02/06/2026
Pete Felten's statues have followed me my whole life, even before I knew who he was as an artist. I graduated from Garden City High School, and at the school's entrance stood a large limestone buffalo that symbolized our mascot. Generations of students, including myself, used that limestone buffalo as a backdrop for their final high school photo before graduating and entering the next phase of their lives. At the time, I never knew who carved it. One of my early visits to Hays was for a job interview at the Fort Hays State Historic Site. I rounded the bypass, looking for where I was going, and there I saw the massive Monarch of the Plains.
As I began my life in Hays, I quickly learned about Pete Felten and later connected the dots that he carved the GCHS buffalo back in the 70s. Pete was like his statues, quiet, usually unassuming, raw, and meaningful. Once you begin to notice his work, it is difficult not to see it dotting the western Kansas landscape. His large statues tell the story of the people and animals of Kansas as if they stepped out of a tall tale. His artistry and interpretation of the Great Plains stand with those like John Steuart Curry and Thomas Hart Benton.
This morning, as I walked into work, I paused at the sight of Felten's Buffalo Bill Cody statue, thinking that, once again, his work followed me into my career. Pete's history and the library's history are interwoven, especially with the Kansas Room. Pete was good friends with Dorothy D. Richards and her husband, Alex. Pete helped with construction projects at the former Carnegie Library and the transition to the 1968 building for Dorothy, and he believed in the importance of libraries.
Pete used the Kansas Room for research and contributed to the collections with his own body of work, particularly on downtown Hays and the rich history of New Deal public works projects in Ellis County. Pete enjoyed coming to the library to check out books, read USA Today, and scan the former "give away" cart. As he drove up and down Main Street in his old car, it was second nature to say, "There goes Pete!" His knowledge of Hays' history was impressive, and much of it has unfortunately gone with him.
We will miss Pete like the rest of Hays, but he left us plenty of reminders of him around town, including here at the library.
-Jeremy Gill
Kansas Room Coordinator
