Hays, Past and Present

This week’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette:

Sternberg Museum of Natural History

HAYS, PAST AND PRESENT

I left you in Lucas at the end of last week’s column. After Lucas, I then took a spin through Russell, which has “Home of Bob Dole” painted on one of its grain elevators.

And I stopped at Victoria (pop. 1,191) to check out a famous church in town.

Many of Kansas’ Catholic churches are full of human faces and forms with the statues of saints, Stations of the Cross, and colorful, story-telling stained-glass windows. I’m always a bit wowed when I step inside an old Catholic church.

And this one in Victoria is stunning. Apparently I’m not the only one who has been wowed by St. Fidelis Church, which has been nicknamed the Cathedral of the Plains. The church reports receiving 16,000 tourists annually. And in 2008, St. Fidelis was named one of the 8 Wonders of Kansas.

Interior, St. Fidelis Church, Victoria

A group of Volga-Germans came to Victoria from Russia in 1875. Construction of this church began in 1908 and was completed in 1911. Limestone for the church was quarried nearby.

After spending a few quiet minutes inside the church, I moved on to Hays. Arriving at suppertime, I sought out Gella’s Diner. I’d first hear about Gella’s at the Kansas Sampler Festival last May and knew then that on my next trip to Hays, I’d eat here.

The menu had many interesting options. But because this is German country, I ordered the smothered bierock, a roll stuffed with German sausage and cabbage, then covered with melted cheese. It was served with homemade kettle chips. And on the dessert menu, when I saw crème brulee, I didn’t read any farther. Raspberries garnished the custard; it was superb.

The next day for lunch I dined at Al’s Chickenette. I was drawn to the place because, 1) I’ve never eaten at a chickenette, and, 2) It had a great neon sign and I have a thing for neon.

The diner has been around since 1949 when Al and Lucille Bieker left Salina and headed west. According to a bit of history on the restaurant’s menu, the Biekers “packed up their stove and moved to Hays.”

My previous trips through Hays have been after-hours for the museum, so this trip gave me my first venture into the Sternberg Museum of Natural History. This is definitely a state treasure, a must-visit for every Kansan.

Here you’ll see amazing fossils:  platecarpus, pterandodon longiceps, plesiosaur, the mosasaur. And the fish-within-a-fish – a gillicus inside a xiphactinus.

As I stood in front of these ancient sea and sky creatures which left their bones in Logan, Gove and other nearby counties, I felt very small compared to the hands of time. These creatures lived in Kansas 80 million years ago, give or take. There’s something profound in being so close in proximity to these artifacts and yet so far away from their existence.

Next up, I stopped by the Fort Hays State Historic Site. Fort Hays closed in 1889, the last fort to be shut down in Kansas. The 12 square miles of federal property was turned over to the state with the conditions that a teacher’s college be constructed on the grounds, as well as an agricultural experiment station and a park.

In 1867, there were 565 soldiers here, the tour guide said. Two limestone buildings remain on property, the blockhouse and the guardhouse. Also on the grounds are a couple of two-story wood-frame houses which served as quarters for junior officers.

Blockhouse, Ft. Hays State Historic Site

In the blockhouse, the fort’s first line of defense, the limestone walls were about 18 inches thick. And although the wind was hitting the walls at 40 mph that day, its sound was deflected or silenced by the stone.

In this building it was as if I could feel presence of the long-gone soldiers. I could almost hear the scuffling of boots on the floor and could imagine soldiers running toward the rifle slots in the walls, guns in hand.

In Hays, it occurred to me how lucky we are to have these buildings and fossils of the past still with us. I’m grateful that these structures and artifacts have been preserved and made available to the public.

History is alive and well in Kansas.

Copyright 2010 ~ Cheryl Unruh