- Wyatt Earp: [Opening Narration] The principle recreations of Dodge City in 1877 were doubtful woman, strong drink, and day-and-night gambling. Dodge was a frontier cow town and it had passed laws against crime but not against sin. On the other hand, respectable citizens expected Marshal Wyatt Earp to keep both sin and crime away from the right side of the Santa Fe tracks. What is now known as the Battle of the Long Branch Saloon was a typical example of frontier hypocrisy. It threatened Wyatt's reputation and his job.