Written by Paige Feikert | Photography by Nichole P. Conard

It’s a true taste of the Wild West, right in the heart of Wichita. Cowtown is celebrating 75 years of preserving and sharing Wichita’s origin story and the lifestyles of Wichita’s early settlers. 

“When people come [to Cowtown] we want them to have an experience they can relate to their personal lives — what’s similar, what’s very different, and how our city as a whole has changed,” said James Quint, executive director of Cowtown Museum. 

The city of Wichita was established in the 1870s as part of western expansion in America. Prior to its establishment, a small trading post existed at the site of the city, and Native Americans lived in the area. European settlers moved to the area to participate in cattle drives, growing the city as a contender for the rail line, with the goal of becoming a stop for cowboys. 

“That really allowed Wichita to grow, and Cowtown depicts this period,” Quint said. “We look at life in the 1870s, whether it’s trading with the Native Americans or seeing the crafts and trades.” 

Those crafts and trades include a blacksmith, printmaker, carpenter, dressmaker and more, with these tradespeople using historically accurate tools to demonstrate their respective expertise. 

“We have a blacksmith, and he is actually making items that a blacksmith would have made. Whether it’s working with railroad spikes or making tools, he demonstrates that craft,” Quint said. “Our printmaker will talk about the Wichita Eagle, which was created to promote Wichita so that people would move here, and kids can spin the wheel, see how the ink is put on and the different letter types.” 

“History is not static, we always learn new things about the past … So there’s new stories out there and also new exhibits.” — James Quint, executive director, Cowtown Museum

Cowtown also depicts farm life in the 1870s. In honor of its 75th anniversary and efforts to continually grow, the museum is offering new quarterly programs this year — one such program allowed visitors to experience farm life using historically accurate tools — even learning how to plow the land without vehicles, using instead an animal with an attached plow. 

A vintage baseball team hosted by Cowtown plays the game without gloves, following 1870s baseball rules in traditional uniforms. There’s also a theatre troupe called The Empire House, and of course most notably, gunfights. The stories depicted in the gunfights stem from dime novels — lower-cost books sold in the 1870s that were popular among settlers. 

“There’s a hero, a heroine and a bad guy, and it almost always ends up in some kind of gun fight in these dime novels,” Quint said. “We’re not depicting a gunfight that actually took place, we took the stories from these dime novels and put on a performance based on that.” 

If you haven’t visited Cowtown since you were on an elementary school field trip, Quint says the museum has grown and changed tremendously throughout the years, and continues to add new exhibits. The museum contains 40 buildings — either original buildings that have been relocated to Cowtown from the Old Town area, or replicas of original buildings. Cowtown has animals on site, carriages and wagons on display, 150 volunteers depicting life during the 1870s, and new ways to interact with history. 

“There’s a misconception that Cowtown hasn’t changed over the years, and we really have,” Quint said. “History is not static, we always learn new things about the past. There are stories we learn that we didn’t know five or ten years ago; new documents are discovered and we debunk myths. So there’s new stories out there and also new exhibits.” 

On July 5, Cowtown is hosting its “Celebrate America” event, where visitors will experience Fourth of July celebrations in the 1870s, including displays of patriotism, gunfights, dancing, wagon rides, melodramas, games like horseshoes and sack races, and other performances. You’ll find more information on the Celebrate America event at oldcowtown.org. 

Cowtown is a city-operated museum with support from a non-profit group. The museum is open Wednesday through Saturday 10 a.m.–5 p.m. and Sundays noon–5 p.m. with gunfights occurring twice a day on Saturdays and Sundays from April through October, and free admission every Sunday.