Dodge City, KansasAug 15, 2006
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Barracks, Fort Larned, Kansas
Barracks, Fort Larned, Kansas
Officer's Quarters, Fort Larned, Kansas
8/15 - 8/20
It took us two days to travel 232 miles to Dodge City, Kansas. Our first stop was the Bermer County Park in Lakin, Kansas. In Dodge City we stayed at the Ford County State Lake and Wildlife Area which is actually about ten miles out of town. While we were in Dodge City we:
>went to a National Historic Site to view wagon train ruts left from the Santa Fe Trail. We are not quite sure that we saw them - but we were there!
>drove to Larned (50 miles), Kansas where we visited Fort Larned. This fort was built to house army personnel that would be used to protect travelers on the Santa Fe Trail. The buildings were built in 1868 and are still standing. Only one building on the site was reconstructed and that was the blockhouse. Buildings included two large barracks, two commissaries, a shop building, a quartermaster storehouse, two officer quarters and the commanding officer quarters. After visiting the fort we drove down the street to the Santa Fe Trail Center Museum. Although the museum was not very good we did learn one interesting fact: the Santa Fe Trail was used in both directions. Not only were goods heading west to the new frontier and Mexico - furs, gold and silver were heading east. There were a great number of Mexican traders bringing their goods to Kansas, Missouri and points east.
>visited Fort Dodge which was a fort similar to Fort Larned. The difference is really in the use of the fort after the Santa Fe Trail became obsolete. Fort Larned was abandoned, later purchased and used as a ranch and finally purchased by National Parks and refurbished as a historic site. Fort Dodge, on the other hand, became a soldiers rest home after the Santa Fe Trail era and is still used for that purpose today.
>visited the Boot Hill Museum. Signs surround Dodge City advertising the gunfights, salons and great time that can be had at the Boot Hill Museum. They have a very good museum and the reproduction of Dodge City's Main Street is quite good (the gunfight is not). Although it certainly appeared to be a tourist trap, we had a good time and found it quite educational.
>checked out the unusual highway overlooks around Dodge City. As a rule, most highway overlooks provide views of some natural and usually beautiful site. The two overlooks by Dodge City overlook cattle feed lots where you get a good view of miles of penned up cattle (not to mention the accompanying smells). But Dodge City's history does revolve around cattle. In the late 1800's all the cattle drives from Texas headed toward three towns in Kansas, one of them was Dodge City. Even today cattle play an important role. There are two processing plants which, when combined, process 10,000 cattle a day, six days a week. That is enough beef per year to feed 16 million people for a year.
>got stuck in the campground. The evening before we were to leave Dodge it poured. This was the first major rain in months and it turned the campground roads into mud. We foolishly tried to get the house out but within 100 feet we were stuck in the mud. We tried to back into our parking place and missed. As a result we were stuck in the mud for a couple of days. Luckily the rain stopped, the roads dried out and we could drive out.
