Hangman’s Bridge Hays City, Kansas
ID: KS1869187101
Name(s) of People Lynched: Luke Barnes, Lee Watkins, James Sponder, Jack McGee
Number of People Lynched: 4
Race: Black
Gender: Male
Lynching Date(s): 1869-01-07, 1871-08-11
Year Marker Erected:
Erected by: City of Hays Kansas Convention & Visitors Bureau
City: Hays
County: Ellis
State: Kansas
Marker Text: Beneath the wooden trestle which originally stood on the site of the railroad bridge north of here, lynch mobs hanged at least four persons in the wild days. In the wee hours of January 7, 1869, Luke Barnes, Lee Watkins and James Sponder, Black soldiers of the 38th U.S. Infantry, were hanged here, 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’s constable Frank Shepard.
Sources: https://www.hmdb.org
Notes: The marker was stolen in November 2018.