Journal & Topics Media Group

Wichita, Full Throttle

Beef Trail Gives Way To Aviation--And More Recently A Bountiful Beer Scene--In Kansas Metropolis

By TODD WESSELL
Journal & Topics Travel Editor

Wichita, Kansas, once known as “The Air Capital of the World”, remains a central part of the American aviation industry. Besides being home to McConnell Air Force base it is also home to StearmanField Airport, a small facility located in nearby Benton. Here, the public can hitch a ride on a World War I-era biplane that has the capability to lay a trail of smoke as it roars y one of Stearman’s hangers.

For five memorable years, the melodic sounds of singing cowboys and the nose-curling odor of herds of cattle filled the air around and above the tiny town of Wichita, Kansas.

Americans, recovering from the ravages and short supplies of the Civil War, demanded the luxury of fresh beef. Without battles and blockades hindering the way, cattle had quickly become a hot commodity that was now available to the general public. Needed was a willingness to lead the cattle along the Chisholm Trail from central Texas to Wichita. There, the animals would be loaded onto a special train and transported to large towns like St. Louis, Chicago and New York.

Street sign in front of the Drury Hotel in downtown Wichita notes the route of the famous Chisholm Trail

The longhorns that once filled Wichita streets in the mid-1870s are long gone. The wild cowboys, whose average age was 16, are also gone. Their richly-deserved reputation still lives on in folklore. And with their disappearance, went the many brothels and saloons that lined the banks of the Arkansas River in the tiny adjacent town of Delano. Eventually it was absorbed by the growing community of Wichita.

Dozens of locked beer steins fill the wall of Prost German Restaurant in Wichita. Owners of the special glasses can gain access to their steins every time they visit.

Aircraft, ranging from World War I-era biplanes to modern Air Force fighters, now glimmer in the wide open space over Wichita. In this flat country surrounded by the Flint, Gypsum and Chalk Hills of southern Kansas, a recurring celebration of growth, high technology, history, culture, and diversity prevails. They all serve as a constant reminder that this metropolitan area of 650,000 people has come a long way in a relatively short time. Wichita is anything but a sleepy little town. It’s a region that’s on the go as it continues unabated as one of the nation’s premiere aeronautical centers while pushing to improve its overall image with new restaurants, coffee houses, craft breweries, festivals, a symphony orchestra, opera, shopping, and dozens of hotel options.

Visitor to Wichita’s Science and Discovery Center gets a close look at one of the community’s most revered works of art, the “Keeper of the Plains” sculpture.

The “Pride of Wichita” named the “Keeper of the Plains” is the community’s physical and spiritual connection to the Native American Indians who lived, farmed, hunted and raised their children here long before the white man and their cattle arrived around 1870. The stunning work of art is a 44-foot tall steel sculpture that rises on a peninsula at the confluence of the Big and Little Arkansas rivers. It’s made of steel and is a powerful depiction of a tall, headdressed Native standing erect on a huge rock formation overlooking the two waterways. At its base the statue is surrounded by a plaza, which features exhibits depicting Plains Indians’ way of life. Access is through two stay bridges that have a resemblance to bows and arrows. At night, the plaza comes alive not only with people but also with flames of fire that shoot skyward on cue. No wonder it’s been named the “Most Beautiful Spot in Kansas”.

Wichita’s camaraderie with art and history comes in many other forms as well. Downtown on Main Street the 80-year-old Wichita-Sedgewick Historical Museum offers visitors four floors of a look back at what made Wichita what it is today. Located in the town’s original city hall that opened in 1892, the museum’s exhibits include the Dawn of the Aviation Age, A Child’s World that features games played by youngsters dating back a century, and a look at the effect of the Civil Rights movement not only on Wichita, but also on the nation.

It’s “thumbs up” for young lady who is ready to take off on the ride of her life.

Another of Wichita’s jewels is the Kansas Aviation Museum that’s located within the region’s first real commercial airport. Adorned in the Art Deco style, the now retired airport and active museum present an inspiring throwback to the late 1930s when airports were tiny in comparison to today and when aviation heroes like Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindberg were often seen landing their planes before walking into the facility for a bite to eat. As one marvels at the dozen or so out-of-commission aircraft parked behind the museum building, modern planes of all shapes and sizes can be seen in the distance taking off and landing at McConnell Air Force Base.

Looming over front entrance to the Kansas Aviation Museum in Wichita is a sculpture of the “Spirit of St. Louis” airplane that was the first aircraft in the world to cross the Atlantic Ocean in 1927.

As one enters the front door of the museum, mounted directly above where the front wall meets the roof is a large piece of colored stone art depicting Lindberg’s famous “Spirit of St. Louis” single engine airplane in flight. Ninety-two years ago “Lucky Lindy” was the first human being to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, thus opening the limitless possibilities of aviation.

Make no mistake, however, that Wichita is not only a destination of art, history and aircraft. It’s also home to an emerging entertainment life that includes more than 1,000 restaurants, 22 live theaters, 17 festivals and eight shopping districts. Wichita is the birthplace of Pizza Hut and White Castle and the first electrical guitar was performed at the Wichita’s Shadowland Ballroom by local resident Gage Brewer in 1932.

Gnomes, those tiny, mythical hard drinking figures, are everywhere at Hopping Gnome Brewing in Wichita.

The town’s once tiny craft brewery scene has exploded in recent years due to the passion and entrepreneurial spirit of brewmasters like the bearded and laid-back Torrey Lattin. For the last four and a half years, Torrey and his wife, Stacey, have owned and operated Hopping Gnome Brewery in the heart of the town. No food is served there. Ony beer that Torrey creates in the back room. Among the names he and Stacey have given to their beverages are Brown Eyed Grrr, Steampunck Saison, and Earl of ESB. Interestingly, their unique business revolves around gnomes, those little mythical, pointy-headed creatures who thrive in cold weather and, according to Torrey, are known for their drinking abilities. Beer taps are topped with red and white gnome handles. In fact, Torrey is so into what he does that his right arm is decorated with a gnome tattoo.

Other favorite barley and hop spots include Central Standard Brewing and Aero Plains Brewing where one of its popular libations is named Wingman Wheat with a modest alcohol content of 6.2%.

Master of ceremonies of the Old Cowtown Museum in Wichita welcomes guests to the 1870s replica just prior to the staging of a gunfight.

Stationed a short ride from the center of Wichita is the Old Cowtown Museum where visitors can see what this region of the country was like 140 years ago. There’s a two-story hotel, a General Store, a church, and a school. Also lurking about dressed in period costumes are desperadoes, farmers, and a sheriff. Not to be missed is a regularly scheduled gunfight where the bad guys get what they have coming to them.

One of Wichita’s most notable businessmen and characters is Jack Kellogg, the proprietor of Hatman Jack’s. This unusual shop that’s within walking distance of almost everything downtown, specializes in men’s and women’s hats. On display throughout the store are hundreds of hats, most of which were created behind the show room walls. Jack himself is quite the talker never shying away from explaining the importance of headwear and the way hats should be won.

Wall adorned with cowboy-style hats at “Hatman Jack’s” in Wichita

“Wearing a hat at the back of the head open means that the wearer is not serious,” says Jack. “Tilted in front depicts a menacing nature. The best is tilting the hat to the right.”

In just a few short years after Wichita became one of the country’s central staging areas for cattle the glow of the 1870s had faded. A new train route had opened in Abilene, Kansas about 90 miles north and much closer to Kansas City.

Down the line, however, within a few short years, aviation was born bringing Wichita to a new level of prominence. The familiar choruses of mooing cows, and rabble rousing cowboys were replaced with fresh ideas, a strong, continuous embrace of diversity, art and history, and a welcoming spirit of new and fresh ideas that continue to emerge and evolve to this day.

 

IF YOU GO

 

INTERESTING TIDBITS

  • Wichita is the name of an Indian tribe that once lived in southern Kansas.
  • The Chisholm Trail was named after Jesse Chisholm who was half Scottish and half Cherokee. He carved out the trail between Texas and Wichita as a way of supplying the many trading posts he had established along the way.
  • Wichita State University’s nickname is the “Shockers”. A shocker is someone who harvests wheat. In Kansas, roughy one-third of its 63,000 farmers grow and harvest wheat.
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