South Dakota--Day 24--Actually Dodge City, KS

The South Dakota part of this trip is behind us. We left out about 9:00 am on Thursday, August 2. Went south to Nebraska where we spent the night in North Platte. On Friday we continued south to the Gunsmoke Campground in Dodge City, Kansas. This is a very nice place on the west edge of Dodge and, as the name would indicate, everything there is based on the old TV show, including Chester Goode's grave next to the main gate.

We spent Saturday touring the old downtown area along Front Street. An annual celebration, called Dodge City Days, was in it's last week and the town was full of people. The highlight of this celebration was a PRCA rodeo. We went to the old Boothill Museum where there is a mockup of the original Front Street of Dodge City of yesteryear. We got there just in time to see the reenactment of a major gun fight and control of the town by outlaws. This was happening outside at about noon and the heat was terrible. The show continued for over an hour. After the show we were able to walk the boardwalks of the old town. The museum is housed inside these buildings. We did stop by the Longbranch Saloon but did not find Matt or Festus.

On Sunday we drove out east of town to visit the original Ft. Dodge. Many of the original buildings are still there and still in use. The fort is now the Kansas Soldiers Home where many older veterans live. The old barracks buildings have been converted to apartment type housing plus there are many small houses and duplexes on the grounds for married couples to live. The building pictured was the original fort hospital. It now houses a clinic operated by the Veterans Administration.