Welcome to Dodge City, Kansas!
"Kansas has but one Dodge City, with a broad expanse of territory sufficiently vast for an empire; we have only room for one Dodge City; Dodge, a synonym for all that is wild, reckless, and violent; Hell on the Plains."
-- A Kansas Newspaper in the 1870s
Famous for its rich history as a frontier cowtown, Dodge City offers up a wide array of legends, lore and history to travelers in western Kansas. Once called home or visited by such notables as Wyatt Earp and Clay Allison, this old town had a reputation for being the most wicked town in the Old West.
With the railroad reaching Dodge in 1880, it became possible to transport cattle by rail back East. There was a lot of money to be made and it took no time to attract the shady types to this little town. Wild living resulted in gun fights and such. The old grave yard has given the name for the modernly re-enacted town.
Many an unruly cowboy was buried here--with their boots on; hence the name “Boot Hill.”
See the dude's boots? (Well, they're cement...) And poor Edward was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
A plea from one of the heroes of the Wild West:
Interesting details of some of the burials here in Boot Hill:
Despite the many deaths recorded above, the town grew first into a despicable corner for misbehavior, but also offered all the needed details for daily living.
This detail below from a display in the Boot Hill Museum tells a story of dichotomies in Dodge: rifle and fine china.
God not to be forsaken, there was a church in Dodge. This is, of course, rebuilt, but tells the same stories just the same:
This was old Indian country and fights were an ongoing phenomenon. Many wrongs were wrought upon the native population: To protect themselves, cowboys killed buffaloes by the millions to drive away Indians whose very lives depended on these animals. Texas Longhorns brought diseases and finally were kept out of Dodge City.
More saloons than stores! Some owners were apparently educated, to know about places like Alhambra and Saratoga and to know the meaning of “Occident.”
Some details front the Boot Hill:
You could not get me to travel in this...
More from the drive westward after Dodge City:
He did
And then, today's goal:
Just after entering Colorado, we ran into this gorgeous courthouse of the Bent County. Nothing noteworthy for us, just a gorgeous old building—and those types entertain me along the way, here and there.
No comments:
Post a Comment