Wild West
Growing up in the UK my knowledge of the Wild West was limited to tales of ‘derring do’ portrayed in movies by the likes of John Wayne el al. As an adult you start to realise contrary to the images of heroic figures swaggering about in stetsons, real life would have been infinitely more harsh.
So I confess the a degree of curiosity about Dodge City with a history lawlessness & the notorious Boot Hill Cemetery. So waving goodbye to St Louis, Van Morrison trundled West towards Dodge City to see what we could discover.
The journey was quite a long one & in desperation we stopped at place called Arlington, Kanas. Venturing into Carolyn’s Cafe as it was the only one that looked open. What a treat the food & hospitality was awesome so if you passing by then definitely drop in.
Pressing on we arrived as the light was going in Dodge City & once all settled in our spot in the KOA we headed for downtown & a bite to eat.
The KOA was conveniently located for us as Brits abroad as we like a bit of a walk & it gave us great opportunity to explore on foot. The next day we got a walking tour map & headed to the museum.
If you do nothing else go for a tour of the museum it is stuffed with odd information. Mostly about the lawless times in the west that led to the development of Dodge City & the notorious characters who lived died there.
Dodge City was founded in 1872 & sadly the original Front Street buildings were destroyed by fire in 1885. However in 1958 a replica street was created to give a sense of how the early settlement would have looked.
Its proximity to the Sante Fe Trail made it a good place to stop. In the early days it was largely populated by gamblers, cattlemen, or gunslingers whose petty, likely alcohol fuelled squabbles often ended in shoot outs.
The origin of the term ‘Boot Hill Cemetery’ is attributed to Dodge City where the bodies of those who met such quick & violent end were ‘buried with their boots on’.
Having watched the gun fight re enactment we strolled in to the bar where the ‘gun slingers’ where taking a break & started to chat to us.
We ‘skeddaddled’ rather sharpishly after the conversation started to morph into a heated debate about American gun law. It was fascinating for us Brits to get a glimpse into the psyche of American citizens for whom the owning & potential use of guns was the accepted norm.
Even more shocking for us was the fact some of these people were teachers & being armed gave them a sense of safety!
All of which has left me still pondering to this day whether the need to bear arms is somehow ‘in the genes’. Are those who now cling relentlessly to the second amendment just the genetic evolution of their lawless ancestors who fought their way around in the west?
Anyway we were on holiday & not wishing to become members of the Boot Hill club we headed downtown in seek of a very British answer to any stressful situation – a nice cup of tea!
After what felt like ‘dodging a bullet’ we sipped our brew & booked ourselves into the Boot Hill Distillery for a tour & some sampling.
Reflecting on the visit I was reminded again about history & how it can mean different things to different groups. Dodge City ‘history’ largely dates from the 1800’s but as I live in a house that was built in 1686 I was a little curious about what predated the city.
Small references can be found to the Kiowa, Cheyenne & other tribes that roamed the plains but it would have been nice to have more. Still who knew the words mentioned on the plaque actually were derived from the Native American languages. Everyday is still a school day it seems.
Next day we were back on the Santa Fe Trail before heading to Colorado Springs.