The Hays House (the setting where Monterey Jack Danvers works in Goodin Gulch) is based on a real place I frequented while growing up in Kansas.
In Council Grove, a rustic community nestled in the Kansas Flint Hills, has a historic restaurant called The Hays House (https://www.hayshouse.com/). If you are ever in the area, you should totally give it a try. There all kinds of pioneer history in Council Grove, and the food at the Hays House is excellent.
My favorite memory of the place is getting my first piece of Grasshopper Pie, which is basically a mint-chocolate cold pie. I had a hard time ordering it as a child because I wasn't sure it didn't have real grasshoppers in it! Luckily, it didn't. :)
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