In the late 1860’s and early 1870’s, Abilene, Kansas emerged as one of the region’s first railroad cow towns. The strategic placement of a railroad switch in the area facilitated the easy loading and shipping of cattle from Texas out across the Midwest, quickly transforming what had been an isolated way station along the Pony Express route into a booming cattle town.  Almost overnight the cattle trade attracted all kinds of vice and unruly elements to the town: gambling, saloons, petty crime, and serious crimes such as murder.  This period was marked by the brief tenure of Chief of Police, Tom Smith, a New York cop turned frontier lawman who was brought in to restore law and order.  After surviving multiple assassination attempts, Smith was brutally killed in the line of duty. Smith was followed as Chief of Police by the legendary gunman, James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok, whose two-month tenure abrutly ended when he accidentally shot his deputy in a gunfight.