This stone plinth and concrete pillar memorial topped by a metal cap is located near the eastern entrance of Wright Park. There is a metal plaque on the pillar that reads:
"HONORING
Robert M. Wright
who Platted
and
Peter Mootz
who Landscaped the Park
1883
He that plants trees loves others besides himself"
From Wikipedia on Robert M Wright - (
visit link) :
"Robert Marr Wright, also known as Bob Wright (September 2, 1840 - January 4, 1915), was an American businessman and a founder of the frontier community of Dodge City, Kansas. For four two-year terms from 1875 to 1883, he represented Ford County in the Kansas House of Representatives. He was the mayor of Dodge City for a four-year term.
When he was nineteen, Wright married a 13-year-old first cousin, Alice J. Armstrong. The couple had six children; Wright outlived all except for his oldest son, Robert Henry Wright, who died in Silverton, Colorado, in June 1915, some five months after his father's passing. His fourth and last wife, Sallie Olive Ivens, bore him a son, Conner R. Wright, a United States Navy veteran of World War II, who lived until 1970.
In 1913, Wright penned an autobiography with a very long title, Dodge City, The Cowboy Capital and the Great Southwest in the Days of the Wild Indian, the Buffalo, the Cowboy, Dance Halls, Gambling Halls, and Bad Men. The title is often shortened to Dodge City, The Cowboy Capital. Because of a fire at his publishing company in Wichita, Kansas, he lost money on his venture. Rare book stores sometimes have the book at a price in the hundreds of dollars.
After suffering declining health, Wright died early in January 1915. He is interred at Maple Grove Cemetery in Dodge City. Wright Park in Dodge City is named in his honor, as is the community of Wright, a census-designated place in Ford County."
I did not find info on Peter Mootz.