COMIN AT'CHA SOUTHWEST REGIONAL AT THE BADLANDS BAR 3 RANCH

We arrived on the Badlands Bar 3 Ranch in English, TX. Population of English is 91 and I think that number includes the ranches dog "Dooley".

The Badlands Bar 3 Ranch is a 1,000 acre ranch and is owned by T-Bone Dooley aka: Bill Froelich.

This match is very well known through out the U.S. It is the Southwest Regional and it is limited to 400 shooters and there is always a waiting list.

Competitors come from all over the world. This year they have shooters from Australia and Europe.
We come several days early and get all settled in. It is nice to relax and chill out a bit and enjoy the serenity of the ranch. This will be our new front yard for the next 10 days.

Other shooters came early as well and we all joined our meals together and had potluck suppers all week. What a feast and the camaraderie was so much fun.

A funny story....T-Bone's pond is 20 acres. A few years ago the Fish Hatchery dumped $10,000 of fish in his pond. The fish were suppose to go another rancher's pond up the road. They wanted TBone to pay for the fish. He told them if they wanted their fish back, then they needed to come with some poles, worms and a net. I felt bad for the fella who made the error, but to expect TBone to pay for them was unbelievable.

Vendors get here early to set up. Some vendors sell 1880's vintage clothing and "B Western" clothing. Rules are you dress up in period clothing from that era or "B" Western clothing.
"B" Western is like what you would see from the western TV stars like Roy Rogers, Tom Mix, Gene Autry, Rex Allen and Hoot Gibson. All glitz and glitter, fringe and embroidery on their boots, chaps, hats, shirts, gloves and holsters.

Vendors also sell leather goods. Their craftsmen ship is beautiful. They stamp and carve beautiful designs in holsters and gun belts, spur straps, belts, chaps, hatbands and suspenders.

As you can see in this picture, this is a vendor's trailer. He has a scene out of the movie Tombstone. These are called "wraps". You see them on cars advertising business's. Well the movie is one of our favorites. It starred Val Kilmer, Sam Elliott, Kurt Russell and Bill Paxton. Excellent movie and we watch it often. Well I am a BIG Sam Elliott fan and I wanted to peel his face off that utility trailer.

Another vendor sells metal wall art. We have some pieces hanging up in our RV. We have an area just above the headboard and I always visualized a long piece of metal art there. Well I found what I wanted and since it was my birthday, I bought it. As many of you know, our rolling ranch house is decorated with cowboy and Native American decor. It added a nice touch as long as it does not fall on our head.

On Wed. Oct. 29th, the RV's started rolling in.
They have a huge parking lot for competitors that arrive each day who stay in hotels. There are 411 shooters that will be competing.

As the RV's roll in, T-Bone rides his beautiful Palomino to greet everyone with a Big Howdy!

One thing about T-Bone, he is a showman and does everything to the "Hill". He is also a talented singer. He has a beautiful stage with professional lighting in his big barn and it is set up for Karaoke. He is quite an entertainer!                                                        

Fri. Oct. 31 wasw the first day of the Main Match. Ralph started off very well. His times were fast and he only had one miss all day. However on the last stage he had a rifle jam with 9 rounds left in his rifle that he could not shoot. So they count as misses. With this kind of competition that is here, you can't even afford to miss one if you want to finish on top of your category and over all placings. Although disappointed, he took it in stride.

Between Ralph's shooting, I walked around and admired the ladies in their beautiful shooting attire costumes. Don't let their pretty looks fool you. Cowgirls are right up with the best Cowboy shooters.

There are several food vendors here and this vendor cooks right off an authentic Chuck Wagon. They make breakfast on an open fire in cast iron cookware and they serve real cowboy coffee, none of that cappuccino, latte, fu-fu coffee.

The weather was perfect shooting weather. Sunny and in the upper 50's.                                                

Stay tuned for the 2nd day of shooting tomorrow. I hope to have pictures of Lefty Rhodes (Ralph) shooting. The stages he shot today, it was a little difficult. Western building fronts are built at many of the stages. Trying to get pictures while staying out of the way of the "3 Counters", can be difficult. The counters have to keep an eagle eye on the targets for any misses.

HEADING TO TEXAS

On Friday, Oct. 25th, we said our goodbyes to everyone at K River Campground and left Moyers, OK. We traveled a short distance to Hugo, OK. population about 5,300.

We arrived at Mt. Olivet Cemetery because we wanted to pay our respects to Champion Bull Rider Lane Frost who we have come to admire.

Lane died on the arena floor at the "Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo" in Cheyenne, Wyoming back on July 30, 1989. The CFD Rodeo is the largest rodeo in the U.S. and is known as the "Granddaddy of Them All".

Lane had short but extraordinary life. He was very popular and so well liked by the competitors he rode against and the rodeo fans.  They nicknamed him the "Rodeo Elvis".

He was polite, kind and helpful to everyone he met, including the bull riders he was competing against, always giving them pointers and helping strangers who did not even know who he was.


This was the last day of the 10 day CFD rodeo and he was in 2nd place. He rode the bull Taking Care of Business. It was raining hard and the arena floor was extremely muddy. He rode TCB for the full 8 seconds and got a high score from the judges.

When  he scrambled trying to get on his feet, he was unable to get traction because of the mud and this gave the bull time extra time to circle towards him and hit him in the side.

Rodeo bull fighters could not protect Lane and direct the bull off. The bull had horns but the horns did not penetrate Lane. The force of impact broke ribs and a rib severed an artery. He stood up and walked towards the chutes waving for help and collapse there after on the arena floor, he bled to death within seconds in front of thousands of his adoring fans.

Since then, his bull riding rodeo competitors got together and created the protective vest that all professional cowboys now must wear when riding bulls.

There is so much written about Lane Frost, that I would have to write pages to explain the kind of person he was to everyone that knew him. Just Google him and read all the sites that pertain to him. A movie called "8 Seconds" was made about him and Luke Perry did a very good job impersonating him, talking like him and his mannerisms.

Even though Ralph and I did not follow rodeo at the time and did not know of Lane Frost when he was a bull rider, we became Lane Frost fans. We read enough about him and seeing videos of him and of people who knew him, we just became very fond of  Lane Frost and his legend.

People leave all kinds of mementos on his headstone, even 25 years later.  Ralph and I took a trip out to Cheyenne, WY. to attend the CFD Rodeo in 1990 and 92. There on the rodeo grounds is a bigger than life size bronze monument of Lane Frost riding a bull.

The late great Bull Rider Freckles Brown is buried next to Lane. Freckles rodeo career spanned from 1937 to 1974. He competed in bulldogging, bareback riding, team roping, bull riding, saddle bronc riding and bareback riding.

Freckles was the idol and a mentor to Lane Frost and a good family friend to Lane's parents. When Brown died after a 4 year battle with cancer in 1987, Lane and his parents went to Mt. Olivet cemetery for the funeral. Lane said to his parents that the cemetery was beautiful and he wanted to be buried next to Freckles if anything was to happen to him.

Lane won the PRCA World Bull Riding Championship in 1987 after Freckles passed away.

There is a section of the cemetery that is called "Showman's Rest". This entire section is outlined by sculpted tusks elephants on granite pedestals. Most of the headstones are colorfully designed to show their personality and trade of the circus performers.

Here is Big John Strong, the Ringmaster. He stood 6'5". He also ate fire and swallowed swords.

William Edmond Ansley was the 5th person to be Buster Brown. He was a 42" dwarf who enjoyed a 27 year career. He promoted Buster Brown Children Shoes with his Boston Terrier, Tige. I remember BB shoes as I am sure most folks my age do. He dawned a blond wig, red suit and hat, knickers, blue tie, white shirt and Buster Brown collar.

The original Marlboro Man has a grave marker there but he is "still living". Philip Morris spotted Max Bryan Robinson, nickname Turk, working on a ranch. He became a spokesman for the company although he never smoked in his life. Philip Morris did not want an actor or a model,
they wanted a real working cowboy and they liked his weathered good looks and his "cowboy way".

Barbara Woodcock was an aerialist and leopard trainer and work with her husband William "Buckles". He was an elephant trainer.

John Carroll  joined the circus at age 15. He eventually became an elephant trainer. Upon his death he left his savings to friends to start the John Carroll Showmen's Rest Trust Fund. This would provide gravestones for show folks who could not provide their own.

We arrived that afternoon in English, TX. Our new front yard is on the Badlands Bar 3 Ranch.

Ralph will be competing in this 4 day Cowboy Shooting competition starting Wed. Oct. 29th. A total of 400 shooters will be competing.

So stay tuned and Happy Trails to You.............

SHOOTING, MORE MUSEUMS and FINALLY, SOME REST and RELAXATION

Sinclair gas stations are popular in the Midwest, but this is one of the few we saw with Dino the Brontosaurus displayed. This was Sinclair's trademark. The last time I saw Dino was when I was a little kid in Maryland. So this brought back memories. Not sure why Dino's disappeared from the stations.

On Oct. 17th, we started heading south out of Oklahoma, but not before stopping outside of Tulsa, in the town of Sand Springs. It was close to two places we wanted to see.


We stopped at a nice campground and unhooked the Ranch House for a few days.

We headed to a Cowboy Shooting Competition on the outskirts of Sand Springs. It was on the John Zink Ranch just about 15 miles from the campground. John Zink was a professional engineer, inventor and industrialist. He was known for his philanthropic efforts. The ranch is 31,000 acres and is a private recreation area and game preserve. It  has camping facilities for boy and girl scouts and shooting ranges for all types of shooting sports.

We met many nice competitors. Ralph or should I say "Lefty Rhodes", the alias he goes by in the sport of Cowboy Action Shooting, had a great day. He won his class of "gunfighter" and came in 2nd overall out of 20 plus shooters. They score by misses and total shooting time for the 6 stages. The difference from 1st and 2nd place was just over a second! That is sometimes how close the scores are.


On Monday, Oct. 20th, we drove to the town of Yale, OK. and stopped to see the childhood home of Jim Thorpe one of the greatest and versatile athletes of all time. He was one of my favorite athletes growing up. I saw his grave and monument in Jim Thorpe, PA.

He was Native American and grew up in the Sac and Fox Nation in Oklahoma. He excelled in baseball, basketball, football, track and field and won Olympic gold medals in the 1012 pentathlon and decathlon.

Unfortunately it was closed because the volunteers husband had a stroke. It is only open a few days a week and it would be another several days before it would open again.


This squirrel was very inquisitive and carried on quite a conversation with me when I was talking to it.

We continued to Pawnee, OK. to visit the Pawnee Bill Ranch. Pawnee Bill was born in 1860 and died in 1942. He was a showman and performer who specialized in the Wild West Shows. He was popular and his shows were financially successful.  He had a short partnership with Buffalo Bill.

The ranch was originally 2,000 acres but now is 500. We toured the historic ranch home with all the original furnishings. Steve Davis, a retired teacher, was our tour guide and he was awesome. His daughter, Anna is the historical interpreter of the museum and ranch. Both of them were walking encyclopedia's on the history of Pawnee Bill.

On our way out, we took a drive on a loop of the ranch to see the herd of buffalo and longhorns. Pawnee Bill saved the buffalo from extinction by keeping a herd on his ranch to preserve the breed.

The history of Pawnee Bill was a fascinating one. I enjoyed reading about him, his show and his wife, May. She performed in their show as a trick rider and an expert shot.

I would have taken photos of the museum but at the time they were having a quilt show and the beautiful quilts were draped over several saddles and museum artifacts. You were not allowed to take pictures inside of the ranch home.

We hooked up the Ranch House and headed south to the small town of Moyers, OK. population 437! We found a quiet, in the woods, along the river campground called K River Campground. It was on the Kiamichi River. It was at the end of their busy season, so with only one other camper there, we were by ourselves.

They had sites along the Kiacmichi River, but Ralph is highly allergic to mosquito's, so we parked about 200 ft. from the river banks.

Tom stopped by to introduce himself to us along with his grandson Charlie. We had a nice chat and soon Charlie brought us a huge tractor bucket scoop of nice firewood. Soon Ralph got his ax and chopped away. It wasn't long before we were enjoying a cozy fire.

We loved our 3 days here! Finally, rest and relaxation! Since leaving our winter campground in Texas last March, we have been pretty much traveling and sight seeing. This is probably the first time where we are just kicking back and chilling out. Oh it feels so good!

The time has allowed me to catch up on reading and letter writing. The only noise here is the chickens and roosters that freely run around the campsites and the occasional howling of coyotes in the middle of the night.



Each evening we invited the only other RV-er here to come over and enjoy our cozy fire. Doug lost his wife 6 years ago and he thought to himself, "I can sit at home and do nothing or I can travel". So he bought himself a motor home and hit the road. Charlie also joined us and we had a nice time evening chatting.

Oh did we need these quiet last 3 days. Retirement life sure has been busy for us! Sometimes I tease Ralph and say "Let's buy a place so we can rest!" Oh my gosh, no way! We don't want to own anything ever again! We love not being tied down.

We have a little plaque hanging up in the RV and it shows a cat that is curled up. It says, "How beautiful it is to do nothing and rest afterwards".

Stay tuned for our next Front Yard............

WILL ROGERS, A TRUE AMERICAN

On Thurs. Oct. 16th, we hooked up our ranch house and headed to Oologah, OK. population of 1,100. We arrived at Will Rogers childhood home. Will Roger's is known as "Oklahoma's Favorite Son".

Will Rogers full name was William Penn Adair Rogers. He was named after Cherokee Leader Col. William Penn Adair.

He was born in 1879 in this home and to a prominent Cherokee Nation family in Indian Territory, now present day Oklahoma. Both his parents were part Cherokee. His father was Clem Rogers. He fought in the Civil War as an officer on the Confederate side. He became a Cherokee senator and judge in Indian Territory.

Will Rogers always stated his ancestors did not come over on the Mayflower but they met the boat.

He was the youngest of 8 children, but only 4 of them made it to adulthood. The 7 room ranch house was constructed by his father in 1875. It was named Dog Iron Ranch and originally it was 60,000 acres. They raised longhorn cattle and other livestock. Will learned to ride and about ranching life. An ex-slave worked for the family and taught young Will had to lasso.

It was a self guided tour with a nice video that constantly played through-out the house as you toured it. The rooms were nice size and very comfortable. The Roger's did a lot of entertaining to well known folks and dignitaries.

(OOPS! Even though I rotate my pictures, they are still coming up sideways. A call to my Blog teacher, Janna is in order)

We then headed on a short drive to the town of Claremore to the Will Rogers Museum. This parcel of land was a 20 acre hill that Will Rogers and his wife Betty bought in 1911. Betty donated the land to the State of Oklahoma in 1937. Ground was broken in 1938 for the Will Rogers Museum. Additions have been added over the years and the museum in now 26,000 sq. ft.

There are 12 galleries of priceless artifacts including paintings, photo, video, films, bronzes, saddles, movie posters and memorabilia pertaining to his life. I watched several films on his life. There was a bigger than life bronze of him. It was cast twice, one here for the museum and the other is in the Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol Building.

Will Rogers was a cowboy, trick roper, vaudeville actor, author, humorist, social commentator, humanitarian and movie star. He stared in 71 movies, 50 being silent films and 21 "talkies". He wrote more than 4,000 nationally syndicated newspaper columns and became a world famous figure.

He raised thousands for the Red Cross and Salvation Army and gave lots of his own money to disaster victims.

One room was called the Last Journey. It was filled with framed front page headlines of newspapers from around the world of the plane crash that took his life. In a display case was his personal belongings that were retrieved from the wreckage, his typewriter, duffel bag, shoes, hat and glasses.

Wiley Post was a good friend of Rogers. He was a famed American Aviator during the period that was known as the Golden Age of Aviation. He helped invent the pressure suit and discovered the Jet Stream as he broke records of flying in 50,000 ft. altitudes in his pressure suit.

Post assembled 1 plane from 2 wrecked planes.
They were from a Lockheed Orian and a Lockheed Explorer. He ordered pontoons because they would have to land in water up in Alaska. They did not come in in time, so he took pontoons off of  a much larger plane making his plane nose heavy.

They flew to Alaska and made several stops. While heading to Point Barrow the weather turned bad and they became uncertain of their position and landed in a lagoon. They got out of the plane and stood on the pontoons to ask a group of Eskimo's who were at their hunting camp, where Point Barrow was. The Eskimo's told them a several miles and pointed in the direction.

Account from Eskimo Clare Okepeha who spoke broken English: "The red plane took off, it go up, engine spit, start, than stop, start some more little, then plane fall just so". Okepeha ran 15 miles to Point Barrow to the U.S. Army radio station. It took him 3 hours to reach the Army Settlement. Totally exhausted, he told Sgt. Stanley Morgan of the crash and said "Bird man dead, red bird blow up" and he described the 2 men. Morgan knew that it must be the 2 famous travelers and radioed the War Dept. and a recovery team was sent to the site.

The plane had the right wing sheared off and landed on its back in 2' of water. The Eskimo's retrieved the bodies and wrapped their bodies in blankets and place them in their Oomiak, an Eskimo opened boat made of seal skins stretched over a frame. They towed them to shore and began singing hymns in their native language.

Rogers pocket watch was still ticking. Post's wrist watch was smashed and the time stopped at 8:18 p.m Alaska time which fixed the time of the accident.

Shortly after Post's death, his widow sold the famed "Winnie Mae" to the Smithsonian.

At the time of Will's death, the Roger family lived on their 186 acre ranch in Pacific Palisades, CA. The ranch became a State Park in 1944 after Betty's death.

In 1944 his body was moved from a holding vault in California to the memorial. Betty was buried next to him in 1944.

I so much enjoyed reading about this amazing man's life.

Will Roger's was a True American and Hero who loved his country.

I highly recommend if anyone gets to Claremore, Oklahoma, to stop in and spend the day.

TOM MIX, WHEN ALL OUR HERO'S WERE COWBOYS

On Wed. Oct. 15 we headed to Lowe's just around the corner from the Riverside RV Park. Ralph got his crimping tool and fixed the 2nd leak.

He wanted to stay around the RV to keep a check on his plumbing job. So I reluctantly went on to the Tom Mix Museum because we were leaving tomorrow. It was in the small town of Dewey just about 5 miles away.

Even though I was a generation past the Tom Mix era, as a child raised in the TV cowboy era, I remember Tom Mix and Tony. I have always wanted to see his museum.

Tom Mix was born in 1880 in Pennsylvania and died in 1940. He was a famous silent movie actor and was Hollywood's first western megastar. Mix did his own stunts and his horse Tony knew dozens of tricks. Tony was almost as famous as Mix. He made close to 300 films but only 9 were "talkies".

Before becoming a western star, he worked a variety of odd jobs in Oklahoma Territory. He worked on ranches, rode in Wild West Shows and even served as a Marshal in Dewey, OK. He was a skilled horseman, roper and expert shot. He even a couple of rodeo championships.

The museum started the tour off with a wonderful 20 minute film. The 2 ladies in the museum knew all about his life and were very helpful with all my questions. The museum housed items from Tom Mix's personal collection. There were saddles, bridles, spurs, movie costumes, movie posters, photos, paintings, articles, "his aluminum suitcase" and other memorabilia.

We saw the monument in Florence, AZ. that marked where Tom Mix died in a one car accident on rural RT. 79. On Oct. 11, 1940, Tom Mix was driving at high speed his beloved bright canary yellow 1937 Cord Phaeton. He failed to heed warning signs of construction. The Phaeton swerved and went into a wash. Mix was smacked in the back of the head by his aluminum suitcase and it broke his neck. The suitcase was displayed in the museum.

The stone monument has a 2 foot tall black iron silhouette of a saddled but riderless horse with its head bowed. The wash where the accident happened is just a short distance from the monument. It was renamed Tom Mix Wash.

Tom was also one of the pall bearers when Wyatt Earp died in 1929. He wept openly through the service.

He was a hero to many young kids of that time.The kind of hero that kids don't have today.

I enjoyed my time at the museum and soon strolled around the cute and quaint town, population of about 3,500. It is a very typical "western" looking town.

Well I hit the jackpot! I came upon a shop called "Linger Longer Antiques and Old Fashion Soda Fountain". There I met a lovely elderly lady named Pat who greeted me. I went up to this beautiful Soda Fountain with the marble counter and tall stools, beautiful old time dark wood cabinetry with a huge glass mirror. The shelves were covered with the typical old fashion ice cream and milkshake glasses.

I watched a nice young lady named Paige, make all kinds of treats for other customers. Well I just had to have one! When would I ever see another old fashion soda fountain? Besides, Ralph and I are usually together when we sight see and this is one of the rare occasions we weren't. I did not have to listen to "No you don't need it" or "This is the reason you are wearing elastic pants".

So I hopped up on the stool and ordered me a Chocolate Malt! Paige did a great job making it for me and soon I was sipping through a straw a taste of heaven! Oh my gosh, was it delish! In no time I reached the bottom and after several seconds of noisy slurping, I realized that I sadly reached the bottom.

I said good-bye to Pat and Paige and as I left, Pat gave me her business card. It was not til I got in the truck that I saw Pat was the owner and Paige was her granddaughter.

To this day, Ralph has no clue!

THE DALTON GANG, BAD WEATHER and MR. PLUMBER

We got out of Dodge and went a short distance to the town of Meade, KS. We pulled up in our rolling home to the Dalton Gang's Hideout. This home was built in 1887 by J.N. Whipple for his bride, Eva Dalton. Eva was the sister to Emmett, Bob and Gratton Dalton, the notorious outlaws.

The Dalton Gang's career lasted about 2 years. The rustled cattle, horses, robbed banks, trains and killed citizens. In Oct.1892 they attempted to hold up two town banks at the same time in Coffeyville,KS.  Bob, Gratton and two other gang members were killed. Emmet was shot 23 times! He lived and was sentenced to life in prison. But like many of today's criminals, he got out in 14 years. He capitalized on his notoriety to author books, have a successful real estate business and become an actor in Hollywood actor. What a shame.

Ralph and I have noticed in reading about numerous western era bad guys, there really has been no change. They rapped, murdered and robbed only to be found not guilty, acquitted or given a light sentence, much like today's criminals.

The Dalton Gang would use Eva's home as a hangout. The gang actually built a tunnel from the house to the barn. The tunnel was 95-feet long! The picture here shows the side of the house and the barn is in the back ground. This was the only angle I was able to get of both structures. You really can't see the distance between the structures.

The Dalton Gang never bothered banks or people in the town of Meade. Old-timers of Meade were friendly with the Dalton Gang and were tight lipped. I guess they were afraid of them, much like today's citizens who don't come forward as a witness to a crime.

Speculation concerning Eva's guilty or innocence in connection with her brothers made it impossible for the Whipple's to remain in Meade, KS. They slipped quietly out of town to Arkansas in early 1892 before her brothers were killed in Coffeyville, KS. Their property went into foreclosure and was bought by the Marshall Family. They did not know about the tunnel until a couple of desperado's using the tunnel came up into their home. The tunnel was well known and used by outlaws. They just did not know that the Whipple's left town and their house had new owners. The surprised riders ran back through the tunnel and got on their horses and galloped away.

The museum was great and it was located in the barn. We then went through the 95-foot tunnel. Since it has become a tourist attraction, the tunnel was redone for safety. It went from a space where a man could barely crawl through, to a stonewalled tunnel that you could stand up and comfortably walk through.

After leaving Meade, KS. we drove a couple of hours to the little town of Alva, Oklahoma, population 5,000. We pulled in behind a Love's Truck Stop for the night. Love's Truck Stops are usually very nice and clean and a well stocked convenience store and hot delicious food.

They were calling for heavy rain and wind and sure enough it arrived. Just 90 miles south of us in the town of Custer, OK. were having Tornado warnings. It rained and rained hard all night long.

Mon. Oct. 13 we woke up to heavy wind. We watched the weather and wind gust were expected to reach 50 mph and it was along the route we were going to travel. The good thing about our wonderful lifestyle is we are not on any kind of schedule. We just hunkered down another day! It gave me time to catch up on our blog and played a couple of games of cards.

Tuesday, Oct. 14 we pulled out of Love's Truck Stop. Ralph went in to get 2 slices of breakfast pizza! Although I have never had one, I have seen them in truck stops and they look delicious. It is sausage gravy on a thick crust. Topped with scrambled egg and veggie mixture and top with cheese. Oh was it delish! I have to find a recipe for that.

3 hours later we arrived at Riverside Campground in Bartlesville, OK. a town of about 35,000. Over the last couple of days, Ralph has noticed a small leak from under our rolling home. He was not going to tackle the problem at the truck stop and in nasty weather to boot. RV's take a lot of road abuse and this just comes with having a home on wheels.

Once we set up our home, Ralph jumped into the cargo bay and over the years his plumbing trade has come in handy. He stopped one leak only to have another spring up. It is not bad, but tomorrow we will be off to Lowe's.

DODGE CITY, KANSAS

Thursday, Oct. 9th we pulled into a truck stop in Wakeeney, Kansas for the night. We weren't far from Dodge City and the roadways were busy with cattle trucks on their way to the two processing plants there. There was one parked in the truck lot for a while and we could hear the cows mooing. Kind of got me a little sad because I know what was in store for them the next day.

Each of the two plants in Dodge City process about 6,000 head of cattle each day.

Dodge City was founded in 1872. Dodge City was known as "The Wickedest City in America". It was also known as the "Buffalo Capital" for five years until mass slaughter destroyed the huge herds and left the prairie littered with decaying carcasses.

5 million cattle were driven up the Western Trial from Texas to Dodge City. Cowboys helped establish Dodge City's reputation as the wildest town on the western frontier.

Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson became legends in their own time as they fought to bring law and order to Dodge.

We visited the "Wild West Walk of Fame". We saw hand and boot prints in cement of Buck Taylor (Newly on Gunsmoke), Johnny Crawford (Mark McCain on the Rifleman), Justin Rumsford a well known Rodeo Clown and Harry Vold one of the largest and most well known Rodeo Stock contractors just to name a few.

They also had several buffalo including a rare white buffalo on display as well as longhorns. Large sign boards explained how both animals contributed to the development of Dodge City.

We visited the Boot Hill Museum. It was built on the original location of Boot Hill Cemetery. Several markers can still be seen.

The museum has over 60,000 objects, photos and documents on display and told the story of the early days of Dodge from 1870 to 1920, much from local citizens. There were displays about Lawman, cattlemen, outlaws, soldiers, settlers, buffalo hunters and prominent citizens plus 200 guns were on display. There was a wonderful section on Native Americans. They even had a room that was dedicated to Gunsmoke. Lots of memorabilia including a black and white TV that show scenes or Gunsmoke.

We saw the original Dodge City Jail and it contained just 2 cells. There was a one room school house, the Long Branch Saloon, a Victorian Home, General Store, Dry Goods Store, Ice Cream Parlor that sadly wasn't open this day, a Church that was actually having a wedding, a Blacksmiths Shop, Print Shop, the Dr's. Office and of course, the Outhouse.

In 1885 the original Front St. was destroyed by fire and as the cattle drives were ending with the coming of the railroad, it was never rebuilt. Reconstruction of Front St. began in 1947. The buildings represent Dodge City as it appeared in 1876. It was carefully researched through historic photographs and newspapers.

Stepping into each one of these buildings was like stepping back in time. The employees were dressed up in period clothing from the era.

Ralph and I strolled into the Long Branch Saloon. Beautiful tunes filled the Saloon as an older gentleman dressed in period clothing was happily playing the piano. The Barkeep was also dress in period clothing and soon served Ralph up with a beer and me up with the most delicious tasting sarsaparilla. Oh my gosh was it good. The museum actually bottles it and sells it in their gift shop.

Across the bar was a cowpoke standing up chatting with the Barkeep and enjoying a beer. I was looking at all the memorabilia that decorated the walls. Paintings of the cast of Gunsmoke and the original owners of the Long Branch. There is a beautiful stage and in the summer western plays are put on. I had planned on getting a picture of the cowpoke, but he left, darn it!

We walked to the General Store and there we were met my a lovely lady in period clothing named Linda. The store was outfitted just like it would have been in the 1870's. Linda took us around and showed us what are now priceless
antiques but back in the day they were for sale.

In front of the old pot belly stove there was an antique table and 2 chairs. There was a checker board game and Linda sat down with Ralph and they pushed around a few of the chips.

Linda was interested in our lifestyle. We told her all about our fun life and gave her our website. After all she was going to be on it! Linda is planning to retire from teaching soon. She looks like a schoolmarm too and she sure did fit in with the western period.

I did not tell Linda this because we were so busy gabbing with her, but hopefully she will get on our blog and see this. I think one of the most hardest jobs that there is being a school teacher. So every time I meet one, I tell them that God has a pair of gold angel wings waiting for them. So THANK YOU!

Can you imagine a waistline like that. I think I had a waist line that size when I was 8 years old!

There was a huge mural on the side of the Bank of America building.

On Sunday, Oct. 12 we got the HECK OUT OF DODGE (I just had to say that)

By the end of this week, Janna who had been teaching me how to blog, will be back at her ranch the end of the week. She will tell me how to get my pictures upright.

Happy Trails!