Dodge City, KS: Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?
The history of Dodge City is mesmerizing. To stand in the town center where the city began, across from the train depot that was the center of trade for hundreds of miles in every direction, fills one with images of cowboys, Indians, pioneers, railway workers and saloon girls.This strip of town had one cobbler, one wagon maker, one blacksmith, two hotels and nine saloons on one city block. And this was the GOOD side of town! North of the tracks were the legitimate business owners and residents. South of the tracks was entirely wild, a place where the lawmen didn't even try to keep order. Everyone knew the score, so the tame folks kept to the north to keep safe. Well, at least safer.
Wild eyed and enthralled with the history and legend of Dodge City, with the many movies I've seen and stories I've read in my lifetime, we ventured out to see the town. A statue of Wyatt Earp stands on Wyatt Earp Blvd. across from the depot at the opening of the old city center, filling us with hope for what lie inside.
But, browsing the streets on foot, we found little to enjoy other than the storyboards with historic facts. The store fronts downtown were mostly filled with dentist offices, real estate offices and shops filled with clothing from Mexico. On our search for cowboy duds and memorabilia we found only modern day caballero checkered shirts with rhinestones and flashy snaps. Walking into the shops we were disappointed not only with the cheap, imported goods but the fact that no one spoke English.
Dejected, we left and headed to other parts.
North of the downtown area lies beautiful little homes on tree lines streets of brick. The lawnmowers buzzed and children played in front yards, staring as we rolled by on Blackbird, Highway's Honda ST1300. Having seen many motorcycles in town, I couldn't help but wonder why they all stared so.
After a few blocks of roaming we came into a typical, modern business center with a drug store, market and random small businesses where the locals shop. None of the markets or drug stores carried liquor, it all had to be purchased from the state-approved liquor stores. Crossing the road to the stand-alone building, we shopped in Comanche Beverage Outlet for adult beverages. Crammed floor to ceiling with every type of booze possible, this tiny outlet served customers mostly through their drive-up window. The shop was dark and rather miserable, leaving me with a dirty feeling, as if I had been shopping for porn in West Hollywood.
We continued on to a grocery store and were greeted with stares. Small children scattered as we moved up the aisle, running to their mothers with panic. In our leather jackets and I sporting my pink hair, I blended into Kansas like the space shuttle in Mayberry. Mennonites ignored us, locals turned their backs and everyone seemed meek and humble. Returning to our motel, Super 8, I had to ask our incredibly friendly desk clerk about the attitude we were met with by the townspeople.
"They're pretty conservative around here", she said with a reassuring laugh. "I don't think there is one openly gay person in the whole state. We're pretty quiet and mild mannered. I'm from Indiana and I was surprised when I moved here. I can't imagine what this place looks like to someone from San Diego."
The rest of the week continued this way, in every business we haunted. Senior citizens lingered at the only sports bar in town. There was a beautiful bar and grill by the train depot that was nearly abandoned, and the tiny bar at the steakhouse was the most unwelcoming. In both the bar and grill and the steakhouse the food was delicious, but the overwhelming absence of wildness prevailed everywhere we went.
Being as odd as Doc Holliday would be in this modern Dodge City, my Sashness began to diminish from the lack of excitement and social fuel.
Sadly, the days of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and the Dalton Gang are long since passed. The wildness, lawlessness, incivility and the bad guys have moved on and Dodge City is now a lovely place to raise a family. The pioneers who longed for adventure must have pulled up stakes and headed to parts unknown, once they had tamed the wild west. Yes, someone ran all of the cowboys out of Dodge.
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| Much of downtown Dodge City is abandoned, except for a number of Spanish-speaking businesses |
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| Central Station, Dodge City, very few passengers seem to come and go here. |
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| Dennis Hopper was a native of Dodge City |
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| Old Honda CB900 parked in downtown |
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| Sash makes this old caboose look a little more attractive |
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| Highway does his normal thinking and pondering the ways of life. |
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| Waiting for the train at Central Station |
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| Greetings from Dodge City, KS |
Yea, I was a bit disappointed with a few of the "wild" towns. It appears the only time to go to some of these places is when they are having their county fair or a festival
ReplyDeleteAt least you look happy in most of the photos.
ReplyDeletePlaces that were once known for their edge often become sanitized. New York City is a good example. Or, for a Canadian example, there is Yorkville in Toronto. In the 1960s it was full of hippies and bohemians and housed some of Canada's best-known burgeoning musical talents. Now, it is full of Starbucks and high-end restaurants and hotels.
If Wyatt Earp were alive today he wouldn't live in Dodge City. He'd be squatting in some abandoned building in Detroit or Baltimore.
I have long said that if the United States ever collapses it will be from Kansas that the Taliban-esque element will emerge. I suppose it's just a pendulum thing. At one time Kansas was a wild-ass place, now it's really, really not. Maybe one day it will be again.
ReplyDeleteOne thing y'all might consider is heading up to North Dakota, where the fracking boom is taking place. In the past, a boom situation would create interesting atmosphere, with people pouring in from every other place seeking their fortune. That was the situation in Kansas when it was wild. Maybe North Dakota is that way now.
Having previously lived in North Dakota, however, I cannot imagine such a thing.
We might hit up North Dakota. One of our biggest clients is in Minneapolis, and we'd like to pay a visit, and ND is not that far from there.
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