No city in America is so closely associated with the period of the western
expansion of the United State’s frontier, known as the Wild West,
as is the city of Dodge in Kansas.
At one time Dodge was a fort built to protect railroad workers from
raids by plains-dwelling Native Americans. Soon Dodge had become the
largest shipping point for longhorn cattle in the world. Known as one
of the wildest of the frontier cow towns, it took brutally efficient
“lawmen” like Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson to keep order
here. And still the cemetery called Boot Hill filled up with cowboys,
buffalo hunters and railroad workers, many murdered for a stack of poker
chips or the favors of a prostitute.
Today dodge is ½ quiet farm town and ½ living museum for
its cowboy past.
The Boot Hill Museum has many exhibits that illuminate Dodge’s
history without too much romance. Nomadic Indians of the Great Plains,
Victorian Fashion and American Buffalo are just a few such exhibits.
There’s even a talking robotic steer to tell kids the story of
Kansas cattle drives. Boot Hill Cemetery itself, with its scores of
poignantly shabby wooden crosses, may be toured.
Front Streets carefully reconstructed replica of Doge circa 1876 features
hundreds of artifacts and over 200 original guns. Old Dodge City historical
tours can be taken on foot or by “trolley” (actually a bus
make up as a trolley). Medallions and statuary commemorate Dodge’s
famous citizenry.
Western themed entertainment is the name of the game in Dodge City Kansas.
Visitors can order a beer or a sarsaparilla and watch the Can-Can dancers
kick up their heels at the Long Branch Saloon or have a “chuck
wagon” dinner at the Occident Saloon.
The Boot Hill Gunfighters shoot it out on Front Street, with shows at
high noon and in the evening.
Dodge City’s Visitors Center is on
Wyatt Earp Blvd., next to Boot Hill (and Applebee’s).
