Getting Out of Dodge

We were in Medicine Lodge, KS on Josiah’s birthday at the end of May, so we wanted to try to find something fun to do with the boys. No offense to anyone from Kansas, but there just isn’t a lot to do…especially in that part of the state. We were only about an hour away from Dodge City, so we decided to go check it out. The Boothill Museum is there, and a replica of the Front Street of Dodge City back in its cowboy days. It was interesting, and we enjoyed learning a little more about history. Josiah and Jonathan were watching for cowboys. I wish we had their cowboy hats with us, but I didn’t think to pack those! They have a general store, restaurant, saloon, and even a printing shop where you can get a wanted poster with your name on it! The people who work there are dressed up in old west clothes. It was fun. Here is one of the things I learned that I thought was very interesting. As the settlers were heading west, they used the Santa Fe Trail which was also used by the Indians. The Indians were better fighters than the settlers, so they were attacking them and stealing what they had. The government wanted the Indians to leave that area, so they encouraged everyone to begin killing off the buffalo, which was the source of most of the Indians’ food and clothing. Here is the amazing part: before that happened there were about 90 million buffalo, and in just a short time there were only about 500! We saw pictures of mountains of buffalo skulls. No wonder the Indians weren’t very friendly! Another fact about Dodge City…it stinks! With huge stockyards and a meat processing plant you can imagine the odor radiating through town. That was enough for me to want to get out Dodge!