Dodge City, Kansas (pop. 27,788), was a well-known “Wild West” frontier town. It was called the Cowboy Capital of the World and, at times, the Wickedest Little City in the West and Queen of Cowtowns. Dodge City lies on the Arkansas River, in southwestern Kansas.
Dodge City is the chief commercial center of the region. It is also an agricultural center and a leading beef-slaughtering and meat-packing center. Dodge City is the seat of Ford County, and has a commission government with a city manager.
Traders on the Santa Fe Trail traveled through the area in the 1800’s. Dodge City was established when the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway (now part of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation) came in 1872. Until that year, the town was called Buffalo City. From 1875 to about 1885, Dodge City was a major regional shipping point for cattle. Many gunmen lived in the city, and such famous peace officers as Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson enforced the law. A restoration of Boot Hill and Front Street, the city’s old main street, make up a popular tourist attraction. The name Boot Hill came from an early cemetery where cowboys and gunmen were buried still wearing their boots.
