Frontier Kansas was a wild, exciting place. The frontier was certainly no place for a “pilgrim,” inexperienced in the ways of violent men on edge of civilization.

Hays City was one of those kind of towns that ate men for breakfast.

Who on earth would want to be a peace officer on the wild frontier?

Being a lawman in Hays City could probably qualify a man for a reservation in the nearest sanitarium.

For example, during the evening of Jan. 5, 1869, a night watchman at the Otero & Sellers warehouse was shot and killed by three Black soldiers from Fort Hays.

Sheriff Isaac Thayer, a former Forsyth Scout Indian fighter, and Deputy U. S. Marshall Joseph N. Weiss, arrested the soldiers and put them in the Hays City Jail. That night, between 75 and 100 vigilantes overpowered the guards.

The vigilante mob carried the soldiers to the trestle bridge over Big Creek and summarily hanged them.

Colonel A. D. Nelson, commanding at Fort Hays, responded by sending a detail of soldiers from the 38th Infantry to Hays City to clean out the town. All persons found on the streets or in the establishments after 9 p. m. were to be rounded up and arrested. Fifty-one arrests were made. Only the power of a Kansas congressman kept Nelson from closing all the saloons, which would have made Hays City a ghost town.

In spite of Nelson’s efforts, racial conflict continued at the post and in the town.

Noted gunman Jim Curry purchased the Star Restaurant in Hays.

Soon, a local prostitute by the name of Ida May became involved with Curry. The combination was explosive. Curry was already a desperate man, but his jealousy reportedly made him into “… one of the most desperate desperadoes of the West.”

Curry also had made it quite clear that the Black soldiers of the 38th Infantry were not welcome at the Star. The soldiers figured there was reason enough to get even with Hays City, and set out to do just that on May 3, 1869. When Jim Curry denied the Black troops entrance to his establishment, a race riot ensued. Threats of burning the place were heard.

Hays City’s denizens charged into the Black soldiers, firing their weapons. News accounts reported that 500 shots were fired, but only Curry, Deputy U.S.

Marshal Weiss and an unnamed white soldier were wounded during the 30-minute riot. The soldiers of the 38th U.S.

Infantry were confined to the post, but Hays City’s tough citizens sought out and killed two Black barbers who had not been involved in the riot. The Junction City Union reported, “Gamblers, pimps, prostitutes and deadbeats run the town.”

Ellis County Sheriff Isacc Thayer understandably resigned and left town. For reasons not fully understood today, the governor refused to appoint a successor, saying the county would have to wait until November to elect a new sheriff. The unbearable lawless condition led the citizens to propose their own election in August.

Through mostly the power of the vigilance committee, Wild Bill Hickok was elected sheriff.

The vigilance committee identified men known to deal in stolen horses and mules and forced them to leave town.

Joseph Weiss was no longer a Deputy U. S.

Marshal and chose to run with a rough crowd, which included a tough character by the name of Sam Strawhun.

Both Weiss and Strawhun were ordered to leave town by Alonzo Webster, a vigilante member and Hays City postmaster. Taking offense at the notion, the two entered the post office a few days later to confront Webster.

Webster was manhan- dled, and in front of a female customer, Webster was threatened with a drawn pistol. He calmly asked the men to wait until he gave the woman change. That moment defused the argument and Webster calmly reached into his money drawer for the “change.” When his hand came up from the drawer, he was holding a six-shooter instead of money. With a squeeze of the trigger, the postmaster shot Weiss through the heart before he realized his own danger. Strawhun ran for his life as Webster chased after him for a short distance.

Strawhun gathered his “friends” to take Webster, who had returned to the post office. As the crowd reached the office, Wild Bill arrived “just in time” and the mob dispersed.

In September, Strawhun and a crowd of men tried to lure Hickok into an ambush in a crowded saloon. Several versions are told of what happened next, but whether it was a face-to-face fight or a shot to the back of the head, on the wild frontier, Sam Strawhun did not live to ride another day into The Way West.

“The Cowboy” Jim Gray can be reached at 220 21st Rd., Geneseo, KS 67444, (785) 531-2058 or kansascowboy@kans.com.