Dodge City - It's Not Gunsmoke Anymore

On September 4, 2002, my wife and I paid a quick visit to Dodge City, Kansas on U.S. Highway 50. I wanted to see the town made famous by the TV series Gunsmoke . I was a little disappointed that more of the town wasn’t dedicated to old west history, even though Gunsmoke itself wasn’t an accurate portrayal of the town. Wyatt Earp, however, was a real character of the town, and Dodge City did have a Boot Hill Cemetery, although it hasn’t been a cemetery for over a hundred years, which also disappointed me.

They have a reconstructed Front Street with all the saloons, barber shops, stores, that you might expect to see during the timeframe of the 1800s, but this Front Street wasn’t on the original Front Street site - it just portrayed that street. It is there strictly for tourists.

I noticed that one street in the modern downtown area was named ‘Gunsmoke Street,’ but you have to go to the Boot Hill Visitor and Information Center and site to see the ‘old west’ town.

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Dodge City is on U.S. Highway 50 in western Kansas.

Located in Dodge City, Kansas, the Boot Hill Visitor and Information Center contains a reconstructed replica of old Dodge City and is located on the original site of the famous Boot Hill Cemetery. This cemetery no longer is an active cemetery. In fact, it ceased being a cemetery in the late 1800s when most of the graves were moved to other cemeteries in the area. There is supposedly no one buried there now, although they kept the original hill where the old cemetery was located and there are some old tombstones they placed on this hill for effect.

I had thought that Boot Hill Cemetery still had some original graves, so I was disappointed when I found out there were none left. Since there are no longer any original graves or tombstones there, I found the whole Boot Hill areas of Dodge City simply a tourist place and not really a historic site. But it was well maintained and had good people working there. I don’t recommend making a special trip just to see Dodge City, but by all means stop there if you’re in the neighborhood.