October 8, 1878
On this day, “the most beautiful woman in Kansas” Dora Hand, was eulogized in Dodge City’s Ford County Globe following her murder by spoiled, rich-kid cowboy, James Walworth “Spike” Kenedy.
The stuff of television mini-series, her death involved a beauty, a bad boy, a flamboyant mayor and four of the Old West’s legendary lawmen.
Hand, stage name Fannie Keenan,(right) was by all accounts an accomplished entertainer. She had made quite a name for herself in St. Louis and Denver, despite a rather hazy history. Reportedly from a prominent Boston family, Hand trained for the opera stage in Europe, but like Doc Holliday, went west after contracting tuberculosis. She was coaxed to the rough and tumble town of Dodge City that summer by a friend and fellow entertainer, another Fannie, Fannie Garrison.
Front Street, Dodge City, circa 1878
The singer was an instant sensation at Dodge City’s Lady Gay Dance Hall. 
Attracting more admirers than she needed, they included mayor James H. “Dog” Kelley (right) and Texas cowboy Spike Kenedy. Kenedy (alternately Kennedy) was more than a simple cowboy and “Dog” Kelley was not exactly a poster boy for civil servants.
Kelley had a penchant for fast horses and faster greyhounds. Part owner in the Alhambra Saloon, he quickly arranged a lucrative deal for the popular entertainer to appear in his establishment for the grand sum of $75 
per week, about $1,750 today. Apparently with other duties, hiz honor became one of Hand’s favorite escorts.
Cowboy Kenedy (right) was the son of a stern Quaker, Mifflin Kenedy, and a beautiful Mexican mother, Petra. She was the daughter of a former governor of Mexico, a devout Catholic, and like her husband, deeply religious. Mifflin, a wealthy cattleman, had once been a partner in the fabled King Ranch. In an attempt to curb his wayward son’s bad habits, he set Spike up with a panhandle spread, 2,000 head of cattle and a bunch of hands, apparently to no avail.
Handsome and reckless, Spike was instantly smitten with Hand. His aggressive courtship, however, led to his eviction from the Alhambra by Mayor Kelley. In an act of revenge, in the wee hours of October 4, he 
rode by Mayor Kelley’s “shack” behind the Alhambra and fired two shots into the flimsy walls.
But it was Dora, not Kelley asleep there. The mayor himself was in Fort Dodge undergoing surgery for a stomach ailment. Spike’s second shot passed through the first room where Fannie Garritson slept and slammed into Hand next door, killing her instantly.
By noon a quartet of big names in Western law enforcement, Bat Masterson, (above) Wyatt Earp, Charlie Bassett (left) and future famed U.S. marshal, Bill Tilghman lit out of Dodge, hot on Kenedy’s trail. Arguably the world’s most famous posse, they captured young Spike at his father’s ranch. The fugitive was seriously wounded, shot in the shoulder by Bat Masterson or some say, Wyatt Earp. (Below) The wound so severe, Kenedy’s arm was reportedly eventually 
amputated.
Kenedy was returned to Dodge City and placed in protective custody.
The whole town, save the ladies of the Methodist Church, turned out for the singer’s funeral. Hand was generally characterized about equally as a “soiled dove” or an “angel of mercy.” Well known for her charitable deeds, from nursing the sick to grubstaking the occasional broke cowboy, according to one source, she was laid to rest in Dodge City’s fabled Boot Hill. A second, however, lists Maple Grove Cemetery as her gravesite.
Surprise! Spike was acquitted in a secret proceeding when the senior Kenedy arrived in town with a satchel stuffed with money. It reportedly amounted to as much as $25,000, more than a half million today.
Spike never learned his lesson. He returned to his father’s Texas ranch and for a time rumors circulated that the one-armed gunman had been shot and killed. In fact, the true victim was Spike’s older brother, Thomas.
In 1882 Spike married Corina Balli and the couple were said to have had one son, George Mifflin Kennedy. No record of a son can be found, however.
Mifflin’s troubled family nearly ran out of heirs after just three generations. Spike was indicted for the murder of a ranch hand in 1884 and died of tuberculosis or typhoid fever at age 30 while awaiting trial in Brownsville. Deceased brother Thomas’s youngest son, William, died at age 17. His two daughters, Sarah and Phoebe died without heirs.
His last surviving son, John, had two children, John, Jr. and Sarita. John, Jr., suffered from alcoholism and died childless. Granddaughter, Sarita Kennedy East, wound up inheriting Mifflin’s Texas-size fortune. Like her great-grandmother, Petra, Sarita was a devout Catholic. Following her death in 1961, a crowded field of churches contested each other over the money for more than four decades.
The story didn’t end particularly well for Mayor “Dog” Kelley, either. After a series of financial reversals, he lost most of his holdings. He died at the Kansas Soldier’s Home in Fort Dodge in 1912 at age 79. He may have suffered from tuberculosis, the same disease that plagued Dora Hand.
Too colorful for Hollywood to pass up, a bevy of TV shows including “The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp” featured a Dora Hand character and a 1943 movie, “A Woman of the Town” cooked up a romance between the singer and Marshal Bat Masterson. In addition, “Gunsmoke” fans have long held that Hand was the inspiration for Amanda Blake’s Miss Kitty Russell. (Right)
Boot Hill Museum, 500 W. Wyatt Earp Boulevard, Dodge City, Kansas, provides visitors with a taste of the cowtown era. The non-profit museum, founded as a service project by area Jaycees in 1947, includes exhibits on the history of the Native American residents, the railroad, trail drives, buffalo hunters and homesteader. Museum grounds include a variety of historic buildings from Dodge City’s jail to First Union Church, a Santa Fe locomotive and a re-creation of the famous Boot Hill Cemetery.
The musuem’s Long Branch Variety Show, the oldest seasonal theatrical show in the country, celebrated its 62nd anniversary in 2019. Ir’s open daily 8 to 8 from Memorial Day to Labor Day and 9 to 5 Monday through Saturday. In winter 1 to 5 Sunday from Labor Day through Memorial Day. Closed New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving & Christmas. General admission is $12 for adults, $11 for seniors, $9 for children ages 5 to 10. Family tickets are $42 to include two adults and two or more children under 17. A 10 per cent discount is available during winter hours. Summer “all-in-one” admissions include a number of entertainment and meal options. For more information go to boothill.org or call (620) 227-8188.
© Text Only – 2019 – Headin’ West LLC – All photos – public domain or fair use.
Head On West strives for historic accuracy and uses a number of sources considered reliable. When research differs on significant facts, the various points of view will be cited.