Hays, KS

Hays is a western Kansas city with frontier, military, and university layers. The U.S. Army established Fort Fletcher in 1865 southeast of present-day Hays to protect stagecoaches on the Smoky Hill Trail, and Fort Hays soon became central to the area's early growth. Today Fort Hays State University gives the city its strongest modern identity, with galleries, students, and regional events adding life to the high plains setting. Hays feels like a college town and service hub for a wide stretch of western Kansas.