Hangman's Bridge

Beneath the wooden trestle that originally stood on the site of the railroad bridge north of here, lynch mobs hanged at least four people during the wild days. In the early hours of January 7, 1869, Luke Barnes, Lee Watkins, and James Sponder, Black soldiers of the 38th U.S. Infantry, were hanged there while awaiting trial for the murder of James Hayes in Hays City. On August 11, 1871, another mob hanged Jack McGee, a mule team driver being held in the town-county jail for stabbing Big Creek Township constable Frank Shepard.

Hays, Kansas · United States