Days 44-45 Gunsmoke RV Park, Dodge City, KS

May 15-17

Days 45-46

We officially became flat-landers today when we left the rugged Rockies and the great little town of Golden, CO for the plains of Kansas. Neither of us had ever been to Kansas and we were excited to visit the old western town of Dodge City. A town made famous for its association with the likes of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holiday, Bat Masterson, and a host of lesser known outlaws and characters.

The weather for the trip called for showers and thunderstorms. We were again grateful that the forecast was wrong. Once we got past Denver, the road in eastern CO and into Kansas was flat and straight. As the mountains, mesas, and red rocks became distant images in our rearview, flat massive expanses of green fields and large numbers of grazing cattle took over the landscape ahead.

We pulled into Gunsmoke RV Park around 4:00pm. We lost an hour along the way due to the change in time zones. The campground entrance and buildings were nostalgic of a by-gone era. It was pretty cute. The facilities were built to resemble an old western town with a general store, bathhouse, game room and Marshal’s office. We pulled in to a wonderfully spacious site, set up, and quickly drove the two miles into down town Dodge City to check things out.

Right as we entered the city there was a sign for the Boot Hill Museum. This area was the start of the self-guided walking tour through the streets of historic downtown Dodge City. Even though it was a far cry from the boom town of the late 1800s, there were plenty of storyboards, bronze sculptures, wrought iron pole art and the trail of Famed medallions to check out. As we walked the downtown, we learned a lot about the beginnings of this infamous city. Believe it or not, the town started out as a place for soldiers from Fort Dodge to drink. The Commander of Ft Dodge prohibited drinking within 5 miles of the fort in the early 1870s, so a couple of industrious men measured 5 miles and one foot from the fort, and set up a tent where they served drinks. And Dodge City was born.

As the hunting of bison and the cattle drives of Texas Longhorns exploded in this area of Kansas in the mid to late 1870s, Dodge City became the town for cowboys, hunters, skinners and meat and pelt entrepreneurs to do business. The little town grew quickly and became a rough and lawless place. So much so that law men like the Earp and Masterson brothers became famous and essential to the safety of people in the town.

After hunters slaughtered the bison on the plains, Dodge City became known as ‘Queen of the Cowtowns’. Longhorn Cattle from Texas were driven to Dodge City to access the railroad. These cowboys, with a month’s wages burning a hole in their pockets, earned the town its notoriety of the “Wickedest little city in America”. Eventually the cattle trade would disappear and Dodge City would become a little bit more civilized.

We quickly realized that civilized and desolate Dodge City was a little boring. The downtown area we were excited to explore didn’t have much going on Saturday evening. There were no businesses open and many of the store fronts were empty. We really wanted to visit the Boot Hill museum, but that wasn’t open either. Fortunately, they would open tomorrow at 1pm, so we headed back to the campground and decided to watch the 1994 movie Wyatt Earp with Kevin Costner to get to know these infamous characters in history a little better.

Sunday started out with overcast skies and we decided to head out and do a little mountain biking. We found info on the Ford County Lake trails nearby that the locals were very proud of. When we started out, the trail was not well maintained or marked. Grass and weeds had started to overtake the single track trails and it was difficult at times to figure out where the trail led. We got lost and turned around several times. We also picked up several ticks along the wooded and open field of trails. After about 3 miles we could see from the bike computer map that there was an opportunity to bail and head back to the truck. So we did. Needless to say, mountain biking in Kansas was nothing like Moab! After a thorough check for more ticks, we headed back to the campground to shower and then head out to Boot Hill Museum.

The museum did prove to be a bright spot in our visit to Dodge City. There was a great deal of interesting artifacts and interactive exhibits illustrating the life and times during the early beginnings of Dodge City and its booming economy. After the museum, we headed up to the original site of Boot Hill Cemetery where drifters, troublemakers and unknowns were buried in coffinless graves. The 43 bodies who were buried there have since been removed and relocated to the City’s cemetery. The museum also re-created the businesses of Dodge City’s 1876 Front Street down the hill from the cemetery. Replicas of the Long Branch Saloon, the Tonsorial Parlor, the City Drugstore and others were complete with period artifacts, furniture and historical photos and documents that invited visitors in to experience late 19th century life in the ‘Wild West’. Unfortunately the gunfight reenactments and the Long Branch Saloon entertainment didn’t begin until the summer months. After enjoying a couple hours of exploring in the museum, we headed over to the Dodge City Brewing for a beer to cap off our time in Dodge. In the morning, we ‘Get the Hell out of Dodge’ for an overnight in Topeka KS and then on to see family in St. Charles, MO.