Fort Hays Fort Hays , originally named Fort Fletcher , was a United States Army fort near Hays , Kansas . Active from 1865 to 1889 , it was an important frontier post during the American Indian Wars of the late 19th century . Reopened as a historical park in 1929 , it is now operated by the Kansas Historical Society as the Fort Hays State Historic Site . History . To protect Butterfield Overland Despatch stage and freight wagons traveling the Smoky Hill Trail from Cheyenne and Arapaho attacks , the U . S . Army established Fort Fletcher on October 11 , 1865 . Named after then governor of Missouri Thomas C . Fletcher , the fort was located on the trail ¼ mile south of the confluence of Big Creek and the North Fork of Big Creek in western Kansas . Lt . Col . William Tamblyn and three companies of the 1st U . S . Volunteer Infantry established the post and were stationed there along with detachments of the 13th Missouri Cavalry . Raids on the stage line continued despite the military presence , and the line soon went bankrupt . Use of the trail ceased , and Fort Fletcher closed on May 5 , 1866 . The U . S . Army reopened Fort Fletcher on October 11 , 1866 at the confluence of Big Creek and its north fork , ¼ mile north of the previous site . This time , the purpose of the fort was to protect workers building the Union Pacific Eastern Division railway westward , parallel to the Smoky Hill Trail . A month later , in November , the Army renamed the post Fort Hays after Brig . Gen . Alexander Hays who was killed at the Battle of the Wilderness during the American Civil War . On June 7 , 1867 , a severe flood nearly destroyed the fort , killing nine soldiers and civilians . The Army planned to use Fort Hays as a supply depot for other posts in the region and thus needed it to be located close to the railway . But , the path of the railroad was five miles to the north . Between that and the flood , the Army decided to relocate the fort . On orders from Maj . Gen . Winfield Hancock , Maj . Alfred Gibbs chose a new location 15 miles to the northwest where the railway would cross Big Creek . The Army occupied this site , moving Fort Hays to its final location , on June 23 , 1867 . Attracted by the fort ’ s new location and the railroad ’ s westward extension , settlers soon arrived and established the communities of Rome and Hays City nearby , the latter named after the fort . The Fort Hays reservation occupied a triangular area of approximately 7 , 500 acres . Like other forts on the Great Plains , it was not a true fortification but appeared to be more like a frontier settlement . There was no wall around the post , and the only defensive structure was a blockhouse . The post was designed as a base for supplies and troops who could be dispatched into the field to protect vulnerable people and places when conflict with Plains Indians broke out . Development of the fort continued over time , and , at one point , it included around 45 buildings . A cholera epidemic struck the area late in the summer of 1867 . Among the victims was Elizabeth Polly , a woman who had been ministering to the ill at the fort . Buried on a nearby hill , she went on to become a figure in local folklore , the “ Blue Light Lady ” , as people claimed to see her ghost in the area around the fort . Fort Hays became a key Army installation in the Indian Wars , serving as a base of operations for combat forces and a supply point for Fort Dodge and Camp Supply to the south . Maj . Gen . Philip Sheridan , supported by Lt . Col . George Custer and the 7th Cavalry Regiment , used it as his headquarters during his 1868 - 1869 campaign against the Cheyenne and the Kiowa . Both Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hickok served as Army scouts at Fort Hays at points during this period . Custer and the 7th Cavalry continued to operate from the fort when Col . Nelson Miles assumed command in April 1869 . Miles led the 5th Infantry Regiment , assigned to protect the railroad as its construction extended west into Colorado Territory . In 1871 , Custer and the 7th Cavalry were reassigned to the South , and Miles and the 5th Infantry headquarters relocated to Fort Leavenworth . Throughout this period , elements of the 10th Cavalry Regiment , known as “ Buffalo Soldiers ” , and the 38th Infantry Regiment were also stationed at the fort . The U . S . Army continued to use Fort Hays until June 1 , 1889 , finally closing and abandoning it November 8 , 1889 . The Kansas Legislature requested that the site be donated for use as a soldiers ' home , but the U . S . Department of the Interior ( DOI ) subsequently assumed custody of the fort ' s land and buildings . In 1895 , the Legislature again requested donation of the site to no avail , this time for educational and recreational purposes . Four years later , the DOI declared the fort ' s land open for settlement . On March 28 , 1900 , due to efforts by the Kansas congressional delegation , the U . S . Congress passed an act donating the Fort Hays reservation to the state of Kansas for use as an experiment station of the $ 3 and a branch of the Kansas State Normal School . In 1901 , the Legislature established the experiment station and set aside land for the normal school . The school opened in June 1902 and eventually became Fort Hays State University . Kansas State University continues to operate the experiment station as an agricultural research center . The majority of the fort ' s buildings were auctioned off or sold for scrap in 1902 . What remained of the reservation reopened as Frontier Historical Park in 1929 . A museum opened on the grounds in 1955 . Named a state historic site in 1967 , it was acquired by the Kansas Historical Society which continues to operate the property as the Fort Hays State Historic Site . Fort Hays State Historic Site . The Kansas Historical Society maintains what remains of the Fort Hays reservation as the Fort Hays State Historic Site . The site includes a visitor center , the fort ' s parade ground , and four of its original buildings : the blockhouse , the guardhouse , and two of the officers ' quarters . The blockhouse , built in 1867 , and the guardhouse , built in 1872 , house exhibits on the fort ' s history , its construction , and on life at the fort as experienced by the soldiers stationed there . The two restored officers ' quarters feature furnishings from the 1860s through the 1880s , spanning the fort ' s active period . The visitor center , built in 1967 , contains exhibits on the conflict between the U . S . and the Plains Indians as well as Plains Indian artifacts from the period . Other exhibits on the grounds represent civilians who lived and worked at the fort and the locations of the post ' s other original buildings . Location . The Fort Hays State Historic Site is located at ( 38 . 8616784 , - 99 . 3423263 ) . It lies on the south side of the U . S . Route 183 Bypass immediately southwest of Hays , Kansas . The Fort Hays State University campus lies to the north of the site , across the bypass and Big Creek . The original site of Fort Fletcher , used from October 1865 to May 1866 , was located on Big Creek one - quarter mile south of the creek ' s confluence with the North Fork of Big Creek . The second site of Fort Fletcher , used from October 1866 to June 1867 and renamed Fort Hays in November 1866 , was located at the confluence . The confluence is located at about 5 miles south of Walker , Kansas and 14 miles southeast of Hays . The final site of Fort Hays , to which the post moved in June 1867 , is where the historic site stands today . In popular culture and the arts . Fort Hays was a setting of the films " The Plainsman " ( 1936 ) and " Dances with Wolves " ( 1990 ) , the television film " " ( 1997 ) , and the 1967 television series " Custer " . The film set used for the Fort Hays scenes in " Dances with Wolves " is located near Rapid City , South Dakota and is now operated as a tourist attraction , the Fort Hays Old West Town & Dinner Show . Notable people . Notable individuals who lived at , worked at , or were associated with Fort Hays include :