CORONADO

So Sine’s curious about the old west. Like I told him, the closest you can get anymore is Dodge City. It’s not like there are cattle drives going there like after the Buffalo got wiped out. Now it’s surrounded by wheat fields as far as the eye can see. But it’s written up in every tourist pamphlet you come across on Route 66 as being a wild west kind of place. Probably because it got so much publicity with that TV show Gunsmoke, you know, where Matt Dillon was the sheriff and Miss Kitty was the hostess at the Long Branch Saloon. They’ve still got the Long Branch. I had the chuck wagon dinner there on my way out here. They even do shows, probably not as raunchy as in the old days. Gotta’ behave for the kiddos on summer break, you know. But in the old days, it was a happenin’ place. Cowboy capital of the Southwest in1880, and that show Gunsmoke didn’t come out of thin air, you know. You think the machine guns people use on one another today are a problem. Back then folks talked so much with their-one-shot-at-a-time Colt revolvers they started up a cemetery not long after the town got going, another one of the many attractions you can tip your hat at when you’re there. See, this is history. Not exactly a surprise, when you know the place didn’t even begin till after the government set up Fort Dodge to impress the Indians. I’ll bet Aura can tell you something about that. But this is the government at work, just like with the space program. First you set up a Fort, or send up a missile, and then you let private enterprise take over. So the railroad sets up Dodge City, or your buddy Elon dreams up a reusable rocket. Same difference. Don’t miss their old locomotive, the “Boot Hill Special” while you’re there.

So, for old time’s sake, they’ve got the general store, the blacksmith, the saddle shop, the Fort Dodge Jail, a gun collection of course. Stagecoach rides in the summer, medicine shows, gunfight reenactments, etc. etc. They’ve even got some Santa Fe Trail ruts left over there, since it was on the Santa Fe Trail. Get the idea? Check it out. Some links for you, as usual.

● Boot Hill Museum & Front Street Replica

● Hours & Fees

● Map and tour

● 10 day weather forecast