Above: The Wild West Show & Bullwhacker Days in Olathe brings the Old West to life. Below: A youngster getting a chance to be a cowboy at the festival. Olathe Convention and Visitors Bureau photos

The coach, pulled by two or three horses, occasionally reaches speeds of 10 mph but provides little shelter from summer’s sweltering heat or winter’s frigid blasts as it bumps along the dusty byways. Every two hours, travelers stretch their legs when the coach stops at a relay station.

Their first stop is at James and Lucinda Mahaffie’s farm in Olathe, Kan. Built in 1865, theirs is a two-story stone farmhouse with a cellar that serves as a dining hall for the travelers. While the horses are changed out and a few quick repairs are made to the coach, passengers partake of one of Lucinda’s memorable home-cooked meals that might include savory beef stew, oatmeal bread and a slice of apple pie. A few purchase palliative “spirits” to calm jangled nerves. Passengers visit the “privy” and then climb aboard the stagecoach to continue their journey.

Reliving the past in Olathe

For folks with fantasies of living in the Old West, a visit to the Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop and Farm Historic Site is in order. This centerpiece to the region’s history is the only original stage stop on the Santa Fe Trail that is open to the public. Tour the home and visit the room where travelers ate. You’ll see the original wood stove in the corner where Lucinda prepared her meals.

Guides dressed in period clothing show visitors the timber-framed red barn, two-story icehouse, reconstructed smoke house, working blacksmith shop and the many animals and crops on the farm. At certain times of the year, guests can ride in the stagecoach. Take part in living history activities such as farming, blacksmithing, quilting, laundry, sewing and cooking.

The $3 million Heritage Center that opened last year includes a museum, two exhibit galleries, a film and gift shop.

Visit on Sept. 26 and 27 for the Wild West Show & Bullwhacker Days that includes music, cowboy re-enactors, trick riders, stagecoach rides and gold panning.

The City of Olathe Parks and Recreation Department operates Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop and Farm, 1200 Kansas City Road. Weekend admission is $6 for adults and $4 for children 5–12 years.

Olathe, founded in 1857 on former Shawnee Indian reservation land, is the convergence of three historical overland trails–Santa Fe, Oregon and California. The famous wagon train campground is marked at the city’s Lone Elm Park.

It was in eastern Kansas that much of the Missouri/Kansas border fighting erupted six years before the start of the Civil War. The fighting was so intense that the phrase Bleeding Kansas was coined here. The future of slavery in Kansas fueled the conflict. Would Kansas enter the union as a slave or free state?

After the Civil War and the arrival of the railroad in 1869, development in Olathe picked up rapidly.

In 1875, Charles H. Hyer, a local cobbler of German ancestry, created one of the first cowboy boots in the country. Historians debate who made the “first” cowboy boot and whether it was made in Kansas or Texas, but there’s no arguing that Hyer was one of the most influential bootmakers in the late 1800s. His riding boot had a higher heel to fit securely in a stirrup. The Hyer Boot Company became one of the most successful post-Civil War businesses, at one time selling 15,000 pairs of boots a year.

Olathe also gained notoriety for having the first gas-electric trolley, the Kansas School for the Deaf, the Olathe Naval Air Station and MidAmerica Nazarene University.

Olathe today

Named by Money magazine as the 11th best place to live, Olathe has 170 restaurants, plus hotels, parks, theater and arts centers. The city is home to the new William Marra Museum of Deaf History and Deaf Culture, as well as GPS giant Garmin International.

You have to wonder what 19th-century travelers heading west would have done at Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World (12051 Bass Pro Drive). This fishing and hunting outfitters dream by now is well known through the Midwest, and is a retail attraction almost anyone will get a boot out of.

Speaking of boots, pick up a pair of Olathe Boot Company cowboy boots at Y Bar H Outpost & Pet, 1030 E. Santa Fe St. More shopping is available at the Great Mall of the Great Plains, which offers more than 100 stores. The mall is at Interstate 35 and 151st Street.

If your boots are made for walking, check out the Ernie Miller Nature Center, which offers three miles of trails that are open daily from dawn to dusk. The Nature Center has an aquarium, gardens, wildlife exhibits and a bird feeder court where you can watch birds enjoying their lunch through large windows. On visits to the 113-acre park, you’re sure to see some of the 170 species of birds that frequent the area, including eight species of hawks and two species of falcons. The center is located at 909 North Highway 7.

Several golf courses in the area also provide a chance to enjoy cooler autumn weather, and sports fans are close to plenty of action in nearby Kansas City. Family fun is not far away with Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun, also in Kansas City. In addition, laser tag, bowling and mini golf can be found in Olathe.

Where to eat and sleep

With its variety in dining–including most national chains–visitors will be sure to find something to suit their tastes and budget in Olathe. AAA three Diamond hotels here include the Hampton Inn and Comfort Suites, both on South Strang Line Road, as well as LaQuinta on West 151st Street.

If your plans to travel include special weekend events, including the Johnson County Old Settlers Celebration on Sept. 10–12, make hotel reservations early. Other interesting fall events include the Hidden Glen Arts Festival (Sept. 19 and 20) and the Historic Cemetery Tour at Olathe Memorial Cemetery (Oct. 15–17) when some of Olathe’s founders come alive through actors and interpreters to tell their fascinating stories.

History still lives in Olathe in the festivals, in the restored buildings and in the voices of the re-enactors. Take some time this fall to listen, look and learn the legacy of those early days in northeast Kansas when stagecoaches kicked up dust and cowboys walked the streets. You’ll be glad you did.

Joan Elliott is a contributor from Lake Sherwood, Mo.

Day Tour booklet guides travelers

In addition to Olathe, Kan., there are plenty of other interesting trips around Kansas City that you can reach on about a tank of gas, and AAA’s updated day tour booklet can help you find those destinations.

AAA recently updated its “Day Tours from Kansas City” guidebook, which features eight short trips from the Kansas City area. Each one-day trip offers an array of attractions, natural wonders, museums and historical sites to enjoy.

The booklet is free for AAA members. Just stop by your nearest Kansas City area AAA office to pick up a copy. To see the booklet online, visit www.AAA.com. AAA also recently updated its “Day Tours from St. Louis” booklet, which is available in St. Louis area AAA offices and also can be viewed on AAA’s Web site.