Dodge City Day 24

Pictured with me is Elisa, one of the Can Can dancers in the Miss Kitty show at the Longhorn Saloon on Boot Hill in Dodge City. Several of us enjoyed an afternoon visiting the site of the original Boot Hill, named for the folks who were killed and then buried with their boots on (the bodies were later moved to a new cemetary). They have a great museum, some reenactors, and we even saw a "gunfight" where just about everyone was shot!

Dodge City is on the Arkansas River, and was famous first for buffalo hunters, who quickly slaughtered the large herds. Then the town became a center for the cattle trade. It was particularly "lawless" from 1872 to ~1880. I read that in 1872 there were at least 30 gunfights when the population was only ~ 500 people. Famous lawmen such as Bat Masterson, Bill Tilghman, and the legendary Wyatt Earp served in Dodge(and, of course, sheriff Matt Dillon was on Gunsmoke for ~20 years as well!).

This evening we enjoyed a song and dance and corny joke routine at Miss Kitty's. All who attended had a good time. However, about 2/3rds of the riders remained at the hotel--I guess they were tired. Most of the cast of the show are locals, many of them pursuing degrees in dance or theater at various colleges.

Oh yeah--we also rode this AM. It was a short ride of 51 miles, and I arrived in Dodge by 12:15 p.m. Nice to have a shorter riding day for a change. The afternoon and evening were well spent, as you can see.