Wild West history abounds in Dodge City, Kan.
Q. My husband and I would like to visit Dodge City, Kan. We would like to know about hotels, restaurants, the best way to get there and anything else you could tell us. Thank you.
A. History abounds in Dodge City, once the wildest and woolliest town in the Old West.
What to see? Try Boot Hill Cemetery and Museum, the Gunfighters Wax Museum, Dodge City Liberty Garden with its memorabilia of Sept. 11, 2001, and, of course, the old Santa Fe Trail. There is a historic walking tour and one-hour trolley tours of the town. About five miles east is old Fort Dodge.
In other words, there is a lot to do and see.
Getting there by automobile is easy enough. Take I-70 west to Salina, Kan., and then any of several routes southwest into Dodge City. Or you can take Amtrak's Southwest Chief, a pleasant overnight ride arriving in Dodge City early the next morning. Contact Amtrak at www.amtrak.com or call (800) 872-7245.
Dodge City has a fascinating history. First there was Fort Dodge, established in 1865 on the Santa Fe Trail to protect wagon trains and the U.S. Mail service from marauding Indians and to serve as a supply base for troops engaged in the Indian wars.
In 1871 a rancher named Henry Sitler built a three-room sod house five miles west of the fort in order to oversee his cattle operations and from that house sprang Dodge City, in 1872. That same year the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad reached Dodge, bringing many new residents to the community.
During those early years Dodge City had no local law enforcement and buffalo hunters and drifters fought with fists and guns. Men died with their boots on, creating a need for a burial ground, and Boot Hill Cemetery came into being. The West was truly wild; consequently, there are several Boot Hill cemeteries in several states.
The vast herds of buffalo that roamed near Dodge City were decimated by mass slaughter by the hunters who sold the hides, leaving the prairie littered with decaying carcasses. As the buffalo disappeared, law and order came to town in the form of Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp and others.
Be sure to visit Front Street, which in the early days was the dividing line between the lawless south side of town and the respectable north side where guns were not allowed.
State and regional maps as well as other information, including places to stay and restaurants, are listed in the Dodge City Visitors Guide, available by calling (800) 653-9378 or checking www.visitdodgecity.org.
Send your questions at leastsixweeks prior to travel toMadelynMerwin in care ofTravel,Daily Herald, P.O.Box280, Arlington Heights, IL60006, or e-maildpmerwin@sbcglobal.net.