital book edition and
can be preordered at Amazon dotcom and will be soon available
at iBook stores.
Remember, as always, drinkresponsibly.
(43:04):
Thanks for listening to ourpodcast.
This podcast is licensed undera Creative Commons Attribute
non-commercial license.
You can learn more about thelegends of Dodge City by
visiting our website atworldfamousgunfighterscom or
visit us atboothillproductionscom.
(43:26):
And I'm thinking that's thelongest closing I've done thus
far, probably.
Here we go again.
I demand more, I want it, Ineed it and I'm gonna have it.
This pod show is pleased tobring you Whiskey Westerns on
Wednesday, direct from DodgeCity, kansas, featuring rich
topics on the legends of the oldwest.
Whiskey to motivate Westerns toinspire Get it, play it, drink
(00:29):
it.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Welcome everyone to the Whiskey and Westerns on
Wednesday pod show.
My name is Mike King.
I am the producer and writer ofWild West podcast.
Today we, as it relates to alegend of Dodge City, I have
with me Brad Smalley.
Brad is the narrator of theWild West podcast and a true
(01:04):
historian of the early days ofDodge City.
Before we get started with ourshow, I would like to thank all
of our dedicated listeners.
Each and every one of you hasmade this show a popular release
, especially for those who lovethe stories of the Old West.
(01:25):
Our worldwide listener loyaltyis much appreciated, allowing us
to continue to climb thepodcasting charts to over 13,500
visitors.
Brad, what whiskey have youselected for us on this episode
of Whiskey and Westerns onWednesday?
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Well, mike, today we've got nothing short of just
a classic Kentucky straightbourbon whiskey, your friend and
my old Knob Creek Knob.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Creek.
Ah.
So tell me, well, before we doa taste test on this.
Well, before we do a taste teston this, there must have been a
reason why you selected KnobCreek for tonight's story.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Well, simply put, Mike, you and I are gentlemen
who enjoy drinking whiskey.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
And there's another fella in Old Dodge who enjoyed
drinking whiskey and his namewas Mysterious Dave Mathers.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Mysterious Dave Mathers.
Now, mysterious must havesomething behind it, so we'll
talk about that, but what I wantto do right now is let's take
this Knob Creek to a test,absolutely.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Well, I should lead out Knob Creek.
It's one of those.
There's four of the small batchcollection that comes from Beam
Suntory put out by Jim Beam.
Fred Noe, master distiller man,knows what he's doing.
Knob Creek is one of them.
Then there's three more BasilHayden's Booker's I can't
(03:01):
remember Baker's, Baker's okay,I want to camera them.
Bakers, Bakers that's it Okay,okay.
Bookers, bakers, candlestickmakers and Basil Hayden.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
It almost sounds like .
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Knob Creek.
Just to break the alliteration,it's a good, good whiskey, 100
proof.
Used to be.
It doesn't come with An agestatement anymore.
But If you have an old bottleSitting around, maybe For you
drinking at home Used to be, itdoesn't come with an age
statement anymore.
But if you have an old bottlesitting around, maybe for you
drinking at home, it used to beage nine years.
They took the age statement offof that two, three years ago
(03:35):
Now because there was actually ashortage of Knob Creek.
That actually tells you howgood it is.
They just couldn't keep it in.
So they worked real hard tokeep that same flavor profile
profile.
But there's whiskeys in herethat aren't necessarily there.
Might be a little younger thannine, might be a little older
than nine, but the overall ageis about nine.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
They just take the label off.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
But you know, when you taste it you're thinking
you're tasting nine years.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Well, speaking of flavor profile, I tell you we
discussed this earlier and I'vehad arguments over this more
than once and I'm telling youyou taste that and I swear to
God, mike, you get red, ripegala apples dipped in peanut
butter.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Okay, all right.
So what I'm going to need to do, then, is take a sip of this
and tell you whether or not I'mgoing to taste the red apple and
a little bit of peanut butterRight on the front of your
tongue.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Okay, here we go.
A little bit of peanut butter.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
You see what I'm getting at Well, I get the red
apple, but I'm not getting thepeanut butter.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Well, it's all subjective.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
It's about apple, but I'm not getting the peanut
butter.
Well, it's, it's all subjective, okay.
Well, let me take another shothere, because I definitely want
to see if I get that peanutbutter taste but uh, more more
fun than that.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
After you've you've had a taste, go back there and
just nose that a little bit andit becomes real rich.
Uh, maple syrup yeah, it does.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Yeah, I got to make this maple syrup on the initial
nose.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
It's a lot more than just that whiskey soaked oak
it's, it's 100 proof you're,you're definitely we better slow
down on the peanut butter.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Then we gotta show we gotta we might want to have a
sandwich too.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
I'm thinking, yeah, he's up on it all right.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
So all right, now we've got a taste test done.
I'm saying that I haven't evengot to the peanut butter part
here, but at least I know thatthere's a little red apple in
there and some maple syrup.
So all right, let's talk aboutthis mysterious Dave Mathers.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
One of my favorite fellows in old Dodge.
I mean a lot of these guys, youknow they had their nicknames,
like you know Dirty Dave,rudabaugh, shotgun Collins.
Everybody had a nickname, so tospeak, mysterious.
Dave was aptly named.
He was mysterious for a reason.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Was that because he had a mysterious personality?
Or was that because he was justkind of recluse and sat in the
back of the room in a darkcorner somewhere?
Speaker 3 (06:10):
Well, he definitely wasn't sitting in a dark corner.
He tended to be the fellow thatwould be out there on the
boardwalk leaning back in hischair with his foot up on one of
the awning posts.
Matter of fact, there's a verywell-known painting of Dave
Mather in that exact position.
A lot of folks who knew himsaid he was often could be seen
(06:31):
sitting like that.
But very little is actuallyknown about Dave Mather.
We know where he was born, weknow when he was born.
We know who his parents were.
There are stories that he mayhave been descended from Cotton
Mather.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
He liked that story.
In fact he says to him I thinkhe told that story himself.
Oh, he did.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
I'm from a descendant of the Mather family, and they
did come from New England, soI'm inclined to accept that as
true.
But then everybody with thelast name of Mather in that part
of the country also claimed tobe descended from Cotton Mather.
So whether it is or whether itnot really doesn't have any
bearing on his career from thatpoint.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Would it have any bearing on his personality?
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Well, he definitely liked to be top dog, okay, so he
was kind of a show-off.
Then he wanted to be known,have the reputation.
Not that he necessarily workedthat hard at it, it just sort of
came natural to it.
But really the only things thatwe can set in concrete about
(07:36):
Dave Mather's life and career ismuch of the time that he spent
in Dodge City, a little bit inLas Vegas, nevada, and then of
course back to Dodge.
But beyond that we can get tothis later.
But Dave is one of the guys hejust sort of disappeared from
the pages of history.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
So that's where you get the name Mysterious Dave.
I'll see.
So.
He was very mysterious all inhis entire life, and what I'm
thinking is, down toward the endof our story, there's going to
be a mystery there too.
Oh, absolutely All right.
So let's start out with some ofthe legends of Dave Mathers and
(08:17):
some of the stories that havebeen told around Dodge about
this character Dave Mathersmysterious.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Dave Mathers.
Well, as best as we can guess,a lot of this is just hearsay,
if not heresy.
We have Dave in Dodge, at leastby 1874, some guess even prior
to that, 1974, some guess evenprior to that.
(08:50):
We know that he became goodfriends with Dr Thomas McCarty
of early Dodge who was the onlylegitimate physician and one of
the earliest settlers of DodgeCity.
As the story goes, dave, whohad arrived in Dodge sort of on
the run, he'd been involved witha horse thievery operation down
in Arkansas with Dave Rudabaugh, milton Yarbury.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Some of the good guys of the Wild West.
Yeah, yeah, rudabaugh.
Okay, that's another story tobe told.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
Rudabaugh comes and goes throughout just about
everyone's story.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
But he's involved in wrestling and stealing horses.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
He was a horse thief.
There was a big horse thiefring.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
That's a hanging offense in the West, wasn't it?
Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Absolutely, and that was in.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Arkansas.
So he got the heck out ofArkansas From.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
Arkansas all the way up through Nebraska.
Dodge was kind of a linchpin inthat he was running with a
pretty big crew Of horse thieves, Of horse thieves, Of horse
thieves.
Absolutely that's how BatMasterson got famous actually in
his lawman career tracking downhorse thieves, All right.
So once he arrived in DodgeCity, sort of on the run, he had
(09:56):
gotten in a scrape in the DodgeHouse Hotel.
Apparently he just got slashedright through his gut.
Somebody just took a knife tohim, so he got a big bellyache.
He got one hell of a bellyacheand dr mccarty reportedly saved
his life.
At least that's what matherclaimed.
And during the time that matherspent in dodge city over the
(10:18):
years, he and he made a dealwith dr mccarty that he would
send and occasionally pressureanybody to go and see Dr McCarty
for their medical needs.
There are rumors, of course,that he may have even caused
some of the injuries that theyneeded to go see Dr McCarty for.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
It was more of a persuasive kind of thing.
I'm going to hit you over thehead with my pistol and now you
go see the doctor.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
He definitely felt that he owed Dr McCarty and they
maintained a good relationshipover the years.
They were business partners,you could call it that.
That was as legitimate abusiness in early Dodge as
anything was.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Okay, all right, I conk them out out and you fix
them up well, that's again.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
That's one of those we don't have any concrete
evidence for, but that story hadbeen told so often by the
people who, who that we cantrust and, and you know, had
legitimate reasons for for notlying about that sort of thing.
I tend to believe that that'sone of the true stories about
Dave.
Another one, and it's one of myfavorites, and this story has
(11:31):
been told and retold so manytimes over the years.
I just love it.
I affectionately refer to it asthe conversion of Dave Mather.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Oh, so I hear this one coming.
It's kind of like we're gettingsome religion here, right?
Is that what's happening hereas?
Speaker 3 (11:51):
much as they could.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Okay, so we've got some conversion of Dave Mather.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
Dodge was sort of a goal for a lot of the
missionaries over the years.
If you were out to bring Christto Dodge City and you could
survive your attempt, there wasnothing you couldn't do.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
There may have been some funding going on for that.
Oh, entirely possible.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
But there were a couple of legitimate ministers
who did finally set up shop inDodge.
Most of them who came throughwere just itinerant tent
preachers trying to have arevival sort of thing.
Well, one of these preacherssort of he set up shop.
He really wanted to make it big.
He was seeing some success,sort of a hellfire, brimstone
(12:39):
type guy, holy roller, he wasgetting people falling all over
him, feeling like he was reallydoing a good job bringing
religion to Dodgson.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
So he was getting a good following.
There was a large crowd.
There was people that wereactually coming to church and
listening to his revivals andsaving a lot of souls.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
Well, this preacher man sort of got himself a big
head over the deal.
His success went to his head iswhat I'm trying to say and he
thought that if he had all thesefolks going, he said the
biggest sinner in Dodge Citythat he thought he could single
out was Dave.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Madden.
Okay, so what you're telling meis the preacher's got a big
head now and he's singling outmysterious Dave, Dave Mather.
Oh my, this is headed in thewrong direction.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
I can already see, but go ahead.
He figures that it would be afeather in his cap if he could
bring a man like Dave Mather tothe Lord.
And he made it very well knownall over town.
He says we're going to get DaveMather to the Lord.
And he made it very well knownall over town Says we're going
to get Dave Mather, we're goingto get him to come to church and
we're going to save his souland Dave Mather's going to be
right with the Lord and you'rejust going to see a change in
(13:55):
that man.
And it was getting so big allover town that Dave finally just
decided to take the preacher upon his offer and attend a
service.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
So he sent out his congregation as what it sounds
like to me to recruit DaveMathers to come to church.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
It got to the point where Dave just didn't really
have a choice.
I mean, he could continue toignore it, but that wasn't going
to change, it was only going toget worse.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
The townspeople were pretty much just pestering the
hell out of him.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
They were, they were.
If not him, he was hearing itaround the streets.
The man has got a reputation touphold.
So, dave, being the man that hewas, he decided to attend a
service and when they saw himcoming, of course he got to
place an honor, ushered himexcuse me right up the center
(14:50):
aisle, gave him a spot right infront of the pulpit on the right
hand side and preacher manstarted preaching right to Dave.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
And I guess at that point in time he took his
position on the bench with hisfeet up on the pew.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
He may well have.
I can see him in that.
I've just added to the storyNow.
I can definitely see him doingthat.
But there he sits, preacherspreaching right to Dave, getting
all up in a fury.
He's got the whole crowd withtheir hands in the air.
And finally the preacher helays it on the line, says if a
man like Dave Mather will acceptChrist today, says there is
(15:33):
nothing else on earth that Iwill be able to achieve in the
Lord's work and I'll just beready to die right today and go
straight to heaven.
If only I'll get to go ridingalong with Dave Mather.
And of course, the rest of thecongregation just jumps up and
they're all screaming yes, yes,absolutely.
We're willing to lay down ourlives right now just to support
(15:53):
Dave Mather and his conversion.
And Dave was moved, he wastouched.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
So he got out of his position on the bench on the
pier.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
He got up.
He got up, went up to thepulpit, turned around and
addressed the congregation andhe was very moved.
It was their motions wererunning, running hot and heavy
and he thanked the preacher.
He wasn't all teary-eyed, washe?
I don't know that Dave reallyhad any tear dives, hard telling
(16:29):
but I mean, he was somewhatemotional.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
He was very grateful.
He was grateful for the factthat he could come up in front
of the whole congregation.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Oh yes, there are plenty of witnesses to this and
he thanked him from the bottomof his heart.
He said that he was just sodeeply moved by their
willingness to lay down theirlives just for him, and he was
so touched that he knew the Lordhad spoken to his heart and
Dave was ready to go.
(16:59):
However, however, he knewhimself and he had a terrible
fear of backsliding.
He says, even though I believemy sins as of this point are
completely forgiven, I'm readyto die and go to heaven right
now.
I believe that.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Okay, but I know me.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
I know myself as soon as I walk out the tent.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
It says Dave, I'm going to walk right back into my
sinful ways.
He was fearful then he wasfearful of that walk right back
into my sinful ways.
He was fearful then.
He was fearful of that.
And he says that because ofthat, because I have such a
terrible fear of backslidingthat if I am going to enter the
Lord's presence, I need to do itright now, today, before I walk
out of this tent, and because Iam so grateful to each and
(17:40):
every one of you here in thiscongregation for your
willingness to take this journeywith me.
I'm going to have to just do it.
And he pulls his gun and turnsaround and fires a shot right
past the reverend's ear andpeople start ducking, they freak
out, yelling, they're duckingout the tents, running hiding
behind the pulpits, hiding undertheir pews, running hither and
(18:02):
thither and yon.
Tension is high.
And Dave stands there with hisgun in his hand and says you,
sons of bees, are nothing but abunch of hypocrites.
You're not willing to die withme at all.
And that's just all there is tothat.
And that was the last of thepreacher man in Dodge City.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
So nobody would take Dave Mather's challenge then.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
Nobody took him up on it.
Bunch of hypocrites.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
I'll tell you what.
That is why you call himMysterious Dave, all right.
Well, I tell you what before wego on.
My ice is getting a little thin, all right, so let's help
ourselves to another little bitof knob.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Pull a cork here, see if we can get that.
Oh yeah, I don't know.
I don't know if they heard thator not.
That's a good sound there.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
Thank you, sir.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
I will add a little bit to my glass as well.
Okay, in celebration ofmysterious dave mathers, we're
doing a little bit of knob creekhere, and the reason why we're
doing the knob creek is becausedave was a known whiskey drinker
.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
He liked a good drink as much as anybody, probably
more than most.
A matter of fact, during alsoduring his time in Dodge City,
in compliance with commonpractice and the ordinance, when
he entered a saloon, he wouldfork his guns over to the
bartender and when he got done,ready to leave, he'd take them
(19:30):
back and go out.
Well, dave was a responsibleman and got himself a system
Whenever he was ready to leavethe saloon, got his guns back
from the bartender, he wouldwalk outside and fire a shot at
the fire bell hanging off thebuilding across the street.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Did it alert the fire department?
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Just to see if he could hit it.
It was just one of those shots.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Am I vision good or is it bad, or am I?
Speaker 3 (20:01):
shots.
Good, he figured, if he couldhit the bell and hear it ring,
then he was sober enough.
If he couldn't hit the bell, itwas time to stop drinking and
go home, gotcha.
Okay, well, it was like one ofthose sobriety tests that you
get from the highway patrol.
(20:22):
Well, a little bit more funthan theirs.
You know, my dad was a trooper.
I'm going to try that out.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
On the Smokies out there he could be going down now
as the inventor of that test,the field sobriety test, the
field sobriety test.
Yeah, field sobriety test.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
That's a good one.
We'll have to add that.
All right, but we've talkedabout Luke McGlue in the past
and all the practical jokes thatLuke liked to play.
Well, this one evening thisparticular bartender in question
was part of the Luke McGluecrowd.
This particular bartender inquestion was part of the Luke
McGrew crowd and he decided thatit would be a fun idea to while
(21:04):
Dave was drinking, he tookDave's guns and loaded them with
blanks.
So after another couple hours,Dave was deciding that maybe
it's time to go home.
He takes his gun back from thebartender, heads on out the
front door and levels hissix-shooter at the bell across
(21:27):
the street.
Pulls the trigger.
Gun goes bang, but there's noding on the bell.
Tries it again Gun goes bang,doesn't hit the bell.
Tries it again Gun goes bang,Doesn't hit the bell.
Dave decides he's too drunk, hecan't hit the bell.
It's time to go home, Of course, again, still not knowing he's
(21:47):
got blank in his gun.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
You know that's kind of bad on the bartenders back
end of that because he's notselling any more whiskey to
Mysterious Dave.
Are you kidding?
It's more than worth.
More whiskey to Mysterious Dave, Are you kidding?
Speaker 3 (21:58):
It's more than worth just getting a laugh on Dave
Madden.
That's worth any price.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Okay, so it's not about economics, it's really
about the humor of the story.
So he's now got blanks in hisguns, he's shot at the bell,
he's missed each time, and sonow what happens?
Speaker 3 (22:15):
Dave just feels that he's drunk and depressed and
he's just going to head home forthe evening.
Well, he starts to get a littlebit upset with himself because
that's the first time he'd evermissed the bell.
He's never shot at it andmissed it.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
He's never missed the bell yet, oh my goodness, it
must have been a big bell, or asmall bell, or what Dave was a
good shot, a good shot.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Drunk bell.
Yet, oh my goodness, she musthave been a big bell or a small
bell or what.
Dave was a good shot.
A good shot drunk or sober manwas a good shot.
So by by the time he heads downa couple of blocks down the
street, dave is starting to getpretty irritated and he sees
just a dog start crossing thestreet out in front of him,
comes around the corner of thebuilding and dave just, I mean,
he wasn't necessarily a bad guy,but he was drunk and he was
irritated and the dog was in hisway and he took a shot at it
(23:08):
and didn't hit the dog either Imust have thought he'd gone
blind, fired two, or three moreshots still couldn't hit the dog
point blank.
Not only could.
Or three more shots Stillcouldn't hit the dog Point blank
.
Not only could he not hit thebell, he couldn't hit a full
grown dog, almost point blankrange.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
So he retired his guns that point in time.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
Well, he freaked out a little bit.
Dave was.
I don't necessarily know if hewas a superstitious man, but
seeing that dog completelyimmune to his bullets, it was a
little bit too much for DrunkenDave and he worried over that
for two or three weeks.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
He must have had a little bit of knob creek that
night, perhaps All right.
So now we got him with thepreacher, you got him with
shooting a dog and a bell.
We call him Mysterious Dave,but I'm wondering how in the
(24:08):
world did he get involved withthe Dodge City Gang?
Speaker 3 (24:17):
involved with the Dodge City gang.
Well, dave again was one ofthose fellas that was just as
happy on either side of the law.
He tended towards wearing abadge because that gave him
legitimacy.
But it didn't change hispersonality one iota whether he
(24:37):
was wearing a badge or not.
He still wanted to be top dog.
He still had his reputation.
Even if he couldn't shoot a dog.
He wanted to be top dog.
Yeah, you're right, he had hisreputation and he didn't want to
lose it.
Who does?
But his first real lawman job,so to speak, that we know of
(25:01):
came in 1879, when he wasdeputized by Bat Masterson,
along with a whole bunch ofother guys John Joshua Webb,
dave Rudabaugh he's back againGuys like Ken Shreiley even Doc
Holliday was roped into this.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
So the enforcers are back in town.
The enforcers.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
there was a group of railroaders they're called the
Railroad Wars really, just toput a finer point on it.
There was two differentrailroads that were climbing
right-of-way through the RoyalGorge in Colorado.
Railroad conflict going on hereAbsolute railroad conflict and
it got pretty bad to a pointwhere they started hiring gunmen
(25:46):
and Bat Masterson, who was notonly sheriff of Ford County at
that point but was also a UnitedStates federal marshal, was
brought in, said you hire asmany deputies as you can get
your hands on and we're going togo intimidate the other guys.
And they did.
(26:07):
There was quite the standoffand they wound up lost, but the
important thing is they werewell paid.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
So he went up there, got well paid, joined law
enforcement at that point Right,and I guess he kind of liked
the idea of wearing a badge.
He did, got a handle on it,liked the power so you could
swing your gun and be legalabout it.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
Absolutely so.
After the railroad conflict wassettled, a bunch of these guys
decided that no, they'd doneabout everything they could do
in Dodge City and several ofthem went down to Las Vegas, new
Mexico, and set up shop downthere, and very shortly they had
completely taken over the town.
(26:50):
Dave was a constable down there, hoodoo Brown from Dodge was,
oh, our old Hoodoo Brown thebuffalo hunter, our old friend
Hoodoo Brown.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
He shows up down in Las Vegas, New Mexico.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
Yep, he was Justice of the Peace down there.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
I didn't know he was that smart you didn't have to be
smart Judge.
Roy Bean.
He just picked up a buck andsaid I'm the judge.
Speaker 3 (27:15):
All they needed was numbers and guns and they had
them Completely taken over thetown, the politics, the law, all
the legalities.
They were running the place.
And because everybody knewwhere they were from, all these
guys had been from Dodge City,even down in Las Vegas, new
Mexico.
They were called the Dodge CityGang.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
So their reputation followed them, their reputation
preceded them, preceded them,preceded them.
And so the legends followedAbsolutely, and so here they are
.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
They took over Las Vegas, new Mexico.
They're running the place downthere.
Dave himself was involved in atleast one shootout killed a guy
down in Las Vegas and at leastone shootout killed a guy down
in Las Vegas and it was justgetting more than the town folks
could handle.
So they set up their ownvigilante mob and ran them out
(28:10):
Just about overnight.
They put out an ordinance thatsays all you guys need to leave
or there's going to be ashooting war.
And these guys the Dodge Citygang took it at face value and
they set up shop and they justleft.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
So where do they go from there?
Speaker 3 (28:29):
Oh, dave moves around .
For a little bit Several of theguys came back to Dodge.
A lot of them went aroundthrough Texas for a time.
We're pretty sure that Daveaveagain spent some time, also over
new mexico, but also around intexas.
There's rumors that he andwyatt erp actually got involved
(28:50):
in a scheme where they wereselling fake gold bricks to make
money down in mobidi our mob,our Mobiti story continues yeah
old Mobiti, it just doesn't end,does it?
That's another little nexus thatkeeps popping up, so he's down
here selling gold bars.
He's trying to Him, and againsupposedly Wyatt Earp.
They decide they're going toget a scheme.
(29:11):
They're painting bricks goldand they're just— they're not
real gold bars.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
No, of course not they didn't have any gold.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
They're painting.
They're painting these barsTotally fraud.
However they were doing it, itwas pure fraud on their part.
Fool's gold Problem is thereweren't as many fools as they
thought there might be and theygot run out, didn't work, didn't
make any money and over time,dave again winds up back in
(29:40):
Dodge City.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
Okay, so he's back here in Dodge City.
What year is that?
Speaker 3 (29:45):
Oh, by now we're talking 1880, 82, 83.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
By this point.
Oh, that's the time of theSaloon Wars, absolutely, dave
acquires.
Speaker 3 (29:55):
Does he get?
Speaker 2 (29:55):
called back by Luke Short, or does he just come back
on his own?
Dave's already there, okay.
Speaker 3 (30:00):
He's already there.
Matter of fact, he is assistantmarshal under Jack Bridges.
Oh, he's got his marshal badgeback.
He's got the badge back on.
He's liking that.
I imagine Dave's a man of law.
He starts to settle down just alittle bit Not too much, mind
you, but just a little bit.
He invests in a saloon, a dancehall in town.
(30:21):
He starts flirting around withTom Nixon's wife Whoa, whoa,
whoa whoa, just a second now.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
I know there's Tom Nixon's wife, whoa, whoa, whoa,
whoa.
Just a second now.
I know this, tom Nixon.
We talked about Tom Nixon thebuffalo hunter.
Tom Nixon the buffalo hunter,tom Nixon, was a settler in
these parts, oh yeah, and heowns a ranch outside as early as
1868.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Rancher saloon owner Tom Nixon was one of the oldest
of the old timers.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
But Dave Mathers is trying to make in on his wife.
Speaker 3 (30:53):
Supposedly.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
Is this the second wife or the?
Speaker 3 (30:56):
first wife, tom Nixon's wife.
Did he ever have two wives?
I believe he did, but you know,I can't remember.
I think it might be his secondwife by this point.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Okay, so he's moving in on the second wife.
She's fairly young, she's quitea bit younger than Tom.
Speaker 3 (31:09):
Yeah, because he's been around here for a while oh
yeah, Tom is not aged, but he'sdefinitely seasoned.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
Dave is making a move on Tom Nixon's wife, dave had a
thing for married women.
Speaker 3 (31:23):
I mean not the first time that he'd done that At this
point in Dodge, not thatmarriage vows were necessarily
all that constrictive, forseveral years.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
Some of them were like common law.
Oh, many of them were likecommon law.
They just kind of hooked up andsaid, yeah, you can sleep here
tonight, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
Tom in fact, although he was legitimately married and
things started brewing back andforth, of course the saloon
wars that Dave didn't play toobig of a part in individually.
But after that was all said anddone, as we again, as we've
talked about, through the saloonwars the politics in Dodge
(32:04):
changed rapidly.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
Politics in Dodge has always been.
They always changed rapidly.
Yeah, they always always beenthey always changed rapidly.
Speaker 3 (32:10):
Yeah, they always changed rapidly.
It was a swinging door.
You were on one side of thefence or the other and you never
stayed there for long.
Well, jack Bridges, as marshal,was replaced by Bill Tillman as
city marshal.
Bill was on the opposite sideof the Luke Short faction and
Bill he actually.
(32:30):
Now that he's city marshal, hecan hire the people that he
wants.
He fires Dave Mather and hireshis good buddy Tom Nixon.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
So now you've got a conflict going on with the wife
and now you get fired and hegets your job as if.
Speaker 3 (32:48):
Oh, there has got to be some sore points brewing
right now, as if Madden andNixon needed anything else to
fight about.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
Oh my, they're setting it all up.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
Well as this the politics changed.
Dave, by all accounts, wasn'ttoo put out with losing his
badge.
He still had his saloon to fallback, on which he did the Opera
House Saloon, which was on thenorth side of the railroad
tracks.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
It was on the good side of the track, Well yeah,
the side of the track thatfollows the law.
Speaker 3 (33:20):
Not necessarily any more legal.
Again, it goes back to how thelaws were enforced, which?
Speaker 2 (33:29):
becomes the problem.
Speaker 3 (33:32):
Because while Dave is running the opera house, he
starts to remodel it into adance hall, getting more
business going through there.
Well, the problem is, tom Nixonis also involved at this point
in the Lady Gay Saloon.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
Oh, here we go with another Lady, gay Saloon, on the
south side of the railroadtracks in the sporting district.
Speaker 3 (33:56):
Wow, oh yeah, everybody owned Lady Gay.
Speaker 2 (33:59):
I mean, it's just like turned over a hundred times
, lady Gay.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
Saloon in Dodge City caused more problems than any
other barn.
I would say Nice.
In any other barn I would sayNice, I mean even the Long
Branch, as famous as it hasbecome.
Even it wasn't as notable asthe Lady Gay Sloan, Not even the
Dodge House.
But because of that rivalfaction, one side being on the
(34:26):
other side of the politicalfence, they passed an ordinance
Because, again, Nixon and hispartner were friends with the
people in power, Webster's andthe reformers.
Speaker 2 (34:39):
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (34:40):
Well, they put out an ordinance that made it illegal
to operate a dance hall in thecity limits of Dodge City
because they were trying to shutdown Dave Mather.
He was just starting, of course, the long, well-established
dance hall of the Lady Gay thatwasn't being shut down, it was
(35:04):
the new ones.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
Okay, but that's the same thing that's happening to
Luke Short at this time.
Speaker 3 (35:09):
Exactly the same, I mean it's Short at this time,
exactly the same.
Speaker 2 (35:10):
I mean, it's almost like favoritism.
Sure is, if I own a saloon andI'm on the right side of the
fence, I can have my ladies.
Speaker 3 (35:19):
The only reason they're passing laws is to make
people that they don't likeillegal.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
I see so they wanted really to own all of the
businesses in town, Right?
Shutting down the competition,and so that would stir a man up.
It did.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
And Dave.
Again, he had weathered losinghis badge pretty well.
That's okay, but this was verypointed.
He knew where this was goingand he wasn't going to stand for
it.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
So right now we're looking at strike three.
Speaker 3 (35:50):
Dave was done talking .
So what he did is he loweredthe price of beer to five cents.
Every beer he was selling fivecents, which undercut not only
the lady gay but everybody elsein town.
Naturally.
Five cent beer where'severybody going to go?
They're going to Dave's OperaHouse.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
Right, that was a good move on his part.
Speaker 3 (36:14):
It was a wonderful move on his part.
He was still making money handover fist he was going to shut
me down everywhere else.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
I mean, why not Offered beer for five cents?
Speaker 3 (36:23):
And of course that ticked off.
The establishment of the LadyGay Always comes back to
politics in Dodge.
So what they did is Nixonreally started pressuring all of
the local brewers and thewholesalers to stop selling beer
(36:44):
to Dave Mather.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
So well-established citizen in Dodge and on the
other side of the fence startshis political maneuvers.
Speaker 3 (36:54):
Problem is he had the power to do it and it was
starting to work.
They were putting the squeezeon Dave.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
That might have been strike four right there it was.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
They weren't even counting strikes anymore.
It was.
Somebody was about to roundhome and I'm talking to Pearly
Gates kind- of oh, I can hear itcoming.
And it was getting hot hotbetween the two.
Everybody in town knew it thatsooner or later Dave Mather and
Tom Nixon were going to come toblows.
And finally Tom sees it comingand he knows the reputation that
(37:29):
Dave has and Tom takes a shotat it.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
Tom Nixon takes a shot at Dave Mather.
Speaker 3 (37:36):
Tom Nixon takes a shot at Dave Mather.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
Okay, well, but he's, I mean he's got the upper hand.
I mean, if you think about it,sure, he does, but he still
takes a shot at him, Sure hedoes.
Speaker 3 (37:49):
Wow, sure he does, but he still takes a shot at him
.
Sure, he does, because this isnot the high noon gunfight on
either end of the street andwaiting for the other fellow to
pull first.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
It's in the back alleys in a shaded dark If you
need to kill somebody.
Speaker 3 (38:02):
you need to do it.
You just ambush them Becausethey're going to kill you.
It wasn't necessarily an ambush.
Speaker 2 (38:07):
You knew it was coming, so you might as well
just finish the business.
Speaker 3 (38:11):
That was the idea.
Well, Tom missed.
He grazed Dave.
Tom was actually arrested.
They posted bond.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
But Dave, Now the buffalo hunter actually missed.
He missed a shot, that was hismistake.
Speaker 3 (38:29):
I would say that was absolutely his mistake, oh.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
I'm telling you, you don't miss a shot like that.
When you got one, he paid forit.
Oh, okay, he paid for it.
Speaker 3 (38:39):
Even though he was arrested, they posted bond.
Dave didn't press chargesagainst.
Tom Ness, good guy, no, no,that's another plan.
Tom Nixon, good guy, no, no,that's another plan.
Dave didn't want Tom Nixon injail.
Dave wanted Tom Nixon out onthe street open where he could
(39:00):
keep an eye on him.
Sure.
And get his revenge when itbecame necessary.
And just a few weeks later,sure enough, they were out in
front of the Opera House Saloon.
Tom Nixon was likely headingthat way to check up on Mather.
Mather knew he was coming, cameup behind him in the street,
(39:23):
whispered behind him just tomake his presence aware.
And while Tom Nixon is turningaround to see who had spoken to
him, Dave Mather pulls his gunand fires four shots.
Speaker 2 (39:35):
And I'm thinking this story he doesn't miss.
Speaker 3 (39:39):
Dave doesn't miss.
One of the four bullets goesright through Tom Nixon's heart.
He's dead before he hit theground.
Speaker 2 (39:47):
Now, here's the kicker for you at the ground.
Now here's the kicker.
It's not kicking on Nixon'sside because he's down on the
ground, not kicking One of themost telling.
Speaker 3 (39:59):
this story is one of the most definitive stories of
Dodge City and how thingsoperate, Because you've got a
man who gunned down another manalmost in the back.
Speaker 2 (40:15):
The tops, one of the top citizens of Dodge.
City, Absolutely one of theleading citizens of Dodge City,
one of the founders of DodgeCity.
Speaker 3 (40:23):
Outright murdered in the street, four bullets while
he was turning around starting,while his back was turned.
And do you think Dave Matherwas arrested?
Speaker 2 (40:36):
Well, I think, yeah, of course he was right.
Speaker 3 (40:39):
Well, he was, but it was a clear-cut case of
self-defense.
How was it self-defense?
Because weeks earlier, tom hadtried to shoot Dave Ah okay, tom
had tried to shoot Dave, ah,okay, so that Tom had pulled the
gun first.
Speaker 2 (40:54):
He must have had a really good lawyer.
Speaker 3 (40:55):
Everybody knew the judge.
If Dave didn't shoot Tom,sooner or later Tom was going to
shoot Dave.
Speaker 2 (41:02):
That was just a well-known Wow.
So no matter who shot who atthat point in time, it was going
to be self defense.
Speaker 3 (41:09):
Dave got off scot-free.
Speaker 2 (41:11):
Everybody would have got off scot-free.
Whoever shot who and killed who, they would have got off
scot-free.
This time it just happened tobe Nixon.
Speaker 3 (41:20):
Had Nixon come back and shot Dave.
I don't know that that wouldhave worked the same way it may
not.
Because it was already theself-defense number.
Speaker 2 (41:29):
He had already planned the, already the
self-defense.
He'd already planned thekilling, the assassination.
You might be right.
So maybe Nixon is better offwhere he was at that point in
time, so he wouldn't have anymore troubles after that.
Speaker 3 (41:44):
One of the great leading citizens of Dodge City
is no more.
Lady Gay goes up for sale andagain we can tell no more.
Lady Gay goes up for sale andagain we can tell more stories
of Lady Gay ad nauseum.
Speaker 2 (41:55):
but Sorry, go ahead.
Okay, I think that's it for now.
Remember to check out all ofour Wild West podcast shows on
iTunes Podcast, spotify, any podat Amazon or at
wildwestpodcastbuzzsproutcom.
(42:19):
We would like to conclude ourshow by thanking our sponsor,
boothillproductionscom, and ifyou would like to sponsor our
show, just send us an email atwildwestpodcast at gmailcom.
We would like to conclude ourshow by reminding all of our
(42:39):
listeners to check out upcomingdigital bookstore by visiting
bootheelproductionscom andselect publications.
The Battle of Cimarron is ournewest digital book edition and
can be preordered at Amazon dotcom and will be soon available
at iBook stores.
Remember, as always, drinkresponsibly.
(43:04):
Thanks for listening to ourpodcast.
This podcast is licensed undera Creative Commons Attribute
non-commercial license.
You can learn more about thelegends of Dodge City by
visiting our website atworldfamousgunfighterscom or
visit us atboothillproductionscom.
(43:26):
And I'm thinking that's thelongest closing I've done thus
far, probably.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!