Going Back In Time In Hays – Part 1

Saturday in Hays was a very busy day for us. We got up early and visited with Ollie, then we met our niece Lexi and her two sons, Gentry and Callan, for a day full of fun adventures before driving to Salina, KS, about 100 miles east of Hays, to pick up Dorrie.

Hays, KS has a wild, illustrious and colorful past. When you hear about the wild, wild west, it really happened, and Hays was the hub for much of all that wild activity.

The first thing we did with Lexi and the boys was to go to Fort Hays. Fort Hays was an US Army post established in 1865 where troops protected the crews who were building the Union Pacific Railway. It has long since been retired as a military posting, but the military does still use it for ceremonial events. Little did we know that the day we just happened to be there, there was a ceremony taking pace that we got to witness. They were doing a change of command ceremony for the Armed Guards. Bonus for us. We knew our visit would be historic, but we had no idea we would get to witness some living history too.

The changing of the Guards.

After we witnessed the ceremony, we strolled around the sites, going back in time to the days of the wild, wild west. We started off in the visitors center, and learned about when the United States Army came face to face with the Tribal Nations of the Plains and the culture clashes that ensued.

Then we strolled the historic grounds. Most of the buildings are no longer standing, but the ones that were there are open to everyone, and are full of history of life on the Plains. If you ever saw the movie Dances With Wolves with Kevin Costner, the opening scene takes place at Fort Hays.

The general store was also the brig for storing wayward prisoners and military alike. These were rough times and only the strong survived.

Gentry and Lexi got locked up too. 🙂

These were the cells. Can you imagine spending time here? No thanks. Not for me.

We also got to take a peak inside the officers’ homes. Life was sure a lot different back then. None of the “luxuries” we now consider necessities today.

So we got to be apart of living history, as well as learn about the past, but we also managed to just have a good time enjoying each others’ company too.

Lexi with Gentry and Callan.

The buffalo farm was just across the way from Fort Hays, so of course we had to go see the buffalo/bison too. We always stop by to see them when in Hays. They even have an albino buffalo/bison right now too.

We headed back to Ollie’s for lunch and a little respite, more for the boys than for us, before we headed out for more fun adventures, but more on those later. 🙂

Life is always an adventure. Make life interesting. Take in as many adventures as you can. Just stay safe and stay well while doing so. ‘Til next time.