Dora Hand


Dora Hand, aged c. 34, was an American dance hall singer and actress in Dodge City, Kansas, who was mistakenly shot to death from ambush by a young suitor, who was acquitted of criminal charges in the case. Hand was also linked romantically with James H. "Dog" Kelley, the mayor of Dodge City from 1877 to 1881.

Television and film depiction

played Hand in the 1943 film The Woman of the Town, which depicts a fictional romance with Bat Masterson.
Phyllis Coates played Hand in the 1964 episode, "The Left Hand Is Damned", of the syndicated television anthology series, Death Valley Days, hosted by Ronald Reagan. In the story line, Hand nurses the ungrateful gunslinger Kelley back to health after he is shot in self-defense by Dora's boss, Mayor James H. Kelley of Dodge City, Kansas. Having lost the use of his right hand, Crawford vows to kill Kelley and tries to develop skills with his left hand. Mistakenly, he killed Dora. Unlike the reality, Kelley commits "suicide by cop".
English singer-songwriter Frank Turner released a song displaying her story in 2019.