Gunfights to ring through streets of Cowtown on Saturday

As rip-snortin', gun-totin', shoot-'em-up good times go at Old Cowtown Museum, this one is a doozy.

All day Saturday, the living-history museum is host to "the Age of the Gunfighter," which means the dusty streets of Cowtown will be filled with area gunfighter groups, period merchants, dancers, musicians and anybody else you would have encountered in the life of 1870s Wichita.

Promoters of Saturday's event promise visitors that this will be a "chance to watch more gunfights in one day ... than ever took place in the Old West."

Indeed, there will be plenty of gunfight scenarios; re-enactors, and fast-draw competitions.

"We go for the last man standing," said Cowtown volunteer Randy Edens. "Of course, we're shooting balloons."

The events on Saturday are sanctioned by the Reenactment Guild of America, said Edens, a longtime member of the group.

"Cowtown got me into it," said Edens, age 57. "It was the fact I liked acting. I liked the concept of taking on a persona and portraying that character."

He plays Buffalo Bill Cody.

"I portray the character just after the height of his fame —as a businessman and showman," Edens said. "I'll be mingling with the visitors and assisting with the organization of the event."

Matt Woehrle, director of the Kansas chapter of the Reenactment Guild of America, plans on portraying a 63-year-old frail and dying President Ulysses S. Grant frantically trying to finish his memoirs.

That's no small task for a mere mortal at the age of 27.

"I do it to get away from everything I normally do," said Woehrle, who works for the Wyandotte County Election office.

This weekend, he will also be portraying "Buckskin McNelley," a composite character who could have lived in the Old West.

Re-enacting the characters of the past "allows me to step back from cellphones and everything modern. They call this time period the Wild West. There were parts that were wild but it wasn't like Hollywood portrays," Woehrle said. "And that's the biggest part of why I love what we do. People have this image of Hollywood gunfighters staring down each other in the streets but more often than not, most people were shot in the back."

Time travel is essential and something these re-enactors have become adept at — and this Saturday promises to bring in the best of the best re-enactors, complete with high noon gunfights in the streets.

It's a competition, so contestants will be judged on authenticity and accuracy.

"Cowtown has a great set for those of us who go out and are used to playing on an old car trailer and plywood boards," Woehrle said. "Cowtown has all the buildings."

The gunfights and living-history presentations will be in front of Cowtown's Empire Hall and highlighted every half hour. Contests will be judged by a panel of experts selected by the Reenactment Guild of America.

Other events include a funeral, a cowboy on trial, a littlest cowpoke/cowgirl contest, carriage rides, old time photos, and performances by the Dixie Lee Dancers and the Entre Nous Victorian Dancers.

The Age of the Gunfighter is an event Cowtown has sponsored for nearly a decade and has proven to be one of the museum's most popular events.

While most of the gunfights will be from the 1870s era, the historical interpretations may range from the 1860s to the 1900s, Edens said.

For visitors, it's simply a chance to step back in time, to see, learn, feel and touch the Old West.

"I grew up with westerns on TV and to some degree, every kid from that era wanted to be a cowboy," he said. "I am fascinated with that era. It is a part of our history that has been romanticized — and it didn't last all that long, but it sure has held our interest."

If you go: Age of the gunfighter

What: Re-enactors and living-history interpreters will compete this weekend in a Reenactment Guild of America-sanctioned event called “Age of the Gunfighter.”

Where: Old Cowtown Museum, 1865 W. Museum Blvd., Wichita

When: 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday

How much: Cost is $7.75 for adults, $6.50 for seniors, $6 for youths ages 12 to 17, and $5.50 for children ages 4 to 11.

For more information, call 316-219-1871 or visit www.oldcowtown.org.

This story was originally published August 31, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Gunfights to ring through streets of Cowtown on Saturday."