27. Wright Park

Wright Park memorializes the name Robert M. Wright, a director of the Dodge City Town Company, early day businessman and civic leader. For eight years following 1859, Wright worked as a trader and contractor, hauling grain and cutting hay and wood for military posts along the Santa Fe Trail. He had 3 road ranches on the trail and was one of the last owners of the ranch at the Cimarron Crossing from 1866 - 68. He was also the owner of the sutler store at Fort Dodge. He became a major business man in Dodge City and the Rath and Wright store was the main business in Dodge City supplying first the buffalo hunters and then the cattle men and their drovers. Wright served as mayor and as a state representative from 1875 - 1883. In 1883, Wright purchased 19 plus acres of treeless swampland north of the Arkansas River from the town company. Wright intended to give the city the land as a park. He and Peter Mootz, a nurseryman, planted cottonwood trees and filled in the channels. In 1900, the city took ownership and the park was named in Wright's honor. The park has expanded to 61 acres and is the main park in Dodge City.