Forts Fletcher & Hays by Zina Abbott

Fort Fletcher, which later became Fort Hays, in Ellis County, Kansas, was an important U.S. Army post established in 1865. The mission of the fort was to protect military roads, guard the mails, and defend construction crews on the Union Pacific Railway. Fort Hays also served as a major supply depot for other U. S. Army posts in western Kansas. It was also to protect the white settlers who moved into the region.

 

Fort Fletcher, Smoky Hill Trail & B.O.D.

Originally designated Fort Fletcher (after Governor Thomas C. Fletcher of Missouri), it was located five miles south of present-day Walker and became operational on October 11, 1865. Troops stationed at Fort Fletcher were to protect the stage and freight wagons on the Butterfield Overland Despatch (BOD) traveling along the Smoky Hill Trail to Denver. Despite the presence of the soldiers, Southern Cheyenne and Southern Arapaho Indians continued to confront traffic along the trail. Due to reduced use of the Smoky Hill Trail, Fort Fletcher was closed May 5, 1866.

 

Fort Hays 1867 by Alexander Gardiner

On October 11, 1866, Fort Fletcher was reopened approximately one-fourth mile north of its previous location, at the confluence of Big Creek and the North Fork of Big Creek. In November 1866 Fort Fletcher was renamed Fort Hays in honor of Brigadier General Alexander Hays, who was killed during the Civil War.

 

Union Pacific Railway, Eastern Division construction train east of Fort Hays

The Union Pacific Railway, Eastern Division, was being constructed westward roughly paralleling the Smoky Hill Trail and construction workers needed the protection of the U.S. Army. As the railroad approached Fort Hays, it became apparent that it would pass approximately five miles to the north of the post.

 

Fort Hays Military Reservation

A flood in June 1867 nearly wiped out Fort Hays killing nine soldiers and civilians. This forced the relocation of the fort. The army wanted the fort to be used as a supply depot for other forts in the area, this provided the momentum to relocate the fort close to the railroad line. Two weeks later, on June 23, the new Fort Hays was built and occupied fifteen miles west of the previous location and near the railroad right-of-way.  With the arrival of the railway a few months later, the goal of a large supply depot to service forts to the south and west was realized.

 

Buffalo Soldiers & US Express Overland starting from Hays to Denver, Colorado

African American soldiers, sometimes called Buffalo Soldiers, members of the 9th and 10th U.S. Cavalry regiments had been deployed to the fort in response to an increase in conflicts with Plains Indians. At various times, Fort Hays served as home to the 7th U.S. Cavalry. Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer commanded the 7th Cavalry and visited, but did not live at Fort Hays. Buffalo Bill Cody also spent time at the fort.

Many of the records about the fort came from the post surgeon’s reports. These records detailed the cholera epidemic of 1867. Cholera plagued several of the forts in Kansas that year. The first case of cholera at Fort Hays appeared July 11, 1867. The post hospital had not yet been built so soldiers and civilian patients were housed in tents. The epidemic lasted two months, killing 36 soldiers and approximately 150 civilians.

 

Fort Hays

The post surgeon’s reports can also tell us about the civilians at Fort Hays. Rose Glennan was working as a servant in the home of Lieutenant Colonel Bliss in August 1881. Glennan used kerosene to light a fire in the kitchen stove, but was engulfed in flame when the oil can exploded. She ran to the front part of the house, where Bliss threw a blanket around her to extinguish the fire. She suffered second and third degree burns on her hands, arms, underarms, and legs from ankles to hips. The surgeon reported that flour was applied and the burns were dressed with raw cotton. “She was doing well,” the surgeon wrote, “although ulceration of the duodenum supervened during the second week, death was at one time imminent.”

 

Officer Quarters- restored

There is little information about the children of Fort Hays. From among them came the history of the Maier family. Charity Humphries Maier was married to Christian Maier, a sergeant in the 18th Infantry. Charity gave birth to three daughters while her husband was stationed at Fort Hays. The oldest, whose name we do not know, was born in 1885 and died at the age of seven months from cholera. The next daughter, Jessie, was born in 1886, followed in 1888 by Gertrude, who died at the age of two months from an “inflammation of stomach and bowels.”

 

Fort Hays Block House

The post surgeon’s records mentioned the everyday ailments suffered by soldiers, including “boils, colic, contusions, diarrhea, frostbite, sprains, and ulcers.”

Fort Hays was abandoned in 1889. 

Fort Hays Guardhouse - made of stone

After its closing, the land and buildings of Fort Hays were turned over to the Department of the Interior, which later transferred them to the state of Kansas in 1900. Most was sold to private businesses and individuals. When Frontier Historical Park was opened at the site in 1929, Of the original fort buildings, only the blockhouse and guardhouse remained. The two officers' quarters had been sold at auction in 1902 and moved into town at the time the other buildings were being sold for scrap. The officers' quarters were relocated in 1964 and 1987. The visitor center was built in 1967. Today it operates as Fort Hays State Historic Site.

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I have two books so far in which Fort Ellsworth serves as part of the setting. In Hannah’s Handkerchief, book 24 in the Lockets & Lace series set in 1865, Jake Burdock often finds his quartermaster duties take him to Fort Ellsworth. Hannah’s Handkerchief is now available. To find the book description and purchase link, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

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In Mail Order Roslyn, book 9 in the Widows, Brides & Secret Babies series set in 1866, my heroine finds herself and her baby in the Ellsworth Stage Station near the town and Fort Ellsworth. At that time, hostile tribes, particularly the Cheyenne, frequently attacked stagecoaches and stations in an attempt to capture livestock and either kill or drive away the white Americans invading their favored hunting grounds. This book is now available. To find the book description and purchase link, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

Sources:

http://www.kansastravel.org/forthays.htm

https://kshs.org/kansapedia/fort-hays-post-surgeon/15494

https://kshs.org/kansapedia/fort-hays/11793