Dodge City is a city in and the county seat of Ford County, Kansas, United States. It was named after nearby Fort Dodge, which was named in honor of Grenville Dodge. The city is known in American culture for its history as a wild frontier town of the Old West.
History
The first settlement in the area that became Dodge City was Fort Mann, built by civilians in 1847. The fort was built to provide protection for travelers on the Santa Fe Trail. Fort Mann collapsed in 1848 after an attack by Natives. In 1850, the U.S. Army arrived to provide protection in the region and constructed Fort Atkinson on the old Fort Mann site. The army abandoned Fort Atkinson in 1853. Military forces on the Santa Fe Trail were re-established farther north and east at Fort Larned in 1859, but the area remained vacant around what would become Dodge City until the end of the Civil War. In April 1865, the American Frontier Wars in the West began heating up, and the army constructed Fort Dodge to assist Fort Larned in providing protection on the Santa Fe Trail. Fort Dodge remained in operation until 1882.
The town of Dodge City can trace its origins to 1871, when rancher Henry L. Sitler built a sod house west of Fort Dodge to oversee his cattle operations in the region, conveniently located near the Santa Fe Trail and Arkansas River, and Sitler's house quickly became a stopping point for travelers. Others saw the commercial potential of the region with the Santa Fe Railroad rapidly approaching from the east. In 1872, Dodge City was staked out on the 100th meridian and the legal western boundary of the Fort Dodge reservation. The town site was platted and George M. Hoover established the first bar in a tent to serve thirsty soldiers from Fort Dodge. The railroad arrived in September to find a town ready and waiting for business. The early settlers in Dodge City traded in buffalo bones and hides and provided a civilian community for Fort Dodge. With the arrival of the railroad, Dodge City soon became involved in the cattle trade.
thumb|right|The interior of the real [[Long Branch Saloon in Dodge City, Kansas, photographed between 1870 and 1885]]
250px|thumb|right|The "Dodge City Peace Commission" on June 10, 1883. From left to right, standing: William H. Harris, [[Luke Short, Bat Masterson, William F. Petillon; seated: Charlie Bassett, Wyatt Earp, Michael Francis "Frank" McLean, Cornelius "Neil" Brown.]]
thumb|right|Dodge City in 1875 with the Beatty and [[James H. "Dog" Kelley|Kelley Restaurant at the corner of First Avenue and Front Street]]
The idea of driving Texas Longhorn cattle from Texas to railheads in Kansas originated in the late 1850s, but was cut short by the Civil War. In 1866, the first Texas cattle started arriving in Baxter Springs in southeastern Kansas by way of the Shawnee Trail. Texas Longhorn cattle carried a tick that spread Texas cattle fever, among other breeds of cattle. Alarmed Kansas farmers persuaded the Kansas State Legislature to establish a quarantine line in central Kansas. The quarantine prohibited Texas Longhorns from the heavily settled, eastern portion of the state.
Like many Kansas cattle towns, Dodge City enforced segregation of business and residential districts, along race lines as well as morality (containing "vice industries") and economic status. There was a number of black cowboys who commanded some respect, but attitudes towards people of color varied and were ambivalent.
A new route known as the Great Western Cattle Trail or Western Trail branched off from the Chisholm Trail to lead cattle into Dodge City. Dodge City 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. In 1880, Dodge City got a new competitor for the cattle trade from the border town of Caldwell. For a few years, the competition between the towns was fierce, but enough cattle were available for both towns to prosper.
Dodge City became known as a true frontier settlement of the Old West. Dodge City had more gunfighters working at one time or another than any other town in the West, many of whom participated in the Dodge City War of 1883. It had saloons, gambling halls, and brothels, including the Long Branch Saloon and China Doll brothel. For a time in 1884, Dodge City had a bullfighting ring where Mexican bullfighters would put on a show with specially chosen Longhorn bulls. As more agricultural settlers moved into western Kansas, pressure increased on the Kansas State Legislature to do something about splenic fever, known today as anthrax. Consequently, in 1885, the quarantine line was extended across the state and the Western Trail was all but shut down.
By the mid-1880s, Dodge City began working to change its image away from that of a violent western town and towards that of a more peaceful and civilized location. In 1878, for example, the bodies in the notorious "Boot Hill" cemetery were moved to the newly established Prairie Grove Cemetery, and a new schoolhouse was built on Boot Hill. In 1907 Andrew Carnegie donated money for the construction of a new public library in Dodge City.
Dodge City was also a significant hub for racing for many years, and it held the first World Championship 300 Mile Motorcycle Race on July 4, 1914. Notable attendees included William Harley and Walter Davidson, who adopted the "hog" as a mascot after one of their riders, Ray Weishaar, brought a piglet from his farm with him to the race. Motorcycle races continued in Dodge City into the 1950s, and attracted significant talent throughout this time, though Dodge's prominence as a hub for motorcycle racing would gradually fade over time. Dodge City was also a site for automobile races, with racers such as Carroll Shelby taking part in the events.
Geography
Dodge City lies on the Arkansas River in the High Plains region of the Great Plains. The city sits above one of the world's largest underground water systems, the Ogallala Aquifer, and is from the eastern edge of the Hugoton Natural Gas Area. Located at the intersection of U. S. Routes 50, 56 and 283 in southwestern Kansas, Dodge City is west of Wichita, northeast of Amarillo, and southeast of Denver.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.
Climate
thumb|US Weather Bureau 1900
Dodge City lies at the intersection of North America's semi-arid (Köppen BSk) and humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) zones, with hot summers, highly variable winters, both warm and very cold periods, and low to moderate humidity and precipitation throughout the year; it is part of USDA Hardiness zone 6b. Areas to the west are drier and more strongly semi-arid. Severe weather, including tornadoes, is common in the area, especially in the spring months. Dodge City is often cited as the windiest city in the United States with an average speed of , which results in occasional blizzards in the winter, even when snowfall does not accumulate much. On average, January is the coldest month, July is the hottest month, and June is the wettest month.
The high temperature reaches or exceeds an average of 71 days a year and reaches or exceeds an average of 14 days a year; the last year that failed to reach was 1958.
|source 2 = National Weather Service