Dodge City, Kansas, and Boot Hill

I always put together an itinerary spreadsheet for our RV trips, including the campground name, check-in/check-out dates, distance from the last campground, and any notes pertinent to our visit. To some, this might seem like information overload. Still, it is an essential tool that helps prevent gaps or overlaps in reservation bookings, lengthy drive times, campground phone numbers to use when delayed or a need to cancel, and information to share with family. I place a copy in a loose-leaf notebook with a tab for each stop along with a written reservation confirmation, magazine clippings, and notepaper.

Helen and I consider this exercise almost as much fun as the trip itself. We research the area we will visit and plan our activities (and meals) based on what we uncover in the planning phase. Nevertheless, it usually happens that when we plan the last week or so of any trip, that part of the process suffers from neglect, After all, we know that we have been away for several months, we’re ready to reconnect at home, so one-night stands are usually the order of the day. We made one exception on this journey.

When planning our route home, I noticed that the most direct route from Colorado Springs to Knoxville took us through Dodge City, Kansas. As a big fan of the television series Gunsmoke, back in the day, I thought it might be fun to spend a little more time there than the usual one-night rest stop. I booked three nights and looked forward to learning a bit about the rough and rowdy old west as portrayed on television in the 1960s.

Our home for this stop was the appropriately named Gunsmoke RV Park and conveniently located on the edge of town. The campground owners built the office and general store to resemble an old western town, which helped get us into the swing of things. Our campsite was spacious and offered a good amount of shade.

On our first day, we had an errand to run. While driving into Dodge, a rock hit our windshield and put a chip in the glass. I took Ruby to the glass repair shop and had a patch applied that did the job. The shop owner was an interesting person, and she walked around the office with a parrot sitting on her head the entire time. I feel sure Miss Kitty didn’t serve drinks at the Long Branch with a bird perched on her head.

Dodge City grew to prominence after the Civil War as a trading center. Merchants, cattle ranchers, trappers, and fur traders gathered in Dodge City to move or sell their wares, and the population grew extensively. As a result, Dodge attracted a fair number of gamblers, prostitutes, and outlaws as well. There were a few lawmen, but, for the most part, there was no law. Gunfights were common, and, in the early days of Dodge, the victims wound up buried on Boot Hill. After the glass repair, Helen and I visited the Boot Hill Museum, not far from the campground.

We spent an hour or more viewing the very well-done exhibits in the Museum. I found a lot of the history fascinating and reading about some of the wild west legends that lived in Dodge occupied a large part of my time there. Bat Masterson and Wyatt Erp were two of the most notable, and I was intrigued to learn that both had spent time flirting with the wrong side of the law. The producers of the “Wyatt Erp” television show failed to mention his brothel.

For fun, Helen and I also visited the Boot Hill Casino and Resort that evening. We diverted from historical norms and did not carry sidearms, but Helen did wear her new cowgirl hat. It turns out the hat was a good-luck charm, and she walked away from the casino a winner and a happy camper.

The next day, we visited Boot Hill Cemetery. Although the cemetery served the citizens of Dodge (particularly the dead ones) for only six years, the history is well-documented. Most of those buried there were poor or nameless and had no money for a proper burial. The departed arrived for burial wrapped in a blanket, fully clothed and buried with their boots on–hence the name “Boot Hill.” Gravediggers didn’t lack for work either. In the first year of Dodge City’s existence, 30 killings took place in a town of only 500 people.

I have some pictures of Boot Hill and the displays mounted there, including the cemetery’s history. There is no accurate record of the number of burials. After six years, Dodge City officials moved many of the bodies, but since most of the graves went unmarked, there is no way of determining how many remain to this day. Helen and I walked about, not knowing if some gunslinger lay resting below our feet.

Although a three-day stop is unusual for us when our home is calling, I’m glad we took the time to check this place out. The time spent learning about Boot Hill and the area adds context to all of those television shows of my youth. Now, in the words of Sheriff Matt Dillon, it’s time to “get out of Dodge.” We’re Easin’ Along.