Dodge City

The Santa Fe railroad reached here in 1872 and Dodge became the railhead where Texas herds were loaded, which brought the drovers, the saloons and the marshals - Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson both worked here - and the reputation that Hollywood later inflated well past the record. The cattle trade lasted barely a decade before quarantine laws and settlement closed the trails. Boot Hill was the burial ground for those who died without means or without warning; the bodies were moved in 1879 and what is on the hill now is a museum with a recreated Front Street of saloons and shops, staffed in season with gunfight shows. The Santa Fe Trail ruts are still visible west of town.

Highlights

• A recreated Front Street - built by the museum, not original.
• Boot Hill - the burial ground, with the graves relocated in 1879.
• The cattle railhead history - about a decade of it, from 1872.
• Santa Fe Trail ruts - visible in the ground west of town.

When to go

April to October, when the museum programme runs. Half a day.

Practical notes

Front Street is a reconstruction, not surviving fabric. The Wild West reputation is largely a later invention. Gunfight shows are entertainment. It is a long drive across Kansas to get here.

Nearby

The Santa Fe Trail ruts are west; Cimarron National Grassland is further south-west.

Key facts