Famous names from Hays include: Calamity Jane and George Custer.
The most important Ft. Hays State alumna is my niece, Abby.
Two of their more popular claims to fame are that James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok was the Ellis County sheriff.
It is also where the great Leroy “Satchel” Paige married Lahoma Jean Brown on October 12, 1947. Lahoma and Leroy had seven children together.
In 1968, Paige was hired as a deputy of the sheriff’s office in Kansas City, Missouri.
On June 5, 1982, Satchel attended the dedication of a Kansas City ballpark named for him. Three days later, Paige died of heart failure. He is buried in Kansas City’s Forest Hill Memorial Park Cemetery.
Find out more about the Strengthen the Arm of Liberty Statues across Kansas.