Kansas
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Fort Hays, 1867
Chicago Tribune Saturday, 21 September 1867 Originally constructed in 1865 and named Fort Fletcher, Fort Hays occupied three sites on the Kansas Plains. The original Fort Fletcher was located south of the confluence of Big Creek and the North Fork of Big Creek in Western Kansas. Fort Fletcher was intended to protect the Butterfield Overland… Continue reading
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The Ordeal of George Elmes
Leavenworth Daily Commercial, Thursday, 15 July 1875. In the summer of 1875, George Elmes, a German-born resident of Hays City, Kansas, ‘an honest, hard working fellow,’ loaded up a wagon with goods purchased from a sutler’s store and started on a trek from Hays City to Trinidad, New Mexico, where he planned to sell his… Continue reading
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The Strange Execution of John Langford
John Langford, a 22-year-old citizen of Sheridan, Kansas, who ‘had led a desperate life all over the border,’ was sentenced to be hanged by a vigilance committee at Pond City at 2 am on the morning of 25 August 1869. On discovering his fate, Langford admitted to the killing of six men; he added, ‘if… Continue reading
Hellish Fiends, and Brutish Men 