Wild West Days
October 12-13 at Mahaffie
Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop & Farm has moved Wild West Days to October! The cooler weather will allow for some harvest activities, perhaps enabling the farmer and cowboy to be friends, but we’re not making any promises. No registration is required for this special event. Parking is available at Olathe North High School, 600 E Prairie St. A free shuttle will take attendees to the historic site. Admission is $5 per person age 5 and up. Visit Mahaffie.org to print your BOGO admission coupon.
You can fuel up for this spectacular event in the Heritage Center on Saturday morning with the Santa Fe Trail Rotary Club’s Omelet Fest, beginning at 7:30 a.m. The breakfast is $8 per attendee and includes admission to Wild West Days beginning at 10 a.m. All are welcome to attend the breakfast and support your local rotary club.
Wild West Days has become a tradition in Olathe and for the surrounding communities to celebrate the early days of the town. In addition to taking in the sites at the living history museum, complete with the 1865 limestone house, visitors will encounter professional cowboy and outlaw re-enactors in their camps, including Buffalo Bill, and many more. Law and order will prevail, however, thanks to the ever-vigilant Buffalo Soldiers. You won’t want to miss visiting with representatives from this special organization. They may even escort your stagecoach to safety while you take a ride around the historic site.
Saturday, Oct. 12, will be the day of the chuckwagon cookoff. Chuckwagons were the mobile kitchens of the 1800s that traveled with cowboys and the infantry. A skilled chuckwagon chef must be able to use the ingredients at hand over a campfire in all weather conditions. That smoky flavor is unmistakable, and oh-so-good. Rather than stand by and watch the competition, you can help by sampling the wares and voting for your favorites in each category. Hey, it’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.
If you miss the chuckwagon cookoff, don’t fret, there are plenty of other activities to take in at Mahaffie. You can tour the historic house and see the cookstove in action, visit the exhibits in the Agricultural Heritage Barn, and all the animals who live and work on the farm at Mahaffie. Plenty of live entertainment will be provided by professional acts such as the Wicked Liars, the Whip Guy, and Professor Farquar. Rosemarie’s Fiesta Mexicana Heritage Dancers will perform on Sunday, Oct. 13. New in 2019, you’ll have a chance to hear from local author, storyteller, and cowpoke, Trae Q L Venerable.
Refreshments will be available for purchase during this two-day event. Doc’s Root Beer cannot be beat; you’re going to have to give it a try. Olathe Noon Optimist Club and Boy Scout Troop 494 will sell concessions. You’re also welcome to bring a picnic and make use of Mahaffie’s spacious picnic shelter.
Purchase activity tickets to experience even more at Wild West Days. These activities may include panning for gold, branding, leather stamping, the rubber band gun gallery, tomahawk throwing, and making an ‘S’ hook in the blacksmith shop (must be at least 8 years old to throw tomahawks and work in the blacksmith shop).
You never know what else may happen during Wild West Days. In the past, we have seen stagecoach robberies and shootouts between cowboys and farmers. While we hope these vastly different groups of people can learn to get along, history tells us it won’t come easily.