Those who challenged their authority ended up in the original Boot Hill cemetery. Lt. Col. George Custer encamped near Fort Hays on the outskirts of town and led the Seventh U.S. Cavalry on successful campaigns against the Indians.
The largest herd of buffalo in North America, estimated to be in the millions, once roamed the area's plains. Calamity Jane and Buffalo Bill Cody also called Hays home.
That frontier spirit remains today. It fuels the passion and enthusiasm the people who live and work here have for the area.
Located in northwest Kansas, Ellis County is conveniently located midway between Denver and Kansas City.
Agriculture fuels the region's economy. The flat to rolling landscape is ideal for grazing cattle and growing wheat and grain sorghum. Gorgeous sunrises and sunsets saturate the Blue Hills of the Saline River or the valleys carved out by the Smoky Hill River.
Millions of years ago the area was at the bottom of a huge warm Cretaceous Sea. It left behind large oil reserves, which helped make the area the top oil-producing county in the state. "We need the revenue from oil so we can afford to farm," jokes Leo Dorzweiler who has several wells on his farm northeast of Hays.
Like many residents of Ellis County, Dorzweiler is a descendant of Germans who emigrated from Bukovina (which is now Romania and the Ukraine) and the Volga River region of Russia. The immigrants settled in communities such as Catherine, Munor and Schoenchen and brought with them a strong work ethic and pride of heritage that survives today.
These villages look much like the ones they left behind with their small, tidy homes built around a massive church cut from native limestone, its soaring steeple rising above the trees.
"We work hard here, but we have genuine fun too," says Dorzweiler. "We like to get together for food, dancing and entertainment," notes the originator of the Midwest Deutsche Oktoberfest held the third weekend of September. Little wonder that Ellis County has been proclaimed the German capital of Kansas.
With a population of 20,000, Hays is the retail, education, cultural and medical hub of Ellis County as well as much of northwest Kansas. But times weren't always so smooth-sailing.
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In the 1980s the county lost its largest employer at the same time agriculture and the oil industry were mired in an economic slump. "It was the perfect storm of bad news," says Mike Michaelis, executive director for the Ellis County Coalition for Economic Development.
Community leaders did what their German ancestors would have done; they rolled up their sleeves and went to work. That lead to the coalition Michaelis now oversees was created to ensure economic vitality for the county as well as to enhance the region's quality of life.
Today, the area boasts several manufacturers and businesses. Unemployment is less than 3%. Billboards along I-70 advertise hayshasjobs.com, a campaign to attract more employees. Construction north of the interstate in Hays is bringing big-box retailers, hotels and chain restaurants.
Meanwhile, an aggressive Downtown Hays Development Corporation is attracting new businesses to the town's historic Chestnut Street District . The streets are lined with boutiques, galleries, restaurants, coffee houses, salons and other shops you'd expect to find in much larger cities.
"We're a micropolitan, not a metropolitan," explains Michaelis. "We have all the benefits [of a city] without the problems."
Those benefits include a thriving cultural scene. Hays has the oldest arts council in the state while the Hays Symphony Orchestra is in its eighth decade of continuous performance.
You can catch a wide variety of performances at Fort Hays State University, the only four-year state institution in the western two-thirds of Kansas.
And the Sternberg Museum of Natural History exhibits many of the fossils collected in the region by the renowned Sternberg family.
Exceptional medical care can be found at the Hays Medical Center. The complex is anchored by the Michael E. DeBakey Heart Institute, created with help from the namesake's guiding hand, who is known around the world as "the father of heart surgery."
It's amenities like these that reinforce Kirk Dickinson's opinion that Ellis County is a great place to live. "We have beautiful scenic views and open spaces," notes the sixth-generation rancher and farmer. "We have everything we need."
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FEATURED PROPERTIES IN THIS COUNTY FROM THE PROGRESSIVE FARMER REAL ESTATE DATABASE>> |
More info on the web:
Cooperative Extension, Ellis County
www.oznet.ksu.edu
Hays Area Chamber of Commerce
www.ellisco.org/Document.aspx?id=2
Community Services and Relocation Information
www.ellisco.org/Document.aspx?id=1
Hays Arts Council
www.haysartscenter.org
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