What Place Was Made Famous By Gunsmoke?

March 21 and 22, 2026

So our next stop is only 208 miles away from La Junta and in the state of Kansas. Any Guesses? That’s right, we are going to a place the TV show Gunsmoke made famous- Dodge City. Made famous by Wyatt Earp, Doc Holiday, and in the TV show six foot 7 inch James Arness as Marshal Matt Dillon and don’t forget Miss Kitty. This town once featured 17 saloons, some with elevated stages so customers could watch Can Can Girls dance.

But the city wasn’t built on Marshal Dillon, more on the arrival of the Atcheson, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. The Santa Fe Trail also brought folks wanting to start anew. Not that there weren’t characters to enhance the legend of Dodge City. There’s “Big Nose” Kate Elder who got her name not from physical attributes but referred to being “nosey”. And then there was “Ham” Bell who opened the Elephant Livery and Corral which was one of the first businesses to open here. He also became Undertaker, Deputy Marshal and Ford County Sheriff.

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Does the name Doc Holliday ring a bell? Well, Doc arrived in town with Big Nose Kate and opened a Dentistry practice. He saved Wyatt Earp from a Saloon shooting, then left for Las Vegas, New Mexico. Wyatt Earp served as assistant City Marshal for three years, then Ford County Deputy Sheriff under Bat Masterson.

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These people helped make the legends of the characters who lived in Dodge City But what Dodge City was all about was being the most heavily traveled trail in the United States. The Great Western Cattle Trail lead through Dodge City where longhorns were either loaded onto railcars or continued north. The cattle boom ended when the quarantine line moved west of Dodge City. The quarantine line kept the tick ridden Texas longhorn cattle to its west so as not to contaminate local cattle from the disease carrying Texas ticks.

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We went to the Boot Hill Museum which takes about two hours to appreciate. We enjoyed the artifacts from the early West. There is a “Cowboy” museum within the larger museum, which, by the way, is built on the original Boot Hill Cemetery. The Saloon is open for business serving sassafras drinks. Walking through the balance of the building brings many displays of the Old West, from weapons to dresses from the period.

Visiting Museum is like being back in the 1880’s. The displays are wonderful and the employees dress in period clothing. Outside the museum is a statue of Doc Holliday sitting at a poker table, ready to draw down on anyone silly enough to try it.

Dodge City today is like most every city. It has its past yet thrives in the presence. The city has 27,780 souls that call it home today. It is cited as being one of the windiest cities in the United States as we witnessed today.

Tomorrow we are heading to a place we just thought would be a good place to stop yet has a history no one would suspect.

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