Wichita, Ways of the West
Kansas has long been a large producer of beef cattle, and during the middle of the 19th century the railroad helped young Wichita become a boomtown for cattle ranchers. Today, Old Cowtown Museum re-creates the city’s streets during its Old West heyday.
More than 60 years old, Cowtown focuses on giving visitors an experience of Wichita in the 1870s. It has a mix of 70 historic buildings and re-created buildings on-site, where costumed interpreters give first-person perspective and offer hands-on experiences
Visitors can explore structures such as an early settler’s cabin, an 1874 middle-class home and an 1870s Presbyterian church. Re-created buildings include a saloon, a drugstore with artifacts from a dentist’s office, and other offices and businesses of that period. Group members may want to look at additional artifacts on display in the museum’s exhibition space or visit the working farm, which features a period farmhouse and livestock.
While you’re there: As the largest city in Kansas, Wichita offers a number of other exciting tour opportunities for groups. Highlights are the iconic Keeper of the Plains statue, a 44-foot sculpture placed on sacred ground at the confluence of the Big Arkansas and Little Arkansas Rivers, and Exploration Place, the state’s premier science center and home to several flight simulators.
Hutchinson, A Miner Attraction
Some 650 feet below the surface of Hutchinson, Strataca gives visitors a look into the cavernous world of an underground salt mine that operated through much of the 20th century and opened as a tourist attraction in 2007.
There are some 940 acres of mines under Hutchinson and 67 miles of roads dug out to transport workers around the mines. When groups visit the mine, they can take a “dark ride,” a guided tram tour that highlights some of the ecological and man-made formations found inside the mine. The other half of the tour is the underground galleries displaying old mining equipment.
In the galleries, retired mine workers show heavy machinery, a detonator cord and other tools used in the trade. The galleries also feature exhibits on Underground Vaults and Storage, the company that holds thousands of film reels and Hollywood memorabilia in former mine spaces.
While you’re there: Cosmosphere in Kansas gives visitors a look into the fascinating world of space exploration. The multifaceted attraction includes a planetarium, a digital dome theater and the Hall of Space Museum, which features space vehicles and other artifacts from both American and Russian space missions.
Dodge City, Gunslingers Galore
It’s best to have your camera ready when your group visits the Boot Hill Museum in Dodge City. This museum is more than just galleries and artifacts. Its collection of historic buildings tell an Old West story that includes characters such as Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday.
As those legendary names suggest, Dodge City saw its fair share of lawlessness during the frontier days, and the museum takes its name from Boot Hill, the cemetery where gunshot victims were said to be buried still wearing their boots. Groups that visit in the summertime will find a country-style chuck-wagon dinner each evening and a gunfight re-enactment in the street.
Outside of the scheduled activities, travelers love to visit historic sites on the grounds. Among the favorites are the Fort Dodge Jail, the Long Branch Saloon, the schoolhouse, the blacksmith shop and a 1903 locomotive.
While you’re there: Old West roots run deep in Dodge City, and there are a variety of ways for groups to immerse themselves in the experience. Nearby the museum, have photos taken in vintage Western garb at the popular Old Dodge Photo Parlor.
