Five Mile Hollow Campsite

"THE FORT HAYS/FORT DODGE ROAD"

BRANCH: The Fort Hays/Fort Dodge Road
DESIGNATION: Five Mile Hollow
LOCATION: From the Site I-2 Marker return to the clubhouse and proceed west .5 mile, left 4.5 miles, and right .6 mile to the marker on the right.
GPS AT MARKER: N38 47.910 -- W99 21.986
GPS AT THE HOLLOW: N38 48.014 -- W99 21.986
TOPOGRAPHICAL EVIDENCE: The hollow is still visible in an uncultivated area 205 yards north of the marker.
PHYSICAL EVIDENCE: None
USGS AERIAL PHOTO: Five Mile Hollow
MODERN DAY MAP: Santa Fe Trail Map Ellis County, Kansas
TOPOGRAPHIC MAP: Topographic Map
HISTORIC DESCRIPTION: A popular campsite.
DISTANCE: From Hays City, 5 miles.

There was hardly a man in this ill-fated outfit who did not suffer the loss of a hand, a foot, or a limb. The men were camped in Five Mile Hollow, five miles from Hays City, and when news of the affair reached town next day, all the citizens turned out to search for the missing men, gathering them up and taking them to the hospital at Hays City. Some of the bewildered men wandered to my road-ranch, where Billy Reynolds was in charge, and there found shelter and protection from the storm.
Olive K. Dixon, Life of Billy Dixon, (Austin: State House Press. 1987), 68.

COMMENTS: Five Mile Hollow was so named for its distance from Hays City. The Fort Hays/Fort Dodge Road ran 1/4 mile to the west of the marker according to the original township survey map.
LEGAL DESCRIPTION: SW 1/4, Section 30, T-14-S, R-18-W, Ellis County, Kansas.

Township 14 South of Range 18 West, Ellis County, Kansas

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"The Directory of Santa Fe Trail Sites"