Fort Hays State University - Reveille Yearbook (Hays, KS)

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CREEK SCENES. Page IS

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u Historical OLD FORT HAYS The School Campus is historic ground. It is a part of the old Fort Hays mili- tary reservation, comprising 7,600 acres of land. Old Fort Hays was one of a line of military posts established soon after the Civil War, to protect the construction camps of the Union Pacific Railroad, and the settlements of the pioneers who had pushed their way westward into the great Plains. The post was established in 1865, and was located on Big creek, about fifteen miles southeast of the present reservation. It was named Fort Fletcher, in honor of former Governor Fletcher, of Mis- souri. About a year later the name was changed to Hays, in honor of General Alexander Hays, an officer in the Civil War. In June, 1867, a disastrous flood destroyed the post and drowned a number of soldiers. A new site was then se- lected, on the high ground lying south of Big creek, about half a mile south of the present city of Hays. The tract of land surveyed for the reservation included about 7,600 acres, lying about three miles along the course of Big creek. The tract was well supplied with water and timber, and made an ideal site for a military reservation. The city of Hays was founded in the spring of 1867, and its industrial and so- cial interests were intimately bound up with the life of the fort for two decades. Many stirring scenes of pioneer days are associated with old Fort Hays. Some of these have been immortalized by Mrs. Margaret Hill McCarter, in “The Price of the Prairie.” Mrs. Custer, in her book, “Following the Guidon,” has presented many vivid pictures of life at old Fort Hays, in the form of personal reminiscences. The annals of the post contain the names of many men in the military history of our country. Among the more noted of these may be mentioned Sheridan, Custer, Corbin, Hancock, Miles, Hazen, Forsythe, Lawton, and Wheaton. Fort Hays was abandoned as a military post in 1889. Various proposals were made for the disposition of the land comprising the reservation. Homesteaders were anxious to file upon such choice land, but public-spirited citizens felt it should be devoted to public purposes. The Legislature of 1889 was induced to ask Con- gress for a cession of the land to the State for a soldiers’ home. Congress did not make the grant. The Legislature of 1895 passed a resolution asking Congress for a cession of the land to the State for the purpose of establishing upon it a public park, an experiment station, and a branch of the State Normal School, but Con- gress failed to act. Finally, in March, 1900, an act was passed by Congress grant- ing the land to the State to be used for a State Normal School, an experiment sta- tion of the Agricultural College, and a public park. In February, 1901, the Leg- islature accepted the grant and created the two institutions. Owing to delays occasioned by controversy over claims of squatters upon the land, the Normal School was not started until 1902. The formal opening oc- curred on June 28 of that year, with thirty-four students and two faculty members. School first opened in the old hospital building. By agreement with the County Superintendent, the Ellis County Normal Institute combined with the Page 19