IRB Media Summary of Tom Clavin's Dodge City

Annotation

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview: #1 Dodge City was a gateway to the Great American Desert, and it was there that the American West and Manifest Destiny were symbolized. It was a reservoir of tall tales, yet many of the facts are equally if not more fascinating.#2 The first explorers of America were looking for a land to settle, and they found it in Kansas, which was right in the middle of the Louisiana Purchase. The explorers were impressed by the vast plains east of the Rocky Mountains, which were filled with lush green shortgrass.#3 The first half of the 1700s was a time of expansion for the Apache and Comanche tribes. The Apache were pushed aside as the Comanche expanded into Texas and as far southeast as the Gulf of Mexico. The remaining Apache and Kiowa found ways to coexist with the Comanche.#4 The first white men to travel to the area that would become Dodge City were traders, who were followed by army officers, who thought the area was uninhabitable. But some entrepreneurs saw the explorations of Pike and others as opening the territory to traders.