In this section of the blog, I will talk about different scenery used in my novels and novels for the same genre. Today’s topic is Hays, Kansas, a wild western down in the 1850-1900s that met all the criteria for a western novel.

Hays, Kansas was a rough and tumble town positioned on the railroad that ran through the western states. Hays is located not far from Dodge City and Fort Larned. Fort hays were the furthest outpost in the west for many years and were the center for the US Calvery to put down Indian problems. Gen. George Custer was the most famous leader out of that fort.

Some of the notable citizens of this little town included Billy the Kid and James Butler Hickok, who was the Sheriff of Ellis County, Kansas (Hays, Kansas). He straightened out many buffalo hunters and settled down th3e wild brawls and destructiveness of the soldiers from Fort Hays in the town. Unfortunately, even though he did a good job, the Hays City citizens weren’t sure if Hickok’s brutal gunslinging wasn’t worse than the lawlessness of before. In less than two weeks, he had killed two men to preserve the peace. He was replaced in a vote by his deputy. Hickok went on to other law positions, but his first stint as a sheriff in Hays, Kansas, only lasted three months. Other notable Sheriffs’ in Hays included Pat Garrett (who shot Billy the Kid), Captain Jack Hays (later first sheriff of San Francisco), and The Earp brothers, James and Wyatt. Both served as sheriffs. Bat Masterson was Sheriff of Dodge City, but he spent a lot of time in Hays, usually transferring prisoners between the two jails.

Buffalo Bill Cody, Calamity Jane, Gen. George Custer, Clay Alliston (gunfighter), and Elizabeth Polly (Blue Light Lady) lived in Hays.

If you are ever in Hays, walk down the streets in the old downtown section. Many historical markers, some just a few feet apart, point out the old saloons, “bawdy” houses. There are markers of the famous shootouts, where each gunslinger was killed, and homes of notable citizens from the mid to late 1800s.

I graduated with a nursing degree from Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas, in 1981 while living 30 miles away in Russell, Kansas.