1. Chalkley McArtor "Chalk" Beeson was a well-known businessman, lawman, cattleman and musician but was best known for his ownership of the famous Long Branch Saloon in Dodge City, Kansas.
18 Facts About Chalkley Beeson
1. 2.
Originally from Salem, Ohio, Beeson was the seventh-born child of Samuel and Martha Beeson.
3.
In 1866 the 18-year-old Chalkley Beeson left Marshalltown and headed west to Texas, where he found employment as a cowboy.
4.
Chalkley Beeson worked, for a time, as a guide to buffalo hunters, with his clients including Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia, Phil Sheridan, and George Custer.
5.
Chalkley Beeson was a member of the volunteer fire department and Pueblo's baseball team.
6.
In 1876, Chalk Chalkley Beeson returned home to Marshalltown, Iowa, where he married 22-year-old Ida Gause on July 17,1876.
7.
Ida Chalkley Beeson had to adjust to the fact that her husband was a Dodge City saloon owner.
8.
Chalkley Beeson changed the name of his business to the Saratoga Saloon.
9.
Mr Chalkley Beeson is a thorough lover of good music, and by his skillful selection of good performers.
10.
On March 1,1878, Beeson purchased the Long Branch from the firm of Dexter D Colley and James M Manion.
11.
Also with Harris, Chalkley Beeson established the COD Cattle Ranch, south of Dodge City.
12.
In 1884 Chalkley Beeson purchased a farm some two miles from Dodge City and moved his family there.
13.
In November 1891,43-year-old Chalk Chalkley Beeson was elected sheriff of Ford County, Kansas.
14.
On November 30,1892, Chalkley Beeson, accompanied by three Oklahoma lawmen, tracked Yantis to the residence where he was hiding.
15.
Chalkley Beeson served two terms as sheriff with distinction and left office in 1896.
16.
Chalkley Beeson was occasionally called upon for public service and served four separate terms in the Kansas State legislature between 1903 and 1908.
17.
Chalkley Beeson's family managed to keep his memory alive for decades after his death.
18.
In 1932, Merritt Chalkley Beeson opened the Chalkley Beeson Museum, which became a popular tourist attraction.