The Army planned to use Fort Hays as a supply depot for other posts in the region and thus needed it to be located close to the railway. But, the path of the railroad was five miles to the north. Between that and the flood, the Army decided to relocate the fort. On orders from Maj. Gen. Winfield Hancock, Maj. Alfred Gibbs chose a new location 15 miles to the northwest where the railway would cross Big Creek. The Army occupied this site, moving Fort Hays to its final location, on June 23, 1867. Attracted by the fort's new location and the railroad's westward extension, settlers soon arrived and established the communities of Rome and Hays City nearby, the latter named after the fort.