Dodge city is a pure definition of the West…a gateway to history that began with the opening of the Santa Fe Trail by William Becknell in 1821 and became a great commercial route between Franklin, Missouri and Santa Fe, New Mexico until 1880. Thousands of wagons traveled the Mountain Branch of the trail which went west from Dodge City along the north bank of the Arkansas River into Colorado. For those willing to risk the dangers of waterless sand hills, a shorter route called the Cimarron Cutoff crossed the river near Dodge City and went southwest to the Cimarron River. Fort Dodge was established in 1865 on the Santa Fe Trail, midway between two major Indian crossings on the Arkansas River. It was an important outpost on the western frontier, offering protection to wagon trains and serving as a supply base for troops engaged in Indian wars. Wild game was abundant, including vast herds of buffalo. Dodge City was founded in 1872, just five miles west of Fort Dodge. It quickly became a trade center for travelers and buffalo hunters. The same year, the railroad reached Dodge City, assuring its continued existence and making it a major shipping point. The town thrived and its populace of buffalo hunters, railroad workers, soldiers, and drifters “settled their differences” in shoot-outs. Lawlessness reigned, creating the need for a burial place…Boot Hill Cemetery. Dodge City was known as the “wickedest little city in the west” during the 1870s and 1880s. Notable lawmen such as Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp became legends in their own time as they fought to establish law and order on the streets of Dodge City.
For more information about Dodge City, contact the Dodge City Convention & Visitors Bureau, (620) 225-8186, 1-800-653-9378, e-mail cvb@dodgecity.org, or visit www.visitdodgecity.org.
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