Dodge City, Kansas · Founded 1958 · Building: 1958 reconstruction
A 1958 Boot Hill Museum reconstruction recalling Dodge City's original Long Branch Saloon, a famous 1874–1885 cattle-town institution.
The Long Branch Saloon at Boot Hill Museum in Dodge City, Kansas, is a reconstructed interpretation of a real frontier saloon that operated from about 1874 to 1885. The original was associated with Chalkley Beeson, William Harris, and the 1879 Frank Loving–Levi Richardson gunfight before it burned with the rest of Front Street in 1885. The building visitors see today was built in 1958 as part of Historic Front Street and hosts Boot Hill Museum's seasonal Long Branch Variety Show.
The original Long Branch Saloon opened in Dodge City during the cattle-town era. This review did not verify the story that its name was decided through a town-ball game.
Source: Long Branch Saloon historical summaries; Boot Hill Museum historical material
Chalkley Beeson and William Harris acquired the original Long Branch Saloon and developed it into one of Dodge City's leading entertainment and drinking establishments.
Source: Legends of America, "The Long Branch Saloon, Dodge City, Kansas"; Boot Hill Museum, "Long Branch Variety Show"
Frank Loving and Levi Richardson fought at the original Long Branch Saloon. Richardson died, and a coroner's inquest two days later concluded that Loving had acted in self-defense.
Source: Ford County Historical Society, "The Deaths of Levi Richason and Frank Loving"; Long Branch Saloon historical summaries
The original Long Branch Saloon was destroyed in the Front Street fire and was not rebuilt.
Source: Long Branch Saloon historical summaries; Legends of America, "The Long Branch Saloon, Dodge City, Kansas"
Boot Hill Jaycees began reconstructing Historic Front Street at Boot Hill Museum, including a new Long Branch Saloon modeled externally on historic photographs.
Source: Boot Hill Museum, "Long Branch Variety Show"; Kansas Sampler Foundation, "Boot Hill Museum/Historic Dodge City"
The first Long Branch Variety Show was staged over the Fourth of July weekend, with Lewis Mock on piano and Rosemary Mock portraying Dora Hand.
Source: Boot Hill Museum, "Long Branch Variety Show"
Rosemary Mock created the fictional Dodge City Kitty character, later known as Miss Kitty, in response to visitors' expectations shaped by the television series Gunsmoke.
Source: Boot Hill Museum, "Long Branch Variety Show"
The reconstructed Long Branch remains part of Boot Hill Museum's seasonal dinner-and-variety-show programming.
Source: Boot Hill Museum, "Long Branch Variety Show"; Boot Hill Museum venue-rental information
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
The original Long Branch burned in 1885 and was not rebuilt. The current Long Branch was constructed in 1958 at Boot Hill Museum as a historical reconstruction, so it is not the physical 19th-century saloon.
Ford County historical material places Frank Loving and Levi Richardson at the original Long Branch Saloon on April 5, 1879. Richardson died of gunshot wounds, and an April 7 coroner's inquest concluded that Loving acted in self-defense.
Later historical accounts link Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Doc Holliday, and other frontier figures with the original Long Branch, but this review did not locate contemporaneous bar accounts, newspapers, diaries, or registers confirming each individual visit. The association is part of the saloon's broader Dodge City lore rather than a verified record for each named patron.
Matt Dillon and Miss Kitty are fictional Gunsmoke characters. Boot Hill Museum explains that its own "Dodge City Kitty" performance character was created in 1959 after the television series made visitors expect a Miss Kitty figure at the reconstructed Long Branch.
The museum reconstruction's exterior was modeled on historic photographs, but accounts describe its interior as period-appropriate rather than a duplicate of the original Long Branch interior.
The Long Branch Saloon at Boot Hill Museum is the original 1874 building.
The original Long Branch Saloon burned in 1885 and was never rebuilt. The current building is a 1958 historical reconstruction at Boot Hill Museum.
Source: Boot Hill Museum, "Long Branch Variety Show"; Kansas Sampler Foundation, "Boot Hill Museum/Historic Dodge City"
The reconstructed Long Branch exactly duplicates the original saloon interior.
The reconstruction's exterior was modeled on historic photographs, while the interior is designed to be consistent with the period rather than an exact reproduction.
Source: Legends of America, "The Long Branch Saloon, Dodge City, Kansas"
The original Long Branch did not survive its 1885 fire. Its name endured because Dodge City made it central to a larger heritage-tourism interpretation of the cattle-town era, reconstructing Front Street in 1958 and turning the new Long Branch into the setting for a long-running seasonal theatrical production.
The original Long Branch Saloon in Dodge City, Kansas, operated from about 1874 until it burned in the 1885 Front Street fire. Chalkley Beeson and William Harris owned it from 1878, and it was the location of the April 5, 1879 gunfight between Frank Loving and Levi Richardson. The Long Branch visitors see today is a 1958 Boot Hill Museum reconstruction, not the original saloon building.
No. The current Long Branch Saloon is a 1958 museum reconstruction, while the original operated only from about 1874 to 1885 before burning down. Its importance is historical and interpretive, not a claim to uninterrupted operation as Kansas's oldest active saloon.
Yes. The Frank Loving–Levi Richardson gunfight took place at the original Long Branch Saloon on April 5, 1879. Richardson died after the confrontation, and a coroner's inquest on April 7 ruled that Loving acted in self-defense.
No. Miss Kitty is a fictional Gunsmoke character. Boot Hill Museum added a related Dodge City Kitty character to its Long Branch Variety Show in 1959 because television viewers expected to meet a Miss Kitty-style host in the reconstructed saloon.
500 W Wyatt Earp Blvd, Dodge City, KS 67801
(620) 227-8188
The Long Branch is inside Boot Hill Museum's Historic Front Street; its dinner and variety-show programming is seasonal, so confirm museum hours, tickets, and current service before visiting.