Wild West Podcast
Welcome to the Wild West podcast, where fact and legend merge. We present the true accounts of individuals who settled in towns 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 as we take you back in history to the legends of the Wild West.
Wild West Podcast
Legendary Prankster Luke McGlue: Dodge City’s Wild Hijinks, Community Bonds, and Humorous Survival
What if the tall tales of Wild West mischief you’ve heard weren’t just stories, but a way of life in Dodge City? Join us as we unravel the legend of Luke McGlue, a fictional troublemaker concocted by Bat Masterson and his band of pranksters to navigate the rough-and-tumble world of Dodge City. From hilarious horse thefts to the infamous "Indian Act" prank that took a dark turn, we’ll reveal how this character became the scapegoat for all manner of antics in town, showcasing the unique humor and resilience of its residents. You'll hear about how one particular prank went awry, leaving a man named Harris injured, and how these unpredictable stunts served as a litmus test for the newcomers.
Discover the gritty, chaotic, yet oddly charming social dynamics of Dodge City, where maintaining a sense of humor was often the key to survival. We explore the role of pranks in forging community bonds, even highlighting figures like Dr. Simpson who thrived under such wild conditions. We’ll also touch upon "Antiques of Luke McGlue," a book that immortalizes these colorful stories and ensures the legacy of Dodge City’s most notorious prankster lives on. So, get ready for a wild ride through history, where humor and hijinks shaped an entire community.
The Indian Act was a favorite prank of Bat Masterson, but it proved to be a dangerous one that backfired on him in one instance. Whenever new arrivals in Dodge boasted too much about their Indian fighting abilities, bat and his accomplices would stage Indian attacks in the city. A handful of people would dress up as Indians, complete with war paint, and simulate killing others in the streets before charging at the new arrival. Just as the Indians were about to reach their target, they would stop the charade and reveal themselves. However, the prank took a wrong turn when they played it on a man named Harris. As a precaution, the pranksters always ensured the victim's rifle was unloaded or filled with blanks. They did the same with Harris' rifle. Unfortunately, harris also had a concealed pistol in his boot, and when the Indians attacked he shot one of them.
Brad:Brad, you and I over time have done several of the Luke McGlue stories. This one, of course, we haven't done yet, and it was brought to my attention that we had not put together anything on the Indian Act. So I thought maybe this would be a good time to do that. But folks out there who do not know who Luke Maglou is, maybe we should explain to them the true story behind luke mcgrew oh, luke is one of my all-time favorite dodge cityans.
Mike:He was the most notorious troublemaker that ever walked the boardwalks of dodge city, or any other western cow town for that matter. Luke was the type of person that even the most stern of the roughest customers was afraid to fall under the gaze of Luke McGlue. Luke was well not. In essence, luke was the fictional scapegoat for all of the practical jokes that that happened in dodge city. Um, dodge was was kind of unique uh in in western folklore, in that you always read so much about the, the violence and the gunfights and the cattle drives and the lawmen and the outlaws and the shootings and you don't often focus on the sense of humor that the folks in Dodge had.
Mike:And Dodge was pretty rough about their practical jokes. They really were. Some were more violent than others. Usually everyone escaped with most of their hide still intact, but they had to have somebody to blame it on. So they concocted this character, luke McGlue, to blame everything on, if your horse gets stolen or if dirty words are painted on the water tower. Well, it was probably Luke McGlue that did it. You know, go find Luke, arrest him. Well, luke was real hard to find.
Brad:Brad, over time again, we spent many, many stories talking about Luke McGlue, and some of the ones that I can think of are the cigar salesmen. What's another one that comes to your mind?
Mike:Oh, the doctor of venereal diseases who showed up in Dodge.
Brad:Yeah, and of course too, they stole the preacher's horse too, didn't they?
Mike:Yeah, they stole the preacher's horse. They'd shove random prostitutes into bed with drunken gamblers so they'd wake up surprised just wonder what they did last night. Just all kinds of random hilarity.
Brad:And one of the things that I want to mention is all of the stories that we talked about or have written about Luke McGlue is available in a book form called the Antiques of Luke McGlue, and we just published a few new stories out of that. But I have a question for you that some people out there may want to know more about how did Luke Maglou Luke Maglou's pranks contribute to the culture and dynamics of Dodge City?
Mike:Well, like I kind of mentioned in answer to the last question, we we also often talk about the violence of towns like dodge city. Uh, just the the dirt and the grime of these new muddy streets full of dirty, smelly buffalo hunters and cowboys and cattle drives and prostitutes and gamblers. Just the vice and the vulgarity that, in an environment like this, one of the only ways to maybe not survive but to thrive in a place like Dodge City was with a highly developed sense of humor. And Dodge was lucky to have Bat Masterson, because Bat was, among his many talents, perhaps the greatest practical joker ever that ever came out of the American West.
Mike:And it was largely his and his friends who created this person of Luke McGlue to blame all of their antics on. And, like I said, luke was real hard to find when you wanted to blame someone to on. So the rest of them could virtually just walk Scott free. And the newspapers all reported on Luke McGlue. They they acknowledged the, the Luke McGlue, luke McGlue, they acknowledged the Luke McGlue crowd as being the perpetrators for all of these wacky antics. Dodge's sense of humor really shines, especially when you go through some of those old newspapers. They did not suffer a fool. They did not take well to greenhorns and Luke was just a great way to a sort of relish in their daily lives that might otherwise be fairly dark.
Brad:You know the first part of this session. You read about the Indian Act and you read about Matt Masterson and them coming back from Adobe Walls and we think at that time that they may have brought a lot of those Indian costumes back with them or Indian attire back from Adobe Walls. But the biggest question is what impact did the Indian Act prank have on the relationship between the townspeople and newcomers in Dodge City?
Mike:Well, the Indian Act was really kind of a great way to weed out the ones who, I guess you could say, belonged in a place like Dodge and those who did not, which is what a lot of these practical jokers kind of were all about. They were weeding out the not necessarily the undesirables, but it was pretty easy to tell who was fit to survive in a place like Dodge. Dodge was very cliquish in its early days. You had the reformers and, for lack of a better term, we'll call them the Dodge city gang, because that's what they were called, uh called at the time. You know the, the originals, uh, the, the old guard of Dodge, kind of the ones who who were making their money with the saloons, the, the vice, the, you know that kind of thing, the OG Dodge City crowd, we'll call them that. And they had. And also even the reformers, the ones who did not get along with the Dodge City gang. Even they recognized who was fit to be a Dodge City and then who should probably just move along, recognized who was fit to be a Dodge city and then who should probably just move along. And if you could survive that a thing like the Indian Act with your spirits and good humor still intact. You were in After that. You could rarely do any wrong.
Mike:In another case we're not a victim of the Indian Act, but Dr OH Simpson, a dentist. When he arrived in Dodge City he was immediately set upon by the Luke McGlue crowd. Doc Simpson got off the train dressed to the nines top, hat, tails and everything Not looking like what a traditional Dodge Citian was expected to look like, and he was absolutely set upon by the Luke Malou crowd. But Dr Simpson immediately endeared himself to these ruffians as not a man to be trifled with and again kept his humor intact. That's the important thing here. He kept his good humor, his good spirits and was embraced by the locals as if he'd always been one of them. And the Indian Act was a very specific and probably one of the more violent ways of doing this. Some of them survived and some, like Harris, did sort of endure themselves to be recorded in history near themselves to be recorded in history.
Brad:Well, you know, and from reading this and knowing the story about Harris, it did backfire on him Unexpectedly. He pulls a pistol out of his boot and he starts firing away. So the last question that I have is what lessons can be learned from the Indian Act, prank and its aftermath in Dodge City.
Mike:Well, I guess it's the old adage you know, if you kill them, they won't learn nothing, and I'm not sure, really, that the Luke McGlue crowd really ever did learn their lesson. As you mentioned, though, the Harris incident did backfire on them. They did not expect him to have a loaded weapon on his person after they had very carefully made sure that his own personal gun was unloaded or loaded with blanks, as the case may be but Harris came prepared. He had already been filled up with the horror stories of what he might be running into, and he wanted to make sure that he had an extra gun just in case. So, when he did turn and open fire on these fake Indians no, they absolutely did not expect that. That was the first time that it ever happened, and Lord knows how many times they'd pulled this indian act on unsuspecting newcomers beforehand.
Mike:We certainly don't have have recordings of every incident, although the tradition is that it was not often, but uh, it, it wasn't a new thing. Uh, the locals kind of understood that this was something that was just done, but for a guy like Harris to react the way he did, he actually kind of earned the respect of the Dodge City gang Because, again, they were not treating him as what they expected a true Westerner should act like. And this certainly was not the end of either the Indian act or the Luke McGlue pranks. Over the years they continued for many years to come on other unsuspecting travelers and newcomers. It doesn't seem like they really ever learned their lesson. It was just sort of phased out as some of those old-timers moved on to greener pastures and civilization set in where there was less room for acts of violent humor.
Brad:As we close out, I want to mention the fact that we do have a book entitled Antiques of Luke McGlue that you can purchase out there. Is there anything that you would like to say, Brad, as we close out this special session?
Mike:Of all of the books that we have put out over the last few years, compiled stories from this podcast. The Luke stories are one of my absolute favorites. If you get no other books, grab that one, Because those are stories that you just don't get anywhere else outside of Dodge City. Luke is an absolute Dodge City original and you can't tell the story of Dodge without him.