The state of Kansas has contributed much to American culture. For junk food connoisseurs, it’s the birthplace of Pizza Hut and ICEEs, and for classic movie fans, it’s a key part of one of the most famous film quotes of all time: “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore,” which Dorothy (Judy Garland) says upon her arrival to Munchkinland in The Wizard of Oz. But that’s not the only well-known line with roots in the Sunflower State — we also can trace “get out of Dodge” back to a Wild West town in Kansas.
This idiom, which the Oxford English Dictionary defines as “to leave, esp. quickly,” refers to the infamous Dodge City — a once-bustling cattle town on the outskirts of the American Wild West. Today it’s a small town that embraces its former notoriety through Wild West tourist draws, but in the late 19th century, Dodge City hosted a population of gunslingers and ne’er-do-well cowboys. Along with the outlaws, the famous lawmen Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson roamed the streets, which contributed to the rowdy reputation of the town.
While Dodge City was established as the epitome of the Wild West town by the 1870s, it wasn’t until the mid-20th century that the idiom “get out of Dodge” gained widespread popularity. The radio and television series Gunsmoke — which aired in various forms from 1952 to 1975 — played a key role in popularizing this expression. Set in Dodge City during the 1890s, Gunsmoke starred James Arness as U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon, a lawman known for wielding his authority and telling criminals to “get out of Dodge.” The catchphrase soon entered the collective American lexicon, and examples began to pop up in print in the 1960s. In a 1965 edition of the National Observer: “Here are some of the expressions… the gang members were using... ‘Get out of Dodge.’” And in a 1989 edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “This is the Steele strategy — work for one big inning every game, invoke the 20-run rule and get the heck out of Dodge at the end of the fifth.”
This begs the question: Did anyone actually order outlaws to “get out of Dodge” in Dodge City during the 1890s? We can’t know for sure if the real peace officers who patrolled the town used the same lingo as the fictional U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon, but Wyatt Earp and the like certainly inspired the creators and writers of Gunsmoke.