Few cities were founded by a man with the background of Dodge City's own Town President, Robert M. Wright. With a family that included a clerk of the U.S. Supreme Court, and a president of the Continental Congress, Wright came west at age 16 to make his mark on the world. He married his 13-year old first cousin, Alice, when he was 19. Wright rose from bullwhacker-freight wagon driver-to owner of the largest commercial empire in the area, making and losing a fortune on the cattle trade, starting trails and towns.