Stockman's Ball and Banquet Collection

The Stockmen’s Ball and Banquet of 1884 was held on April 4, 1884 in conjunction with the convention of the Western Kansas Cattle Growers Association.

The convention began on April 2, 1884 and ran through the evening of April 4, 1884. The ball was designed to be a social event, an enjoyable ending to the days of policy and procedure that preceded it. It was attended mostly by the cattlemen and their wives, but also attending were prominent local businessmen that frequently traded with them.

The venue was Cary’s Hall, a local opera house. The hall was lavishly decorated with designs created by the ladies connected to the convention. According to the Dodge City Democrat issue of April 5, 1884, the formal attire worn was a marked contrast to the “leggings and sombreros” that normally clad the men. The quality and beauty of the women’s gowns were also mentioned. The “crème de la crème” of high plains society “tripped the light fantastic” with nearly nonstop dancing. There was a break in the action around midnight so that attendees could partake of oysters and turkey. The frolic continued till the wee hours.

This newspaper recounting of the event was concluded with a clever poem warning men about the pitfalls of fraternizing with Dodge City’s “working girls”. So apparently not all female guests were the respected wives of cattle barons or prosperous frontier merchants. It seems that some men obtained their escorts for the evening via commercial means. It appears a great time was had by all, and there were no reports of fisticuffs or gunplay.