Boot Hill Museum Exhibits

Boot Hill Museum’s exhibits are organized to explore the rich and diverse history of Dodge City and recreate the atmosphere of Dodge City during the late 1800’s. Dodge City had the reputation of the “Wickedest City in the West” and you can find out why when you visit Boot Hill Museum.

People of the Plains
Housed in the original Boot Hill Museum building, this recently completed renovation tells the story of the people who have lived on the plains. Featured exhibits include The Nomadic Indians of the Great Plains, The Railroad, The American Buffalo, The Era of the Cowboy, and Victorian Fashion. Kids will love “Stan”, the talking steer, as he tells about the cattle drives from Texas. Also located in this building is an exhibit dedicated to Dodge City in the movies and on television.

Beeson Gallery
Located in the Beeson Gallery are a wide variety of displays dealing with commercial businesses. Among these exhibits are the Bank, Undertaker, Jail, Mueller’s Boot Shop, Dr. McCarty’s office and Drug Store, and Zimmerman’s hardware. The gallery is also home to the Dry Goods and the Print Shop, where you can have posters made the old fashioned way.

Long Branch Saloon
Walking through the doors of the Long Branch Saloon is like walking into the past. The saloon was purchased by Chalkley Beeson and William Harris in 1878. Through their efforts it became the most popular, refined meeting place of cattlemen

Guns That Won the West
While film and television portray the Old West as a romantic tale, the harsh reality of it was brutal, lawless, and expansive. This is evident as you look upon the firearms that are on display.

Hardesty House
Richard and Margaret Hardesty’s House was built in 1879 by A.B. Webster, a mayor of Dodge City, and later sold to the Hardesty’s after they were married. A typical home of the 1880’s, its interior reflects the middle-class lifestyle of Victorian Kansas. Mrs. Hardesty was the sister-in-law of Fred Harvey, owner of the famed Harvey houses.

Boot Hill Cemetery
The final resting place of buffalo hunters, drifters and others who had no money and no family in the area.

Saratoga Saloon
The Saratoga Saloon, along with the world famous Long Branch Saloon, was owned by Chalkley Beeson and William Harris. It offered billiards, keno, faro and other games. These were two of the 16 saloons in a town where soldiers from Fort Dodge could drink “without fear of attracting the brawling element.”

Santa Fe Trail Tracks
Certified by the National Parks Service, The Santa Fe Trail rut site is located nine miles west of town on US Highway 50. It preserves one of the finest remnants of wagon tracks in existence along the entire trail. Interpretive signs are placed along an easily accessible walkway allowing you to experience the Trail first hand.

Kansas Cowboy Hall of Fame
The Kansas Cowboy Hall Of Fame is a project of Boot Hill Museum and was developed to preserve and honor the life of the Kansas cowboy. Five inductees each year are honored for their outstanding contribution to the western heritage lifestyle, past and present, and to the preservation of the cowboy culture.