Western history author and lecturer Jeff Barnes will appear in Hays for a talk on William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody that covers his life in Kansas, the Ellis County Historical Society announced in a news release Tuesday.

At 7 p.m. Monday at the historical society’s Stone Church, Barnes will present “Buffalo Bill’s Kansas,” the story of the formative years of the legend.

“William F. Cody was born in Iowa, but Buffalo Bill was born in Kansas,” Barnes said. “It was here that he went from a small boy to a legend, where he grew up and started a family, but also where he met several influential and historical characters and created a name for himself.”

Barnes is the author of the newly published “The Great Plains Guide to Buffalo Bill,” which will be available at both the library and the museum for signing. Published by Stackpole Books, it is the first comprehensive travel guide to Cody’s activities on the Great Plains, including his homes, forts, battlefields and related sites. The book includes the history of Cody and the sites, historic and contemporary images, maps, and useful travel information.

A former newspaper reporter and editor, Barnes writes and lives in Omaha, Neb. He is a board trustee with the Nebraska State Historical Society, former chairman of the Nebraska Hall of Fame Commission and a frequently requested speaker with Humanities Nebraska.

His first book, “Forts of the Northern Plains,” is now in its fourth printing with Stackpole, and “The Great Plains Guide to Custer” is now in its second printing.