The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-05-05

do for a permanent Headquarters for
| the troops. An appeal was made TO the
war department, and General Pope or
| dered a change to the present location.
| Then the buildings that are still stand
ing were erected, and the garrison felt
| easier.
1 Hays City was then founded, and dur
ing the life Of the fort the contests be
tween the rough element of the town
/ and that of the fort were frequent
/ There were always some Of the sol
/ diers ready for trouble, and they met
| their match in the cowboys and from
/ tierSmen Of the town. Hays City was
1 the only town in the county, and was
/ a favOTite gathering place for a class Of
men who were following the advancing
| civilization of the plains. The first
! three sheriffs of the county died with
| their boots on"
wild Bill" HickOk was marshal OF
/ Hays City, having been promoted from
| a gamblers table to the task of con-
! trolling the tough element of the town.
/ He did it, but was inclined to be
( little prOdigaI of human lives when
! necessary to carry his point. One day
! some soldiers from the fort came To-
town, and he shot three Of them and a
civilian in his efforts tc preserve order
/ Then, to avoid a general raid, he left
! town and was next heard of at AbilenL,
/ where he was a cowboy marshal.
/ So thick were the desperadOes and 50
J generally did the people wipe them out
I Of existence when they felt in the mood
/ that a special cemetery was called
| BOOT HILL" in which were laid to rest
/ those who died fighting. Some were
1 buried under their real names Some
/ We're not, and none knows who We're
all the fOTty-five men lying there under
| as many wind-swept grassy mounds.
/ It is as add o cemetery as can be fOunr
/ in the west.
Not the least of the exciting events
/ that are a part Of the history of Fort
/ Hays was that which occurred in 1853,
and is known as the raidlng Of the gov
/ eminent stores. This was the central
point for supplying forts and stations
J than could be accommodated in the
/ buildings of the fort. Hence they were
piled along the Union Pacific track and
| covered with tarpaulins as q prOtec-
! ton from the weather. Two Watchmen
were detailed to guard the stores. ana
/ they relieved each other at midnight.
One Of these WatChmen was John
! Hays, and one night as he was on duty
/ he stepped across the street TO one of
| the thirty-SeYen saloons to get
drink and see what time it was. Gust as
/ he was about to open the door three
negro soldiers shot Hays dead They
! belonged to the Thirty-siXth infantry,
and had come to town to get drunk
Then they went to a. barber shop ana
several saloons broke the mirrors and
chairs and compelled the barber TO seek
the roof for safety.
The barber complained to the colonel
and described the men closely but,
though he was shown through the fort,
he could not identify the negro ROSTER
ers. Finally the whole command was
ordered out on parade, and the barber
went down the line and picked out
three men. They were taken to Hays
by the sheriff and locked in the county
jail-an old ceilar-tO await eXamina,-
ton
That night a mob made a raid on
the cellar, and taking the three men to
q railroad treStle west Of the depot.
where the road crosses a deep ravine.
tied ropes to their necks and the track
and pushed them Off The bodies hung
there until the next day, when the
soldiers came out from the fort and cut
! them down, taking them TO the fort for
burial
This was only the beginning for in
/ 1874 an outbreak occurred consequent
on the Hays murder that was Neard
| Of as far east as Washington. The fort
was then gaFTiEOned with a negro Tegi-
ment, who decided to avenge the lynch
ing of the three colOred soldiers
One night soon after the regiment
had got well settled in its new quar-
ters a body Of soldiers went down town
to "clean OUT the place. The citizens
heard of it and determined to teach
the soldiers a lesson once for ALL The
soldiers reiterated in the fort. Six were
left dead in the streets and the bodies
We're thrown into a dry we'll There was
no more trouble between the forts and
Hays City.
Fort Hays troops took part in the
! final Indian raids Of the frontier. The
/ Cheyenne6 who came down from the
northwest were met blythe soldiers of
Fort Hays. Fort Wallace and Fort
Harker and driven back, saving the
lives of thousands Of settlers. General
George F0rsythe made his famous fight
on the upper Republican river after
following Roman Nose and his thou
sand redskins for seventy miles
Led into a trap, the soldiers were
surrounded for three days, and finally
rescued by reinforcements from the
forts. They killed ten Indians for every
one of their own number than fell
There was another scare in the latter
EOS. when the people as far east as
Topeka were frightened and thought
that the Indians would scalp them all.
By 15he sudden visits that many of
thi took to their eastern friends were
not Necessary, for the troops OF the far
northwest have since been able TO con-
troll their charges.