"Dodge is Tough like leather" a Dodge City Travel Page by BruceDunning

The town is too tough to die. It started in 1871, and the cattle period only lasted 10-15 years. Cattle drives form Texas went to Dodge, or Abilene, to slaughter the cattle, and tan the leather. Only 500 people lived in Dodge for the first few years, and in 10 years the population got to 1,000. After the railroad came to town, the cattle were loaded live to go east to Kansas City for slaughter, and leather goods processing. That left the town to eventually convert to agriculture as another industry. Now it is back to cattle slaughter and processing with 10,000-12,000 herd going through here daily to make meats and ancillary items. It employs about 2,000 workers.

The list below the map indicates there are a number of things to do and see here. In actual fact, only a couple of items are worth the tour. They displayed any and all items in the town; big or small, or even a number did not exist.

This is the one place to tour and see the reality of the old west. They have over 20,00 artifacts preserved in the buildings, and a replica of what an old west town from late 1800's is shown. The museum is a real treat to tour. It is laid out in a fashion like as in the old cowboy days, and you can tour each building which has authentic replicated goods and daily life. The museum also has a special building that explains the times back then and the impact on Indians and buffalo herds; both of which were tragically came close to being totally wiped out. Of 60 million buffalo at one time on the plain, only 500 remained by early 1900. Of around 2 million Indians on the plain, only 500,000 remained after killings and disease impacted the tribes.