The 31st annual meeting of the Society of Friends of Historic Fort Hays will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 28, 2018 in the Historic Fort Hays visitorʼs center.

The meeting will begin with a program by Lt. Col. Dennis K. Clark (U.S. Army Ret.) From 2004 until his retirement in 2015, Lt. Col. Clark was an associate professor at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth.

Lt. Col. Clark will talk about the Battle of Beecher Island, that occurred September 17-25, 1868.

It was 150 years ago that Major George A. Forsyth gathered a group of about fifty civilians, many of whom had scouting experience, from the Forts Hays, Harker and Wallace areas. They ended up on the Arikaree Fork of the Republican River in extreme northeastern Colorado.

Early on the morning of September 17, they were confronted by Cheyenne, Arapaho and Sioux warriors that drove the command to an island in the middle of the Arikaree. It was here that one of the most famous Indian charges in Plains history occurred. Behind the great Cheyenne warrior Roman Nose, approximately six hundred Native Americans charged down the river to the island. As they reached the scouts, Roman Nose was shot off his horse and died a short time later. After the first day the battle became a siege, causing the scouts to eat putrefied horse meat and anything else they could find to survive. Eventually two scouts managed to escape and reach Fort Wallace. On September 25, a relief party of Tenth Cavalry troops arrived at the battle site.

About 10 years ago Lt. Col. Clark visited Beecher Island Battleground. As he had done most of his life, it was not just a chance visit; he had researched Major Forsythʼs 1868 campaign thoroughly and envisioned what had taken place along the Arikaree.

Within minutes of arriving at Beecher Island Battleground, Lt. Col. Clark knew the battle had not occurred there. Over the following years, he conducted further research, including satellite imagery, information from Major Eugene Carrʼs 1869 campaign, and an accidental discovery of a misfiled survey map at the State Archives in Topeka. This information led him to what he believes is the actual site of the battle, more than seven miles to the west of the National Historic Place.

Following the program will be a short break. Cookies, coffee, and tea will be provided.

After the break, a meeting of the Society of Friends of Historic Fort Hays will be held. This will allow the members of the Friends to hear first-hand the progress that has been made in developing the site as well as future plans.

The program is open to the public. There is no charge to attend the program and meeting.

For more information contact Fort Hays State Historic Site at 785-625-6812.