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Frontier Kansas Jails, a First Thursday Presentation

Thursday, March 2, 2017
5:30 pm6:30 pm
Smoky Hill Museum Lobby

Join Dr. Gerald J. Bayens for a presentation on his new book “Frontier Kansas Jails” on March 2, 2017, at the Smoky Hill Museum. Afterwards he will sign copies of his book which is carried by the Museum Store.

Dr. Bayens will share how gunslingers, gamblers and outlaws vastly outnumbered sheriffs and marshals in the cattle towns of the Kansas frontier. Famous lawmen, such as Charlie Bassett, Wild Bill Hickok and Tom Smith, kept the peace by sheer force of personality and the integrity of the local lockup. The story of the state’s settlement can be tracked in the fascinating development of these bastions of prairie justice. Makeshift jails of earlier times were replaced by limestone, brick and concrete structures with iron cells and elaborate locking systems. From the squirrel cage of Wichita to the iron jail of Lawrence City, tour these early Kansas prisons with author Gerald Bayens.

Gerald J. Bayens, PhD, is the associate dean of the School of Applied Studies and professor of criminal justice at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. Dr. Bayens is the author of numerous research articles, government reports and books. He is the recipient of the 1993 Washburn Alumni Fellows Award and the 2014 A. Roy Meyers Excellence in Research Award.

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