The Historic Fort Hays Frontier Fall Celebration began with a presentation about Halloween, ghost stories of Hays, wagon rides, live music and pumpkin decorating on Saturday afternoon and ended with haunted tours in the evening. In past years, the Fort Hays State Historic Site has hosted Graveside Conversations at the site of the fort’s old cemetery. “Now, we focus on the buildings we have right now and put “ghosts” in those and we’re hoping to expand it a little bit more in the future,” site administrator Adam Conkey said.
The ghost of Nettie Baldwin (Michelle English) welcomes visitors to the haunted tour. “This is like Christmas Past, but also it’s not because you get to have more of a one-on-one with the volunteers out here,” Conkey said. “It feels a lot more like living history; you get to talk to them and hear their stories.” Volunteers with the Society of Friends of Historic Fort Hays and Hays Community Theatre portrayed “ghosts” of people associated with the fort on the haunted tour. Codi Fenwick speaks to visitors as the ghost of Ann “Wild Annie” Powers. Headstones show the names of two cavalrymen who were shot and killed in town. Paul English portrays the ghost of Hill P. Wilson, the post trader of the fort. The ghost of Peter Welsh (John Allen) tells visitors the story of how he died.
The ghost of George Clark (Thomas DiVittore) recounts his death, which was caused by rabies after being bitten by a wolf. Marla Matkin portrays Elizabeth Polly, a nurse who cared for soldiers at the fort during a cholera outbreak before dying of the disease herself. “I would encourage people to come out and see a different side of the fort, especially in the fall,” Conkey said. “This year, we had really great fall colors and the leaves haven’t blown off the trees yet.”
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