Dodge City Cowboy Band – The Americus Brass Band

The Dodge City Cowboy Band

By Clifford P. Westermeier & Richard Birkemeier

The story of the Dodge City Cow-boy (yes, they often added the hyphen) Band is one of the most interesting musical tales in the “Golden Age of Brass Bands.” Dr. Cliff Westermeier wrote a monograph back in 1951 as part of his Doctoral study that is an excellent account of the founding of the band, but he ends his story at the half way point. A young Canadian cornet player joined the band sometime in the late 1880s and by 1890, had taken control of the group and moved the band, lock, stock and bass drum to Pueblo, CO where it continued to perform for many more years. That man was John B. (Jack) Sinclair, and while Chalk Beeson’s Dodge City Cowboy Band story is certainly an interesting one, Jack Sinclair’s part in the tale also needs to be told, because for better or for worse, the story of the Dodge City Cowboy Band continued long after it left – Dodge City.

There has been some debate concerning the actual year of its organization but the Dodge City Times wrote the following in 1878:

DODGE CITY SILVER CORNET BAND. A sufficient amount of money has been raised by subscriptions to purchase the instruments for the Dodge City Silver Cornet Band. The instruments have been ordered and will be received shortly. ‘There is no lack of musical talent in Dodge City. and a fine band of performers can be obtained to pipe the instruments. Rising to the dignity of a ‘town with a brass band,’ Dodge City can toot her own horn. Prof. W. H. LaBrand, an experienced musician, will be the leader of the band.¹

Just three months later, the band was sufficiently rehearsed that it could perform at the depot in September when a troop of cavalry arrived to put down an Indian rebellion in the area.² There is no mention of Chauk Beeson but his son, Merritt Beeson says his father, Chalkley M. Beeson, organized the band in 1879.³

The Dodge City Silver Cornet Band appears frequently in the Times beginning in 1879 playing at all the civic and social events one would expect of a town band at this time. They “discoursed sweet music” at 4th of July parades, serenades around town, the Firemen’s Balls, they played for a demonstration of the new flour mill, and of course, the aforementioned VIP reception at the train station. But there is no mention of Chauk Beeson or any other musicians except the leader who was still W. H. LaBrand into 1882.⁴

The year 1881 was and first appearance of the band at the Topeka state fair,⁵ and it is at this time that Chauk Beeson is “officially” associated with the group in the press. The Ford County Globe, June 27, 1882 wrote:

Alderman C. M. Beeson or rather “Chalk,” as we all know him after years of trials, has at last succeeded in organizing a Brass Band, and we claim it The Band of the Land, of which Dodge may justly be proud …They perform every evening in front of the “Long Branch” and Opera House Balcony and crowds gather to hear them…⁶

Late that summer of 1882, the band received an invitation to enter a band contest during the soldiers’ reunion at Topeka. The Ford County Globe commented:

The boys will need considerable money to properly fit themselves out and pay necessary expenses while at Topeka, and we trust our cattle men, merchants and citizens generally will contribute freely and thus assist the distinguished “Cow Boy Band” of Dodge City to make a creditable display of their musical talent.⁷

Apparently, the band had excellent support, for a week later the same paper published a list of 29 firms and individuals with the approximate head of cattle represented by each — over 400,000 head, or a cash capital of nearly $10,000,000.⁸ And the actual name change from Silver Cornet Band to Cowboy Band also occurs at this time. The Times wrote an extensive article on the group in September, 1882 entitled: Cowboy’s Silver Cornet Band.

This is the title of the band that has been on drill for some weeks past. The members of the band are composed of stockmen, cowboys and drovers. There are fifteen pieces in the band and the total number belonging is eighteen. This is the number of brands represented… Cowboy’s and Stockman’s Band are preparing to compete for the $200 prize in the State Fair in Topeka (and) Sharp critics inform us that the music furnished by the band is excellent. The members of the band will be dressed in full cowboy suits, and we have no doubt their peculiar appearance will attract attention. Large hats ornamented with the emblem of a steer, and the brand of the party represented engraved on the cut, will be worn by the men. The silver and gold bands on the hats, a distinguishing part of the cowboy hat will also ornament the head. Buckskin shirts and leather leggings fringed with buffalo hair will also be worn. Each musician will have partly different appeal, but the makeup will be characteristic of the untamed genus of the boarder. The spurs will form no little feature of the novel visitors who will ‘do’ Topeka… We have no doubt the first curiosity at the fair will be this same Cowboy’s and Stockman’s Band.⁹

Later that same year, The Times wrote about a local minstrel production that featured the band: “The Cowboy Minstrels of Dodge City will give an entertainment at the opera house on Tuesday night next. The members of this company are also members of the Cowboy Silver Cornet Band which created such a sensation at the State Fair in Topeka.”¹⁰

The Colorado Chieftain, the weekly newspaper of Pueblo, CO, gave an account of the cattlemen’s convention held in Dodge City beginning April 10, 1883. The cowboy band, now officially managed by Chalk Beeson, serenaded the governor on that occasion.¹¹ The same paper, a week later, commented on the close of the convention: “…the proceedings wound up last night with the grandest ball and banquet ever held in western Kansas… The music was furnished by Beeson’s orchestra.”¹²

So, who was this Chalk Beeson who’s name is often associated with the band? Chaulkey “Chalk” M. Beeson (1848 – 1912) was a stockman, a saloon owner (The famous Long Branch), a rancher and an elected alderman of Ford Co. KS. The Times wrote the following:

“A number of our citizens are engaging in the stock business. Those who have lately ventured in stock we notice Chalk Beeson and Jake Collar. It is the thing to do: and if you have spare cash, put it in calves – not your stocking leg.”¹³

A year later, evidence of Chalk’s standing in town:

“There will be a masked ball given by the Dodge City Social Club, on Friday evening, March 4th, in commemoration of Chalk Beeson’s birthday, and Garfield’s inauguration.”

Then just below on the same page of The Times:

C. M. Beeson received a letter irons W. H. Harris, who states that W. B. (Bat) Masterson arrived at Tombstone, Arizona. The old Dodge boys are seeking fortunes in the gold fields of Arizona.¹⁴

But most importantly, he was also an accomplished musician, playing the violin and baritone horn, and had his own family dance band that he called the Beeson Orchestra. The first mention of Chalk Beeson’s musical prowess is in The Times in 1877:

“The last ball of a series of four, given by the Dodge City Social Club, came off last evening at Collar’s Hall. It was by odds, the most successful and enjoyable of the season, being attended by nearly every member of the club. Prof. Chalk Beeson, the Club’s President led the music and prompted the dancers with the skill of a master head.”¹⁵

The first time Beeson’s name appears at an event that includes the band is in 1880 at the “Old Folks’ Concert at Kelley’s Hall. Beeson is described as “a magnificent ‘end man.’” The event also mentions the name J. S. Welch, who is later associated with the Cowboy Band as its drum major. The band is identified as “the Dodge City Cornet Band” which “discoursed fine music at the opening of the concert.” It is probable that both Beeson and Welch were also playing in the band at that time.¹⁶

During the ensuing months occasional mentions were made of practice sessions, but the subject of the Cowboy Band does not become significant until the early part of September, 1884. Then, a proposal to send the organization to the Cattlemen’s convention in St. Louis in November met with unanimous approval, because Dodge City and the cattle interests of Kansas would receive invaluable publicity at St. Louis. The suggestion was made that the Western Kansas Cattle Growers’ Association promote the idea and become the sponsor of the band.¹⁷

This obvious promotion on the part of the Kansas Cowboy secured the desired results, and during the latter part of October the following article appeared.

“It is all fixed that the Cowboy band goes to the National Stockmen’s convention at St. Louis. The band will number eighteen pieces, composed of musicians whose music will astonish the ears of the denizones [sic] of the Mound City and others, soies [sic] who will be there during the session of the great convention. They will find that the historic cowboy of the plains, as will be represented by the members of this band, is an individual of a far different color than what has been painted by sensational papers. He will be found to be a gentleman and as proficient in the aesthetical art of music as he is in the skill of punching cows. But we do not wish to anticipate.”¹⁸

The band was provided with an especially-made banner — the present of Andy Snider and Sons.¹⁹ The Nickerson report also gave the first complete description of the costumes of the band: “all of them [were] dressed in regular cowboy style, broad hats, woolen shirts, leather leggin’s, spurs and pistols…”²⁰

A report from St. Louis to the Kansas Cowboy gave further information concerning the arrival of and the impression created by the cowboy musical organization as it crossed the state of Kansas:

“At all the stations in Kansas, word had been received that the band was coming and everybody flocked to the depot to get a peep at the cowboys and to hear their delicious music. The boys kindly satisfied the curiosity of the people by favoring them with airs.”²¹

The Missouri Republican also related a first impression made by the cowboys in full regalia:

On the opening day of the convention a band, with trumpets blaring and cymbals crashing, marched down Olive street. A crowd of excited and enthusiastic youngsters followed, watching especially the leader who bore a banner identifying the group as ‘The Cowboy Band of Dodge City, Kansas.’ …The drum major, Capt. J. S. Welch, waved his hands wildly and thus aroused greater enthusiasm in his fellow bandsmen…. But the appearance of the band was gorgeous. It was wild; it was ne plus ultra, sui generis, and superb. The inseparable gray slouch hat with a band inscribed ‘Cowboy Band of Dodge City, Kansas’ and bearing also the picture of a steer, each hat having a different brand …. A flannel shirt, leather leggings of a conventional type, bandana handkerchief around the throat, belt with a six-chambered ivory handled revolver and fierce spurs completed the genuine cowboy outfit.²²

A Globe-Democrat reporter asked the leader of the band:

“What do you swing that gun for?”
“That’s my baton,” was the answer.
“Is it loaded?’
“Yes.”
“What for?”‘
“To kill the first man who strikes a false note.”²³

However, there is evidence that some of the delegates from parts of the West lacked enthusiasm for it, particularly the brandishing of guns! A delegate from Texas said:

…we are not responsible for this circus and are unwilling to endorse the band as a feature of the convention. We are not in favor of any such display as the so-called cowboy band is making. This leggin’ revolver business is out of place in a great city like St. Louis. Besides we are not the desperadoes the band would seem to indicate we are… They parade the streets with the handles of their revolvers protruding from their hip pockets and their leader keeping time with one.²⁴

The editor of the Kansas Cowboy, S. S. Prunty, explained,

“The attire of the members of the band is regulation dress of the plains cowboy. The spurs, pistol, and leather leggings are seen every day on the cowboy of the plains. The members, while mostly cowboys in jest, are gentlemen and some represent thousands of head of bovine.”²⁵

Regardless of the controversy, the Cowboy Band was a great attraction for the people of St. Louis.²⁶

Immediately following the triumph at the cattlemen’s convention, the band, and also the delegates, received an invitation to visit Chicago. During their visit they played daily concerts in the Palmer House and, dressed in full regalia, were a great attraction to the spectators.²⁷ The Kansas Cowboy commented:

If one didn’t expect that a man that drives cattle could bring music out of a cornet or horn, he was favorably disappointed, for the entire programme was performed excellently and with real pleasure, …The audience was particularly interested in the leader of the musicians, who waved his nickel-plated six-shooter for a baton… The triumphs of the band during the Chicago visit resulted in an invitation from the Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad to visit Minneapolis and St. Paul. Supplied with all the necessary accommodations for the trip, they heartily accepted the courtesy.²⁸

When the band finally returned to Dodge City, the editor of the Kansas Cowboy heaped praise upon the members for “gentlemanly” conduct and their popularization of “the plains cowboy in the estimation of the eastern people.”²⁹

The next news of importance concerning the band appeared about two weeks before the second cattlemen’s convention, held in St. Louis, November, 1885. The members were instructed to meet in Dodge City on November 10 to start immediate training for the convention. “The rehearsals will take place in one of the rooms of the upper story of Prof. Ly Brand’s (certainly the W. H. LaBrand mentioned back in 1878) planing Mill.”³⁰ And there were several Pueblo musicians in the band already at this time.³¹

Plans were elaborated and expanded that year. In-route, they presented a concert at the Grand Opera House in Topeka which was attended by the Governor and at their appearance at the National Convention of Stockmen in St. Louis , the Kansas Cowboy said: “The boys were as popular and in as much demand as they were at the convention last year.”³² They also played three evenings at the Crescent skating rink, “the toniest institution of the kind in St. Louis.”³³ However, news of a large fire in Dodge City caused the cancellation of the plans and because many of the bandsmen suffered losses, they were anxious to get home and see what damage had been done.³⁴

Meanwhile, when the Cowboy band wasn’t touring, they continued to play events around Dodge City like a benefit concert for a local music teacher, a masonic parade, the opening of an “infant school,” and a concert to support the youth band in Dodge City under the leadership of Charlie Makepeace, solo cornetist of the Cowboy Band.³⁵ These would not have involved the entire touring band but just the local folk.

The band still visited Denver and in March, 1888, for a four-day engagement at the attractive remuneration of $450, they marched in the parade which opened the celebration and played at the promenade concert before the grand ball at the Tabor Opera House.³⁶

The first mention of Jack Sinclair in print is in a list of members of the Cowboy Band in the Denver Rocky Mountain News in 1889, just before they left for their next big trip, this one to Washington DC for the inauguration of President-elect Benjamin Harrison.

All the members of the Cowboy band are now in the city, and are busy preparing for their trip to Washington. The concert to be given on Friday, Feb. 22nd, promises to be the finest musical treat ever given in the city…The following is the roster of the band: C. M. Beeson, manager. Roy Drake, musical director. L. E. Warren and J. S. Welch drum majors. …C. M. Beeson, 1st B flat clarinet… (and) 1st B flat cornet, Jack Sinclair…³⁷

This first mention of Jack Sinclair is significant because he will become the leader of the band within a year’s time. Then, three days later, on a special train of Pullmans on the Rock Island railroad, the combined forces of Cowboy Band and Cowboy Club, numbering about 100, departed for the presidential inauguration.³⁸

On the trip eastward, the combined cowboy groups were interviewed in various places. In Chicago, O. W. Wilcox, the secretary of the Cowboy Club, said to an inquiring reporter: “Oh yes, we are genuine cowboys, every one of us.”³⁹ A first hand account of the cowboy invasion of the national capital came from Thomas McGill, the advance agent of the groups, who reported that the cowboys were greeted with enthusiasm in the East and that on inauguration day, the Cowboy Band and Cowboy Club, led by “Buffalo Bill” Cody and Buck Taylor, were the greatest attractions of the parade.⁴⁰ The news items which appeared the day after the inauguration confirm this statement, and one from the Daily News of Trinidad, Colo., said: “It was an object lesson, illustrating things in the west, not often exhibited in that locality.”⁴¹

Mr. McGill also informed his contemporaries that at all the station stops enormous crowds waited to greet them, and with the exception of President Harrison’s car no other car east of Indianapolis received so much attention.”⁴² On the evening of March 3 the Cowboy Band presented a concert at the Bijou in the capital city where they were received with much enthusiasm and applause. They also serenaded the President at his Arlington Hotel headquarters during the inaugural ceremonies.⁴³

However, as the band enjoyed its greatest triumph, this is the time when things begin to fall apart. The tour manager, Mr. McGill had made arrangements for additional concerts in Philadelphia, New York, Boston and other places, but several influential members of the band felt the need to return to Dodge City to take care of business matters before embarking on such a tour. It seems likely that stockmen like Chalk Beeson couldn’t afford to tour indefinitely, while some of the younger professional musicians like Jack Sinclair, would have liked to remain on the road. The band did give one final concert in Pittsburgh before returning to Dodge City.⁴⁴

And that is the last mention in the press of the Cowboy Band in Dodge City. The story now shifts to Jack Sinclair, a cornetist in the band. It appears that later that same year, Chalk Beeson, acting on behalf of the Dodge City stockmen, sold the band (or at least its musical library and uniforms) to Jack Sinclair for $800.⁴⁵ Why he did this is unknown. But it was most likely a disagreement over the direction the band was taking at this pivotal time in its existence. Jack Sinclair and many of the musicians may have wanted to continue touring and Chalk and the other ranchers, didn’t. Also, Jack may have had a “better offer.” He seems to have been courted by the town of Silverton, CO. They had just established a brass band of their own and needed a conductor. The funding for this new band was actually coming from the Silverton Railroad and Jack left for Colorado in early 1890 with the promise of a new band and a gold watch! The Dodge City Times wrote the following:

Our Band Boys Abroad. We clip the following article from the Silverton, Colorado, Standard, in regard to Jack Sinclair, a former resident of this city and a member of the Cowboy Band – The Rainbow⁴⁶ band boys gave their leader, J. B. Sinclair, a great surprise on Christmas day in the shape of a very handsome gold watch. Jack was informed that the boys would be over to his house in the afternoon to serenade him and thought it was a strange proceeding that was all. The members of the band met in the band room at 3 o’clock and with Moses Liverman, superintendent of the Silverton Railroad, who very kindly consented to make the presentation, they went to Jack’s residence. The boys were welcomed by Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair and in a few chosen words, Mr. Liverman, on behalf of the members of the band, presented Jack with the watch. Jack was taken by surprise, as he had never dreamed of the real object of the visit, but in a few words, thanked the boys for their very handsome present and produced some decanters of wine, whiskey etc., and everyone drank everyone else’s health.⁴⁷

So, just a year after the Dodge City Cowboy Band’s triumphant return from Washington DC, this announcement in a Denver paper seems to make the move to Colorado official.

The Cowboy Band of Dodge City is now a thing of the past, but is to be succeeded by the “Cowboy Band of the Rainbow route.” Jack Sinclair, says the Silverton Standard (newspaper) is now engaged in effecting such an organization, and has sent to Texas for two of the biggest pairs of cow horns to be had in that state, which it is presumed to be attached to the baton of the drum major. The Standard adds that the band’s headquarters will be at Silverton, that it has already been engaged for a trip to Denver with another being negotiated for. It will be a great advertisement for Silverton and the San Juan, and before another year will be more widely known and more thoroughly appreciated than the Dodge City band ever thought of being.

Dodge City still had Chalk Beeson’s orchestra which continued to perform for most of the social functions of the city and a couple of years later, a new brass band started up again. The Globe Republican reported in 1895 that, “The Dodge City band is receiving instructions from Prof. Eastman. Membership is invited. The boys are practicing frequently.”⁴⁸ In fact, the Dodge City band, still using the Cowboy Band name, is still performing regularly and claims the distinction of the “longest running municipal band west of the Mississippi.”⁴⁹

But the story of the Cowboy Band under Jack Sinclair is just as interesting as its origins and under his leadership, the group continued to carry the image of the “Old West Cowboy” well into the 20th Century.

Cliff Westermeier concluded his monograph with this glowing summary, a fitting ending for this tale of the “Old West.”

The Dodge City Cowboy Band was one of the unique institutions of western Kansas. It began as a local enterprise which received its first support from some of the most prominent citizens of that city, and with its very colorful and attractive regalia, it caused comment wherever it appeared. That it was composed of skilled musicians is evident, for on every occasion the music played was of a high caliber. The numerous invitations and request performances endowed it with a national reputation. One of the dubious questions about the band was whether or not the members were real cowboys. The bandsmen often answered the question in the affirmative, but Merritt Beeson reports that the band’s personnel consisted of “musicians playing the little theaters and dance halls” in Dodge City, “and came from Denver, Kansas City, St. Louis and Chicago.”⁵⁰ Presenting a type of fine entertainment, the nationally famous Cowboy Band brought more fame to the “Wickedest City in America” than did all the lures concocted to attract the weaknesses of mankind.

DR. CLIFFORD P. WESTERMEIER (1910 – 1986) was born March 4, 1910, in Buffalo, N.Y. He studied fine arts at various schools before receiving a bachelor of science degree from the University of Buffalo in 1935 and a master’s degree from the University of Colorado in 1939. From 1935 to 1944, he was an assistant professor of Fine Arts at the University of Buffalo. In 1944, he returned to CU to work on his Ph.D., concentrating on the cowboy and rodeo in the American West. He completed his Ph.D. in 1946. He taught history at St. Louis University, Loretto Heights College and the University of Arkansas. In 1964, he returned to CU and taught in the history department until his retirement in May, 1978. His teaching career spanned 42 years, the final 14 at CU. He was also an artist, exhibiting his paintings in Paris and New York. He also published four books and numerous articles on the cowboy and rodeo.⁵¹

The Dodge City Cowboy Band
Jack Sinclair, Director

By Richard Birkemeier

John B. “Jack” Sinclair (1858 – Dec. 9, 1929)

Author’s note: I am aware of nothing that has been published on the early life or musical background of John B. Sinclair. 20th century US census records say that he was Canadian by birth and married, his wife’s name was Ella, but when and why they came to the US is unknown. There is an extensive collection of Cowboy Band and Jack Sinclair materials (some of it provided by the Americus Brass Band) at the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles, but until I can get back there and study it, the following history, taken mostly from published newspaper accounts, will have to do.

How “Jack,” as he always called himself, came to lead the Cowboy Band is not completely known. As was mentioned in the previous essay, Jack Sinclair’s name first appears in print in 1889 in a list of the members of the Cowboy Band published in the Dodge City Times newspaper.

All the members of the Cowboy band are now in the city, and are busy preparing for their trip to Washington (they were invited to perform at the inauguration of President Benjamin Harrison). The concert to be given on Friday, Feb. 22nd, promises to be the finest musical treat ever given in the city…The following is the roster of the band: C. M. Beeson, manager; Roy Drake, musical director; L. E. Warren and J. S. Welch drum majors; …C. M. Beeson, 1st B flat clarinet;… (and) Jack Sinclair, 1st B flat cornet;…⁵²

Then, less than a year after the above article, Jack is gone and the band is gone also! The Silverton Railroad seems to have lured Jack to Colorado in 1890 with the promise of a new band and a gold watch, and he took the cowboy band with him.⁵³ The Dodge City newspaper (quoting the Silverton Standard) described what happened.

The Cowboy band…was organized in Dodge City, Kansas in 1880. After meeting with splendid success in Washington DC, St. Lewis, Chicago, Denver, and other cities, the band decided to change its headquarters owing to the fact that Dodge City was fast going down hill. Jack Sinclair, the assistant leader of the band, was called to Silverton (CO) to instruct a local band which was organized in April 1889. Upon finding good musical talent in that locality and receiving encouragement from the citizens, he procured most of the best players from Dodge City, who found ready employment in the thriving metropolis of San Juan. The old Kansas charter and paraphernalia were purchased for $800 and the band was re-chartered under the laws of Colorado in October, 1889. The band now has thirty members and as a cornet band, has no equal in the state of Colorado.”⁵⁴

Several of Jack’s old bandmates from Dodge City went with him to Silverton in April 1890.⁵⁵ Then, just a few months later, this announcement in a Denver paper seems to make the move to Colorado official.

The Cowboy Band of Dodge City is now a thing of the past, but is to be succeeded by the “Cowboy Band of the Rainbow route. Jack Sinclair, says the Silverton Standard (newspaper) is now engaged in effecting such an organization, and has sent to Texas for two of the biggest pairs of cow horns to be had in that state, which it is presumed to be attached to the baton of the drum major. The Standard adds that the band’s headquarters will be at Silverton, that it has already been engaged for a trip to Denver with another being negotiated for. It will be a great advertisement for Silverton and the San Juan, and before another year will be more widely known and more thoroughly appreciated than the Dodge City band ever thought of being.⁵⁶

1890 was also the year that Edith F. (Frances) Sinclair, Jack and Ella’s daughter, was born in Colorado.⁵⁷ In 1891 – The Inauguration ceremonies for the Governor reintroduced the band to Denver and they seem to have dropped the “Rainbow Route” designation. By 1892, big things are “afoot.” The band hired a new manager Ben B. Wilson and moved the operation to Pueblo, CO, the home town of several of the members and began planning an extended national tour to begin at the end of the year. But first, the band played several local concerts to raise the funding needed for the tour. A concert at Broadway Athletic Park in Denver introduced Jack’s newest composition, his 1st descriptive potpourri.

Tonight at the Athletic park the renowned Cowboy Band… will give a grand concert to conclude… their great realistic piece…“A Night in the Cow Camp.”… The piece was written by Jack Sinclair, the great cowboy cornetist, who for over fifteen years was in the cattle business and can handle a rope with any of the boys…⁵⁸

Also at this time, the residents of Pueblo gave Jack a beautiful and expensive presentation Colt 45, which may have had something to do with the move.

The original Cowboy band…is the special pet of the people of Pueblo, where its headquarters are. Many substantial evidences of appreciation have been given to the band, and the other night at the Windsor Hotel, Jack Sinclair, the leader, was presented with a revolver the likes of which…was never seen before. It is a Colt 45- caliber, with mother-of-pearl handle, upon which hand carved, is the head of a buffalo. Colorado gold, of different shades, beautifully engraved and chased, is inlaid along the stock and barrel, mingled with crusted silver in appropriate designs. Studded all over the gun are precious stones, diamonds, garnets, turquoise, and opals in abundance. The ornamental work was done by Charlie Otero of Pueblo, himself a member of the band…This unique shooting iron is valued at $500. Jack didn’t have much to say when the gun was presented to him. He was overcome.⁵⁹

But late in 1892, everything was going badly and the national tour turned out to be a flop. The tour was supposed to eventually reach the East Coast and the band would spend the holidays playing a two week engagement at Madison Square Garden in New York City, but…

A dispatch from Peoria, Illinois, says: The Pueblo Cowboy band gave a concert here last night and today disbanded, most of the members leaving for Colorado. The band has been on the road but ten days, and this was the seventh stopping place. Concerts at Omaha, St Louis and Kansas City were so poorly attended that the management did not think it wise to continue the trip, although the band had dates at many prominent cities between here and New York, and was booked for two weeks at the New York Madison Square Garden during the holidays. The manager, Mr. Ben M. Wilson of Pueblo, has lost about $25,000 already, it is claimed.⁶⁰

The failure of the band’s tour was catastrophic and there is no mention of the band or Jack Sinclair anywhere for over a year! In fact, it seems to have gotten so bad that Jack had to hire out to many of the smaller towns in southern and western Colorado as director of their bands. Victor, Idaho Springs, Glenwood, and Ouray were all added to his circuit and he directed “cowboy bands” in all of them for many years to come.⁶¹

Finally, in 1895, a notice appeared in the Rocky Mountain News, advertising the band’s availability again in Denver. Jack Sinclair was now acting as his own manager and stated that his Cowboy Band organization is better equipped and in better shape “in every way” then for the last two years, and that he can furnish from twenty-five to fifty men.⁶²

And in 1898, Jack and his Cowboy Band musicians decided to accept their country’s call and enlist in the army in the Spanish American War. They joined with the 2nd Regiment, Torrey’s Rough Riders from Wyoming.

COWBOY BAND GOES. Will Be Enlisted in the Rough Riders Tomorrow. Pueblo, Col, July 30. – Jack Sinclair, leader of the famous Dodge City Cowboy band has received notice from Colonel Torrey of the rough riders⁶³ that the band will be enlisted next Sunday.”⁶⁴ The Colorado Springs Gazette but it thusly: “SPAIN TREMBLES – Dodge City Cowboy Band Will Be Enlisted by Torrey. Pueblo, Colo: July 29.⁶⁵

But after a short summer-long encampment in Florida, the war ended and the band returned to Colorado in October, never having left the States.

NOT IN LOVE WITH FLORIDA – Jack Sinclair of Torrey’s Band…feels proud of the record made by the Second regiment band, which was acknowledged to be the finest musical organization in the Seventh army corps. The band of twenty – four members was mounted, and the horses learned to like the music as well as the soldier boys.⁶⁶

The 1900 US Census lists Jack as a musician living in Pueblo and says he was born 1858 in Kansas? He was actually Canadian. He is married to Ella Sinclair (born 1862) – Married 21 years and she was born in Canada. They have a son – Muncie E. Sinclair (born 1886) and a daughter – Edith Sinclair (born 1890). At the beginning of the new century, the cowboy band was still an important part of the community and the economy of the region.

Southern Colorado cattlemen are making a strong effort to have Pueblo and this portion of the state represented at the Salt Lake convention of the National Live Stock Association next month by the combined musical forces of the Original Cowboy Band under the direction of Jack Sinclair and the Morris military band, under George W. Morris. Judge George F. Patrick and other large owners of cattle in Pueblo are using all their influence to secure the engagement of these bands.⁶⁷

Jack Sinclair directed the performances, but his revolver was not displayed. He beat time with an ordinary baton.⁶⁸ In 1902, another Jack Sinclair production was described in the Salt Lake Tribune:

…the Ouray Cow Boy Band, with its electrical coach drawn by four beautiful ponies, and all the banners, metals, trophies and paraphernalia of the Cow Boy Band, which have been preserved by Jack Sinclair, will occupy a conspicuous place in the parade.⁶⁹ The Ouray contingent…can play the “Dead March from Saul” with six-shooters or hand out the “Beautiful Blue Danube” with the most melodious of brass instruments. It is the world-famed cowboy band organized at Pueblo some years ago by Captain Jack Sinclair…They undertook to give a recital on Second South street yesterday afternoon and had the crowd in ecstasies.⁷⁰

In 1904, the band played for the opening of Bessemer Park in Pueblo, … but called themselves the Cosmopolitan brass band.⁷¹ “The Cosmopolitan band of twelve pieces under the leadership of Jack Sinclair rendered a program of some length that delighted the vast crowd, and the band is entitled to thanks.”⁷² In 1905, Jack added Idaho Springs CO to his list of bands. “The paraphernalia of the famous Dodge City Cowboy Band was unloaded here yesterday and will be used by the Idaho Springs Cowboy Band…. Jack Sinclair, the leader and manager of the original cowboy band has been engaged as manager, and the aggregation will be heartily backed by the citizens of Idaho Springs.”⁷³ That same year, the Grand Army of the Republic – G.A.R. National Encampment attracted 150 bands to Denver “…and among the most important of the organizations…may be mentioned the…Jack Sinclair’s cowboy band, Idaho Springs, forty pieces…⁷⁴

Jack’s various bands continued to provide musical entertainment for events across Colorado for the next several years, but in 1908, the Democratic National Convention in Denver was particularly noteworthy. “Jack Sinclair, formerly leader of the Cowboy band of Silverton, is now perfecting arrangements for the Alamosa Cowboy band to furnish the music for the Democratic national convention at Denver in July.”⁷⁵ In fact, both Jack and his daughter Edith Sinclair were there with the cowboy band.

At 2:06, when the duration of the Roosevelt demonstration had been tied, the Cowboy band came down onto the floor and marched forward and backward through the hall, preceded by their picturesquely dressed “cowgirls” adding to the din… A real cowgirl, with short skirts. leggings, wide-brimmed hat and big-fingered gauntlets, was given Virginia’s banner and she mounted the platform. So was Miss Edith Sinclair, daughter of Jack Sinclair of Pueblo, leader of the cowboy band. She was a real “Western peach” in looks and was given an ovation that turned her well-tanned complexion a deeper shade of red than the sun’s rays ever could.⁷⁶

In 1909, “the Elks of Pueblo lodge No. 80, have made arrangements to organize one of the finest bands in the West. They have engaged Jack Sinclair, the leader of the cowboy band, to take charge of the new organization. The membership will be limited strictly to Elks.”⁷⁷

The 1910 US Census records Jack’s name as J B Sinclair and claims his age to be 48 (!) but now he says that he WAS born in Canada. That census again identifies the Sinclair’s two children; the son, Muncie, is now a public school teacher and their daughter, Edith, now with a middle initial F, is still living at home.

The city of Glenwood, CO hired Jack Sinclair to direct their band in 1911 but his family remained in Pueblo. And Sinclair’s legendary diamond baton and gun are still “big news.”

Jack Sinclair’s Band is in town for the carnival, (he was) the leader of’ the famous Dodge City, Kan., cowboy band that toured the United States and was one of the famous musical organizations of fifteen or twenty years ago, and many of these old-timers are in with Sinclair in the Glenwood Springs band. Sinclair shows a revolver of gold and silver, studded with diamonds, rubies, sapphires and other jewels, that cost $1,000, and which the people of Dodge City (actually it was Pueblo) gave him in 1892. He also shows a pair of silver and gold spurs that were given him by Kansas people, that cost $500, and a $250 saddle. All are on exhibition at the Oxford hotel, where the band is staying.⁷⁸

1913 – In addition to directing the band, Jack now has “day job” (night job), Night Captain of the Pueblo Police Department. But he can still produce a huge musical group when he wants to.

The Templar Court of Honor was the scene yesterday of concerts by two of the best bands attending the conclave… Jack Sinclair’s Cowboy band of Pueblo, 100 strong, rendered a long program that included classical as well as popular melodies with a fair sprinkling of ragtime that set the feet of the audience to shuffling….In private life, Sinclair is a mounted member of the Pueblo police force, entrusted with the enforcement of the excise ordinances in the outlying districts. He is the right hand of the commissioner of safety and is frequently sent into other cities to escort dangerous criminals. His personal bravery and his confidential manner invariably impress men whom he is detailed to guard or arrest, and he is reputed to have a less amount of trouble with bad men than any other member of the force. How Sinclair stands in the estimation of the people of Pueblo was proved on Tuesday when a committee of business men presented him a baton worth $750 as a token of the belief that Pueblo and Jack Sinclair are inseparably connected. Several years ago the people of Glenwood Springs gave him a pair of gold and silver spurs, and before that Pueblo friends presented him a gold-mounted and Jewel- studded revolver with which he directed the massed band concert at the Festival of Mountain and Plain last fall.⁷⁹

The year 1914 is Jack Sinclair’s daughter Edith’s debut as a professional musician.

Special to The News. PUEBLO, Colo., Jan. 13. – Destined to star in her first season, and assured of the leading part on the occasion of her real debut behind the footlights, Miss Edith F. Sinclair of Pueblo, daughter of Jack Sinclair, leader of the “Original Cowboy Band,” has signed a contract to appear in vaudeville next season. The young woman, whose voice has attracted considerable attention, has already been assigned to thirty-eight weeks during her first venture.

Jack Sinclair also composed an operetta for Edith that he called The Cowboy’s Dream. It is not known if this large work (possibly inspired by Sousa’s popular works in the same genre) was ever performed, but it still exists in the Cowboy Band collection at the Autry Museum in Los Angeles, CA. The Americus Brass Band attempted to interpolate an aria from the operetta in their Dodge City Cowboy Band touring show but, in the end, decided not to use it.

“The Life of Creede” was another favorite piece in the Cowboy Band’s repertoire. It was a descriptive potpourri that tells the story of a prospector named Creede who travels to Colorado to mine silver. The piece includes a movement called “The Miner’s Chorus with Drills,” and features the set of tuned “genuine steel rock drills” mentioned below. The piece is found in the Autry Museum collection and was recorded (without the drills – the Autry wouldn’t allow us to use them) by the Americus Brass Band on its Dodge City Cowboy Band recording of 1995.

With the only and original “Cowboy Band” heading their delegation, and with the seven pretty girls playing the most unique musical Instruments ever brought into harmonious contact with a tune, the Pueblo Elks blew themselves into town yesterday. Jack Sinclair, once a cow-puncher, now a bandmaster, leads the band. The seven girls each have a specially constructed xylophone made of genuine steel rock drills filed into tune and played with miners hammers. These will appear on a float in the big parade.⁸⁰

In 1915, Jack decided to take his “show on the road” again, this time to Los Angeles, presumably to help his daughter (and wife?) move there.

Old Cowboy’s Band Will Boom Colorado On Los Angeles Trip – PUEBLO, Feb. 26. – That material advertising will come to Pueblo as a result of the engagement of the cowboy band at Los Angeles is the belief of Captain Jack Sinclair, who will direct the band. He leaves Monday to accept a five months engagement.⁸¹

As Jack got older, he spent less time directing bands and instead rented out the costumes and music to other groups who wished to appear as “old west” cowboys. In 1917, “A wild west touch will be added to the entertainment by the presence of a number of cowboys and cattlemen, who will be attired in the regulation garb….Those who are not supplied with chaps, saddles and bridles will be supplied thru the kindness of Jack Sinclair, leader of the Cow Boy band.”⁸² In 1919, the 157th infantry, formerly the Colorado national guard, arrived in Pueblo and “…the Musicians Union plans on having a band composed of fifty pieces to provide music for the event…but it was found that there were not enough uniforms to go around and therefore the offer of Jack Sinclair of the uniforms of the Cowboy band was accepted and the fifty band men will appear as cowboys.”⁸³

But his band of Pueblo musicians could still make it happen. In 1919…

the famous old Dodge City – Pueblo Cow Boy band in all its glory and magnificence, will supply the regular and heavy music for the fair. This will be no imitation, but the real thing, and with the band will be the stage coach, the cow-boy paraphernalia and the many trophies and mementoes belonging to the band. Great intrinsic value attaches to the belongings of this band. Captain Jack Sinclair promises that all the visitors to the fair mill be more than pleased with the band, its membership and its music.⁸⁴

The 1920 Census found Jack still living in Pueblo and employed as Night Captain of the police department, while his wife (called Elizabeth in the 1920 census) and Daughter Edith seem to have moved permanently to Los Angeles where they were living together.

In 1921, Jack was still making music when he could.

Captain Jack Sinclair of the local police force carries other notable records than those to be made on the force as a patrolman. Sinclair is one of the original members of the Cow- boy Band which originated back in 1888. Last week Captain Sinclair packed up some of the old time relics, in the way of drums, horns and other paraphernalia, also taking with him the old time stage coach, and is now headed for Kansas City where the Cowboy Band will take an active part in the festivities of the American Legion.⁸⁵

During prohibition, the year 1928 turned out to be dangerous for a law man in the “old west.” Jack survived a shootout during a jail break.

PUEBLO POLICE SEE ATTACK ON CAPTAIN AS JAILBREAK PLOT Pueblo, Colo.. Feb. 3 – Pueblo police declare that they have found evidences of a preconceived plot to murder Night Police Capt. Jack Sinclair, and release prisoners in the city jail … Hernandez turned out the lights in the hall of the police station and attacked the night captain, taking his gun from him. In the tussle Sinclair wrested the gun from the Mexican, but it was accidentally discharged, shooting Martinez.⁸⁶

Jack continued to work right to the end and his last performance with the Original Cowboy Band seems to have been on September 8, 1929…

…a parade up Seventeenth street in Denver, Monday, and (performance) at the civic center to call attention to the state fair at Pueblo …The band was organized in Dodge City, KS in 1892, and for a number of years was a great favorite throughout the west. Then, it was disbanded. Recently, Jack Sinclair, night captain of police of Pueblo, reorganized the band. He is its director.⁸⁷

Jack Sinclair died rather suddenly, three months later on Dec. 9, 1929. The Denver Post copied the Pueblo obituary the next day which summarized (with a few minor exaggerations) his extraordinary life. It is a fitting, if brief, tribute to one the giant figures (dare we say “legends”?) of the “Old West.”

JACK SINCLAIR, FAMOUS BAND MASTER, DEAD Night Captain of Pueblo Police Dies After Taking Vapor Bath. Pueblo, Colo., Dec. 9.

Jack Sinclair, originator of the world-famous Dodge City Cowboy band, died here suddenly Monday after taking a vapor steam bath in a downtown bath parlor. For the last fifteen years, Sinclair has been night captain of Pueblo police. Last summer Captain Sinclair revived his cowboy band and appeared at the Spanish war veterans’ convention in Denver and the state fair here. All of the equipment for the band, valued at about $30,000, is owned by Captain Sinclair. The band was originally with the Second United States volunteer cavalry, better known as ‘Tory’s [sic] Rough Riders. Under the baton of Captain Jack it toured the nation several times. On one tour it had 250 members. Sinclair’s trophies include a $5,000 diamond-studded baton given him by Pueblo citizens, a silver mounted saddle given him at the Denver Democratic National Convention in 1908, jeweled spurs given in 1912 at the Elks’ convention in Denver and a $500 watch presented to him by citizens of Silverton. Captain Sinclair was also one of the best known peace officers in the west. He was about 65 years of age. He has a daughter living in Los Angeles.⁸⁸

And there the story ends, or does it?

The Americus Brass Band recreates the historical Dodge City Cowboy Band on original instruments!

The Americus Brass Band’s 1994 Civil War show “Honor and Glory” had been a big success and we wanted another brass band historical treatment for the following season. The question was what direction to go. At that time, I visited the Autry Museum of the American West (as it is now called) in Los Angeles to see their new Buffalo Bill Exhibition. On the wall was an enormous enlargement of the iconic Dodge City Cowboy Band picture published in 1884 in the Missouri Republican Newspaper in St Louis. I immediately noted that, though it was labelled as such, this was NOT Buffalo Bill’s band, but I had no idea who they really were.

A little research revealed the true subject of the photo was the Dodge City Cowboy Band, and that the Autry Museum had a very nice collection of music and memorabilia from this now-forgotten historical band. The collection had been donated a few years earlier by William Bowman of Burbank, CA who had found several boxes of cowboy band music and costume parts that had been left on the curb to be picked up by the garbage company. He literally saved the collection from the trash!

A later donation of Cowboy Band music and paraphernalia was made possible by the father of Americus Brass Band president Kurt Curtis. Larry Curtis, then Director of Bands at California State University, Long Beach, began his career teaching band in the Pueblo CO school system. Larry was a regular sub with the ABB so we asked him to return to Pueblo to look for evidence of the original Cowboy Band. He made contact with Mr. Ralph Levy, a local band director, who knew of an old trunk stored in a school attic that contained some of Jack Sinclair’s band music and uniform parts. Ralph had it all donated to the Autry Museum. The Autry already had Jack Sinclair’s diamond spurs and baton, and the famous gold-plated colt 45 that they had purchased a few years before.

So the ABB decided to create a new show that told the story of this fascinating historical brass band, much as we had done in our first show with the original Americus Brass Band. We hired a professional writer, Gregory Mortensen, to create the script and took this new show on the road in 1995.

The Americus Brass band as the Dodge City Cowboy Band – c.1996

That fall, we also decided to record a CD of the Cowboy Band’s music. At the same time (and timely it was!), our bass player Leigh Schwartz reported that he had just read an article in the Instrumentalist Magazine (March 1995) about Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show band, written by Wyoming bandmaster and scholar, Dr. Mike Masterson. Of course both bands were active at the same time in the 1890s – 1900s and we had the idea to offer to record a CD of the Buffalo Bill music for Mike when we recorded our own Dodge City repertoire. Dr. Masterson loved the idea and even secured funding for the recording from the Buffalo Bill Historical Society in Cody, WY. He sent us the Buffalo Bill music, which we added to our own Dodge City music, and we recorded both CDs at Claremont College’s Bridge’s Auditorium on October 15 – 18, 1995. Both of these CDs are newly re-released on Summit Records as of Spring 2026, helping to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Americus Brass Band.

Our Buffalo Bill CD later came to the attention of film director Joe Johnston, who asked us to record music and portray the Buffalo Bill band for the 2004 Disney movie Hidalgo.

Prof. Larry Curtis, leading the Americus Brass Band, cast as Buffalo Bill’s Cowboy band
on the set in 2002 for Disney’s movie Hidalgo

The Americus Brass Band is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.
Donations are tax deductible as permitted by law.
© 2026 Americus Brass Band

The Dodge City Cowboy Band

The Dodge City Cowboy BandJack Sinclair, Director

John B. “Jack” Sinclair (1858 – Dec. 9, 1929)

The Dodge City Cowboy Band
Jack Sinclair, Director