4 July 2018 Dodge City KS

Today we explored Dodge City, famous as the backdrop for the TV show Gunsmoke. The town has seen it fair share of ups and downs. We took the tour trolly to get the lay of the town and then walked the historic downtown before going to the Boot Hill museum. The town was founded in 1872, just before the AT&SF railroad reached town. It was a hub for buffalo hunting and cattle drives from Texas from 1872-1885. Fort Dodge was establish in 1868 to protect the wagons on the Santa Fe trail from the Comanche Indians. The Santa Fe trail ran along the river through town. The US Calvary soon figured out they could not beat the Comanche with regular tactics and authorized private hunter to kill the tens of millions of buffalo that ran on the plains and were the primary food source for the Comanche’s. The Buffalo hides were needed out east (the center of the hide, along the back bone, was roughly and inch thick which made ideal belts for the steam powered machinery of the start of the industrial age). Within 3 years over 5 million buffalo had been slaughtered. In 1971, the need for beef in the east caused herders to begin to drive massive herds of wild Texas longhorn to the rail hubs in Kansas. In 1885, the Kansas legislature passed a ban on Texas Longhorns entering the state due to a tick bourn disease that infected the Kansas beef herds. This followed by a bad winter in 1885-86, which decimated the local beef herds. In addition, most of the buildings along the towns North and South (split by the railroad track) Front Street burned to the ground. Boot hill was so named because of the gunslingers and cowboys that were buried on the hill just to the north of the rail road. The unofficial cemetery only held and estimated 30-60 bodies before the town opened an official cemetery further outside town. 32 remains, many remarkably well preserved by the clay soil were moved from Boot Hill in 1879. In 1872 alone, 15 gun fight victims were buried on Boot Hill. Only one woman was buried on Boot Hill. But the town became famous for Boot Hill in the 1870s. Now the town is primarily a beef town with massive feedlots and three meat packing plants.

Leslie playing cards with Doc Holiday

Boot Hill Museum reproduction of the Dodge City Front Street of 1885

We got most of this history from Special Sheriff Charlie Meade who met us on the sidewalk on Front street and gave us the history of the town. Charlie was a former deputy Marshall in Dodge for over 30 years. He is a very interesting guy to talk too.

In the evening, we climbed the hill next to the RV park and could see fire work shows for miles in almost every direction. We could see fire works shows from town over 30 miles away. Many private ranches were shooting off fireworks as well. It was a great way to spend the day. Just before we went to bed, David noticed the water pressure was low, so he went outside to see if he could see what was wrong. Sure enough, our fresh water hose that connects the wanderer to city water had sprung a leak. He shut the water off and we ran the night off the fresh water tank. We’ll get a new hose in the morning. Tomorrow we are catching up with chores.