|
Hays, Kansas
From
Nicodemus, head south via Highway 183 to I-70, to arrive at Hays,
Kansas. Ft. Hays lies south of the city, and is an important
waypoint on the Custer Trail as this post was Custer's first western
base of operations for his introduction to the west and Indian
fighting.
Shortly
after the Civil War, railroad builders and settlers began pushing into
central and western Kansas with ever-increasing intensity, provoking
resistance from the Indian inhabitants of the region. To provide
protection, the federal government established military posts including
Fort Dodge on the Santa Fe Trail and Fort Fletcher, later Fort Hays, on
the Smoky Hill Trail. Railroad survey crews were just arriving in the vicinity when Fort Fletcher,
named for Missouri Governor Thomas C. Fletcher, was established 14 miles
southeast of present Hays on October 11, 1865. A year later the
name was changed to honor General Alexander Hays, who had been killed in
1864 at the Battle of the Wilderness. After the Fort was virtually destroyed in a flash flood in 1867, it was
relocated to a site now just south of the City of Hays. Unlike the
typical military posts of the earlier eastern frontier, there was no
stockade or fortification wall. Instead, officers quarters, barracks,
headquarters, storehouses, and other buildings grouped around a parade
ground constituted the outline of the new Fort Hays. In 1867, Hays City was staked out a mile to the east and, with the arrival
of the railroad in October, the fortunes of Hays City and Fort Hays
became almost inseparable. The military post was turned into a
quartermaster depot that supplied other forts throughout the west and
southwest. Such an operation required a large number of civilian as well
as military personnel, and Hays City consequently experienced a rapid
and turbulent development. During this time Hays City was a
gathering place for scouts, buffalo hunters, railroad workers, soldiers,
and desperadoes. In those days, Hays was a wild town filled with saloons and dance halls.
The well-known frontiersman “Buffalo Bill” Cody and William Rose
platted the nearby town of Rome and built a saloon in the spring of
1867. The legendary James B."Wild Bill" Hickok served as
acting county sheriff for a few months in 1869, but left town the next
year after a brawl with some troopers. By the 1880's, the town had shed its rough and rowdy ways and became a
peaceful center for commerce and farming as well as an arrival point for
Volga German immigrants. With less need for the post, commanders
were recommending by the mid-1870s that Fort Hays be abandoned and
finally, on November 8, 1889, the last garrison moved out. In 1897, Congress gave the land to the State of Kansas to be used for a
college, agricultural experiment station, and park. An oil boom
during the 1930's enhanced business activity in Hays during a period of
decline for most western Kansas towns. Hays has continued growing in recent years due to its status as a regional
commercial center. Hays has a culturally diverse heritage.
Nearly a thousand German- speaking Catholics migrated to Ellis County
from the Volga River area of Russia during the late 1870's. Volga-German
villages formed in the area include Katharinenstadt (Catherine), Herzog
(Victoria), Pfeifer, Munjor, Schoenchen, and Liebenthal (in neighboring
Rush County).
A "must
see" attraction in Hays is the Sternberg Museum of Natural History
which gives the visitor a glimpse of what pioneer life in Kansas was
like. Spend
some time learning about the City of
Hays, but the objective of this visit is to understand the lay of
the land at Ft. Hays,
where Custer stood, and what Custer saw.
|
