Dodge City, Kansas

Oh my gosh...what can I say about all that is going on around here in Junction City, Kansas, we have been, going.going,going...making lots of memories!
Pierre and I have been sailing on a boat for most of these little peeps lives, so we have been enjoying getting to know them! But as with all good things this is quickly coming to a close, we are getting things ready to ship out. The Owls Nest Campground here in Junction City has been a nice campground, the people are so nice and helpful and it is well kept up, clean and very quiet.
We decided to head to Dodge City when we leave here, yeehaw! Lots of history packed in a small space there!  "Kansas has but one Dodge City, with a broad expanse of territory sufficiently vast for an empire; we have only room for one Dodge City; Dodge, a synonym for all that is wild, reckless, and violent; Hell on the Plains."
-- A Kansas Newspaper in the 1870's
Famous for its rich history as a frontier cowtown, it offers up a wide array of legends, lore and history to travelers in western Kansas and Dodge City had a reputation for being the most wicked town in the Old West.
Fort Mann was actually the first settlement of non-indigenous people in this area, not Dodge City. It was Fort Mann that later became Dodge City. Fort Mann was built by civilians in 1847 to provide protection for travelers on the Santa Fe Trail, but it collapsed in 1848 after Indians attacked it.
In 1850, the U.S. Army arrived to provide protection and they constructed Fort Atkinson on the old Fort Mann site. In 1853 the Army abandoned Fort Atkinson because they wanted to establish military forces further north. Early in 1865, the Indian Wars in the West began heating up, and the army returned and reconstructed Fort Dodge to assist in providing protection on the Santa Fe Trail.
   The town of Dodge City can trace its origins to 1871 when rancher Henry J. Sitler built a sod house west of Fort Dodge to oversee his cattle operations it was conveniently located near the Santa Fe Trail and Arkansas River, and Sitler's house quickly became a stopping point for travelers. In 1872, George M. Hoover established the first bar in a tent to serve thirsty soldiers from Dodge City and when the railroad arrived in September they found a town ready and waiting for business. The early settlers in Dodge City traded in buffalo bones and hides, but with the arrival of the railroad, Dodge City became involved in the cattle trade and soon became a boomtown, with thousands of cattle passing annually through its stockyards. The peak years of the cattle trade in Dodge City were from 1883 to 1884, and during that time the town grew tremendously, and no town could match its reputation as a true frontier settlement of the Old West. Dodge City had more famous (and infamous) gunfighters working at one time or another than any other town in the West, Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holiday and Big Nose Kate, just to name a few,  it also boasted the usual array of saloons, gambling halls, and brothels, including the famous Long Branch Saloon where Belle Starr worked. For a time Dodge City even had a bullfighting ring where Mexican bullfighters would put on a show with specially chosen longhorn bulls.
Today Meat packing is the primary industry in Dodge City. Cargill Meat Solutions and National Beefboth operate large facilities in the city. The city also hosts farm implement manufacturing and serves as a supply center for area agriculture. Livestock-raising is a major activity while wheat and sorghum are the area's main crops. In addition, a local tourism industry, including a casino resort, has developed to capitalize on Dodge City's history as an Old West cowtown.