The Kansas conflict

THE KANSAS CONFLICT

BY

CHARLES ROBINSON

LATE GOVERNOR OF KANSAS

NEW YORK

HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE
1892

a 4-

Copyright, 1892, by CHARLES ROBINSON.

All rights reserved.

.->°N "F:^X

<5> LIBRARY

Dedicates

TO

ELI THAYER

WHO CONCEIVED AND EXECUTED THE PLAN OF ORGANIZED

EMIGRATION BY WHICH A FREE STATE IN KANSAS WAS MADE POSSIBLE

AND TO HIS CO-OPERATORS IN THE STATES; AND ALSO

TO

THE MEMBERS OF THE FREE STATE PARTY

BY WHOSE COURAGE, FIRMNESS, PRUDENCE, SAGACITY

AND SUFFERING WAS ACHIEVED A VICTORY AGAINST OPPRESSION

SECOND TO NONE IN THE ANNALS OF HISTORY

LIBRARY.

PREFACE.

AN apology may be due to the reading public for submit-
ting to it the pages that follow. In an address before the
Kansas State Historical Society, on retiring from the office
of president, in the winter of 1881, I said:

" The time for writing the true history of Kansas has not
yet arrived, and will not arrive till the historian shall be so
far removed from the actors and passions of the hour as to
be able to survey calmly the whole field, and to discern
clearly, not only events, but causes and effects as well.
Distance lends enchantment to a view, and clearness to the
vision of the historian. A corporal might narrate with ac-
curacy the exploits of his foraging squad, but he would be
a poor historian even of his company. The part he played
with his squad would be more important to him than all the
other exploits of the larger body, however brilliant, and, in
fact, would prevent him from seeing what his comrades were
doing. The colonel of a regiment might relate with great
fidelity the achievements of his regiment, but he in turn
would be a poor historian of the brigade. A general of
brigade or division might be well qualified to furnish facts
connected with his immediate command, but the more strictly
he attended to his own duties the less would he be compe-
tent to write the history of the army. So the General-in-chief
could tell accurately, perhaps, of the movements which he
had ordered and which had been made according to his
direction, but before a true history of the war could be writ-

vi PREFACE. .

ten, the powers behind the General must be consulted. The
War Secretary, the Commander-in-chief of all the forces, the
Congress that directs the commander, the people who make
the Congress, with the influences and motives that con-
trol the people themselves — must all be taken into the ac-
count.

" The actors in any struggle are unfitted to be the histo-
rians of that struggle, and this unfitness extends to all their
sympathizers and partisans. Should an actor attempt to
write history, the attempt would necessarily result in magnify-
ing the part he had acted or witnessed, at the expense of all
others, while a sympathizer or partisan would be incapable
of treating all the actors with impartiality. The worst of
all historians is he who selects his own hero, and makes all
events revolve about him, as the planets around the sun.
Such a person may write tolerable romance or fiction founded
on fact, but history, never."

This being my belief, I make no pretense that this book,
while it gives the conflict in Kansas from my point of view,
is a complete history of that struggle. It is written for two
reasons : The first is the importunity of persons who were
actors or sympathizers in making a free State of Kansas ;
and the second, that no writer thus far has taken the view
that seems to me the true one of the movements made by
the Free-State party, and of the causes and reasons for the
same. In May, 1868, Hon. D. W. Wilder, who has always
taken a deep interest in Kansas history, wrote asking for a
paper upon this subject, saying : " The point I aim at is to
give the man's own version of the scenes in which he has
been actor or witness — and that is what History will go back
to when she at last takes up her impartial pen to tell this
story."

Such, in the main, is this book. It is simply an account of
the struggle as witnessed by one of the actors. It was intended
to give details at length and the part taken by individuals in
different movements, but it was found that to do so would

PREFACE. vii

extend the work beyond desirable limits, and much matter
of this nature has been stricken out. There are many of the
actors whose names deserve high honor, and whose deeds
would fill a volume, who have been passed by with but a
word, or perhaps not even mentioned. To have done com-
plete justice to individuals would have obscured or abbre-
viated the outlines of the general conflict which I aimed to
give.

JVhile the contest between the Free-State and Slave-State
men was most earnest, and casual observers would be induced
to believe most bitter, the writer of this book can truthfully
say that he never permitted his personal feelings to become
enlisted from first to last. No uncivil word or act was heard
or witnessed between myself and the most violent of the
opposite party. Our personal intercourse was at all times
most courteous. The same is true of factional differences
among Free-State men. Not an uncivil word ever passed
between myself and Lane, Brown, or any other partisan.
The work in which all were engaged was too important for
the workers who were actuated by principle to engage in
personalities.

The conduct of the War of the Rebellion is perhaps treated
with too little respect for great names, but there is not the
least bitterness of feeling. Believing that there was the most
inexcusable, unnecessary, and wanton destruction of life and
property, I have characterized conduct as I think it merits,
without other feeling than that of regret and a just indigna-
tion that such outrages should be permitted by those who
had the power to prevent them.

It is very likely that the reader will find many shortcom-
ings, many important matters omitted and some things said
that might have been said better or, perhaps, should not have
been said at all ; but if anything has been written that shall
aid the disinterested historian in getting at the truth of the
most important conflict of this age and country, I shall feel
abundantly rewarded for my labor.

viii PREFACE.

That some readers will be disturbed and displeased is also
very likely. Oliver Wendell Holmes says :

" You never need think you can turn over any old false-
hood, without a terrible squirming and scattering of the
horrid little population that dwells under it. Every real
thought on every real subject knocks the wind out of some-
body or other."

C. ROBINSON.

^ON pi
LIBRARY.

PAGE

PREFACE. . . v

INTRODUCTION xiii

CHAPTER I.

Slavery and Anti-Slavery. — Colonization Society. — American Anti-
Slavery Society. — Liberty and Free-Soil Parties I

CHAPTER II.

Weapons and Machinery Needed. — Settlers Required. — How Se-
cured 16

CHAPTER III.

Characteristics of Contestants. — Eastern and Western Settlers. —
The Overland Route to California in 1849. — The Sacramento
Riot 26

CHAPTER IV.

Situation in the East. — Eli Thayer and his Associates. — Settlement
of Lawrence. — Claim Controversies 66

CHAPTER V.

Settlements. — Elections. — Public Sentiments 91

CHAPTER VI.

Repudiation. — Means of Defense. — The Country Agitated. — The
First Kansas Celebration of the Fourth of July 12 1

x CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VII.

PAGE

The Territorial Legislature. — The Topeka Constitution 153

CHAPTER VIII.

The Murder of Dow. — The Wakarusa War.— Murder and Burial
of Barber 181

CHAPTER IX.
Results of the Wakarusa War. — A Congressional Investigation. . . .212

CHAPTER X.

The Marshal's Invasion of Lawrence, May 21, 1856. — Shooting of
Jones. — An Official Riot. — Arrest of Robinson. — Protest to
President. — Reeder's Escape 231

CHAPTER XL

The Potawatomie Massacre and its Effects. — A Guerrilla War.
— Dispersion of the State Legislature. — Arrival of Lane and
Brown 265

CHAPTER XII.

Free-State and Pro-Slavery Forces. — Arrival of Governor Geary. —

End of the War. — The Parts played by Brown and Lane 302 r

CHAPTER XIII.

The Conduct of the Army in Kansas. — Agitation in the East. — The
Presidential Election. — Governor Geary's Failure 332

CHAPTER XIV.
State and Territorial Elections in 1857 344

CHAPTER XV.

Lecompton Constitution. — Leavenworth Constitution. — Ultra Radi-
cals 369

CONTENTS. xi

CHAPTER XVI.

PAGE

Difficulties in Southern Kansas. — Montgomery and Brown. — Marais
des Cygnes Massacre. — Brown's Parallels. — Arts of Peace. . . .391

CHAPTER XVII.

The Killing of Jenkins. — The Services of Lane and Brown. — Ad-
mission of Kansas to the Union. — Secession. — The Governor's
First Message 42 1

CHAPTER XVIII.

Troops Called. — Lane's Brigade and Jay-Hawking. — Lane's In-
fluence at Washington 434

CHAPTER XIX.

The Growth of Kansas. — Her Institutions. — Temperance. — Prohi-
bition.— Importance of the Kansas Conflict , . .464

APPENDIX 482

INTRODUCTION.

FOR years myself and others within and without the State
have been urging Governor Robinson to write what he
knows about the early history of Kansas. " Perseverance
conquers all things," and at last the history is written. And,
to my great surprise, I am complimented and honored with
an invitation to write the introduction.

Any history of Kansas without Governor Robinson as the
prominent figure would be like the "play of Hamlet with
Hamlet left out." He has an array of facts and information
that no other man has, without which any history of Kansas
would be incomplete. I first met Governor Robinson (then
Dr. Robinson) in Boston, March 5, 1855, on the eve of leav-
ing for Kansas with the Manhattan Colony, and was espe-
cially indebted to him for valuable suggestions. I was pe-
culiarly impressed with his qualifications for a great leader.
He was tall, well-proportioned, commanding in appearance,
yet winning in manner; with a clear, keen, blue eye; a
countenance that denoted culture and intellect, and a will
that few would care to run against. He would pass any-
where as a good-looking man, and in any crowd would com-
mand attention. With perfect control of himself, he could
rule in the midst of a storm. His magnetism would inspire
men to do and to dare in the cause of human Liberty, and
the establishment of the great principles of Republican gov-
ernment.

In the history of the world, Providence has raised up men
qualified for particular work. Where would British India
have been to-day without Lord Clive, though at the com-

xiv INTRODUCTION.

mencement of the great struggle he was a merchant's clerk ?
What would the Pilgrims on Plymouth Rock have done
without the cool and brave Miles Standish? And in our
Revolution who could have led us to the victory except
George Washington I And still later on, who could have
conquered the Rebellion but the indomitable Grant ? While
Eli Thayer, providentially the founder of the New England
Emigrant Aid Company, was flying over the North like a
flaming meteor, stirring up the people for money and recruits
in his grand crusade for the freedom of Kansas, Charles
Robinson, his trusty lieutenant, wonderfully prepared for it
by a like Providence by his California experience, was sternly
holding the helm amid the storms and breakers in Kansas.
Without Eli Thayer the emigrants would not have come, and
without Charles Robinson it would have been in vain that
they did come ! Cool, clear-headed, and brave, he could see
the end from the beginning, and the sure way to reach it.
While others were all excitement, he was perfectly self-pos-
sessed, and knew the right thing to do, and did it. To his
mind two things were perfectly clear : First, there was to be
no resistance of the United States Government. Secondly,
the territorial laws made by a bogus Legislature were to be
ignored. To carry out these principles required clear heads
and many times a passive resistance worthy of the early
martyrs. His great idea was in every case so to manage
that the Pro-Slavery men should be in the wrong and the
Free-State men in the right. The first must be the aggressor,
and the second the passive sufferer, or act only in self-de-
fense. In this way alone he could secure the united sympa-
thy and support of the North.

The New England Emigrant Aid Company, without which
Kansas could not have been saved, was composed of a
remarkable body of men. Eli Thayer says : " No other cor-
poration ever formed in this country can compare at all in
ability, character, influence, and wealth with the Directors of
the Emigrant Aid Company." And through his genius, skill,

INTRODUCTION. xv

and forethought it was created and made effectual in its great
and glorious work. In his valuable book, "The Kansas
Crusade," published in 1889, he has written a wonderful
history of his grand and noble work which made it possible
to save Kansas from slavery by outside work. And now we
have Governor Robinson's history, which tells how Kansas
was saved to freedom by inside work. They constitute two
of the most important histories yet written, which tell how
Kansas was made a free State. Let every Kansan read
them.

Governor Robinson has brought to the work honesty,
conscientiousness, ability, and independence. Never did Dr.
Robinson appear to greater advantage than in the Waka-
rusa war of December, 1855. Governor Shannon, inspired
by Sheriff Jones and other pro-slavery leaders, issued a proc-
lamation for volunteers to enforce the bogus laws, and in
response some 1900 Missourians assembled at Franklin to
wipe out Lawrence, the hotbed of rebellion against the
supremacy of slavery. Dr. Robinson was the diplomatist
who devised the policy adopted to thwart the enemy. Shan-
non's good sense and legal mind enabled him, on arriving
at Lawrence, at once to grasp the situation. A treaty was
made and the tables were turned. The army of Sheriff Jones
was ordered to disperse, and a legal force found itself at
once a mob, while Robinson and his force became law-abid-
ing citizens, and were recognized by Governor Shannon to
be so. By request of the Governor, who seemed to distrust
his own power of persuasion, Dr. Robinson and General
Lane accompanied him to Franklin to explain to the Mis-
sourians the true condition of affairs. Lane first spoke, but
unfortunately provoked instead of conciliated, and the meet-
ing was on the point of breaking up in confusion when Dr.
Robinson was called out, and by an appeal to facts and their
common sense, he conquered their prejudices and the victory
was won. During this negotiation, as on other important
occasions, came in the disturbing element of John Brown

xvi INTRODUCTION.

and a few followers who were as ready to fight the United
States Government as they were the border ruffians. Brown
himself wished to go out and open the fight with the enemy,
and was only kept quiet by a threat from Robinson that he
would place him under arrest.

It was while Dr. Robinson was a prisoner under a guard
of United States soldiers at Lecompton, that General Lane
proposed to release him and the other Free-State prisoners
by force, when the General was very decidedly requested to
keep quiet. Their liberation without force soon followed.
It was while he was a prisoner that John Brown, with some
half dozen men, in the night, on Pottawatomie Creek, called
out and assassinated three men and two boys in a shocking
manner. At a mass meeting called soon after by both par-
ties, the act was denounced and disowned. Brown was
condemned even by his own son Jason, with whom I rode a
long distance on his way to California, in 1884. Neverthe-
less, that massacre was the commencement of those terrible
atrocities that followed in south-eastern Kansas, and beyond
the control of Dr. Robinson. Had his statesmanship pre-
vailed everywhere, very little bloodshed would have attended
the making of Kansas a free State. For Dr. Robinson the
border ruffians had great respect, and when at Lawrence
they had seized the polls and driven all other Free-State men
away, on his approach they cried out, " Here comes the
Doctor ; let him vote," and the way was cleared. Even in
that terrible massacre during the Lawrence raid, and when
the Doctor slowly retired from his barn to the brow of Mt.
Oread, near where several of Quantrell's men were on guard,
they did not molest him. There was a certain something, a
strange, commanding influence, a presence that neutralized
for the time being any power to do him harm. In all of his
Kansas experience, both when free and when for four months
a prisoner, I never heard of his receiving a personal insult.
The same was true of his California experience. He would
meet hundreds of men single-handed and prevent the de-

INTRODUCTION. xvii

struction of the squatters' property without a blow being
struck.

While I have always looked upon Governor Robinson as
raised up and specially qualified as the man, and the only
man, within the territory to lead on to certain victory, I have
never thought him a good politician. He is too honest and
outspoken; his sentiments, whether popular or unpopular,
are never concealed. With the highest appreciation of his
services in saving Kansas, and with a personal regard that
has few equals, it has so happened, fortunately or unfortu-
nately, that ever since the war we have in most cases voted on
opposite sides, yet without disturbing our personal relations.
The world will never be quite right till we allow other people
the same freedom of thought and action that we claim for
ourselves.

Before closing I wish to quote from several contempo-
raries. G. Douglas Brewerton, correspondent JV. Y. Herald,
who was in Kansas in December, 1855, and January, 1856,
thus speaks of Charles Robinson : " In Kansas politics Gen-
eral Robinson was a member of the State constitutional
convention, is chairman of the Free-State executive commit-
tee, and in addition to this holds the military rank of Major-
General and Commander-in-chief of the Kansas Volunteers,
as the Free-State army of Kansas style themselves. He
may be regarded as the real head — the thinking one, we
mean — and mainspring of the Free-State party, or, to speak
more correctly, of all that party who are worth anything.
We believe him to be a keen, shrewd, far-seeing man, who
would permit nothing to stand in the way of the end which
he desired to gain. He is, moreover, cool and determined,
and appears to be endowed with immense firmness; we
should call him a conservative man now, but conservative
rather from policy than from principle. He seems to have
strong common sense, and a good ordinary brain, but no
brilliancy of talent. In fact, to sum Governor Robinson up
in a single sentence, we consider him the most dangerous
B

xviii INTRODUCTION.

enemy which the pro-slavery party have to encounter in
Kansas. In person he is tall and well-made, and more than
ordinarily handsome, gentlemanly, but by no means winning
in his manners, with one of those cold, keen blue eyes that
seem to look you through."

S. S. Prouty sums up the character of Governor Robinson
in an address January 27, 1881, before the Kansas State
Historical Society, as follows :

" One of the most conspicuous and influential leaders of
the Free-State party was Charles Robinson, the first Gov-
ernor of the State of Kansas. He was noted for his sterling
common sense, firmness, coolness, and courage. Though an
uncompromising anti-slavery man, there was no sentiment
or gush in his composition. He was regarded as a conserv-
ative man and too business-like and practical by the ideal-
ists. He fancied fighting as well as any other man when it
was absolutely necessary, or when it would benefit the Free-
State cause. But he did not believe in sanguinary strife
simply for the love of it, or for ends but remotely associated
with the Kansas contest. Such men as Governor Robinson
were needed to hold in check the reckless and imprudent,
to bring order out of chaos, and secure the fruits of victory."

October 30, 1851, he married Miss Sara T. D. Lawrence,
daughter of Hon. Myron Lawrence, an eminent lawyer and
statesman of Massachusetts. Her mother was Clarissa
(D wight) Lawrence. She was of the New England family
of Dwights, of western Massachusetts, of which President
Dwight, of Yale College, is a worthy scion. She is the
author of " Kansas ; its Interior and Exterior Life," a book
which in its time was a not unworthy rival of " Uncle Tom's
Cabin," and did scarcely less in its sphere, to rouse the
Northern heart, in the early years of the Kansas struggle.
They have no children.

Eli Thayer, in his " Kansas Crusade," * speaks of his first
meeting with Charles Robinson as follows :
* "Kansas Crusade," page 33.

INTRODUCTION. xix

" It was at one of the Chapman Hall meetings (in Boston)
that I first saw Charles Robinson (afterwards Governor of
Kansas), and engaged him to act as agent of the Emigrant
Aid Company. A wiser and more sagacious man for this
work could not have been found within the borders of the
nation. By nature and by training he was perfectly well
equipped for the arduous work before him. A true Demo-
crat and a lover of the rights of man, he had risked his life
in California while defending the poor and weak against the
cruel oppression of the rich and powerful. He was willing
at any time, if there were need, to die for his principles. In
addition to such brave devotion to his duty, he had the
clearest foresight and the coolest, calmest judgment in deter-
mining the course of action best adapted to secure the rights
of the Free-State settlers. No one in Kansas was so much
as he the man for the place and time. He was a deeper
thinker than Atchison, and triumphed over the border ruffians
and the more annoying and more dangerous self-seekers of
his own party. The man who 'paints the lily and gilds
refined gold ' is just the one to tell us how Charles Robinson
might have been better qualified for his Kansas work. But
his character, so clearly defined in freedom's greatest struggle,
superior to the help or harm of criticism, reveals these salient
points of excellence — majesty of mind and humility of heart,
stern justice and tender sympathy, heroic will and sensitive
conscience, masculine strength and maidenly modesty, leonine
courage and womanly gentleness, with power to govern
based on self-restraint, and love of freedom deeper than love
of life. With such a man at the head of the Free-State
cause it is not strange that I felt no uneasiness about its
management. I never troubled him with letters of advice
about Kansas matters, which he was in a position to under-
stand so well. In the three years' conflict very few letters
passed between us. He never knew where or when a letter
would reach me, as I was speaking all the way from the
Penobscot to the Schuylkill, and from the seaboard to the

xx INTRODUCTION.

lakes. It was my mission to raise men and money for the
security of freedom in the Territory, and to combine the
Northern States in this work. I did not doubt Robinson's
ability or fidelity in the use of means."

Colonel S. F. Tappan, a member of the pioneer party
from Massachusetts, in 1854 ; a Branson rescuer; newspaper
correspondent ; Clerk of the State Legislature who was calling
the roll of the House when that body was dispersed by Col-
onel Sumner ; descendant of the famous Tappan families of
New England and New York ; Colonel of the First Colorado
Regiment during the war, and member of the Indian Peace
Commission afterwards, wrote to the Denver Tribune of
September 9, 1883, a communication in which he said:

" Having referred to the early history of Kansas, the long-
protracted struggle of its people to consecrate its soil to
freedom, efforts at last rewarded by the admission of Kansas
into the Federal Union as a free State, it seems appropriate
to make a brief reference to the man who more than any
other — in fact, more than all others — by being patient as
well as herioc — patient under the most adverse and trying
circumstances, patient when persecuted, patient when victo-
rious, patient in council, patient in battle, and more than all,
patient in prison — so shaped and directed the policy of the
Free-State men as to bring about the most desired object,
the freedom of Kansas. When the first party of emigrants
to Kansas from New England — as early as July, 1854 —
reached the city of St. Louis en route, they there met one
who had preceded them to Kansas and made a selection of a
location — now Lawrence — on the Kansas River, just west
of the limits of the Shawnee reservation, about forty-five
miles west of Kansas City, as a place for this party to make
a settlement. He then returned and met them at St. Louis,
further to aid them in their purchases for their new homes.
This man had been a pioneer in a new country, one of the
earliest of those who went to California, and while there was
shot through the body while endeavoring to vindicate the

INTRODUCTION.

rights of the settlers to the land, commanding and leading
them against a monster monopoly which was seeking to
obtain and control all of the public domain. After being
shot, he was placed on board a prison-ship and there retained
until the people had elected and called upon him to represent
them in the Legislature. Upon the passage of the Kansas-
Nebraska bill, he emigrated to Kansas, and ever since has
been closely and prominently connected with its interests.
Upon the commencement of hostilities between the Free-
State men and the invaders, he was called upon to take
command of the former. Had it simply been a question
between the Free-State men and the Missourians, it would
have soon been settled by a decisive action. But the ques-
tion at issue was more than this ; it was not local, but
national. The Missourians were encouraged and sustained
at the outset by the entire force of the Federal Government,
by the slave power of the South, and their allies at the North.
The Federal judiciary and the Federal army were also ar- \
rayed on their side and against the Free-State men. These
were potent, because on the ground and ready to be applied
in behalf of the invader. Under these adverse circumstances
the cause of free Kansas seemed at first sight lost forever.
To fully comprehend the situation and the best means of
averting the storm required a man of the greatest patience,
judgment, coolness, and courage ; one able to consolidate
and control the Free-State element in such a way as to pre-
vent a direct conflict with the Federal authority, and at the
same time to maintain a determined position of resistance to
the invader of the Territory and oppressor of the settlers ;
one able to shape the policy of the people and direct it to-
ward a final victory upon the appearance of every new move-
ment of the enemy. Kansas had such a man, who proved
himself equal to every emergency. When the invader had, |
by violence, obtained absolute control of the first Legislative \
Assembly, and had enacted an infamous slave code for the |
government of Kansas, this man then advised an open repu-

xxu INTRODUCTION.

r

diation of the concern and the immediate formation of a
constitution and the organization of a government under it
of the people, by the people, and for the people, which was
done. This movement proved a check upon the pro-slavery

- party. Then the Administration determined to destroy this
new government, using the Federal judges and the Federal
army for the purpose. This man was indicted, arrested, and
imprisoned upon the charge of treason, held for months as
a prisoner, restrained of his liberty by a company of United
States troops. Colonel Sumner, with his regiment, dispersed
the Legislature at the point of his sword. Free-State men
were arrested, manacled, and in some instances driven for

v miles across the prairie by detachments of Federal troops.

Z—The army had become fully identified with the invaders and
determined upon the enslavement of Kansas. It was a crisis
in affairs. One false movement on the part of the people
would jeopardize everything. But their leader, although a
prisoner in a Federal camp, still directed affairs and con-
trolled events. When the young men, smarting under the
indignities heaped upon them — when they saw the army and
flag of their country prostituted to the service of the slave
party, imperilling the freedom of Kansas, felt impelled to rise
up in armed resistance, attack the prison camp, and release
their General, he said, ' No ; under no circumstances do you
permit yourselves to fire upon the army or the flag of our
common country.' Like the great discoverer Columbus,
who had been arrested and put in irons by order of the
tyrannic Governor of Hispaniola, Bobadilla, and sent to
Spain, when importuned by the captain of his guard and the
master of the ship to permit them to remove the manacles
from his limbs, said, ' No ; they were placed upon me by
order of my sovereigns, and there they must remain until
removed by their command.' Our Kansas Columbus, in
the same spirit, replied, ' These bonds were placed upon me
by authority of the Government, and must remain until re-
moved by the same power,' which was done, and this man

INTRODUCTION.

became the first executive of free Kansas ; its war Governor,
the organizer of its heroic army that went forth to maintain
the Federal Union and uphold its flag and authority against
a colossal armed rebellion, in which 3420 Kansas men laid
down their lives, that our Government might live."

The early settlers well understood Dr. Robinson and
rallied to his support.

That he was appreciated is fully shown by his almost
unanimous election to the highest office within the gift of the
people, that of the first Governor of the State. And well
did he earn his title of " the War Governor of Kansas."

ISAAC T. GOODNOW.
MANHATTAN, KANSAS, June i, 1891.

. I
LIBRARY

CHA

SLAVERY AND ANTI-SLAVERY. — COLONIZATION SOCIETY.

AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY. LIBERTY AND FREE-
SOIL PARTIES.

ON Kansas soil was gained the first decisive victory against
the slave power of this nation. Had her pioneers failed to
make Kansas a free State, slavery to-day would have been
national and freedom sectional. From the year 1820 to
1854 the triumphal march of the slave power had been unin-
terrupted, and the time seemed at hand when the defiant
threat of a Southern planter, that he would call the roll of
his slaves under the shadow of Bunker Hill Monument,
would be fulfilled. This may seem an extravagant claim,
but it is susceptible of proof. Before this nation was born,
while the Pilgrim Fathers were fleeing from the oppression
of the Old World, and seeking liberty on the rock-bound
coast of New England, a cargo of twenty African slaves was
landed in Virginia, in the month of August, 1619. From
this seed thus planted sprung the upas tree that overshad-
owed the land. At first no Mason and Dixon's line divided
the country, but nearly all the Colonies had more or less
slaves, not excepting New York and Massachusetts. The
slave trade, carried on in Spanish, English, and Dutch ships,
was very lucrative, and plied with energy till the question of
holding slaves became one of public consideration. Good
men from the first deplored the existence of slavery, and
hoped for its early disappearance. Among them were Wash-
ington, Jefferson, Rush, Franklin, Jay, Hamilton, Hopkins,
Wesley, Whitefield, Edwards, and others. As early as 1688
1

2 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

the Quakers of Pennsylvania protested against the " buying,
selling, and holding men in slavery." In 1696 the yearly
meeting advised that " the members should discourage the
introduction of slavery, and be careful of the moral and
intellectual training of such as they held in servitude." In
1780 they induced the Pennsylvania Legislature to begin the
work of emancipation. Various anti-slavery societies were
organized and conventions held against slavery during the
Colonial period of the country. John Quincy Adams said,
" The Fathers believed and meant slavery to be temporary ;
emancipation was the end in view, only the time and mode
were uncertain." In 1784 Mr. Jefferson presented to the
Continental Congress a deed of cession of all the lands
claimed by Virginia northwest of the Ohio River. A com-
mittee, with Jefferson as chairman, was appointed, which
reported a plan for the government of the land ceded or to
be ceded. This plan contemplated its ultimate division into
seventeen States. It was therein provided that, " after the
year of the Christian era 1 800, there shall be neither slavery
nor involuntary servitude in any of these States, otherwise
than in the punishment of crime, whereof the party shall
have been duly convicted." This report covered not only
the Northwest Territory, but also Kentucky, Tennessee, Ala-
bama, and Mississippi. It was rejected for a report in July,
1787, by Nathan Dane, chairman, reporting an ordinance
for the territory of the northwest of the Ohio, in which there
should be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude. This
ordinance was passed by the Continental Congress on the
1 3th of July, 1787. The provision excluding slavery was
affirmed by Congress under the Constitution in 1789. Ef-
forts were made by the Territory of Indiana to suspend this
ordinance, but without avail.

Mr. Wilson in " Rise and Fall of the Slave Power," on
page 38, ist vol., says:

" By this legislation the character of all the territory of the United
States was then fixed. Mr. Jefferson's proposition, made in 1784,

ORDINANCE OF 1787. SLAVERY COMPROMISES. 3

would have prohibited slavery after 1800 in all that territory. It has
ever been a source of profound regret to the friends of freedom that
this prohibition failed. In the light of subsequent events, however, it
is not at all clear that more would have been gained to freedom by its
adoption than was secured by Mr. Dane's ordinance, which only applied
to the territory northwest of the Ohio River. * * * While Mr.
Jefferson's proviso might and probably would have failed to secure to
freedom the territory south of the Ohio, it might have imperilled it in
the territory northwest of that river. Mr. Dane's ordinance of 1787
probably won for freedom all that could have been securely held."

This 'was the first and last substantial concession to free-
dom by Congress.

In March, 1820, the Missouri Compromise was adopted
admitting Missouri as a slave State and prohibiting slavery
from all territory north of thirty-six degrees and thirty min-
utes. This Compromise was a victory for slavery, and
caused great excitement in New England and the entire
North. The Legislatures of New York, New Jersey, Penn-
sylvania, Delaware, Ohio, and Indiana passed resolutions
affirming the power and duty of Congress to prohibit slavery
in the States to be carved out of Western territory. The
Legislature of Pennsylvania denounced the measure of admit-
ting Missouri as a slave-holding State as one " to spread the
crimes and cruelties of slavery from the banks of the Missis-
sippi to the shores of the Pacific."

Next came the admission of Texas as a slave State, Decem-
ber 27, 1845. This was followed by the war with Mexico, re-
sulting in the acquisition of California, New Mexico, and Utah.
This triumph of the slave power served to keep alive the agi-
tation throughout the North and embitter the two sections.

In 1850 came another compromise. California had
adopted a Free-State constitution and applied for admission
into the Union. As, according to the rules of popular or
any other sovereignty, the State could not well be rejected,
a compromise was effected by which Utah and New Mexico
were made Territories with the right to become slave States,
and the Northern States became hunting-grounds for fugitive

4 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

slaves by the enactment of the Fugitive Slave Law. Here
was another triumph for slavery which again fired the North,
resulting in the passage of personal liberty bills in several
States.

Finally came the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill,
which ignored the compromise line of thirty-six degrees and
thirty minutes. After giving the boundaries, these words
are used :

" The same is hereby erected into a temporary government by the name
of the Territory of Kansas, and when admitted as a state or states, the
said territory, or any portion of the same, shall be received into the
Union with or without slavery, as their constitution may prescribe at
the time of their admission. * * * That the constitution, and all
laws of the United States which are not locally inapplicable, shall have
the same force and effect within the said Territory of Kansas as elsewhere
within the United States, except the eighth section of the act prepara-
tory to the admission of Missouri into the Union, approved March sixth,
1820, which, being inconsistent with the principles of non-intervention
by Congress with slavery in the States and Territories, as recognized by
the legislation of 1850, commonly called the compromise measure, is
hereby declared inoperative and void ; it being the true intent and mean-
ing of the act not to legislate slavery into any Territory or State, nor to
exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to
form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject
only to the Constitution of the United States : provided that nothing
herein contained shall be construed to revive or put in force any law or
regulation which may have existed prior to the 6th of March, 1820,
either protecting, establishing, prohibiting, or abolishing slavery."

~Here is the removal of all Congressional barriers to the
spread of slavery, not only north of thirty-six degrees and
thirty minutes, but northwest of the Ohio River ; between
the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and the great lakes and the
Gulf of Mexico. " It being the true intent and meaning of
the act not to legislate slavery into any Territory or State" etc.
This was the situation May 30, 1854. So far as Con-
gressional action could go, every foot of land in the United
States was open to slavery. Was there any agency or power
anywhere that could prevent its extension to Kansas ? There
were able champions of freedom in Congress — Sumner, Sew-

SLAVERY TRIUMPHANT. 5

ard, Chase, Hale, Wilson, Giddings, and others — but then-
battle had been fought and hopelessly lost. They fought
nobly and well, but their weapons were words, words, which
were impotent in a contest of votes. Henceforth they were
as powerless to resist the onward march of slavery as if they
had already been sleeping their last sleep.

Senator W. H. Seward, on May 25, 1854, said:

" The sun has set for the last time upon the guaranteed and certain
liberties of all unsettled and unorganized portions of the American con-
tinent that lie within the jurisdiction of the United States. To-morrow's
sun will rise in dim eclipse over them. How long that obscuration
shall last is known only to the power that directs and controls all human
events. For myself, I know only this : that no human power can pre-
vent its coming on, and that its passing off will be hastened and secured
by others than those now here, and perhaps only by those belonging to
future generations."

Senator B. F. Wade said :

" The humiliation of the North is complete and overwhelming.
* * * I know full well that no words of mine can save the country
from this impending dishonor, this meditated wrong, which is big with
danger to the good neighborhood of the different sections of the country,
if not to the stability of the Union itself. * * * An empire is to be
transformed from freedom to slavery, and the people must not be con-
sulted on such a question, so big with weal or woe to the millions who
are to people these vast regions in all time to come."

The New York Tribune of May 24, 1854, said:

" The revolution is accomplished, and slavery is king. How long
shall this monarch reign? This is now the question for the Northern
people to answer. Their representatives have crowned the new poten-
tate, and the people alone can depose him."

In June, 1854, it said:

" Not even by accident is any advantage left for liberty in their bill.
It is all blackness without a single gleam of light — a desert without one
spot of verdure — a crime that can show no redeeming point. * * *
A Territory which one short year ago was unanimously considered by
all, North and South, as sacredly secured by irrepealable law to FREE-
DOM FOREVER, has been foully betrayed by traitor hearts and
traitor voices, and surrendered to slavery."

6 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

The field of battle was thus removed from the halls of
Congress to the plains of Kansas. What other agency or
power than Congress could be invoked ?

There had been a Colonization Society that proposed to
dispose of slavery by transporting the slaves to their former
home, Africa. Appeals had been made for money to trans-
port, and for slaves to be transported, but in vain. With
all the efforts of the philanthropic, a few thousand colonists
only could be sent, and the scheme was found to be wholly
impracticable. It was repudiated in a public protest as early
as 1833 by such Englishmen as Wilberforce, Macaulay, Ste-
phen, O'Connel, and others, who declared the society to be
" an obstacle to the destruction of slavery throughout the
world," and pronounced its pretexts to be " delusion and its
real effects dangerous." John Quincy Adams said of it:
" The search of the philosopher's stone and the casting of
nativities by the course of the stars were rational and sensible
amusements in the comparison." Poor reliance this to pre-
vent the spread of slavery to Kansas.

There was another organization, called the American Anti-
Slavery Society, in full vigor, and also The New England
Anti-Slavery Society. The American Society was organized
in 1833, with this platform in part:

" We also maintain that there are at the present time, the
highest obligations resting upon the people of the free States
to remove slavery by moral and political action, as prescribed
in the Constitution of the United States." The New Eng-
land Society declared that "we will not operate on the
exisiting relations of society by other than peaceful and law-
ful means, and that we will give no countenance to violence
or insurrection. That the objects of the society shall be to
endeavor, by all means sanctioned by law, humanity, and
religion, to effect the abolition of slavery in the United
States."

These were broad and practical platforms, and had they
been adhered to, much assistance might have been rendered

ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETIES. 7

to the cause of free Kansas. Some sixteen hundred auxil-
iary societies were organized, with a membership of nearly a
quarter of a million, before the year 1840. But when, in
that year, in accordance with the principles of the original
platform, William Goodell, Alvan Stewart, Myron Holley,
James G. Birney, Joshua Leavitt, Gerrit Smith, and others
called a convention at Albany to consider the question of
nominating a candidate for President, to be voted for by the
anti-slavery men, the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society
said in an address : " For the honor and purity of our enter-
prise, we trust that the abolitionists of the several States will
refuse to give any countenance to the proposed convention
at Albany. Let their verdict be recorded against it as un-
authorized and premature. Let the meeting be insignificant
and local, and thus rendered harmless."

In 1843, the American Anti-Slavery Society resolved:
" That the compact which exists between the North and the
South is a covenant with death and an agreement with hell,
involving both parties in atrocious criminalities, and that it
should be immediately annulled."

Also, in May, 1844, the declaration was made that
" henceforth, until slavery be abolished, the watchword, the
rallying cry, the motto on the banner of the A. A. Society
shall be, ' No union with slave-holders.' "

A resolution was adopted declaring that " secession from
the Government was the duty of every abolitionist, and that
to take office or to vote for another to hold office under the
Constitution violated anti-slavery principles, and made such
voter an abettor of the slave-holder in his sin."

In the " Writings of Garrison," the recognized leader of
the A. A. Society, pages 118 and 119, are the following ex-
pressions :

" Know that its (the Union) subversion is essential to the triumph
of justice, the deliverance of the oppressed, the vindication of the
brotherhood of the race. It was conceived in sin and brought forth in
iniquity. * * * To say that this covenant with death shall not be

8 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

annulled — that this agreement with hell shall continue to stand — that
this refuge of lies shall not be swept away — is to hurl defiance at the
eternal throne, and to give the lie to Him who sits thereon. * * *
Accursed be the American Union, as a stupendous republican imposture.
* * * Accursed be it, for its hypocrisy, its falsehood, its impudence,
its lust, its cruelty, its oppression. * * * Accursed be it from the
foundation to the roof, and may there soon not be left one stone upon
another that shall not be thrown down."

In Parker Pillsbury's book, "Acts of the Anti-Slavery
Apostles," page 20, he quotes from Garrison's writings as
follows: "The members of this society (Non-resistance)
agree in the opinion that no man, or body of men, however
constituted, or by whatever name called, have a right to
take the life of man as a penalty for transgression, that no
one who professes to have the Spirit of Christ can consistently
sue a man at law for redress of injuries, or thrust any evil-
doer into prison ; or hold any office in which he would come
under obligation to execute any penal enactments, or take
part in the military service ; or acknowledge allegiance to
any human government."

As slavery had to be excluded from Kansas, if at all, by
votes according to law and the Constitution, no assistance
could be looked for from the ranks of men who denounced
the Constitution as a compact to be annulled, all law as a
crime, and voting or holding office as a sin. Had the entire
anti-slavery society been transferred to Kansas, as the mem-
bers would not vote or hold office, one hundred pro-slavery
men would have been sufficient to elect the Legislature, make
the laws, and adopt a constitution establishing slavery, and
all with the most profound peace and quiet in the Territory
and nation.

Henry Wilson said of the influence of this society, Vol. I.
P- 574:

" The parent society and its affiliated associations, having accepted
this position, made it thereafter the distinctive feature of its organiza-
tion, and the most prominent article of their creed. ' No Union with
slave-holders ' was the motto everewhere emblazoned on their banners.

AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY. 9

Disunion was their recognized remedy. Other anti-slavery men, of
whatever organization, were proclaimed to be wanting in an essential
element of all true and effective opposition. However earnest and
devoted, they were deemed inconsistent, and their labors were regarded
as only partial, if not wholly inefficient. This general criticism embraced
every class of anti-slavery men, and every form of anti-slavery effort.
From the adoption of this policy of disunion in 1844, to the opening of
the rebellion, so persistent were they in its promulgation, as the element
of all effective effort, that the supporters of slavery seized upon the fact
to identify all anti-slavery men with them, and to characterize all oppo-
sition to slavery as disorganizing, revolutionary, and unpatriotic. It
was indeed a most potent weapon in the hands of the apologists, per-
petualists, and propagandists of slavery. Nor did they cease its use
until their voices were silenced by the patriotism of the nation, outraged
as it was by their own treason or acknowledged complicity with it."

John G. Whittier, in a letter, said he was no blind wor-
shipper of the Union, and as an abolitionist he was shut out
from its benefits. " But I see nothing to be gained by an
effort — necessarily limited, sectional, and futile — to dissolve
it. The moral and political power requisite for doing it
could far more easily abolish every vestige of slavery."

Emerson said of them :

"They withdraw themselves from the common labors and competi-
tions of the market and the caucus. * * * They are striking work
and calling out for something to do. * * * They are not good citi-
zens, not good members of society ; unwillingly they bear their part of
the private and public burdens. They do not even like to vote. * * *
They filled the world with long words and long beards. * * * They
began in words and ended in words."

William Birney, in " Birney and his Times," says :

" Their strongest aspiration was to express in stinging epithets and
vituperative language their infinite devotion to the cause of the slave ;
but they were serenely indifferent to its success or failure. They would
not cast a ballot if the act would free three million of slaves."

Henry C. Wright, in his book entitled " Ballot-box and
Battle-field," says :

" Suppose the abolition of slavery throughout the world depended on
a presidential election, and that my vote would throw the scale for abo-

10 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

lition. Shall I vote? * * * I may not vote for the war system that
is founded in guilt and blood and utterly wrong in its origin, its princi-
ples and means, even to abolish slavery."

Eli Thayer, in " Kansas Crusade," says :

" The Northern people ardently desired to destroy the tree (slavery)
itself, and were ready to adopt any legal and constitutional plan which
might do this work. Garrison's method of casting out a devil by split-
ting the patient in two lengthwise they did not approve, for two reasons :
1st. Because the patient would die ; ad. Because the devil would live."

Schouler, in his last work, says :

" They were not actors in affairs, but agitators, critics, come-outers,
coiners of cutting epithets, who scourged men in public station with as
little mercy as the slave-driver did his victim, less pleased that their
work was being done than displeased because it was not done faster.
Their political blunders widened the breach between the North and the
South, and their constant instigation was to throttle that law which was
the breath of our being — to trample down the Union, rather than con-
vert, constrain, or conquer slavery behind the shield of the Constitu-
tion. This was because of their fanaticism. Not one leader of this
school ever took a responsible part in affairs, or co-operated in lawful
and practical measures for promoting the reform they caressed in their
preaching."

Samuel Bowles, in Boston Evening Traveller, May 29,
1857, says:

" The great majority of the Garrisonian party forfeit all claim to our
esteem by being blasphemous, vituperative, coarse, and vile in their
manners and language. We need not instance a man named Foss, who
has the impudence to claim the title Reverend, and who began a sen-
tence in a speech in New York week before last with the phrase, ' I
hate the Union,' and ended it by saying, ' I hate Jesus Christ.' All the
leaders of the Garrisonian party sat around, but no one of them rebuked
the monstrous blasphemy. The speech was circulated through all the
Southern papers, and Mr. Foss was denounced as 'a Republican.' If
he had died in his cradle he would have done better by himself than to
have lived to commit this sin. The same style of thought has been
manifested at this gathering in the Melodeon. We listened yesterday
to the comprehensive abuse uttered by Mr. Higginson, who also claimed
to be a minister of the Gospel. If we had stayed five minutes longer
than we did, and his effect had been equal to his effort, we should have

ABOLITIONISTS. 1 1

been convinced that the population of the world consisted of one billion
of depraved wretches and one perfect man named Higginson. It was
just so with the whole of them, the same eternal whine, redeemed only
in the case of Wendell Phillips by eloquence. All such stuff does harm.
The few Garrisonians whom we believe honest in uttering it, we wish
could be brought under different influences, for they are unconsciously
injuring the anti-slavery cause. They are sustaining by their weight of
character an organization four-fifths of whose members are selfish or
indiscreet men and unsexed women ; an organization which has become
fruitless, and will die in the next generation. * * * For the re-
mainder of the Garrisonian party, the strong-minded women, and the
professional humanitarians who earn their daily bread by injuring the
noble cause they propose to serve, we have no feelings but of ridicule
and contempt. It is useless to meet them in argument. They are not
worth treating with pity. One of their peculiarities is a key to their
whole character. The nearer a well-behaved man comes to their pro-
fessed anti-slavery doctrines, the more vilely they abuse him."

Such opinions might be quoted indefinitely, but enough
have been cited to show the estimation in which the advo-
cates of no union, no voting, no government were held by
the voting anti-slavery men of the time, and it requires no
argument to prove that people entertaining such views of
government could be of no use in arresting the progress of
slavery by making a free State in Kansas. While this is true,
among these men and women were some of the most eloquent
and conscientious to be found in any country or age, and
their antagonism to the Government and Church of the
time had some excuse. They had seen the Government at
Washington prostituted to the spread of slavery since 1820,
with apparently no hope for the better within the Union.
Having lost faith in Congressmen and President, they also
lost faith in mankind. Being expert moral hair-splitters, they
came to regard the Constitution as a shield for the protection
of slavery, at least within the slave States, and authority for
making every State in the Union hunting-ground for fugitive
slaves. To justify this no-voting, non-action position they
claimed that allegiance to a sinful government was sin, and
as no human government on earth was perfect, they would

12 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

acknowledge no government except one in heaven, of which
" Border Ruffians " in Kansas had no conception. Being
non-resistants themselves, they believed they could dissolve
the Union without bloodshed or resistance on the part of
the Government, an error they recognized later when the
slave States attempted it.

As for the churches, they held every member accountable
for the resolutions and utterances of synods, conventions, and
prominent individuals of the different denominations. In
the early days of the agitation many of these were in defense
of slavery as a divine institution.

Geo. W. Julian, candidate for Vice-President on the Free-
Soil ticket in 1852, said, in his " Speeches on Political Ques-
tions," page 79 :

"What are our churches doing for the anti-slavery reform? Alas!
the popular religion of the country lies imbedded in the politics and
trade of the country. It has sunk to a dead level with the ruling secular
influences of the age. It has ceased to be a power, practically capable
of saving the world from its sins. * * * What are these religious
bodies doing for the slave? As I have already said, they are breaking
bread with his owner around the communion table. They are receiving
slave-holders into full fellowship. The preachers and members of our
Protestant denominations alone own over six hundred thousand slaves.
The Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian all have divided on the slavery
question, but both divisions tolerate slave-holding. * * * In all
the late publications of the American Tract Society, I am informed that
not a syllable can be found against slavery. Such sins as Sabbath-
breaking, dancing, fine dressing, etc., are abundantly noticed and con-
demned, but not even a whisper must go forth against the ' sum of all
villainies. ' "

Two pamphlets were published, one entitled " The Ameri-
can Churches the Bulwarks of American Slavery," and the
other, "The Church as it is; the Forlorn Hope of Slavery."
These pamphlets were wholly made up of testimony from
the churches and church members themselves, and afford
some excuse, at least, for the arraignment made by the no-
church abolitionists. As the leading preachers defended the
institution of slavery from the Bible, the abolitionists attacked

ABOLITIONISTS. 13

that book as of no more authority than any other work of
ancient origin. As the churches claimed the Sabbath as too
holy to be used for anti-slavery work, that too was assailed
as a mere human device ; and so on they went till not only
the Constitution, but the Bible, churches, and the Sabbath
were discarded and denounced. Much they said was mer-
ited and just, but the main mistake they made was in not
improving every opportunity offered to help the slave as
they found him. If, instead of fighting the Constitution, the
Union, and the churches as such, they had joined with all
anti-slavery men, church members and others, and filled
Congress and the presidential chair with men who would go
to the limit of the Constitution in abolishing slavery in the
District of Columbia and the Territories, as well as the
coastwise slave trade, the road might have opened before
them for the final extinction of slavery, leaving the Constitu-
tion and the churches intact. Or, when beaten in Congress,
they could have turned their attention to the settlement of
Kansas, where the decisive battle of slavery was to be
fought. Here was their irretrievable mistake. They were
incapable of adapting their warfare to the changing condi-
tions, artd failed. While they were bombarding the Union
and the churches, that they might reach the slave over their
ruins, the door was thrown wide open, by way of Kansas,
to the very citadel of the slave power, and that, too, under
the sanction and protection of Constitution, Union, laws,
and churches. Others saw this opening, entered it, and
gained the victory, and to them must belong the credit.
These men could see that the act organizing Kansas Ter-
ritory opened every Territory and free State to slavery ; but
could not or did not see that the same act equally opened
every Territory and slave State to freedom, if the people of
these Commonwealths respectively would have it so. The
language will bear repeating a second time : " It being the
true intent and meaning of the act not to legislate slavery
into any Territory or State, nor to exclude it therefrom ; but

14 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and reg-
ulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject
only to the Constitution of the United States." Here was
a solemn pledge that Congress would not interfere to pre-
vent the extension of freedom to every Territory and State
of the Union. In this act the slave power overreached
itself, and it was blunder number one in the " beginning of
the end" of slavery. This the slave power did not see,
neither did the no-union, no-voting abolitionists see it, but it
was seen nevertheless, and turned to freedom's account, as
will appear in the pages that follow. Charles Sumner said
of the Kansas bill, that it was " at once the worst and the
best bill on which Congress ever acted." It was .the best
bill, " for it annuls all past compromises with slavery, and
makes all future compromises impossible. Thus it puts
freedom and slavery face to face, and bids them grapple."
Unfortunately, non-resistants would not use grappling-irons,
and free States could not be made without votes.

One other organization existed which opposed the exten-
sion of slavery, called the Liberty or Free-soil party. The
members of this organization were voters and fighters, if need
were, but their party machinery was not adapted to mak-
ing States. It had done good service in agitating the slavery
question, and in securing the election to Congress of many
able champions of freedom. Unlike the American Anti-
slavery Society, this party was loyal to the Constitution and
the Union. In the language of James G. Birney, their pres-
idential candidate at two elections, they "regarded the
Constitution with unabated affection. They hold in no
common veneration the memory of those who made it.
They would be the last to brand Franklin and King and
Morris and Wilson and Sherman and Hamilton with the
ineffaceable infamy of intending to engraft upon the Con-
stitution, and therefore to perpetuate, a system of oppression
in absolute antagonism to its high and professed objects.
* * * In the political aspects of the question they have

FREE-SOIL PARTY. 15

nothing to ask except what the Constitution authorizes — no
change to desire but that the Constitution may be restored
to its pristine republican purity." — "J. G. Birney and his
Times," page 338.

This party cast in 1840, for President, 7100 votes; in
1844, 62,300; in 1848, 300,000; in 1852, 155,000.

Besides members of this party, there were many belong-
ing to the Whig and Democratic parties who were made
indignant by the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and
who were ready to abandon their party organizations in the
nefarious work of extending the institution of slavery to ter-
ritory that had been consecrated to freedom by solemn
compact. There was no lack of anti-slavery sentiment, or
of desire to save Kansas to freedom, but the political parties
could only act in their legitimate sphere — elect Presidents,
Congressmen, and other officials — while the work in hand
now was something that political parties, Congress, and the
President could not do, and aid must be sought elsewhere,
and other machinery invented. It is true, Hon. Geo. W.
Julian had said :

" Does any one ask how we shall successfully wage war
against this monster power ? I answer that American pol-
itics and American religion are the bulwarks which support
it, and that we must attack them. If we do this wisely and
perseveringly we shall succeed. We need no new weapons,
but only a faithful use of those we already possess, in more
direct assaults upon these strongholds of the enemy." This
was spoken in 1852, and the American Anti-slavery Society
and the Free-Soil party had waged vigorous and persevering
war with their religious and political "weapons" till 1854,
when every foot of territory in the United States was open
to slavery. Evidently some new weapons must be found
or the victory of the slave power would remain final and
complete.

CHAPTER II.

WEAPONS AND MACHINERY NEEDED. SETTLERS REQUIRED.

HOW SECURED,

To understand what "weapons" and what machinery
would be in demand in making a free State in Kansas, a
survey of the field should be taken. The Organic Act left
to the voters of the Territory the settlement of the question
of slavery in the State. The first step in making a State was
to elect a territorial Legislature, that might provide for a
constitutional convention, which in turn could frame a con-
stitution authorizing or forbidding slavery. The way was
plain. But one road was open for making a free State, and
that, and that only, must be travelled. Colonizing slaves in
Africa, shouting " no union with slave-holders " in Boston,
preaching the Wilmot Proviso in Congress, and political
campaigns in the States, were of no avail in the pending
struggle. Voters must be had, and as no person but a set-
tler would have the right to vote, settlers were of the first
importance. How could they be secured! Would they
come from the free States in sufficient numbers to outvote
those who should come from the slave States ? The decree
of the slave power had gone forth that Kansas should be a
slave State, and that power in Church and State, in Synod
and Congress, was omnipotent. Could it be successfully
encountered in Kansas ? If the eloquence of Phillips, Gar-
rison, Sumner, and Seward was of no avail, what could be
hoped from untitled, unheralded, and unknown settlers?
Who would have the presumption to enter the lists ? Slavery
had every advantage. A slave State bordered Kansas on

THE ISSUE. 17

the east containing a population sufficient in numbers and
daring to settle several new Territories. This population,
bold, blustering, and reckless like the people of most fron-
tier settlements, was thoroughly aroused to the importance
of the conflict. Two billions of dollars worth of property
in slaves, besides the domestic relations of the people of the
Southern States, were involved. The life or death of slavery
was the issue, and was recognized to be the issue by both
North and South. The Charleston, S. C., Mercury presented
the question as follows :

" First. By consent of parties, the present contest in Kansas is made
the turning-point in the destinies of slavery and abolition. If the
South triumphs, abolitionism will be defeated and shorn of its power
for all time. If she is defeated, abolition will grow more insolent and
aggressive, until the utter ruin of the South is consummated.

' ' Second. If the South secures Kansas, she will extend slavery into
all the territory south of the fortieth parallel of north latitude, to the
Rio Grande, and this, of course, will secure for her pent-up institution
of slavery an ample outlet, and restore her power in Congress. If the
North secures Kansas, the power of the South in Congress will gradu-
ally be diminished, the States of Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ar-
kansas, and Texas, together with the adjacent Territories, will gradually
become abolitionized, and the slave population confined to the States
east of the Mississippi will become valueless. All depends upon the
action of the present moment."

This issue was accepted by the people in the border coun-
ties of Missouri, and they were at first troubled with no fears
for the result. They were jubilant, bold, and defiant, threat-
ening with death any anti-slavery man who should attempt
to settle in the Territory. In less than a month after the
passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, the writer started for
Kansas to arrange for its settlement. On passing Jefferson
City, the capital of Missouri, on the 4th of July, several
prominent politicians came on board the steamer, and among
them General Stringfellow. In the conversation it was as-
sumed as a foregone conclusion that the fate of Kansas
was sealed. It was boldly asserted that " no damned aboli-
tionist would be permitted to settle in Kansas, and every
2

1 8 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

man north of Mason and Dixon's line was an abolitionist."
On reaching Kansas City a reward was found offered for
"one Eli Thayer, a leading and ruling spirit among the
abolitionists of New York and New England. * * *
Representing all the abolitionists, he consequently bears all
their sins ! "

General D. R. Atchison was the recognized leader of the
pro-slavery cause, and most of the leading politicians and
citizens of western Missouri were his co-workers. Such was
the condition of the border, while the administration at
Washington was wholly devoted to the establishment of
slavery in Kansas, Jefferson Davis being Secretary of War.
In the North and East the outlook was equally gloomy.
The American Anti-slavery Society never had any faith in
saving Kansas to freedom. Wendell Phillips said, as re-
ported in the Liberator :

" Talk about stopping the progress of slavery and of saving Nebraska
and Kansas ! Why, the fate of Nebraska and Kansas was sealed the
first hour Stephen Arnold Douglas consented to play his perfidious
part. * * * The moment you throw the struggle with slavery into
the half-barbarous West, where things are decided by the revolver and
bowie-knife, slavery triumphs."

Mr. Garrison said :

" While the Union continues, the slave power will have everything
its own way, in the last resort. * * * Slavery is certain to go into
Kansas, nay, slaves are now carried there daily, and offered for sale
with impunity. * * * W'ill Kansas be a free State? We answer,
no. Not while the existing Union stands. Its fate is settled.
* * * Eastern emigration will avail nothing to keep slavery out of
Kansas. We have never had any faith in it as a breakwater against the
inundations of the dark waters of oppression. * * * The omnipres-
ent power of the general Government will co-operate with the vandals
of Missouri to crush out what little anti-slavery sentiment may exist in
Kansas, and to sustain their lawless proceedings in that Territory. This
will prove decisive in the struggle."

Theodore Parker, in Music Hall, said :

" In the steady triumph of despotism, ten years more like the ten
years past and it will be all over with the liberties of America. Every-

DISCOURAGEMENT. 19

thing must go down, and the heel of the tyrant will be on our necks.
It will be all over with the rights of man in America, and you and I
must go to Australia, to Italy, or to Siberia for our freedom, or perish
with the liberty which our fathers fought for and secured to themselves,
not to their faithless sons. Shall America thus miserably perish? Such
is the aspect of things to-day."

Mr. Thayer, in his " Kansas Crusade," says:

" On May 30, 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska bill, containing the repeal
of the Missouri Compromise, was signed by President Pierce, and be-
came the law of the land. When this news reached the Northern States
the bells were tolled for the death of freedom. The slave States, with
thirty-five years of political supremacy and the prestige of this last great
victory over the North, with perfect discipline and irresistible power,
were confident of undisputed control in the Government for generations
to come. They already had the Chief Executive, his Cabinet, the Su-
preme Court, both houses of Congress, and the army and navy to do
their bidding. Great as was their present power, their prospective
power was even more alarming. Kansas and Nebraska, with all the
Territories west and south of them, were to become slave States. Five
more were to be made of Texas. The purpose of acquiring Cuba and
Central America for their further aggrandizement was developing into
action. Why, then, should the South doubt for an instant the certainty
of her perpetual power? In a few years her Senators in Congress
would nearly double the number from the North. Their skill in diplo-
macy and politics, acquired by unremitting practice and study, much
excelled that of the Northern people, whose minds were occupied by a
manifold system of industries requiring constant attention, as well as
by a great number of social, commercial, charitable, religious, and
educational organizations. No wonder that we were hopeless and help-
less. We had no political organization of any strength to oppose to
slavery. * * * During all this period of the successful aggressive
and increasing strength of slavery, there was in the North corresponding
apprehension and alarm. On the repeal of the Missouri Compromise
the apprehension became despondency, and . the alarm became despair.
* * The speeches in Congress and the editorials of influential
journalists prove that there was no hope of rescuing Kansas from the
grasp of this resistless power, should the Kansas-Nebraska bill become
a law."

While this is a faithful presentation of the effects of the
repeal of the Missouri Compromise upon the North as a
whole, there were many minds upon which that repeal pro-

20 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

duced other results. Conservative men, especially members
of the Whig party, were shocked at the bad faith shown by
their Southern colleagues in Congress — only one of whom
voted against the Kansas bill — and felt the necessity of seek-
ing other party affiliations. For over thirty years all parties
had acquiesced in the settlement of the vexed question by
the compromise of 1820, although the North felt that it had
been overreached in the bargain, and now, after the South
had received its full consideration, to have the bargain re-
pudiated was too much for even " hunker " Whigs of the
North to accept in silence.

Free-soil men also were aroused with fresh zeal, and de-
termined to take the case to the people in all future elec-
tions and demand reparation for this bad faith. Congress-
man Meacham, of Vermont, said:

" I look on that compromise as a contract, as a thing done for a con-
sideration, and that the parties to that contract are bound in honor to
execute it in good faith. The consideration on one side was paid and
received in advance."

This was the view generally taken at the North, although
combated by some members of Congress from the South.
Mr. Goodrich, of Massachusetts, said, " If the Kansas bill
should pass, the repeal of the Missouri Compromise would
wipe out as with a sponge all compromises " ; and Mr.
Campbell, of Ohio, said he would wage "an unrelenting
war against slavery to the furthermost limits of the Consti-
tution." Many Southern people disapproved of the repeal,
and warned slave-holders to beware of the agitation it would
create. Mr. Houston, of Texas, called upon the Southern
Senators, " to regard the contract once made to harmonize
and preserve the Union. Maintain the Missouri Compro-
mise ! Stir not up agitation ! Give us peace ! Union or
disunion depends upon the decision of this question."

Eli Thayer, in his " Crusade," says, " The South, stimu-
lated unreasonably by her former success, ventured foolishly
to overthrow a time-honored compact, and subject herself to

MACHINERY REQUIRED. 21

a charge of bad faith. In the repeal of the Missouri Com-
promise she illustrated the words of the sacred writer : ' Pride
goeth before destruct&JtaVand a haughty 'g^irit .before a fall.'
By this act shj^4^x1nadi-iQ)R^iBeVt.o combine all political
thenfaorth agamslthe exteosijMi of slavery, should

parties in thenort agamslte exteosjMi of slavery, should
the right method -of domg mis^great work be w)£ll presented
and f aithf ully TJjjge^ AlHtWftTeady *Ky&/{o rebuke the
arrogance of slave^^^r^so^tcr^ii^ij^existence, if that
could be done in accorotaS^^i^Ftrfe' Constitution and the
Union."

But a combination of all political parties for mere political
action would not avail to save Kansas. It is true that, within
one year of the repeal of the compromise, eleven Senators
and 120 of the 142 Northern members of the House were
elected who repudiated the repeal, but even this number
could accomplish nothing in Congress. There was now but
one way of salvation for Kansas, and that was not through
the executive, legislative, or judicial departments of the
Government, through anti-slavery societies or political or-
ganizations, but the promised land, as of old, must be secured
by taking possession of it, or not at all. How could this be
done? Here were bowie-knives, pistols, shot-guns, rifles,
and cannon in the hands of the Philistines on the border and
within the Territory, under direction of " Blue Lodges,"
" Sons of the South," and other secret organizations, and the
attempt to occupy the land by the ordinary methods of pio-
neer settlement would have been as futile as for the Israelites
thus to have taken possession of Canaan. Nothing short of
concerted action by the friends of freedom could avail, and
that could be secured only by organization. Where could
an organizer be found ? Garrison and Phillips were the great
anti-slavery agitators, but neither had faith in success. Like
the men who were sent to spy out the land of Canaan, they
predicted that the land would " eat up " the Free-State men ;
" all the people we saw in it are men of great stature. And
there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of

22 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

the giants, and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers,
and so we were in their sight." And all the anti-slavery
society to which they belonged agreed with them, and would
have nothing to do with taking possession of Kansas. But
there were two of the spies, named Joshua and Caleb, that,
when they heard this gloomy report, rent their clothes.
"And they spake unto all the company of the children of
Israel, saying, the land which we passed through to search
it, is an exceeding good land. If the Lord delight in us,
then he will bring us into this land, and give it to us ; a land
which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel ye not
against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land ; for
they are bread for us ; their defense is departed from them,
and the Lord is with us ; fear them not." Some of the
Joshuas and Calebs of the emigration to Kansas are named
in Mr. Hale's "Kansas and Nebraska," published in 1854.
On page 219 he says:

" Mr. Eli Thayer, a member of the Massachusetts House of Repre-
sentatives, circulated a petition, in the month of March, 1854, for the
incorporation, by the general Court of Massachusetts, of the Massachu-
setts Emigrant Aid Company. The petition was at once granted by the
Legislature, and a charter given, of which the first section reads —

" ' Sec. i. Benjamin C. Clark, Isaac Livermore, Charles Allen, Isaac
Davis, William G. Bates, Steven C. Phillips, Charles C. Hazewell,
Alexander H. Bullock, Henry Wilson, James S. Whitney, Samuel E.
Sewall, Samuel G. Howe, James Holland, Moses Kimball, James D.
Green, Francis W. Bird, Otis Clapp, Anson Burlingame, Eli Thayer,
and Otis Rich, their associates, successors, and assigns, are hereby
made a corporation, by the name of the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid
Company, for the purpose of assisting emigrants to settle in the West ;
and for this purpose they have all the powers and privileges, and be
subject to all the duties, restrictions, and liabilities set forth in the
thirty-eighth and forty-fourth chapters of the revised statutes. '

" The charter was signed by the Governor on the 26th day of April,
and took effect immediately. The persons named in it, and others
interested, met at the State House, in Boston, on the 4th of May, ac-
cepted the charter, and appointed a committee to report a plan of organ-
ization and system of operations. The committee consisted of Eli
Thayer, Alexander H. Bullock, and E. E. Hale, of Worcester, Richard

EMIGRANT AID COMPANY. 23

Hildreth and Otis Clapp, of Boston, who submitted the following report
at an adjourned meeting : * The inconveniences and dangers

to health to which the pioneer is subject who goes out alone or with his
family only, in making a new settlement, are familiar to every American.
The Emigrant Aid Company has been incorporated to protect emigrants,
as far as may be, from such inconveniences. Its duty is to organize
emigration to the West and bring it into system. * * * With the
advantages attained by such a system of effort, the territory selected as
the scene of operations would, it is believed, at once fill up with free
inhabitants. * * * It determines in the right way the institutions
of the unsettled Territories, in less time than the discussion of them has
required in Congress. * * * It is impossible that such a region
should not fill up rapidly. The Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company
proposes to give confidence to settlers, by giving system to emigration.
By dispelling the fears that Kansas will be a slave State, the company
will remove the only bar which now hinders its occupation by free
settlers. It is to be hoped that similar companies will be formed in
other free States. The enterprise is of that character, that for those
who first enter it, the more competition the better.' This report was
signed by Eli Thayer for the committee."

By reason of objections to some of the provisions of the
charter it was not made use of, and three trustees, Eli
Thayer, Amos A. Lawrence, and J. M. S. Williams, conducted
the business of emigration during the season of 1854. An
organization was made in 1855, under another charter, called
the New England Emigrant Aid Company, with the follow-
ing officers : President, John Carter Brown, Providence ;
Vice-Presidents, Eli Thayer, Worcester, J. M. S. Williams,
Cambridge ; Treasurer, Amos A. Lawrence, Boston ; Secre-
tary, Thomas H. Webb, Boston.

Other emigration societies and leagues were formed in
several Northern States, inspiring great faith in the ultimate
success of freedom in Kansas. While these organizations
lished inspiration and moral support, their pecuniary
means were limited, and of secondary importance. The re-
port that the New England Society had a capital of $5,000,000
struck the South with terror, and inspired the North with
hope, although in fact its capital was limited at first to a few
thousand dollars advanced by its treasurer, Amos A. Law-

24 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

rence. History will give to Eli Thayer the credit of first
publicly accepting the challenge of the South with a plan for
organized emigration to contend with the Blue Lodges of
Missouri, and for his head was the first reward offered by
the exasperated slave power. But organized emigration was
not alone in the conflict. While Thayer began to preach
the crusade in the winter of 1854, a few settlers from the
Middle and Western States preceded his first colony which
settled at Lawrence. Most noted among these were S. N.
Wood, J. A. Wakefield, B. W. Miller, Rev. T. Ferril, and
others, who acted a most important part in the struggle that
followed. In truth, no line of demarkation can well be drawn
between settlers who came from different States, or under
different auspices, as on arrival they became a band of brothers
engaged in a common cause. It would be folly for the head
to say to the foot, I have no need of thee ; and the eye to
the hand, I have no need of thee ; and it would have been
equal folly for settlers from one State to say to the set-
tlers of another State that the cause had no need of them.
No such feeling existed in the fifties, neither does it now
exist in the breast of any surviving actor. Colonel S. N.
WTood, whose settlement in Kansas preceded the settlement
of Lawrence, and whose services were indispensable, has
this to say of the pioneers, in his quarter-centennial speech
at Topeka :

" The pilgrims of the Mayflower sought the wild shores of America
that they might be free to worship God in their own way ; free to believe
in religious matters whatever seemed right to their own conscience.
They sought freedom for themselves. But the pioneers of Kansas —
both Western and Eastern — heard the call which in every age has thrilled
the souls of men with heroic power. At this critical period, when the
hosts of slavery and freedom were marshalling for this great and de-
cisive encounter, in their inmost souls they heard the Divine voice
calling for defenders of liberty ; and they obeyed the signal that pointed
to Kansas as the great battle-ground. The pioneers who became
trusted leaders among the Free-State hosts were men who could not
rest in their old comfortable homes when the demon of human slavery
was clutching at freedom's rightful heritage. Many of them were the

EMIGRANT AID COMPANY.

25

sons of the old anti-slavery agitators, and had learned from child-
hood to hate slavery and to love freedom, and claim it as the right
of all men, races, and conditions. These men, meeting upon our prai-
ries for the first time, recognized each other as kindred spirits. They
spoke the same language, and were working for the same good pur-
pose."

CHAPTER III.

CHARACTERISTICS OF CONTESTANTS. EASTERN AND WEST-
ERN SETTLERS. THE OVERLAND ROUTE TO CALIFORNIA

IN 1849. THE SACRAMENTO RIOT.

SOMETHING of the nature of the conflict in Kansas may be
learned from the characteristics of the contestants. Settlers
from the North and East came from communities where per-
son and property were protected by law, and the carrying of
weapons for self-defense was unknown. Many had come to
look even upon war among nations as a relic of barbarism.
Not a few of the Kansas emigrants had imbibed something
of the views and spirit of the non-resistant agitators, and
were disposed to interpret the teachings of the Nazarene
literally, to return good for evil, when one cheek should be
smitten to turn the other to the smiter, and if compelled to
part with their coats, to give their cloaks also. As a rule, the
Free-State settlers were averse to a resort to physical force in
the settlement of any conflict, much less a conflict purely
moral and political. These were some of the characteristics
of the Northern settlers while at home, but they were found
unsuited to a Southern and Western climate. It was found
that the precepts of Christianity, including non-resistance,
might work admirably where all were Christians and non-re-
sistants, but it was also discovered that the devil would flee
only when resisted, and that pearls were not suitable diet for
all animals and on all occasions.

The South and Southwest were in many respects most un-
like the East and North. Where a large class was to be kept
in servitude, nothing but physical force would avail. Hence

CHARACTERISTICS OF CONTESTANTS. 27

deadly weapons and personal prowess were indispensable,
and the man who would pass current as a gentleman must
be prepared at all times to protect his person and his honor
by force. Also in the new West, in the absence of the civil
code, every man was a law unto himself and constituted in
his own person judge, jury, and executioner. In such a
community human life, instead of being sacred as in the
North and East, was cheap, and could be sacrificed at any
time to resent personal insult and to protect peculiar institu-
tions, if not for sordid gain. At the same time the better
class of the citizens of the South had a high sense of honor,
and could not be excelled in any part of the country for
civility, courtesy, hospitality, and business integrity.

Perhaps life in the newly settled West, and the mingling
of the two civilizations as found in the law-abiding East and
the go-as-you-please West, cannot better be illustrated than
by giving an outline picture of the early days of California,
from 1849 to 1851. As the Eastern emigration to that Ter-
ritory largely passed through Missouri and Kansas Territory,
drawing with it a large emigration from Missouri itself and
the South, many things happened that had an important
bearing upon the conflict in Kansas at a later date. This
outline is the more important as it will serve to give the
squatters' side of the most exciting conflict in the history of
California, which has never been given by one of their
number, although published and republished, iterated and
reiterated indefinitely by their opponents. There is no bet-
ter way to exhibit human nature unrestrained by law, and
the mingling of the Eastern and Western civilizations, than
by giving a brief narrative of that conflict.

On the discovery of gold in California, in 1848, the whole
country was in a blaze of excitement, and men of all classes
and conditions had symptoms of the gold fever, more or less
well marked. Even staid New England did not escape the
epidemic. In the winter of 1849 a party of some forty per-
sons was organized in the vicinity of Boston for the purpose

28 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

of emigration to the land of gold. This party was com-
posed of men of all classes and professions, including trades-
men, clerks, manufacturers, mechanics, farmers, and laborers.
It was organized in the form of a military company, with
a full list of officers from captain down. The privates and
non-commissioned officers wore gray uniforms, while the
commissioned officers wore navy-blue. An assessment was
made upon each member, and all property was purchased
and controlled by the officers. Among the number was a
physician, by the name of Robinson, who was to be exempt
from all duty except the care of the sick. The doctor, de-
siring rest from an extensive practice, was in pursuit of rec-
reation quite as much as of gold. He had been interested
in the peace and anti-slavery discussions of that day, and
was in theory a non-resistant and abolitionist. The party
left Boston in the winter of 1849, travelling by railroad and
canal to Pittsburg, and thence by steamboat to Kansas City,
or Westport Landing. The name of the boat was Ne Plus
Ultra, and it was engaged for the whole river journey. It
stopped long enough at Cincinnati for the doctor to pur-
chase a beautiful cream-colored horse and a clarionet, and
at St. Louis for the purchase of supplies and to receive pas-
sengers, chiefly gold-seekers. Some members of the party-
had seen much of the world, while many were unsophisti-
cated and unsuspicious. These latter, when they paid their
assessments, paid tuition in a school of more varied knowl-
edge and experience than can be found in any professed
place of education. There was a new lesson for each day,
and every lesson must be learned by heart. Drones and
truants were impossible, and at the end of the journey, on
the western coast, every member was a graduate, and had
witnessed or experienced more arts, devices, shifts and turns,
deeds of daring, honor, integrity, perfidy, rascality, and devil-
try than all 'the educational institutions of the land could
have shown. On leaving St. Louis the boat was well filled
with passengers and their " plunder." The Boston party were

ON MISSOURI RIVER. CHOLERA. 29

now in a decided minority of the passengers, and relatively
lost their importance, although still distinguished from other
passengers by their uniform. It being generally known that
the Boston party had a physician with them, his services
were sought on all occasions of sickness and among all
classes of passengers. The boat had not proceeded far on
its journey up the muddy Missouri River when the cholera
made its appearance on board. Here was a new experience
for the doctor. While he had read much of the disease, its
cause, symptoms, and treatment, he had never met with a
case in his practice. Without a medical library, and with
but a limited variety and supply of medicines, he was thrown
upon his own resources, and accordingly made an object les-
son of the first case. It was found that all the fluids of the
body were leaving the surface and pouring into the alimen-
tary canal. The features became pinched and anxious, the
skin pallid and bloodless, and the muscles of the extremities
were affected with painful cramps. What was to be done?
Evidently the first thing to be done was to reverse the vas-
cular and absorbent machinery, and send the fluids back to
the surface and other parts of the system, and relieve cramps.
What would accomplish this result, and did the medicine-
chest contain the required remedy ? On examination, the
doctor found tincture of opium (laudanum), tincture of cam-
phor, and compound tincture of capsicum (hot drops). The
first two would have a tendency to send the fluids to the
brain and surface and relieve spasms, while the last would
excite action of the vascular and absorbent systems. Ac-
cordingly, these tinctures were taken in a mixture of equal
parts, and administered in teaspoonful doses once in fifteen
minutes, more or less, according to symptoms, till the flow
of fluids should be reversed and the cramps cease. Fortu-
nately, this treatment proved successful in every case where
applied on first attack of the disease.

Another object lesson was given on this boat which has
not been forgotten. As the steamer was about to leave St.

30 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

Louis, four men came on board in a somewhat free-and-easy
manner, occasioned by a free indulgence in the fashionable
beverage of the city. One of these men proved to be a man
from Illinois, on his way to California, and the other three
were residents of St. Louis, and evidently blacklegs. The
man from Illinois was said to have $i 500, which he deposited
with the clerk of the boat. As soon as the boat was well
under way, these four men engaged in card-playing, which
was diligently prosecuted early and late. Large sums of
money were bet and nearly always won by one of the three
men from St. Louis, at the expense of the Illinoisan. The
unsophisticated members of the Boston party had read of
gambling and desperate characters in the South and West,
particularly on board of river steamers, and some of them
became close observers of the game, especially the doctor,
whose state-room was near the gamblers' table. It was ob-
served that drinks were often ordered, and that the Illinois
man was kept in a jolly frame of mind, while the St. Louis
men were cool and sober. On the evening of the first or
second day the playing became more earnest and the drink-
ing more frequent, till the Illinois man became desperate,
and all left the table and went to the bar, where another drink
was called for, but declined at first by the victim. But after
being bantered and coaxed, he emptied his glass, as did the
others. At this stage the doctor retired to his state-room, but
not to sleep, for while conning this lesson in all its bearings,
he was called to prescribe for this man, who had been drugged
and was desperately ill. Spasms and convulsions set in,
accompanied with groans and yells, till it became necessary
to remove him to the pilot-house that the passengers might
not be disturbed. Before many hours had passed the poor
man died in terrible agony. The boat soon after went ashore
and his body was left. An inventory was had of his effects,
and no money except a small bill in his vest-pocket was
found. A boat going down the river was hailed, and the
three gamblers went aboard; and thus ended this object

JEALOUSIES OF OFFICERS. 31

lesson, which was an eye-opener to the Doctor, and played
havoc with his non-resistant theories. The Wyandotte Indian
agent was on the boat, who was also a doctor, and well
understood the case. When the Yankee Doctor proposed to
have complaint made and these men punished, the Indian
agent told him he was wild. He must remember that there
was virtually no law that could or would reach the case ;
besides, if these men even had a suspicion that such a move
was contemplated, the Doctor would be put where he could
not be summoned as a witness. Also, should complaint be
made, he would be retained as a witness, and would have to
postpone his trip to California till after the trial, which might
be delayed for a year. After fully digesting the case, with
all its surroundings, it was concluded that one man could
not remedy all the evils in the world at once.

At length the Ne Plus Ultra reached its destination, West-
port Landing, or Kansas City, in the latter part of March or
first of April. Here was a new experience. Like all joint-
stock companies, made up of all classes and characters of in-
dependent, intelligent Yankees, no sooner was the journey
commenced than the officers in control were subjects of suspi-
cion, jealousies, innuendoes, reflections, and open charges of
incapacity, inefficiency, crookedness, theft, and robbery. The
farther removed from home and home influences, the louder
the complaints, until on landing at Kansas City a general mu-
tiny prevailed. No settlement of difficulties could be reached
without a division of the party and a consequent division of
the tons of supplies. Accordingly, two parties were organ-
ized, and a committee of three, of which the Doctor was one,
was appointed to divide the "plunder." This quarrel and
division, with the purchase of teams, consumed some four
or five weeks of time, or till the first week in May. This
delay afforded an excellent opportunity to study the pecul-
iarities of the people, their habits and institutions. The
doctor, with some other members of the party, procured
board with a thrifty farmer several miles on the road to In-

32 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

dependence, and there took lessons in Western farming and
stock-raising. His time was fully occupied, for not only was
a division of the supplies to be made between the two par-
ties, and teams to be purchased, but calls for his professional
services were frequent. During the first night after the party
landed at Kansas City, nine of the citizens were attacked
with cholera and died. The little hamlet was panic-stricken.
Several physicians were in the place, but all had failed to
save their patients. It became known in the morning that
the Doctor of the Boston party had been successful in several
cases on the boat while coming up the river, and his services
were at once in demand. This demand did not cease till he
started on his trip across the plains. The last case treated
was that of a young physician who was a victim to the dis-
ease. The Doctor remained with him the entire night, until
favorable symptoms appeared, when he joined the party
ready to begin their long journey. Whether this physician
died or recovered, the Doctor never learned till in the heat
of the Kansas conflict, in 1856. There is reason to believe
that this stay of some four or five weeks at Kansas City, in
the spring of 1 849, had an important influence on the strug-
gle of 1854, 1855, and 1856, in Kansas Territory. The
Yankees were thus enabled to learn some of the peculiarities
of the border men, and they in turn of the Yankees. Each
class bestowed and received favors, and parted with mutual
good-will when the time came for the Yankees to pursue
their journey. This good- will in some instances was unin-
terrupted, as will later appear, during all the border troubles
in Kansas.

On the xoth of May, the two parties had completed their
organizations, apportioned the property, procured their
teams, and were ready to launch their " prairie schooners."
One party had procured mules and the other oxen for motive
power. Both mules and oxen were unbroken to the harness
or yoke, with a few exceptions, as were most of the men in
the parties unused to handling them. The experiences in"

SUNDAY TRAVELLING.

33

hitching up, starting and driving these wild animals afforded
much amusement as well as many hard knocks, mingled with
the Western vernacular, which was learned and adopted by
the drivers with remarkable alacrity. As the steers had had
no Yankee schooling, and had not learned the definitions of
the terms whoa, haw, and gee, the members of the party
marched in irregular order on both sides of the teams, thus
guiding them in the way they should go. At the short turns
in the road, and the crossing of creeks and ravines, there
was usually a revolt that sometimes lasted half a day. At
night the steers would be unhitched from the wagons, but
not unyoked, as to unyoke and yoke these teams on the open
prairie at first would require twenty out of the twenty-four
hours, leaving but four hours in which to eat and sleep, and
no time for travel. On the first Saturday of the journey,
darkness came on before reaching water, and the party
camped on the high prairie. The next morning, on investi-
gation, it was found that the Wakarusa Creek was some two
or three miles away, and the teams must be hitched up and
driven that distance, at least, although it was Sunday. So
much was a work of necessity, and the strictest Puritan in
the party acquiesced. But, after reaching the creek and
watering the stock, the question arose, shall the party go fur-
ther. Here was the first clash of Yankee theological steel.
The discussion was, however, brief, and a vote of the party
settled the question in favor of further travel. But the triumph
of the Sunday travellers was brief, as in going through a de-
pression, near the place where the town of Franklin was after-
wards located, the chain between the cattle became slackened
and twisted about a steer's leg. When the chain was straight-
ened, it gave such a twist to the leg as to disable it. Here
was a judgment of God for breaking the Sabbath. No fur-
ther progress could be made that day, except in theological
discussion. One party claimed that it was a direct interpo-
sition to punish Sabbath-breaking, while the other put the
accident to the account of too long coupling-chains and bad

34 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

driving. One party appealed to the Decalogue, and the
other called for its reading. When it was found that the
seventh day, instead of the first, was enjoined to be observed,
and that for a special reason which applied only to the Jews,
an appeal was made to the New Testament, where it was
claimed the command was made applicable to the first day
of the week. The discussion was closed, on one side, by
offering a dollar for every word in the New Testament en-
joining the observance of any day as a Sabbath, and, on the
other, by devoting the remainder of the day in searching the
Testament. No claim was ever made for the prize money,
and these sticklers for Sabbath observance were afterwards
seen betting at monte in Sacramento, having evidently lost
their Puritanic scruples. Persons who depend upon outside
pressure for religion are apt to adopt the customs of their
surroundings when that pressure is removed ; while the per-
son who is governed by his own convictions of what is right
and what is wrong, regardless of public opinion and public
custom, will be but slightly influenced by externals.

As the Boston party travelled by river from Pittsburg to
Kansas City, they saw nothing of prairie land till starting out
across Kansas Territory. The second day, the i ith of May,
was a revelation. No such landscape had ever blessed their
vision. One of the party described the country and his sen-
sations in his diary, as follows :

"May nth, 1849. — Our course to-day has been over the rolling
prairie, and we passed along without difficulty. The prairie seems to
be an endless succession of rolls, with a smooth, green surface, dotted
all over with most beautiful flowers. The soil is of the most rich and
fertile 'character, with no waste land. The feelings that come over a
person, as he first views this immense ocean of land, are indescribable.
As far as the eye can reach, he sees nothing but a beautiful green car-
pet, save here and there perhaps a cluster of trees ; he hears nothing but
the feathered songsters of the air, &n&. feels nothing but a solemn awe
in view of this infinite display of creative power.

" 1 3th. — Turned out this morning at four o'clock, to watch the cattle.
Went up on a high roll of land, where I had an extensive and enchant-
ing view of this seemingly boundless and ever-varying prairie. The

INSUBORDINATION OF EMIGRANTS. 35

sun is rising out of this sea of land in the east, a line of timber skirts
Cedar Creek to the N.E., also Spoon Creek to the N.W., while still
further on, in the same direction, is seen a thick fog, marking the
course of the Kansas River. All is still save the grazing of the cattle,
and the concert of birds, which is composed of a great variety of song-
sters. The cooing of the prairie hens, heard in every direction, con-
stitutes the bass ; the loud cawing of the crows, the tenor ; the fine,
sweet voices of the ground and small birds, the treble ; and a noise as
of distant wild geese, the alto.

" 23d. — Passed a little creek of pure cold water, about twelve M.,
where we found a newly made grave. Ascended a high bluff near the
creek, where I had a most delightful view of the country to a great
distance. I was reminded of the view of the Connecticut River valley
from Mt. Holyoke. There is this difference, however — while one is
circumscribed by hills and forests, the other is illimitable in extent, and
stretches from the rising to the setting sun ; and while one is striped
and checked with corn-fields and meadows like a carpet, the other is
capable of being checked as numerously with States and nations."

The Boston party that left Kansas City in two divisions,
before reaching California found itself in numerous subdivis-
ions. In all his learning the Yankee had never learned the
lesson of subordination. So long as dynamite cartridges will
explode under favoring circumstances, so long will explo-
sions occur in Yankee parties on a joint-stock basis while
traversing a wilderness in pursuit of gold. The Israelites
were not Yankees, and they had been long disciplined by
the Egyptian task-master, but nevertheless they made the life
of Moses a burden to him on their journey to the promised
land. In consequence of these explosions of the Yankee
party, but a few hundred miles had been travelled when the
Doctor found himself one of a party of three persons, includ-
ing himself, and all on horseback, with pack animals for their
supplies. It seemed necessary that there should be at least
two persons in every party, or this party of three would have
been divided again. This journey was most favorable for
developing traits, not only of human nature, but also of
equine nature. The Doctor's horse, purchased at Cincinnati,
proved to be as docile and affectionate as he was beautiful.

36 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

Whenever the Doctor appeared he would leave his grazing
and place his head over the shoulder of his owner in an affec-
tionate and caressing manner. Wherever the party camped,
that was his home, and there was no danger of his taking
voluntary leave. One incident that occurred, among many,
will be given in honor of the race to which this horse, Charley
by name, belonged. On reaching the north fork of the
Platte River, it was found to be swollen and the current
swift. Some place must be found, if possible, where it could
be forded, as the pack animals could not well keep afloat
with their luggage. Charley, as usual on such occasions,
was in requisition for experiments. Several places were
tried, but no fording discovered. At one place, when deep
water was reached, in the struggle rider and horse became
separated. The horse crossed the river, but on seeing the
man struggling in the swift current, he neighed anxiously,
and plunged into the stream again, reaching an island in the
river at the same time with his owner, who was completely
exhausted. The horse came and stood over him till he was
sufficiently rested to ride to the main-land. It is unnecessary
to say that the owner's attachment to his horse was stronger
than that he had for his human companions, for the horse
showed an affection which they did not, and when, at the
squatter riot in Sacramento, Charley was killed in the fight,
his death caused his owner a pang of regret greater than did
the bullet that passed through his own body.

The incidents of this overland journey are not, for the
most part, germane to the main subject of this book ; but the
Land or Squatter Riots of Sacramento are worth describing
here, both because the truth about them has never been
publicly told, and because this conflict in California was a
prototype of the later conflict in Kansas, having many points
of resemblance, and having been prosecuted by similar, and
some of the same, characters.

After a journey of some three months, fragments of the
Boston party began to arrive in California, and a small

IN CALIFORNIA. 37

detachment, including Dr. Robinson, stopped on Bear Creek
for the purpose of washing out the precious metal. Af-
ter some two weeks, Sacramento City was visited for sup-
plies. Here, at the junction of the Sacramento and American
rivers, seemed to be the head of navigation for shipping of
all kinds, and a prosperous town was destined to grow up.
Meals, consisting of meat and bread, were selling at from
seventy-five cents to one dollar and a half each, and lodg-
ings in proportion. It was apparent that more gold could
be procured at Sacramento at such prices than on Bear
Creek, and a partnership was soon formed and an eating-
house opened. As mining at this time was confined to the
bars in the creeks and rivers, as soon as the rainy season set
in these bars were covered with water, and the miners sought
the towns for winter quarters. During this season, in 1849,
in the absence of vegetables and variety of food, many emi-
grants were on the sick list, and had to be cared for by
the more fortunate or suffer and die alone in their tents or
cabins. These tents, shanties, and cabins, were scattered
over the unoccupied lands in and around Sacramento, and
the proprietors of the Boston party eating-house furnished
both food and medicine to many of these unfortunates. In
the midst of this rainy season three men, including the
Doctor, were passing along the levee between the Slough
near I street and the river, when they met a pretended
sheriff and posse well charged with whiskey. Curiosity
caused the three men to stop and watch proceedings. The
posse went directly to a structure of logs and canvas, where
was a sick man who had been fed and nursed by the Doctor
for several days. This man was ruthlessly hauled from his
shelter, and the logs and canvas leveled with the ground.
One of the three watchers exclaimed, " That is a damned
outrage," and the others joined in the exclamation. It was
then and there the movement commenced that culminated
in the squatter riot of the next year. These three men,
entire strangers to each other, resolved that such proceed-

38 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

ing should be reported to the people. Accordingly, it was
decided to advertise a meeting to be held on the levee
in front of a ship's galley lying near I street. A cord
of wood was procured to furnish light, and "dodgers"
about six inches square were printed and posted all over the
place, on wagons, mules, and things movable and immova-
ble. It was decided that the oldest of the three men should
preside at the meeting, and that the Doctor should prepare
and present resolutions. The time for the meeting came,
and with it apparently the entire population of the city.
The cord of wood was set on fire and the older man
mounted the galley as president of the meeting. He was
small in stature and small in voice, and seemed incapable of
preserving order. The speculators and their friends monopo-
lized the speech-making till the Doctor, who was unaccus-
tomed to public speaking, found that modesty must be
ignored or the squatters' cause would be lost. After sev-
eral speculators had spoken he made his way to the stand,
and prefaced his resolution with an account of the situation
and a statement of what he had witnessed. He then read
the following preamble and resolution :

" Whereas, the land in California is presumed to be public land,
therefore,

" Resolved, That we will protect any settler in the possession of land
to the extent of one lot in the city, and one hundred and sixty acres in
the country, till a valid title shall be shown for it."

This resolution was received with great enthusiasm. The
crowd, which had listened to the speculators' harangues in
silence, now went wild with excitement. No one could
doubt the direction of the wind now, and men in abundance
were found ready to endorse the resolution. This was the
first move, and this the platform that remained the platform
throughout the conflict. Before adjourning, steps were
taken for a permanent organization, of which the Doctor
was chosen president. Was there occasion or excuse for

MEXICAN GRANTS.

39

this movement ? California had been acquired from Mexico
by treaty, which respected all previous acts of the Mexican
government relative to the occupying and ownership of the
land. Under Mexican rule, governors of provinces, mayors
of cities, and justices of the peace were authorized to issue
grants of land subject to approval by the general govern-
ment. In this way numerous grants had been made by the
Governor of California, and one of eleven leagues to Cap-
tain Sutter. These grants were often loosely defined, and
the boundaries could be made to cover many times the
amount called for in the grant. At this time, when the
squatters were organized, no grant to Captain Sutter had
been seen by any one, and the boundaries were unknown,
but title was claimed under it from the Three Peaks, some
seventy miles north of Sacramento, to some unknown dis-
tance south of the town. It also extended from the "rivers
to the ends of the earth," so far as known, east and west.
No man could settle upon any part of this vast tract without
being assailed by some pretended claimant under Sutter.
Captain Sutter was a genial, generous old gentleman from
Sweden, and, on account of his early settlement, was an im-
portant character, socially and otherwise. He was made
much of, and of course must be treated to some drink by
each new visitor. As it would be uncivil to decline one
unless all were declined, and as he was not a teetotaler, he
must drink with everybody. As he was unequal to the task
of drinking everybody drunk in detail, everybody was sure
to drink him drunk on every visit to the city. When in this
condition he was very generous, and would sign almost any
paper presented to him. In this way deeds were obtained
at will by the unscrupulous speculators till the whole north-
ern part of the State seemingly had been covered. Josiah
Royce, in the Overland Monthly for September, 1885, on
page 227, says:

" In 1848, when the gold-seekers began to come, Sutter began to
lose his wits. One of the pioneer statements in Mr. Bancroft's collection

4O THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

says rather severely that the distinguished Captain thenceforth signed
' any paper that was brought to him.' At all events, he behaved in as
unbusiness-like a fashion as could well be expected, and the result was
that when his affairs came in later years to more complete settlement,
it was found that he had deeded away, not merely more land than he
actually owned, but, if I mistake not, more land than even he himself
had supposed himself to own. All this led not only himself into embar-
rassments, but other people with him ; and to arrange with justice the
final survey of his Alvarado grant proved in later years one of the most
perplexing problems of the United States District and Supreme Courts."

At this time California was not admitted into the Union,
and there was no law except the old Mexican code that was
recognized by the United States. The Mexican local law
was ignored, as no officers existed to enforce it. A consti-
tution had been adopted and so-called laws made under it,
and it was such laws as these that were resorted to by the
speculators to eject settlers from all northern California,
claimed to be covered by Sutler's grant. At first no pre-
tense of legal process was deemed necessary. The poor
settler, who had erected his shanty or tent on some unoccu-
pied land, would be visited by some person who would de-
mand possession, purchase-money, or blackmail. Many
who wanted no trouble would leave without further notice.
But such as failed to heed the warning would soon be visited
by the pretended sheriff and posse. He would make quick
work and oust the intruder. The squatters' organization,
when completed, played havoc with such ejectments. Either
the president or some member of that association would
happen at the place of ejectment and seriously interfere with
the programme. The speculators, finding this game blocked,
concluded to send for the Sutter title, in accordance with
the demand of the squatters' platform. A certified copy
was procured from the archives of Mexico and read to a
large meeting called for the purpose of hearing it. But,
unfortunately for the speculators, the boundaries of this pre-
tended grant were fatally defective. The third and fourth
sections of this grant read as follows :

LUTHER'S GRANT. 41

" 3d. The land of which donation is made to him is of the extent of
eleven sitios da gauado major, as exhibited in the sketch annexed to the
proceedings, without including the lands overflowed by the swelling and
current of the rivers. It is bounded on the north by los Tres Picas
(three summits) and the 39° 41' 45" of north latitude ; on the east by the
borders of the Jfio de las Phimas (Feather River) ; on the south by the
parallel 38° 49' 32" of north latitude; and on the west by the river
Sacramento.

" 4th. When this property shall be confirmed unto him, he shall
petition the proper judge to give him possession of the land, in order
that it may be measured, agreeably to ordinance, the surplus thereof
remaining for the benefit of the nation, for convenient purposes.
Therefore I order that this title being held as firm and valid, that the
same be entered in the proper book, and that these proceedings be
transmitted to the excellent Departmental Assembly."

Here are natural boundaries which would seem conclusive.
On the north by the Three Peaks, about sixty or seventy
miles north of Sacramento, on the east by the Feather River,
on the west by the Sacramento River, and on the south by a
parallel of latitude near the junction of those rivers, about
twenty miles north of Sacramento. Besides, it expressly
excludes land overflowed by the rivers, and Sacramento was
under from two to six feet of water for four or six weeks.
This document, of course, confirmed the squatters in their
determination to stand by each other. But the fight was not
abandoned by the speculators. Although they had no law or
equity on their side, they proposed to rely upon a pretense of
law, or the legal machine. They evidently supposed that
squatters would know no difference between pretense and
reality, and proceeded accordingly. As a posse with nothing
behind it would work no longer, something else must be tried.
The first agency appealed to was the City Council, in Decem-
ber, 1849. An ordinance was passed directing certain im-
provements to be removed from city lots occupied by squat-
ters, says the Sacramento Directory of 1853, and a posse of
several hundred men under the city marshal started out on
their mission. The president of the squatters' association,
however, met them at their first job, and informed them that

42 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

their authority to meddle with private property was not
recognized by his association, and if they touched that
property they must kill at least one person then and have a
reckoning with the whole squatters' association afterwards.
This was more than had been expected, and, although the
little deputy marshal, who was charged to the muzzle with
whiskey, cried " Shoot the scoundrel," no shooting was done,
and the marshal with his posse retired to report to head-
quarters. Finding that this form of law wouldn't frighten
squatters and blood must be shed, some more impressive
form must be invented. This was easily done. The State
Legislature, so called, although no recognition of the State
had been made by Congress, passed an act concerning forci-
ble entry and detainer, with the express purpose of meeting
the difficulty of settling possession without passing upon title
in a United States court. As the justice could have no
jurisdiction where the question of title was raised, the squat-
ters repudiated this form of law, as in every case the squatter
was in peaceable possession, and no right to possession in
the claimant could be shown except by offsetting actual pos-
session with title. This was accordingly done, notwithstand-
ing the protests of the settlers. Sutler's title was pleaded in
every case, decided valid, and judgment rendered against
the squatter. He could appeal to the Probate Court by
giving bonds for the satisfaction of the judgment. Also the
bondsmen must be land-holders. No others would be taken.
In the spring the president was absent several weeks in the
mines, seeking a proper site for a sawmill, shipped around
the Horn by his brother. During his absence the specula-
tors were very busy with suits, ordinances, and organiza-
tions. Mr. Royce, on page 238 of the Overland Monthly,
describes the situation as follows :

" To this act [Forcible Entry and Detainer] some of the land-owners
of Sacramento now appealed for help. Moreover, as they were in
control of the city council, they proceeded to pass, amid the furious
protests of the squatters, a municipal ordinance, forbidding any one to

VEXATIOUS SUITS. 43

erect tents, or shanties, or houses, or to heap lumber or other encum-
brances, upon any vacant lot belonging to a private person, or upon any
public street. The land-owners also formed a ' Law and Order Asso-
ciation, ' and printed in the papers a notice of their intention to defend
to the last their property under the Sutter title. They began to drill
companies of militia. A few personal encounters took place in various
vacant lots, where owners tried to prevent the erection of fences or
shanties. Various processes were served upon squatters, and executed.
The squatter association itself plainly suffered a good deal from the
internal jealousies or from the mutual indifference of its members.
Only the ardor of Dr. Robinson prevented an utter failure of its or-
ganization long before the crisis. In the latter part of June, and for
some time in July, the movement fell into the background of public
attention."

On his return, in July, the Doctor found great discourage-
ment among the squatters. Suits were innumerable, and
bondsmen were used up. The speculators would try no
appealed case, that a legal decision might be reached in a
United States court, but evidently intended to worry out the
squatters in the justice courts. Under these circumstances
bondsmen must be had or this line of defense abandoned.
Noticing that the squatters who offered themselves as bail
uniformly claimed that, although land-holders, their title was
a squatter's title, a new move was made. The Doctor staked
off several blocks of land in the outskirts of the city, put a
large tent upon them and moved in. At the next trial he
offered himself as bail. Being questioned as to his title, he
simply said it was as good as there was in the city. After a
long time spent in trying in vain to get from him that his
title was a squatter's title, the prosecutor objected. But the
justice said the bondsman claimed as good a title as there
was in the city, and, as he could not try titles, he must
accept the claim. On being questioned as to the value of
the land, it was placed at $100,000. This put an end to
justices' trials, as it was found bail could be given indefi-
nitely. Next came a trial of an appealed case before Judge
Willis, the Probate judge. This case, of course, was decided
against the squatters, and an appeal asked to the District

44 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

Court, hoping to get from that court to a United States court.
An appeal was denied, however, and the crisis forced. It
was now evident, if the squatters acquiesced in this proceed-
ing and allowed ejectment to be had under the circum-
stances, their fight was ended. But this issue was foreseen
from the first, and some were ready to meet it, but not
many. In the Sacramento Directory for 1853, this case is
given as follows :

" The defendant appealed from this decision to the County Court,
and on the 8th of August, 1850, the case came for hearing before Judge
Willis, of the above tribunal. The defendant at this trial was assisted
by McKune, Tweed, and Aldrich. Defendants moved for a nonsuit,
on the ground that the Recorder's Court had no jurisdiction over the
case. The plea was taken into consideration, but by the consent of the
parties the case was submitted upon its merits. The claim of title from
Sutter being offered by plaintiffs, defendant objected, and the objection
was taken under advisement, which resulted in the court overruling the
objection. The case was then argued, and the following day judgment
was rendered, sustaining the decision of the inferior court.

" The defendant then asked to appeal to the Supreme Court, but
there being no law at that time to sustain the appeal, the motion was
overruled. During the proceedings of this trial both parties became
excited to the utmost degree, and the squatters as a body declared
against the restoration of the property pursuant to the judgment of the
courts."

What occurred after the decision is thus described in the
Overland Monthly, page 240 :

" They rushed from the court to excited meetings outside, and spread
abroad the news that Judge Willis had not only decided against them,
but had decided that from him there was no appeal. Woe to such laws
and to such judges! The law betrays us. We will appeal to the
Higher Law. The processes of the courts shall not be served.

" Dr. Robinson was not unequal to the emergency. At once he
sent out notices, calling a mass meeting of ' squatters and others inter-
ested,' to take place the same evening, August loth. It was Saturday,
and when night came a large crowd of squatters, of land-owners, and of
idlers had gathered. The traditional leisure of Saturday night made a
great part of the assembly as cheerful as it was eager for novelty and
interested in this affair. Great numbers were there simply to see fair
play ; and this general public, in their characteristically American good-

REPUDIATION OF COURTS. 45

humor, were quite unwilling to recognize any sort of seriousness in the
occasion. These jolly on-lookers interrupted the squatter orators, called
for E. J. C. Kewen and Sam Brannan as representatives of the land-
owners, listened to them a while, interrupted them when the thing grew
tedious, and enjoyed the utter confusion that for the time reigned on
the platform. At length the crowd were ready for Dr. Robinson and
his inevitable resolutions. He, for his part, was serious enough. He
had been a moderate man, he said, but the time for moderation was
past. He was ready to have his corpse left on his own bit of land, ere
he would yield his rights. Then he read his resolutions, which suffi-
ciently denounced Judge Willis and the laws ; and thereafter he called
for the sense of the meeting. Dissenting voices rang out, but the reso-
lutions received a loud affirmative vote, and were declared carried. The
regular business of the meeting was now done ; but for a long time yet
various ambitious speakers mounted the platform and sought to address
the crowd, which amused itself by roaring at them, or by watching them
pushed from their high place.

" Next day Dr. Robinson was early at work, drawing up in his
own way a manifesto to express the sense of his party. It was a very
able and reckless document. Robinson had found an unanswerable
fashion of stating the ground for devotion to the Higher Law, as op-
posed to State law."

The following is substantially the manifesto issued :

"TO THE PEOPLE OF SACRAMENTO CITY.

" It is well known that a few individuals have seized upon nearly all
the arable public lands in this county, and the following are some of the
means they have resorted to, in order to retain the property thus taken :

' ' First. They have used brute force and torn down the buildings of
the settlers, and driven them from their homes by riotous mobs.

" Second. They have used threats of violence, even to the taking of
life, if the occupant or settler persisted in defending his property, and
thus extorted from the timid their rightful possessions.

" Third. They have passed or procured the passage of certain rules
in the so-called Legislature of California, for the purpose, as their attor-
neys affirm, of protecting themselves and removing the settlers from the
land they may occupy whether right or wrong — thus settling the ques-
tion of title in an assumed legislative body, which question can alone be
settled by the Supreme Government of the United States.

" Fourth. Under said legislative regulations, by them called laws,
they have continually harassed the settler with suits, and in many in-
stances compelled him to abandon his home for want of the means to
pay the costs of their courts. Many others have paid these costs with

46 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

the hope of carrying their cause through these so-called courts to the
proper tribunal for final decision, viz. : the Supreme Court of the United
States.

" But these hopes were vain, for Judge Willis, so-called, has decided
that from his decision there is no appeal.

" And now, inasmuch as the so-called Legislature is not recognized
by Congress, and their rules and regulations not approved, and are
therefore of no binding force upon the citizens of the United States, but
simply advisory, and inasmuch as the so-called law of ' Forcible Entry
and Detainer,' if passed for the purpose affirmed by their council,
namely, to drive off settlers, with or without title, is unconstitutional,
and would be in any State ; the people in this community called settlers,
and others who are friends of justice and humanity, in consideration of
the above, have determined to disregard all decisions of our courts in
land cases and all summonses or executions by the sheriff, constable, or
other officer of the present county or city touching this matter. They
will regard the said officers as private citizens, as in the eyes of the
Constitution they are, and hold them accountable accordingly. And,
moreover, if there is no other appeal from Judge Willis, the settlers and
others, on the first show of violence to their persons or property, either
by the sheriff or other person, under color of any execution or writ of
restitution, based on any judgment or decree of any court in this county,
in an action to recover possession of land, have deliberately resolved to
appeal to arms and protect their sacred rights, if need be, with their
lives.

" Should such be rendered necessary by the acts of the sheriff or
others, the settlers will be governed by martial law. All property, and
the persons of such as do not engage in the contest, will be sacredly
regarded and protected by them, whether land-holders or otherwise, but
the property and lives of those who take the field against them will
share the fate of war."

As it was understood that the sheriff would take possession
of the property in dispute on Monday morning, several
squatters were on hand to protect it. The situation and
spirit of the movement is described in a letter found in the
Doctor's tent, and published in the papers of the day. It
is as follows :

" August 12, 1850. — Although I have written one letter, yet, as I
have been called upon by circumstances to remain in town, and as I
have a little leisure, I will talk with you a little, my dear S. Since
writing you, we have seen much and experienced much of a serious and

POSITION STATED. 47

important character, as well as much of excitement. The county judge,
before whom our cases w.ere brought, decided against us, and on Satur-
day morning declared that from his decision there should be no appeal.
The squatters immediately collected on the ground in dispute, and
posted, on large bills, the following: ' OUTRAGE ! ! ! Shall Judge
Willis be dictator ? Squatters, and all other republicans, are invited to
meet on the Levee this evening, to hear the details.' It was responded
to by both parties, and the speculators, as aforetime, attempted to talk
against time, etc. On the passage of a series of resolutions presented
by your humble servant, there were about three ayes to one nay, al-
though the Transcript said they were about equal. Sunday morning I
drew up a manifesto — carried it with me to the church — paid one dollar
for preaching — helped them sing — showed it to a lawyer to see if my
position was correct, legally, and procured the printing of it in hand-
bills and in the paper, after presenting it to a private meeting of citizens
for their approval, which I addressed at some length. After a long
talk for the purpose of consoling a gentleman just in from the plains,
and who the day before had buried his wife, whom he loved most ten-
derly, and a few days previous to that had lost his son, I threw myself
upon my blankets and ' anxiously thought of the morrow.'

" What will be the result ? Shall I be borne out in my position?
On whom can I depend ? How many of those who are squatters will
come out if there is a prospect of a fight ? Will the sheriff take pos-
session, as he has promised, before 10 o'clock A.M.? How many
speculators will fight ? Have I distinctly defined our position in the
bill ? Will the world, the universe and God say it is just ? — etc., etc.,
etc. Will you call me rash if I tell you that I took these steps to this
point when I could get but twenty-five men to pledge themselves on
paper to sustain me, and many of them, I felt, were timid ? Such was
the case.

" This morning I was early on my feet, silently and quietly visiting
my friends, collecting arms, etc. Our manifesto appeared in the paper
and in bills early, and the whole town is aroused. Nothing is thought
or talked of but war. About two hundred men assembled on the dis-
puted territory, and most of them sympathized with us. A few, how-
ever, were spies. We chose our commander, and enrolled such as were
willing and ready to lay down their lives, if need be, in the cause.
About fifty names could be obtained. I managed, by speeches, busi-
ness, etc., to keep the spectators and fighters mingled in a mass, all
unarmed, so as to let no one know but all were men of valor, and ready
to fight. While thus engaged, the mayor appeared and addressed us
from his saddle — not ordering us to disperse, but advising us to do so.
I replied, most respectfully, that we were assembled to injure no one,
and to assail no one who left us alone. We were on our own property,

48 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

with no hostile intention while unmolested. After he left I, with
others, was appointed a committee to wait upon him at his office, and
state distinctly our positions, etc., so that there could be no possibility
of mistake. He said he should use his influence as an individual to
keep any one from destroying our property, and told us the sheriff had
just told him that the executions from the court had been postponed.
We returned, and after reporting, and making some further arrangement
for another meeting if necessary, we adjourned. I told the mayor we
should not remain together if no attempt was to be made to execute
their warrants, but I told him if in the meantime a sheriff or any other
person molested a squatter, we should hold him responsible, according
to our proclamation. From this position we could not be driven, al-
though we knew it was in violation of the regulations of the State.
We were prepared to abide the result.

" It is said that a writ is made out for my arrest, as a rebel, etc. If
so, it will not probably be served at present."

No sooner had the squatters left the property in dispute,
than the sheriff, contrary to the assurances given by the
mayor, appeared, removed the furniture and property of the
owner, and placed a keeper in charge. Also he arrested
some of the squatters and placed them on the prison ship.
Thus another step had been taken. If the premises should
be permitted to remain with the officers, the speculators
would be victorious, as all other cases would take the same
course. But, should the squatters retake this property in
defiance of the so-called officer, nothing would be gained by
the suit. It would have to be tried over again, de novo, as
the lawyers say, or the squatters tried for contempt of court.
As these courts, like the justice of the peace who fined a
man in the street for contempt, were all and at all times ob-
jects of contempt, they would not be likely to resort to this
remedy. But something must be done. It was now the
squatters' turn to act. Leading squatters avoided arrest
during the day, and a meeting was held at the Doctor's tent
at night. Here the situation was fully discussed and a plan
of procedure adopted. All were to meet early the next
morning under an oak tree in the outskirts of the city and
march to the disputed property and retake it. Maloney, a

WAR MOVEMENTS.

49

soldier in the Mexican war, was to be military leader. To
avoid arrest, he and the Doctor went some six miles into the
country and stopped over night at Maloney's claim. Early
in the morning the two rode to the place of rendezvous, but
found not a solitary squatter. They immediately started
out to rally their forces. Evidently the courage that mani-
fested itself so defiantly at squatter meetings, with no enemy
in sight, had all oozed out of these brave men. Some of
the loudest, and apparently the boldest, were found in bed
trembling like aspen leaves. At length, after a search of
some four or five hours, fifteen men, all told, were mustered.
These were drilled for a short time by Captain Maloney be-
fore starting on their errand. The martial spirit took pos-
session of Maloney and he wanted to ride the Doctor's
cream-colored horse. A gentleman just in from crossing
the plains, sympathized with the movement, and lent the
Doctor his Colt's six-shooter rifle. The only swearing in
was an oath to obey orders of the commander, or be shot as
a penalty. Thus, after devoting the afternoon of one day
and nearly the whole night, and the forenoon of the next
day, an army of fifteen men, armed and equipped, was ready
to carry into effect the resolution adopted soon after the sick
man was dragged from his shelter and left exposed to the
elements, eight months before. When the order was given,
" Forward, march ! " it was high noon of a very hot day. The
squatter army of fourteen men and one commander marched
in a solid column, seven abreast, down N street, with all the
circumstance of grim-visaged war. The house of A. M.
Winn, former president of the City Council, was on the line
of march, and, unfortunately, Captain Maloney had a bitter
grudge against this ex-president. As the house was ap-
proached, Maloney turned upon his horse and said he would
order this house destroyed. The Doctor at once denounced
such a proceeding as fatal to the success of the squatter
movement. The Captain apparently abandoned his purpose,
but, when directly opposite the house, he turned again and

4

50 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

said, " We will never have a better time," and was about to
give his order. The Doctor sprang forward, rifle in hand,
and told him if he opened his mouth to order the destruction
of that property he would blow his brains out. This seemed
to stagger the Captain. Here was a private in the ranks
who, not fifteen minutes before, had taken an oath to obey
his orders or be shot, now, coming forward, rifle in hand,
and threatening to blow his brains out if he issued an order.
But he apparently made a merit of necessity and again
moved on, saying he would give the order when he came
back. At this exhibition of lack of comprehension of the
issue involved, and the work to be done, the Doctor was
greatly disturbed. To act on the defensive in protecting the
houses of peaceable settlers against the most arrogant usurpa-
tion and oppression was one thing, but to take the offensive,
destroy private property, where a school was in session, and
which was in no way connected with questions involved,
was quite another. In the first case the sympathies of all
good people would be enlisted, while in the second men and
women of all classes would unite to put down the vandals.
Evidently, this Maloney did not see, or, if he saw it, his
passions upset his judgment.

At length the house in controversy was reached, at the
corner of N and Second streets. The keeper placed in
charge by the sheriff was absent, and nothing remained to
do but take formal possession and replace the furniture and
property in the house where it belonged. Fearing Maloney
would be uncontrollable if he should return by the ex-presi-
dent's house, the Doctor advised that a lot on I street should
be visited, where some lumber had been deposited from a
vessel without consulting the squatter claimant. This would
take the squatters out of town by another route. I street
was accordingly visited, but, as the owner of the lumber had
no designs upon the lot, nothing was to be done. Soon
after the march was commenced, the sheriff and mayor
could be seen on horseback galloping in every direction to

BATTLE. 5 1

rally their friends to the rescue. As laboring people were
released from work for dinner, many of them from curiosity
joined the procession, which, by the time I street was reached
was numbered by the thousand. Some were armed with
rifles and shot-guns, and more with revolvers. The squatters
marched and carried themselves like veterans, never breaking
ranks or being disconcerted by the immense crowd at their
heels.

As nothing was to be done at the lot on I street, Maloney
was requested to march out of town on that street, as it was
but thinly settled, and no disturbances /would be likely to
occur. He marched up I street to Third, when, to the
amazement of the Doctor, he turned and passed to J street,
the business street of the town. This was the home of the
saloons, gambling-houses, and rabble, as well as the business
places. Now the crowd of followers was increased im-
mensely, and composed of the most desperate characters as
well as of the curiosity-seekers. The march was up J street
to Fourth, where a turn was made to the south. The squat-
ters had but just turned the corner of J street and Fourth,
when a shout was raised and the mayor, sheriff, and their
adherents opened fire, doubtless contemplating a stampede
of the army of fifteen. But on the instant Maloney gave
the order to face about and fire. No one objected to this
order, and it was promptly obeyed. No sooner was the fire
of the mayor's crowd returned than all fled in hot haste.
In less time than it takes to record it, the space was cleared
in front of the squatters. As the mayor was on horseback,
he was a shining mark, and was badly wounded, losing one
arm. The city auditor, who had been very prominent and
offensive, was killed. One squatter also was killed in the
first encounter. After the crowd had fled, and while the
squatters were still in line, one man, named Harper, passed
up J street, and when opposite the Doctor, he suddenly
stopped and fired his revolver, the ball passing through the
Doctor's body two inches below the heart. The Doctor

52 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

then raised his rifle and returned the fire, the ball striking
the breast-bone of Harper and glancing off without entering
the body. The next the Doctor knew, after firing at Har-
per, he found himself upon the ground. How he got there,
or how long he had been there, he had no knowledge. On
looking about, he could see no human being, either squatter,
speculator, or spectator, and being thirsty, he crawled slowly
into an eating-house opposite where he lay. The inmates
were timid, and at first afraid to furnish the water craved.
Soon, however, some physicians made their appearance, and
he was placed upon a cot and well cared for. While in this
position, rapid firing was heard in the street or alley near
by, of short duration. It was soon reported that Captain
Maloney and his horse were killed. It was afterwards
learned that when all opponents had fled, the squatters
quietly separated, each going his own way, and while
Maloney was riding along the street the sheriff galloped up
and denounced him in most ungallant terms. Maloney,
although armed with no weapon except a saber, while the
sheriff was loaded down with revolvers, turned and pursued
his assailant, who led into a crowd of speculators well armed.
They at once opened fire, killing the horse, and planting
eighteen bullets in Maloney 's body. Soon after the accom-
plishment of this heroic deed, this pretended sheriff, covered
with sweat and glory, made his appearance at the eating-
house to arrest the Doctor and take him to the prison ship.
As at this time his wound was supposed to be mortal, and
there being no pulsation at the wrist the end might be near,
the physicians demurred and made the little dignitary wait.
However, reaction came on, the pulse at the wrist returned,
and in about three hours from the time of the encounter the
Doctor was removed to the prison ship. As he was carried
on the cot the whole city seemed to be on some of the
streets through which he passed. Sidewalks, verandas,
roofs, and everything that could hold a human being seemed
to be in requisition. Not a word was uttered in the hearing

EFFECT OF THE BATTLE. 53

of the prisoner, and there was an anxious silence that could
be felt. On reaching the prison ship his brother, who had
accompanied him thus far, was turned away, and the prisoner
was placed in the forecastle. The only other occupant was
a violently insane foreigner who muttered in an unknown
language, beating the sides of the vessel with his head and
otherwise most of the time. Here the prisoner was left until
late the next morning, evidently with no expectation on the
part of the officials of any other trouble than that of a
burial.

The effect upon the town of this encounter is thus de-
scribed by Mr. Royce, in Overland Monthly, page 243 :

" Like a lightning flash the battle came and was done. The array
of the squatters melted away like a mist when the two leaders were seen
to fall ; the confused mass of the citizens, shocked and awe-stricken when
they were not terrified, waited no longer on the field than others, but
scattered wildly. A few moments later, when Dr. Stillman returned
with his shot-gun, which, on the first firing, he had gone but half a
block to get, the street was quite empty of armed men. He waited for
some time to see any one in authority. At length Lieutenant-Governor
McDougal appeared, riding at full speed, ' his face very pale. '

" 'Get all the armed men you can,' he said, 'and rendezvous at
Fowler's hotel.'

" ' I went to the place designated,' says Dr. Stillman, ' and there
found a few men, who had got an old iron ship's gun, mounted on a
wooden truck ; to its axles was fastened a long dray pole. The gun
was loaded with a lot of scrap iron. I wanted to know where Mc-
Dougal was ; we expected him to take the command and die with us. I
inquired of Mrs. McDougal, who was stopping at the hotel, what had
become of her husband. She said he had gone to San Francisco for
assistance. Indeed, he was on his way to the steamer Senator when I
saw him, and he left his horse on the bank of the river.'

"In such swift, dream-like transformations the experiences of the
rest of the day passed by. Rumors were countless. The squatters
had gone out of the city ; they would soon return. They were seven
hundred strong. They meant vengeance. They would fire the city.
Yes, they already had fired the city, although nobody knew where.
No one could foresee the end of the struggle. The city had been de-
clared under martial law. Everybody must come out. The whole
force of the State would doubtless be needed. If the squatters failed
now, they would go to the mines, and arouse the whole population

54 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

there. One would have to fight all the miners as well. Such things
flew from mouth to mouth ; such reports the Senator carried to San
Francisco, with the pale-faced Lieutenant-Governor."

When the speculators found that the squatters proposed
to live up to their manifesto, and act only on the defensive,
the panic began to subside. But some thought it a good
opportunity to make an end of squatters and squatterism
altogether. The military leader had been riddled with bul-
lets, and the civil leader was mortally wounded in the hold
of the prison ship. Who now would dare stand out against
the Sutler grant ? The daily papers were filled with glorifi-
cation over the situation, and various officials and others
were brevetted for wonderful deeds of valor. Especially
was the little red-headed sheriff a marvel as a strategist and
hero-general. These panegyrics were too much for so small
a man, and he began to thirst for more blood and glory.
The second day he rallied a posse and started into the
country, some seven or eight miles, to arrest "old man
Allen," as he was called. This man was a stalwart squatter,
over six feet in height, from Missouri. He had a claim that
somebody wanted, and he must go. It is true he was some
seven or eight miles from the Sacramento River, and Sut-
ler's grant was but one league wide, but that was immaterial ;
his grant was as valid in one place as another if a claim was
made under it. On arriving at its destination, the sheriff's
posse was divided into three squads, one for the front and
one for each end of the house, while the rear was covered
by the American River. The bold sheriff commanded the
front squad, and marched up to the front door. When
Allen, who was caring for his sick wife, who died in the
melee, came to the door, his surrender was demanded. But
he understood this game, and surrendered the contents of his
shot-gun instead of himself. This quieted this brave officer
effectually, and the posse took him back to town. Several
shots were fired at Allen, but he escaped into the American
River in the rear of his house. Two men in the house were

DEATH OF THE SHERIFF. 55

killed. When the posse left, Allen left his hiding-place and
went to the mines. On the return of this posse with the
dead body of its leader, the music was pitched in a new key.
The city, which, according to Mr. Royce, " was never safer,
as a whole, than a few hours after the fatal meeting at the
corner of Fourth and J streets," was again all excitement.
This same writer, on page 245, says:

" The city was not reassured by the news of the sheriff's death. In
the unlighted streets of the frightened place, the alarm was sounded by
the returning party about nine o'clock. Of course, invasion and fire
were expected. The militia companies turned out, detailed patrolling
parties, and then ordered the streets cleared. The danger was immi-
nent that the defenders of the law would pass the night in shooting one
another by mistake in the darkness ; but this was happily avoided. The
families in the town were, of course, terribly excited. 'The ladies,'
says Dr. Stillman, ' were nearly frightened out of their wits ; but we
assured them that they had nothing to fear — that we were devoted
to their service, and were ready to die at their feet. Being thus as-
sured, they all retired into their cozy little cottages, and securely bolted
the doors.' Morning came, bringing with it the steamer from San
Francisco. Lieutenant-Governor McDougal was on board. He felt
seriously the responsibilities of his position, and accordingly went to
bed, sick with the cares of office. In the city Sam Brannan and others
talked mightily of law, order, and blood. There were, however, no
more battles to fight. In a few days, quiet was restored ; people were
ashamed of their alarm. Squatters confined themselves to meeting in
the mining districts and in Marysville, to savage manifestoes, and to
wordy war from a distance, with sullen submission near home. The
real war was done. A tacit consent to drop the subject was soon no-
ticeable in the community. Men said that the law must be enforced,
and meanwhile determined to speak no ill of the dead. There was a
decided sense, also, of common guilt. The community had sinned and
suffered. And soon the cholera, and then the winter, ' closed the
autumn scene.' "

The reader will notice a wonderful change in this extract
from the mighty talk of "law, order, and blood," by Brannan
arid others, to the statement that immediately followed,
namely: "There were, however, no more battles to fight.
In a few days quiet was restored. * * * A tacit con-
sent to drop the subject was soon noticeable in the com-

56 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

munity." But why was the subject dropped f This seems
to be a most lame and impotent conclusion of a great war
in which the speculators, according to this and other writers,
were victorious. The reasons for this sudden termination
of hostilities and apparent change of front, the speculators
and their defenders do not care to give, and they cannot be
censured for the omission. But they should be given for
the benefit of the historian. After the dead sheriff was
brought into town, the keeper of the prison ship visited his
squatter prisoner and reported what had happened. He
said the sheriff went out to arrest " old man Allen," and the
latter shot him dead. He seemed much excited and exas-
perated that any man should have the temerity to defend
himself in that way. The prisoner ventured to inquire after
the squatters. " Where were they and what were they do-
ing ? " " Squatters," said the keeper, " they are annihilated,
or will be as fast as found." This reply caused an invisible
and incredulous smile on the part of the prisoner, but noth-
ing more was said.

About the second night after this transaction, the keeper
again visited his prisoner, still greatly excited, but in another
way. He now came to ask a favor. He said word had
come from the mines that the miners had resolved to visit
Sacramento, rescue the prisoners, and sack the town, if
another squatter was disturbed or the prisoners were ill-
treated. To prevent any further trouble, would the prisoner
be so kind as to authorize him to send word to the miners
that he, the prisoner, did not want to be rescued. This
would quiet the town, which was very much excited. The
prisoner said, while he had no desire for a rescue, he had no
word to send to the miners or other parties. They must act
as they thought best. Here was a new song, with a very
different tune from the one sung two nights before. It was
afterwards reported that old man Allen reached a mining
camp the next day, after killing the sheriff, while the miners
were at dinner. He was hatless and coatless, and covered

WAR AT AN END.

57

with mud and blood from head to foot. In this plight he
told the story of the squatter riot and of his encounter with
the sheriff. It is needless to say that here was the inspira-
tion for the resolution to destroy the town if such proceed-
ings did not cease. Two men were sent as spies from the
speculators to see if Allen could be arrested. Naturally,
their report was unfavorable.

Also, the visiting militia may have had something to do
with the sudden change in the atmosphere at Sacramento.
The company that came up from San Francisco called in a
body upon the prisoner, in his forecastle, and after standing
about the cot for a few moments, an officer whispered in the
ear of the prisoner that he and his friends had nothing to
fear from them, as they had investigated the matter and
approved of the course the squatters had taken. Under all
the circumstances, it is not surprising that " a tacit consent
to drop the subject was soon noticeable in the community,"
and that there was also " a decided sense of common guilt "
on the part of the speculators. Mr. Royce says, while there
were meetings and manifestoes in the mines, " there was
sullen submission near home." The platform of the squat-
ters from first to last was protection to the occupant of land
in possession of the same till title should be shown, and
when all opposition to this possession ceased the war was
over. As soon as all attempts ceased to get possession of
land under forcible entry and detainer laws, and bogus acts
of bogus city councils, there was nothing more to be done.
The squatters had obtained all they ever demanded.

In order to make it appear that the speculators gained a
great victory, and the squatters suffered a corresponding
defeat, writers have deemed it necessary to misstate the issue.
Instead of being the simple preamble and resolution adopted
at the first squatters' meeting, namely, " Whereas the land
in California is presumed to be public land, therefore, re-
solved, that we will protect any settler in the possession of
land to the extent of one lot in the city and one hundred

58 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

and sixty acres in the country, till a valid title shall be shown
for it," the writers would make it appear that the squatters
were agrarians, transcendentalists, higher-law men, and im-
practicable visionaries. A few quotations from Mr. Royce,
in Overland Monthly, will illustrate the general method of
treating the issue :

' ' Providence is known to be opposed to every form of oppression ;
and grabbing eleven leagues of land is a great oppression. And so the
worthlessness of Mexican land titles is evident.

" Of course, the squatters would have disclaimed very generally so
naked a statement as this of their position. But when we read in one
squatter's card that ' surely Suiter's grant does not entitle to a mo-
nopoly of all the lands in California, which were purchased by the treas-
ure of the whole nation, and by no small amount of the best blood that
ever coursed or ran through American veins,' the same writer's formal
assurance that Sutter ought to have his eleven leagues whenever they
can be found and duly surveyed cannot blind us to the true spirit of the
argument. What has this ' best blood ' to do with the Sutter grant ?
The connection in the writer's mind is only too obvious. He means
that the ' best blood ' won for us a right to harass great land-owners.
In another of these expressions of squatter opinion I have found the
assertion that the land speculators stand on a supposed old Mexican
legal right of such as themselves to take up the whole territory of Cali-
fornia, in sections of eleven leagues each, by some sort of Mexican pre-
emption. If a squatter persists in understanding the land-owner's
position in this way, his contempt for it is as natural as his wilful deter-
mination to make game of all native Californian claims is obvious.

* * * A member, who has already been quoted, wrote to the Placer
Times that, ' with the Sutter men there has been and is now money and
power, and some of them are improving every opportunity to trouble
and oppress ft\e peaceable, hard-working, order-loving, and law-abiding
settler, which, in the absence of the mass of the people in the mines
they do with comparative impunity.' The italics are his own. The
letter concluded with an assurance that the settlers were organized to
maintain what ' country, nature, and God ' had given to them. The
mention of the ' absence of the people in the mines ' is very character-
istic of the purposes of the squatters ; and the reference to ' country,
nature, and God' illustrates once more the spirit of the movement.

* * # The movement was plainly an agrarian and ultra- American
movement, opposed to all great land-owners, and especially to all these
Mexican grantees.

" The appeal quoted above, to ' nature, country, and God,' is also, as

FALSE ISSUE.

59

I have said, characteristic of the spirit of the movement. The writer
of the letter in question is very probably no other than the distinguished
squatter leader, Dr. Charles Robinson himself, a man to whom the
movement seems to have owed nearly all its ability. And when we
speak of Dr. Robinson, we have to do with no insignificant dema-
gogue or unprincipled advocate of wickedness, but with a high-minded
and conscientious man, who chanced just then to be in the devil's serv-
ice, but who served the devil honestly, thoughtfully, and, so far as he
could, dutifully, believing him to be an angel of light. This future
Free-Soil Governor of Kansas, this cautious, clear-headed, and vigorous
anti-slavery champion of the troublous days before the war, who has
since survived so many bitter quarrels with old foes and old friends, to
enjoy, now at last, his peaceful age at his home in Lawrence, Kansas,
is not a man of whom one may speak with contempt, however serious
his error in Sacramento may seem. He was a proper hero for this
tragic comedy, and ' nature, country, and God ' were his guiding ideals.
Only you must understand the character that these slightly vague ideals
seem to have assumed in his mind. He was a new-comer of '49, and
hailed from Fitchburg, Massachusetts. He was a college graduate, had
studied medicine, had afterwards rebelled against the technicalities of
the code of his local association, and had become an independent prac-
titioner. His friends and interests, as his whole subsequent career
showed, were with the party of the cultivated New England Radicals
of that day. And these cultivated Radicals of the anti-slavery genera-
tion, and especially of Massachusetts, were a type in which an impartial
posterity will take a huge delight ; for they combined so characteristic-
ally shrewdness, insight, devoutness, vanity, idealism, and self-worship.
To speak of them, of course in the rough and as a mass, they were
usually believers in quite abstract ideals : men who knew how to meet
God ' in the bush ' whenever they wanted, and so avoided him in the
mart and the crowded street ; men who had ' dwelt cheek by jowl, since
the day' they were ' born, with the Infinite Soul,' and whose relations
with him were like those of any man with his own private property.
This Infinite that they worshipped was, however, in his relations to
the rest of the world too often rather abstract, a Deus absconditus, who
was as remote from the imperfections and absurdities of the individual
laws and processes of human society as he was near to the heart of his
chosen worshippers. From him they got a so-called Higher Law. As
it was ideal, and, like its author, very abstract, it was far above the
erring laws of men, and it therefore relieved its obedient servants from
all entangling earthly allegiances. If the Constitution upon which our
sinful national existence depended, and upon which our only hope of
better things also depended, was contradicted by this Higher Law, then
the Constitution was a ' league with hell,' and anybody could set up for

60 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

himself, and he and the Infinite might carry on a government of their
own. * * * Well, Dr. Robinson, also, had evidently learned much,
in his own way, from teachers of this school. The complex and weari-
some details of Spanish law plainly do not interest him, since he is at home
in the divine Higher Law. Concrete rights of rapacious land speculators
in Sacramento are unworthy of the attention of one who sees so clearly
into the abstract right of man. God is not in the Sutler grant, that is
plain. It is the mission of the squatters to introduce the divine justice
into California ; no absurd justice that depends upon erroneous lines of
latitude, and establishments at New Helvetia, and other like blundering
details of dark Spanish days, but the justice that can be expressed in
grand abstract formulae, and that will hear of no less arbiter than the
United States Supreme Court at the very nearest, and is quite independ-
ent of local courts and processes.

" For the rest, Dr. Robinson added to his idealism the aforesaid
Yankee shrewdness, and to his trust in God considerable ingenuity in
raising funds to keep the squatter association at work. He wrote well
and spoke well. He was thoroughly in earnest, and his motives seem
to me above any suspicion of personal greed. He made out of this
squatter movement a thing of real power, and was, for the time, a very
dangerous man.

" Thus led and moved, the squatter association might easily have
become the centre of a general revolutionary movement of the sort
above described."

The reader who has followed this narration thus far can
estimate this wild, extravagant language at its true value,
without further comment. It is plain the only higher law
the squatters were after was the law of the United States,
and the decision of a legal tribunal. This law and decision
the speculators said should not be had, hence the conflict.
Mr. Royce says the Supreme Court was a long way off, and
to wait for its decision would work great hardship to the
claimants under the grant. But where would be the greater
hardship? This grant was sufficiently elastic to cover all
northern California, and was used to enable a few men, with
quit-claim or other deeds from Captain Sutter, to levy tribute
upon every person of the many thousand who might want
to settle in the country. If the claimants could not wait for
a legal adjustment, how could the hordes of destitute people
wait that were pouring in from the Eastern States ? If the

INDICTMENT — SLAVERY. 6 1

title should prove valid, the grantees would lose nothing.
Even should the entire tract of eleven leagues be densely
populated by thriving cities, it would only enhance the value
of the grant a thousand-fold, while, should the land in ques-
tion be not covered by the grant, the cormorants would have
robbed every occupant of hard-earned money, never to be
returned. Thus a valid claimant would lose nothing by
waiting for the courts, even the highest court, while the
squatter would lose all he might pay for a bogus title at the
hands of a bogus claimant or speculator.

When the prisoner had partially recovered, he and his two
companions were taken before a so-called magistrate and
formally committed on a charge of murder and other crimes.
The District Court, so-called, soon met at Sacramento, and
the grand jury found true bills, one for murder, two for
assault with intent to kill, and one for conspiracy. Soon
after the finding of these bills the three prisoners were taken
into court to plead to the indictment.

One of the attorneys employed to defend the squatters
was Mr. Tweed, formerly of Florida. As the time ap-
proached for the election of members of the Legislature, he
paid his client a visit on the prison ship, and engaged in a
political discussion. He advocated the division of California
into two States, one to be a slave State. This, he argued,
would tend to allay the excitement in the country and pre-
vent any attempt at a dissolution of the Union. He said
there was a movement in this direction in California, though
not as yet public. He desired the opinion of his client upon
such a proposition. His client answered that he was opposed
to slavery from conviction of its injustice, and could not
favor its extension. Not many days after this, the attorney
appeared again. This time he reported that he had learned
that some parties proposed to support the prisoner for an
election to the Legislature, and he advised that he should
decline to be a candidate. This he did as attorney, for the
good of his client. To allow his name to be used in that

62 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

connection would prejudice his case in the courts. The
prisoner at length informed his counsel that he had nothing
to do with outside matters, and if the courts were disposed
to hang him because some people chose to vote for him,
they could do so. He was not inclined to interfere. The
prisoner, by putting the two visits together, understood
plainly that slavery extension to southern California was in
issue, and that his attorney opposed his being a candidate
solely because of his opposition to slavery.

After this, when the squatters called for a new manifesto
for a campaign document, the prisoner furnished one which
made a clear and brief statement of the situation, charging
upon the speculators murder in the first degree, and placing
the squatters in the position of defenders of their natural and
constitutional rights. This manifesto was printed in the
form of a poster and distributed throughout the county.
Not a speech was made in this canvass, the manifesto told
the whole story. The papers denounced the manifesto in
the wildest and bitterest terms, saying that " these men who
sleep nightly with halters about their necks have the audacity
to charge the citizens of Sacramento with murder," etc., etc.
Notwithstanding this bitter opposition of the press, pro-
slavery men, and speculators, Mr. Royce, in the Overland
Monthly, would make it appear that this election went by
default and by general consent of all parties. On page 246,
he says :

" As nowadays we elect a displaced university professor to the super-
intendency of public instruction just to give him a fair chance to do
good to the university, so then it was felt by some good-natured
folk reasonable to elect Dr. Robinson to the Legislature, not because
people believed wholly in his ideas, but because his services merited
attention. At all events, in a district of Sacramento County, Dr.
Robinson's friends managed, with the connivance of certain optimists,
to give him a seat in the Assembly, that late ' advisory ' body, whose
' rules,' before the admission of the State, he had so ardently despised.
The State was admitted now, and Dr. Robinson cheerfully undertook
his share of legislation."

LEGISLATIVE ACTION. 63

Soon after his election the prisoner was admitted to bail,
and became one of the editors of a new paper called the
Settlers' and Miners' Tribune. He was thus employed till
the meeting of the Legislature, when he took his seat in that
body. Here came to the front the slavery extension ques-
tion. The Whigs had nominated for Senator, in place of
Fremont, who drew the short term, T. Butler King, of
Georgia, and the Democrats had nominated Judge Heyden-
felt, of Alabama, both in favor of a division of California.
Fremont alone of the candidates was opposed to this divis-
ion, and, although the proprietor of a large land grant, the
squatter supported him. Some twelve to fifteen others
joined him, and holding the balance between the Whigs and
Democrats, defeated the election for that session. The anti-
slavery squatters approved of the course taken, while a few
pro-slavery squatters were offended. At the next session the
anti-slavery sentiment was so strong as to elect a Northern
man, Mr. Weller from Ohio, and the question was effectually
disposed of.

A law was passed at this session of the Legislature which
quieted all illegal proceedings in land controversies, and all
parties had to await the decision of the proper tribunals. A
change of venue was had in the squatter cases to Benicia,
but, after the session of the Legislature, the prisoners were
discharged for want of prosecution. The prosecuting attor-
ney would neither proceed with the trial nor enter a nolle,
and the court turned the prisoners loose.

The Overland Monthly, pages 245 and 246 says:

" Dr. Robinson, indeed, was in little danger from his indictments
when once the heat of battle had cooled. He was felt to be a man of
mark ; the popular ends had been gained in his defeat ; the legal evidence
against him was like the chips of drift-wood in a little eddy of this
changing torrent of California life. With its little horde of drift, the
eddy soon vanished in the immeasurable flood. After a change of venue
to a bay county, and after a few months' postponement, the cloud of
indictments melted away like the last cloud flake of our rainy season.
Nolle pros, was entered and the hero was free."

64 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

From the squatters' standpoint, Dr. Robinson, though
wounded, was not beaten. The squatters gained their cause.
Neither was the failure to prosecute because of a lack of
evidence. That was abundant, but, unfortunately for the
speculators, it would convict them instead of Robinson.
The manifesto before election distinctly indicted them for
murder, and gave the evidence. The papers admitted the
indictment, and the election of Robinson was the verdict of
Sacramento County of guilty as charged. The Legislature
while in session volunteered, while the prisoner was sick and
without his knowledge, to pass a joint resolution through
both houses instructing the prosecuting attorney to nolle the
case, to be vetoed, however, by the brave Lieutenant and
Acting Governor McDougal, who fled down the river when
the mayor was shot, and went to bed sick when the sheriff
was killed. This joint resolution was a verdict by the whole
State against the speculators of guilty of murder in the first
degree. Of course, under such circumstances, they would
be very glad if not only the evidence but the recollection of
the squatter riots, would float "like drift-wood in a little
eddy " to oblivion.

, When the speculators found they could no longer settle a
grant to eleven leagues of land in a justice's court, a case
was brought in a court that had jurisdiction in such matters,
which finally reached the Supreme Court, the " higher law "
of the squatters. The disposition made of Sutter's grant by
this court can be found in the Supreme Court reports. What
reasoning was adopted in order to locate a grant of land
bounded on the east by the Feather River so as to cover
the town of Sacramento, it is not easy to understand. It is
evident that there was some difficulty in the case, for Mr.
Royce says, on page 227, "To arrange with justice the final
survey of his Alvarado grant proved in later years one of the
most perplexing problems of the United States District and
Supreme Courts." It must have been difficult to locate a
grant bounded on the north by the Three Peaks, on the east

SUPREME COURT SUTTER. 65

by Feather River, on the south by the 38° 49' 32" parallel
of latitude, and on the west by the Sacramento River, by
boundaries given in Captain Sutler's quit-claim deeds for
lands in and about Sacramento. A layman cannot under-
stand what business the court had with any boundaries
except such as were given by Alvarado. If the grant had
boundaries, natural, plain, and unmistakable, Sutler's deeds
could not change them ; but if it had no such boundaries it
was null and void. Many things in court decisions are too
high for common people, and past finding out by them.

And poor old Captain Sutler, in whose name and for
whose pretended benefit the suit was brought and carried to
the Supreme Court, what became of his rights, his profits,
and himself? Finding he was being defrauded by these
claimants under his grant, he employed counsel to defeat
them in despoiling him of his rightful possessions through
the agency of the Supreme Court.

A fugitive newspaper clipping describes his condition,
when the speculators had done with him, as follows :

" A sad story is that of General Sutler, a man noted for benevolence,
but now reduced to poverty. The first gold found in California was
discovered in the race of his mill, and soon thousands of squatters had
' prospected ' upon his possessions. With a hand open as the day to
melting charity, he relieved the wants of all. We are told that the
aged patriarch, guileless as a child, and totally wanting in commercial
tact, unsuspectingly confided his secrets, his business, even his property,
to any one who by an affectation of interest, or hypocritical show of
assistance, offered himself to his friendship. Qne after another his
broad acres slipped from his grasp ; he placed his affairs in the hands
of an agent who deceived, deluded, and robbed him of hard dollars ;
his property dwindled down to merely a tithe of what it had been, and
the old man's sorrows were heavy upon him. In this condition he put
a farm, his sole remaining support, into the hands of his son, who
proved worse even than strangers, and robbed him of his last posses-
sion. He is now reduced to all but begging, but waiting the decision
of some commissions in respect to a land claim."
o

CHAPTER IV.

SITUATION IN THE EAST. ELI THAYER AND HIS ASSOCIATES.

SETTLEMENT OF LAWRENCE. CLAIM CONTROVERSIES.

IN the winter and spring of 1854, while the Kansas-Ne-
braska bill was pending in Congress, Massachusetts espe-
cially was greatly moved. The agitation of the slavery
question had disturbed the people, including churches and
political parties, for several years, till the old order of things
had been nearly broken up. Come-outers were distracting
the churches, and Know-Nothings and Free-Soilers were
playing havoc with political parties. Hunker Whigs and
Bourbon Democrats seemed to be the only land-marks re-
maining of the olden time, and now their peace was greatly
endangered. If the sacred compromises were to go down
before the advance of the slave power, by the votes of mem-
bers of their own parties, what hope would there be for such
parties in Massachusetts in the future ? The no-Union abo-
litionists were in high feather, as their claim of no hope for
the slave within the Union seemed about to be vindicated.
But, in the midst of all the excitement and confusion, a ray
of hope appeared. One man had the temerity to prophesy
that what was intended for evil should result in good ; that
the legislation which was intended to extend slavery indefi-
nitely should be used to abolish that institution absolutely.
He began to preach his new gospel, and all eyes were turned
upon him. At first all seemed incredulous. Who was this
man that hoped to stem the tide of slavery, to change the
current of events, and to abolish that great iniquity by the
very machinery that had been invented to make it perpetual

ELI THAYER AND HIS ASSOCIATES. 67

and universal. The president of the first squatters' associa-
tion in California was now returned to Massachusetts. He
had traversed the goodly land about to be blighted, and
earnestly hoped that it might be saved to freedom. He had
talked and written about its good qualities, and was watch-
ing eagerly for information about this daring man — this
David who seemed ready to challenge single-handed the
Goliath of slavery. At length, to satisfy himself fully, to
see of what material this man was made, whether he was a
mere agitator, or a man who had convictions for which he
would risk his life if necessary, the squatter attended one of
his Boston meetings. Taking a back seat, the stranger paid
the closest attention to the proceedings, and reached the
conclusion that this was no counterfeit, but a true man who
would meet any crisis without flinching. Evidently, here
was a crusader who had thoroughly digested his plan, and
had implicit confidence both in himself and in his scheme.
No man could listen to him without partaking of his spirit,
neither could any person, after listening, entertain any doubts
of the feasibility of his plan, or of his ability to put it in suc-
cessful operation. This man, of course, was Eli Thayer ;
for there was but one such in the nation. When, therefore,
Mr. Thayer, with Amos A. Lawrence and J. M. S. Williams,
trustees, in June, 1854, sent for the writer to meet them at
Boston for the purpose of carrying this plan into execution,
he could not refuse any duty that might be assigned him.
No other evidence was needed of the inspiration of Mr.
Thayer than the fact that he could impart his inspiration to
other people of all classes and conditions. At one of his
meetings J. M. S. Williams became inspired and subscribed
$10,000 for the cause, and at another time Charles Francis
Adams subscribed $25,000. Also W. M. Evarts was taken
with the infection and subscribed one-fourth of all he was
worth, or $1000. Mr. Thayer enlisted in his work the most
conservative as well as the most radical, the richest and the
poorest, the highest and lowest. Among those his inspiration

68 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

infected was Amos A. Lawrence. Mr. Lawrence was a con-
servative of the conservatives, a Hunker, as he chose to call
himself, yet no man had greater enthusiasm or worked more
persistently and earnestly than he from first to last. His great
wealth, and greater influence, were thrown into the cause
without reserve. No man in the nation stood higher finan-
cially, socially, or as a philanthropist, and with his name
associated with the movement as treasurer, no man, however
conservative, was afraid to endorse and aid the enterprise.
Securing such men as Mr. Lawrence, Mr. Williams, Dr.
Cabot, Rev. Mr. Hale, and others like them, Mr. Thayer could
well afford to entrust the finances and details to them, while
he preached the crusade among the people, and imbued the
churches, the mechanics, the farmers, and laborers with his
spirit, till men should be found to take possession of the land
in conflict — men of conviction, and men who would die, if
need be, in defense of their convictions.

Henry Wilson says of Mr. Thayer's work, in his " Rise
and Fall of the Slave Power," Vol. II., page 465, as follows :

" To this work Mr. Thayer devoted himself with tireless
energy and unceasing effort. Fully impressed with the idea
that the free States had the power to secure in this way
freedom to the Territories, he travelled sixty thousand miles,
and made hundreds of speeches enunciating these views, and
calling upon the people to join in this grand crusade."

The effect of Mr. Thayer's speeches may be learned from
a report of his speech at Cambridge, as found in the Chron-
icle of November 22, 1856, as follows:

" After Professor Hedrick's remarks, it was a relief when the broad,
calm brow of Mr. Thayer loomed up before us. We were requested
not to report his speech, and shall therefore only speak of it in general
terms. It was more even than we had hoped for, and, whether consid-
ered as a speech or as an argument, was a powerful effort. Such deep
penetration into and entire grasp of his subject ; such an aptness of
expression, and illustration, we seldom find. The views he took have
not been presented by the press or public speakers — they are new to
the people ; but unquestionably sound, as they are hopeful to freedom ;

THE EMIGRANT AID COMPANY. 69

and as he presented them we cannot doubt that they were convincing
to his audience."

On arriving in Boston, in answer to the call of the trustees,
Dr. Robinson found them in the office of the Emigrant Aid
Company, with Dr. T. H. Webb, their very efficient secre-
tary. Here the whole question of emigration to Kansas was
discussed, ending with a carte blanche commission to the
Doctor to visit the Territory and arrange for its settlement.
Mr. Lawrence advanced the money for the expenses of the
journey from his personal funds, and gave a letter of credit
on a merchant of St. Louis for $200. It was arranged that
a young lawyer of Holyoke, C. H. Branscomb, should join
Dr. Robinson at Springfield and accompany him. Instead
of following the route of the Boston party on their trip to
California in 1849, by canal and steamboat, the route was
taken through Chicago to St. Louis. Here a steamer was
taken for Kansas City. As the boat passed Jefferson City,
on the 4th of July, it took on board several men of note in
political circles, as the Legislature had adjourned for the
holiday. These men possessed many of the characteristics
of the speculators of Sacramento in 1849 and 1850, and
their threats and swagger about driving Northern men from
Kansas had a familiar sound to one person, who was a list-
ener rather than a talker. The Emigrant Aid Company re-
ceived a large share of their attention, not excepting Eli
Thayer, for whose head a liberal reward would be given.
It was fully proclaimed that no anti-slavery man should be
permitted to settle in the Territory, and all Northern men
were anti-slavery, or abolitionists. On landing at Kansas
City, it was found to be greatly improved since the spring of
1849. Some substantial buildings had been erected and the
population greatly increased. Here were found, beside the
noisy pro-slavery advocates, several quiet, civil, and accom-
modating business men. The Gillis House was a substantial
brick structure, in charge of Gaius Jenkins, a most excellent
man and obliging landlord. Also, here were Mr. Conant, a

70 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

merchant of the highest merit, and Mr. Riddlesbarger with
his commodious warehouse. All these gentlemen welcomed
Free-State men with as much cordiality as pro-slavery, and
some of them with more. One of the most genial and pub-
lic-spirited citizens to be found in any community was Dr.
Lykins, who was familiar with the situation, within and with-
out the Territory, with the Indian tribes and reservations, as
well as with the lands opened to settlement by Indian treaties.
Mr. Gillis and Dr. Troost were also prominent figures in the
community, and most agreeable gentlemen. Knowing that
Kansas City was likely to become the gateway to the vast
regions beyond, and that emigrants from the East must land
at this point, terms were procured for the purchase of the
Gillis House and of a tract of land where later was built the
Union Depot. The hotel was purchased by the company,
but the land declined. Mr. Thayer was favorable to this
purchase, as he would have the enterprise self-supporting,
but other members were in the movement purely from
motives of patriotism and philanthropy. Had this land been
purchased, as recommended by the agent, its value would
now be beyond computation. At this time treaties had been
made with the Delaware tribe of Indians for disposing of
some of their lands, but they were to be sold to the highest
bidder, and were not to be opened for pre-emption. The
Shawnee treaty, not yet complete, would open to pre-emp-
tion their lands west of the diminished reservation, which
extended about thirty miles west of the Missouri State line,
though these had not yet been surveyed. These lands, lying
along the Kansas River on the south side, were the most
eligible for settlement outside of Indian reservations. To
learn the situation definitely, Branscomb and Robinson sep-
arated at Kansas City, the first going up the Kansas River
to Fort Riley, and the other up the Missouri to Fort Leaven-
worth. Although the lands on the Missouri were not open
to pre-emption, some surveyors were found at work laying
off a town at the present site of Leavenworth City. On re-

FIRST PARTY OF EMIGRANTS. 71

turning to Kansas City, Robinson found a letter informing
him that the first party of emigrants from Boston was about
to start for Kansas, and directing him to meet it at St. Louis,
which he did. A letter was given to him directing him to
return to Boston as soon as this party should be taken to the
Territory. As Mr. Branscomb would return to Kansas City
from his trip to Fort Riley before the party could reach that
point, a letter was forwarded to him to look after the emi-
grants, and Robinson started East to obey the summons.
When the party arrived at Kansas City it met not only Mr.
Branscomb, but Colonel Blood, of Wisconsin, who had been
employed by Mr. Lawrence to visit the Territory. He had
much experience in new settlements and understood the pre-
emption laws. His account of the arrival and settlement of
this party is given in the Lawrence Journal of. January 12,
1891, as follows:

"In August of that year (1854), when the first party of
Eastern immigrants arrived at Kansas City, Mr. Branscomb
and I were both there. We had considerable consultation
about where they should locate. Mr. Branscomb appeared
very anxious that they should settle upon the Wyandotte
reservation. In fact, he advocated that idea so earnestly
that he induced a committee, representing the party of set-
tlers, to go the next day with us to see Abelard Guthrie, ' a
squaw man,' who offered his protection and assistance, and
proposed to allow us to lay out a town, and make a landing
on the Missouri River. But as that country was then an
Indian reservation, no white men were allowed to settle or
reside there without permission of the United States Govern-
ment ; the committee concluded that the scheme was imprac-
ticable. I think the committee that went with us over into
the Wyandotte country was composed of D. R. Anthony,
now of Leavenworth, Samuel F. Tappan, now residing at
Washington, and A. H. Mallory, now at Leadville, Colorado,
or Dr. Harrington. As I had obtained information that
the Shawnee Indians had ceded their reservation south of

72 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

the Kansas River, except a tract extending thirty miles west
of the State of Missouri, and that the portion ceded was
suitable for settlement, and the most available, the party de-
cided to come up here. Mr. Branscomb came with them.
I also came along on horseback, in company with a gentle-
man by the name of Cobb. The night before arriving here
the party went into camp at the Blue Jacket crossing of the
Wakarusa. Mr. Cobb and I stopped for the night at Dr.
Still's, a short distance east of the crossing. The next morn-
ing I rode to the top of Blue Mound, from there crossing
the Wakarusa at Blanton's Ford, arrived some time in the
forenoon on the hill where the University now stands, find-
ing the party there pitching their tents and unloading their
wagons. I met Mr. Branscomb there that day. He in-
formed me that he had bought a claim of a Mr. Stearns, and
had agreed to pay him $500 for it, and that Mr. Wade had
a claim some distance up the river that he offered to sell for
$1000, and he, Mr. Branscomb, advised and urged me to
buy it. I replied that I regarded the buying of claims at
that time as impolitic. Soon after, I think the next day, Mr.
Branscomb left here for the East, and did not return here
that year, nor for a long time after. * * * I was in
Kansas City when the second party arrived there in Septem-
ber, in charge of Charles Robinson and S. C. Pomeroy.
After consultation, they decided to come up here. On arriv-
ing here, we found a part of the first party still living in tents
on the hill. Most of them that remained here had taken
farm claims in the vicinity. We came down to the river,
and after viewing the location, they decided to locate and
lay out the town. Governor Robinson pitched his tent near
the bank of the river, near where the jail now stands. Soon
after a survey of the town was made, a town company or as-
sociation was organized, and the town given a name, Law-
rence. I believe the foregoing to be a correct statement of
events that occurred relating to the selection of the town
site. Governor Robinson and some one or two hundred

UNFAVORABLE PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 73

others who came with him remained here and engaged in
the erection of buildings, founding the city."

With all the bluster and demonstrations from the South,
and all the disadvantages under which the Free-State men
would be placed, it required men of no little firmness to en-
list as pioneers in the crusade. In a paper read by me be-
fore the " Old Settlers' " meeting at Emporia, September 18,
1889, this reference to them is made :

" Many looked upon Eli Thayer as mad, and his project
as madness. Who could be found to go to Kansas with the
certainty of meeting a hostile greeting of revolvers, bowie-
knives, and all the desperadoes of the border ? But the in-
spired prophet, who clearly saw the end from the beginning,
had no doubts or misgivings, and obstacles which would have
disheartened another man, were only incentives to greater
efforts and more implicit faith in his plan. At length, after
great labor, a party of twenty-nine men, who were willing to
take their lives in their hands, went to Kansas in July, 1854.
These men were regarded with as much interest as would be
a like number of gladiators about to enter into deadly con-
flict with wild beasts, or with each other. Hundreds of people
gathered to bid them a final farewell, and ovations greeted
them at all principal points between Boston and Chicago.
But their example was contagious, and, as they were not
slaughtered on their arrival in Kansas, other parties soon fol-
lowed, as well as men without parties, from all the Northern
States."

The agitation relative to taking possession of Kansas was
by no means confined to the East. It extended to every
State in the Union with more or less violence. Neither were
the members of the first Eastern party the first Free-State
men to enter upon the field of battle. As before stated,
such men as S. N. Wood, J. A.Wakefield, Rev. Mr. Ferril, and
others were on the ground when this party reached its des-
tination, but no men or party of men had attracted so much
attention, either at the North or at the South, and they were

74 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

the focus of all eyes watching the struggle of the giants, free-
dom and slavery, about to commence on Kansas soil. The
names of this party will go down the ages as the names of
men who dared begin a conflict against great odds. To
single out individuals would seem invidious. Few are still
living. D. R. Anthony, brother of Susan B. Anthony, who
came with the party but returned East till 1857, is a fit
specimen of the material required to beat back the black
waves of slavery from Kansas. He was and is and ever
will be irrepressible. No cause espoused by him from con-
viction will be relinquished while his life remains. The same
may be said of such men as S. F. Tappan, Ferdinand Fuller,
J. F. Morgan, G. W. Goss, and, in short, of the whole party.
S. N. Wood also, from Ohio, who preceded the party, was
a man without fear. Colonel D. R. Anthony, in introducing
Colonel Wood at the quarter-centennial celebration, said :

" Thirty years ago I rode from Lawrence to Kansas City
with a gentleman who is now in this house. At Westport
we stopped at what might now be called a saloon, and took
a drink — of water — and watered our horses. On the wall
of this saloon was a poster, offering $1000 reward for Eli
Thayer, the founder of the New England Emigrant Aid Com-
pany, dead or alive. We asked what they would do with
Eli Thayer if they had him ; the reply was that he would be
hanged. This gentleman who was with me stepped up and
said : ' I am Eli Thayer. Proceed to hang.' He was not
hanged, but I have the honor this evening of introducing him
to you. He was one of the truest of the pioneers in the
great struggle. His name is a household word ; he is better
known as ' Sam Wood.' "

The second party sent out under the auspices of the
Emigrant Aid Company left Boston August 29, 1854, arriv-
ing at Kansas City September 6th, and was accompanied by
S. C. Pomeroy, financial agent, and Charles Robinson, resi-
dent agent, of the company. This party went to Lawrence,
formed a union with the first party, and began the settlement

SETTLEMENTS. 75

of the town, which was surveyed and platted by A. D. Searl,
under the direction of a committee of which Robinson was
chairman. No sooner had definite arrangements been made
for a permanent settlement at Lawrence than the conflict
began in earnest. The first act in the drama was to be the
ejectment of all Free-State men on a pretense of prior claims
to the land. The plot of this play was the same as of that
at Sacramento, under Sutler's grant, with only a change of
scenery. As several of the Free-State settlers at Lawrence
had more or less prominent parts in that play, they were at
home in this.

On or before the passage of the bill opening the Territory
to settlement, pro-slavery men from Missouri rushed over
the line, marked trees, and drove stakes in every direction.
No claim could be taken by a Free-State man to which a
pro-slavery man could not be found to assert a prior claim.
It was the Sacramento game over again, with squatter's
title instead of Sutler's deeds. Neither left an acre of un-
claimed land for the bona fide settler. Colonel S. N.
Wood, in his quarter-centennial speech at Topeka, said :
" No sooner was Kansas opened to settlement than the
minions of the slave power swarmed across the border, seem-
ingly determined to occupy the whole Territory. Leaven-
worth, Atchison, Kickapoo, Iowa Point, Doniphan, and
other places were occupied. These were the pioneers of
the slave power."

Andreas, in his history, page 83, says: "The influx of
Missourians into Kansas occurred immediately after the
passage of the territorial act ; indeed, prior to its final pas-
sage the best of the lands ceded by the tribes had been spot-
ted and marked for pre-emption by residents of Missouri.
This occupation was made with undue haste, and against
the protests of the Indians whose time of occupancy under
the treaties was yet unexpired. * * * The ubiquitous citi-
zens, having homes in Missouri and squatter's claims in the
adjoining territory, promptly organized defensively against

7 6 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

the possible encroachments of the expected and hated emi-
grants from the North."

Colonel Wood, in his speech at Topeka, said :

" The pro-slavery men from Missouri had met in Kansas and
adopted a code of squatter laws, and the whole Territory seemed staked
into claims. They had a register of claims, with an office at Westport,
Missouri. One law of this remarkable code provided that Nebraska
was for the North and Kansas for the South. One provision was,
that every white-livered abolitionist who dared to set foot in Kansas
should be hung; and, that there might be no mistake, they added,
' Every man north of Mason and Dixon's line is an abolitionist.' "

Andreas gives resolutions of squatter conventions and
newspaper extracts on page 83, some of which follow. At
a meeting at Salt Creek Valley it was resolved :

" That we recognize the institution of Slavery as always existing in
this Territory, and recommend slave-holders to introduce their property
as early as possible.

" That we will afford protection to no abolitionists as settlers of
Kansas Territory."

The Democratic Platform, Liberty, Missouri, June 8, 1854,
says:

' ' We learn from a gentleman lately from the Territory of Kansas
that a great many Missourians have already set their pegs in that
country, and are making arrangements to ' darken the atmosphere '
with their negroes. This is right. Let every man that owns a negro
go there and settle, and our Northern brethren will be compelled to
hunt further north for a location."

The Platte Argus, Missouri, has the following :

" Mormons — We are advised that the abolition societies of New
England are shipping their tools, at the public expense, as Mormons,
ostensibly for Salt Lake, but that it is the real design of these worthies
to stop in Kansas Territory for the purpose of voting to establish a
free State and an underground railroad. We say, let the Mormons go
their way in peace to Utah, but if they remain in Kansas to inflict the
blighting curse of their principles upon the future policy of the country
— let a Mormon war be declared forthwith.

"Citizens of the West, of the South, and Illinois! stake out your
claims, and woe be to the abolitionist or Mormon who shall intrude

SETTLERS' ASSOCIATIONS. 77

upon it, or come within reach of your long and true rifles, or within
point-blank shot of your revolvers. Keep a sharp lookout lest some
dark night you shall see the flames curling from your houses or the
midnight philanthropist hurrying off your faithful servant."

At a meeting held in Independence, Missouri, the senti-
ment of the people was expressed as follows :

"Resolved, That we, without distinction of party, desire to act in
accordance with what is right and due, not only to interests of the
South, but likewise to interests of the North, and though knowing that
the North, through certain fanatics, has endeavored to dictate to the
South, we yet wish to meet them as brothers and friends, and only ask
our rights as compromise, viz. :

"That we, the South, be permitted peaceably to possess Kansas,
while the North, on the same privilege, be permitted to possess
Nebraska Territory."

In some instances the organization of Northern emigra-
tion was pleaded as an excuse for such action. But at no time
had there been an attempt at the North to use other than
legitimate means in assisting emigration. There was no
employment of mercenaries, no defraying of expenses even,
and no discrimination on account of political or other views
the emigrant might entertain. A pro-slavery man had the
same facilities as a Free-State man. The same was true of
the settlements in the Territory. A pro-slavery man was
entitled to all the rights, privileges, and immunities of the
most favored Free-State man. The truth seems to be that
the slave interest demanded Kansas, and it was to be secured
at all hazards, legally or illegally, and the plea of organized
Northern emigration was on a par with the plea of the specu-
lators in California, that the squatters were "agrarians,"
" higher-law " men, bent on fighting all Mexican grants, right
or wrong. In both cases an outrage was determined upon,
and a false issue must be made to afford some excuse to the
world.

Besides the organization at Salt Creek Valley, other asso-
ciations were formed in different parts of the Territory, in

78 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

the summer and fall of 1854, nearly all of which provided
for the protection of all settlers except abolitionists. As
Free-State settlers arrived in a neighborhood, these restric-
tions would be voted out and all but actual settlers disfran-
chised. Such a meeting was held at B. W. Miller's house,
on the California road, southwest of Lawrence. When the
pro-slavery non-residents failed to control the association,
they reported at Westport, Missouri, where an organization
could be perfected without opposition from the free-soil
squatters of Kansas. The name of this association, which
met at Miller's, was " The Mutual Settlers' Association of
Kansas Territory," and it had for officers, a chief justice,
register, marshal, and treasurer. While it was contemplated
that all disputes would be settled by these courts, these were,
in fact, but little used, as they were far too formal and dila-
tory to meet most cases. As a rule, squatters settled their
disputes in person, appealing to no higher authority than
physical force or bluster. One man, who had played the
r61e of "Bombastes Furioso " in the squatter troubles in Cali-
fornia, although not at the fight, was for a time quite useful
in Kansas. When pro-slavery men would appear, if sur-
rounded by his friends, he would become furiously excited,
pulling off his coat and vest preparatory to a personal en-
counter. This would have the effect of inducing the pro-
slavery men to pass on. At length, however, some men
appeared who were not frightened by contortions or wind.
Bombastes raved and writhed as usual, but produced no
impression. The Missourians were rather amused than
frightened. Even the shedding of coat and vest had no
effect, and Bombastes had to call upon his friends to " hold
me," and prevent a fatal encounter. This ended Furioso's
career as bully, and he subsided.

The most serious and determined claim disputes were to
be found at Lawrence, in the fall of 1854 and winter of
1855. At this time Lawrence was the only Free-State town
of importance in the Territory, and, if possible, it must be

CLAIM CONFLICTS. 79

obliterated. When the site was selected for a town, but one
settler, Mr. Stearns, occupied it, and his improvement and
claim were purchased by the agent of the Aid Company for
$500, and the cabin converted into a store. Another settler,
A. B. Wade, was near the site on the west, but he retained
his claim, as it was not needed for the town. However,
soon after taking possession, other claimants appeared, and
insisted that the town should vacate for them. The most
belligerent of these claimants was John Baldwin. He estab-
lished himself within five or ten rods of the Stearns cabin
bought for the town, and asserted his right to one hundred
and sixty acres of land. He employed a young man named
C. W. Babcock as his attorney. As the lands had not yet
been surveyed, it was impossible to tell where section lines
would run, and the town company were disposed to act
strictly on the defensive. The managers were satisfied to
leave the question of title to the Land Office or the courts,
and it was immaterial how many persons set up claim to the
town site. Not so, however, with Baldwin and Company.
Although, if their claims were valid, the more occupants and
improvements the better for them, they determined to remove
all occupants and all improvements from their claims, which
covered, or would cover if heeded, nearly the whole territory
opened to settlement. While the motive that actuated pro-
slavery men was to forestall the Free-State settlers and pre-
vent them from getting a foothold in the Territory, some of
the claimants at Lawrence cared nothing for the slavery
question, but simply wanted to be bought off. They took
advantage for this purpose of the pro-slavery sentiment. A
town site was platted at Lawrence about two and one-half
miles by one and one-half miles, although, under the pre-
emption laws, but three hundred and twenty acres could be
held for town purposes. This made it necessary to hold the
excess by private entry, and men were assigned to different
parts of the plat for the purpose. The pro-slavery men, or
blackmail Free-State men. also laid claim to this land and

8o THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

would clear it of all comers. The agent of the Aid Com-
pany advocated the same policy as was adopted by the
squatters in California, namely, let each settler be protected
in occupancy till a legal decision could be had, and this
policy was adopted by the Lawrence' town company. But
this would not answer the purposes of the contestants, for the
pro-slavery men were determined to prevent the settlement of
Free-State men, right or wrong, and the blackmailers knew
they had no case, and must get blackmail then or lose all.

The first conflict threatened by this state of things is de-
scribed in Andrea's history, on pages 314 and 3 1 5, as follows :

" In the meantime Baldwin associated with himself Messrs. Babcock,
Stone, and Freeman, men of some means and influence, and put his
business into the hands of a speculator named Starr, who immediately
proceeded to lay out a rival city, which he named Excelsior, on the
claim ; Mr. Baldwin and the Lawrence Association both occupying tents
upon it, in proof of ownership. The strife grew bitter, and although
purely one of conflicting property rights — the parties being nearly all
Free- State men — was represented, or misrepresented, to be a quarrel
between the pro-slavery men and abolitionists. Matters stood thus :
Mr. Baldwin occupying his tent and the Yankees scowling defiantly
at him across the ravine, until, on the 5th of October, notice was given
that open war was declared, by the appearance of a wagon containing
several armed men in the vicinity of the New England tent. Hos-
tilities were commenced by a woman, a sister of Mr. Baldwin, it was
stated, who speedily packed the obnoxious tent with its contents
into the wagon — the men with their rifles standing guard. As soon as
they were discovered by the Yankees, who were at work in the neigh-
borhood, the city marshal, Joel Grover, rushed to the rescue unarmed,
followed by Edwin Bond with a revolver. The latter seized the horse
by the bridle, ordering the surrender of the property, and others com-
ing up, the intruders allowed the tent to be replaced, at the same time
threatening to have two hundred Missourians on the spot in a short
time, when their designs would be accomplished. That night the
Lawrence settlers organized what they called the ' Regulating Band,'
to be ready for the next day's fray. Soon after dinner on the 6th, 'the
Missourians,' by which name all Southerners opposed to the aims of
the Emigrant Aid Society were called, began to assemble in the neigh-
borhood of Baldwin's tent, but open hostilities did not commence until
four o'clock P.M. when the gage of battle was hurled at the Yankees in
the shape of the following note :

CONFLICT AT LAWRENCE. 8 1

" ' KANSAS TERRITORY, October 6th.

"'DR. ROBINSON: — Yourself and friends are hereby notified that
you will have one-half hour to move the tent which you have on my
undisputed claim, and from this date desist from surveying on said
claim. If the tent is not moved within one-half hour, we shall take the
trouble to move the same. (Signed,)

"'JOHN BALDWIN AND FRIENDS.'

" The following pithy reply was instantly returned :

" ' To John Baldwin and Friends.

" ' If you molest our property, you do it at your peril.

" ' C. ROBINSON AND FRIENDS.'"

E. D. Ladd, first acting postmaster of Lawrence, tells the
remainder of the story in a letter dated October 23, 1854,
and published in the Milwaukee Sentinel. He says:

" Prior to the notice, they had assembled to the number of eighteen,
mounted and armed, at Baldwin's, the aggrieved man's tent, on the
claim, and about twenty rods from our camp. Upon the notice being
served, our men — those who were at work about and in the vicinity of
the camp — to the number of about thirty, stationed themselves about
ten rods from the contested tent, the enemy being about the same dis-
tance from it, the three occupying the angles of a right-angled triangle,
the tent being at the right angle. Subsequent to the notice, a consul-
tation was held at our position between Dr. Robinson and a delegate
from the enemy's post, which ended on our part with the proposition of
Dr. Robinson — which proposition he had previously made, both to
Baldwin and his legal adviser, or rather speculator, who wished to
make a ' heap of money,' as the Missourians say, out of him — to sub-
mit the question in dispute to the arbitration of disinterested and un-
biased men, to the adjudication of the squatter courts now existing here,
or of the United States Courts, and on the part of the enemy by the
assurance that, at the termination of the notice, they should proceed at
all hazards to remove the tent, and if they fell in the attempt, our fate
would be sealed, our extermination certain, for three thousand, and if
necessary thirty thousand, men would immediately be raised in Mis-
souri to sweep us and our enterprise from the face of the earth. It was
all expressed, of course, in the Southwestern phrases, which I will not
attempt to give. The hour passed on, or rather the half-hour, and in
the meantime our military company, formed the evening before, went
through a variety of — I don't want, out of respect for military science,
to call them ' evolutions,' say we call them ' manifestations,' marching
and counter-marching, in single file and by platoons, in a manner not to
6

82 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

be excelled in greenness by any greenhorns (in this business, I mean)
on the face of the globe, our captain himself being as green as the
greenest. General, I fear for your buttons could you have seen them.
But there were strong arms and determined wills there. Had a man
laid a finger on that tent, he would have been sacrificed instantly, and
had another single offensive movement been made by one of them,
there would not have been a man left to tell the tale. Our company of
thirty men had about four hundred shots in hand, with their rifles and
revolvers, and they would have used them to the last extremity. They
had been annoyed by every means possible, and even tauntingly told to
their faces, a dozen of them together, that no Yankee, except Cilley,
ever dared to fire. Well, the half-hour passed, and another quarter,
the enemy in full view in consultation, occasionally making a movement
as if about to form in order for the execution of their threat, then seat-
ing themselves upon the ground for further consultation, perhaps
occasioned by the ' manifestations ' of our military. While thus wait-
ing, John Hutchinson asked Dr. Robinson what he would do if they
should attempt to remove the tent? would he fire to hit them, or would
he fire over them? Dr. Robinson replied that he ' would be ashamed
to fire at a man and not hit him.' Immediately after this reply, a man
who had been with the Free-State men, and till then supposed to be
one of them, went over to the other party, which soon after dispersed.
It was supposed at the time that the report of this spy brought the
' war ' to an end for that day. After the band had mounted and dis-
persed, the principals and principal instigators avoided our neighbor-
hood. Some of the more honest dupes, however, seeing the absurdity
of their position, and the reasonableness of our proposition, riding up
to us had a social chat, cracking jokes, etc., and then rode off with the
determination formed, and more than half expressed, of never being
caught in so ridiculous a farce again."

Although no three thousand or thirty thousand men made
their appearance after this bloodless war, the claimants were
by no means satisfied, and dire vengeance was threatened.
The report of the trouble was industriously circulated among
pro-slavery settlers far and near, and at length the following
call was issued :

" TERRITORIAL INDIGNATION MEETING.

" We, the Sovereign people of Kansas Territory, are requested to
meet at Lawrence City, January n, at II o'clock A.M., to adopt those
measures that will protect us from all moneyed associations or influ-
ences, also the tyrannical encroachments daily made by the Lawrence

"HAWHAW" CHAPMAN. 83

Association. On which occasion there will be speeches made to vin-
dicate the squatters' rights of pre-emption, and the protection of his
claim until entered.

" MANY CITIZENS."

The following, taken from " Incidents of Early Times,"
by Hon. John Speer, in the Kansas Tribune, will convey
some idea of the quarrel and the character of the meeting to
consider the claim dispute :

" We had several meetings, and had a good deal of bitterness at some
of them. There were fights and fusses all around. In Lawrence the
contest was a good deal between the 'outsiders' and the 'insiders.'
The latter were the Lawrence Association, and the former ' squatters ' who
were in opposition to it. These associations related to claims to the
town site, but as the town company was mostly Free-State men, it
necessarily arrayed all the pro-slavery element against it, which with
the property claimants in opposition made a strong force.

" Several persons from slave States professed to be against slavery
in Kansas. They generally wanted a ' free white State.' Commotions
and fights and rumors of fights were frequent. A few Yankees wanted
to ' argue ' the matter, but the more they wanted to argue, the more
their opponents were bound to fight.

" Among them came a man named Edward Chapman. He had a
hare-lip and a tied tongue, and he made the most of these deformities
by pretending that a bullet had passed through his mouth at the battle
of Buena Vista. He boasted of his blood, but it was found that all his
claim to superiority of blood was derived from having once been a groom
to a race-horse. From his defective pronunciation, and to distinguish
him from others of that name, he was called ' Hawhaw ' Chapman. A
great man was Hawhaw. The mock-heroic of his composition was
only excelled by his cowardice, but he was the bravest man where there
was no enemy that we ever saw. They told a story of him that he was
consulting with a Free-State man with the greatest profession of Free-
Stateism, when suddenly a gang of armed pro-slavery ruffians rushed
upon them. The Free-State man jumped into a thicket out of sight,
but Hawhaw was headed off and he threw up his hands, exclaiming,
' I'm hro-hlavery, by 'od.' He cut down a cabin frame with an axe,
and was arrested and taken before Judge Lecompte at the Shawnee
Mission. His vandal spirit was a good deal broken, and we went his
bail for appearance and to keep the peace. He understood the bond
differently from ourselves, and wanted to keep a piece of the cabin he
had mutilated — in other words, to steal the house. He killed a man
with a club, but as it was a fight between two pro-slavery men, nobody

84 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

ever took any other notice of it. Hawhaw was elected as a pro-slavery
man to the Legislature. He was great as a statesman, for he could
speak an hour without anybody knowing what he said.

" Fortunately, a specimen of his style is perpetuated in print. A
great squatter meeting was held to denounce the Lawrence Association,
and Hawhaw presented his remarks and his resolutions in writing, and
as nobody could tell what he said, his resolutions were passed unani-
mously amid great pro-slavery enthusiasm. We quote from the Kansas
Tribune of January 24, 1855 -

" ' Pursuant to the call, the squatters of Kansas Territory assembled
in large numbers, on the nth day of January, 1855, and long before the
hour of meeting the streets were thronged with the multitude. We
had never before attended a meeting so boisterous and violent as this

one. There were five hundred persons present, all armed. Jones,

still living here, undertook to speak against G. W. Clarke on a claim
question. The stand was a store box, and Clarke "went for him" in
the rear, sending him at least a rod over the heads of the crowd around
the stand. Revolvers were quickly hauled, and Clarke undertook to
shoot Governor Robinson. Still there was no bloodshed.

' ' ' When Hawhaw's printed proceedings came out, however, they
were too ridiculous to excite anything but merriment. When Robin-
son read them he merely remarked that he would rather be a "false
Belshazzar " than a real one.'

"HAWHAW'S SPEECH.

" ' FELLOW-CITIZENS: The assemblage of the sovereign people on
this day, by a spontaneous impulse and for a common purpose, is a most
glorious spectacle. And we, too, friends and neighbors, are here
together. The toils and cares of our daily avocations are laid aside ;
the disquietudes and strifes that vex our poor humanity shall be lost in
the mutual recognition of one grand sentiment. And the turbulent,
selfish interests here manifested for a period — under the overshadowing
spell of sectional influences, which gloom pervades the hearts of men,
whose actors upon the grand rostrum of the future, choose as their
talisman the sovereign ear whose compunction some slight affectionate
cares of every victim of the oppressor triumph as the idol of their vain
madness, and of their midnight orgies, which forever crush the rights
of this people.

" ' \Ve have been weak, now in justice we are strong — more imposing
than of forty centuries from the old pyramids — the intellectual and pro-
gressive years of self-government of a free people. The fraternal influ-
ences— what are they? And why are we here this day?

" ' A handful of men on the western bank of the remotest tributary,

MEETING OF SQUATTERS. 85

whose waters pay homage to the father of waters, and yet only in the
centre of this immense confederacy, whose shade is a refuge for all
nations of the earth, and the free breezes that unceasingly sweep
through the branches, over the silent sepulchres of those who fought
the good fight and proclaimed to the world to be a free, independent
and sovereign people. The seed which they planted with tremulous
apprehension are here this day, commingling their patriotic rebukes
against that mercenary morbidness which characterizes the Lawrence
Association as stock-jobbers and money-getters — men of exchanges and
coteries and self-interest — covered from head to foot with the leprosy
of materialism, until it shall submerge all opposition, by secret and
unjust invasions which from their first advent in Kansas Territory up
to the present is opulence, title, and despotism with civil feuds, dissev-
ering all fraternal affections. We, the sovereign squatters, proclaim
the manifesto of our absolute authority and an inexorable interdict to
every despotic invader upon our rights, secured and sanctified by the
Congress of the United States. "Thus far shalt thou go and no
farther." We, the sovereign squatters, stand forth boldly upon our
commanding eminence — the highest law of the land.

" ' Compromising the plighted faith of the Government that the land
we now occupy shall be our future homes upon which eminence we this
day invite for the last time the false Belshazzar who with restless gaze
views the dauntless energy which guides us to this grand consumma-
tion. If wrong in statements here made this day of your unjust inva-
sions, nerve the lost, mutilated, and tattered honor— dishonored and
blackened with treason, incapable of sincere demonstration against our
rights as sovereign squatters that these lands shall be our homes ;
on which occasion we proclaim to the world the wrongs which, by
foreign intrigue and hypocrisy which you this day are called to
deny the immutable facts whose design is imperishable tyranny ; to
take from the poor man his home ; to enrich those that now in luxury
dwell.'

"And this is what old Hawhaw proposed to do with the 'false
Belshazzar ' :

" 'Resolved, That as on former occasions C. Robinson should again
call to his aid the gallant hussars No. I, supported by his shot-gun
battalion, in forcing us from our rights ; that we, the sovereign
squatters of Kansas Territory, will take his honor and battalion and
deal with them according to laws, rules, and regulations prescribed
therein that we may adopt.'

" Ridiculous as these extracts are, they are literally just as they
were passed and as Hawhaw wrote them out. They were mainly
directed against Dr. (since Governor) Robinson, who was the ' false

86 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

Belshazzar ' of the occasion, and although Robinson was present when
they were passed, as he couldn't understand a word that Hawhaw said,
how could he object? But the other speeches by Clarke (the man who
afterwards murdered Barber), Wood, and others were very bitter on
Robinson and the whole association, and Robinson, Emery, Speer and
others did reply to them."

Andrea's history says of this meeting, page 318:

" Many who attended this meeting were diametrically opposed to the
proceedings, and to the resolutions adopted, and to make sure their
position should not be misunderstood, a meeting of the citizens not
members of the Lawrence Association was held at the ' church ' on the
l6th, which denounced the proceedings of that on the nth as being
' held and conducted in a one-sided, indecent, mob-like manner, and
wholly in opposition to justice, right and honor,' and that as the
' endeavor was made to make us responsible for those proceedings, we
therefore disavow all complicity or assent thereto and denounce the origi-
nators as demagogues.' The course pursued by the Lawrence Associa-
tion was endorsed by the meeting of which S. J. Willis was president ;
Dr. J. F. Merriam, secretary ; Messrs. Stewart, Ladd, Pillsbury, Hart-
well, and Lowe, vice-presidents. The resolutions presented by Messrs.
Ladd, Emery, Doy, Mailey, Hutchinson, Man, Searl, Simpson, and
Tappan were adopted. The third and fourth resolutions follow :

" 'Resolved, That the organization of the Emigrant Aid Society has
been of exceeding great benefit in the transmission of emigrants to the
Territory ; and their establishing an agency in this city, and their invest-
ment of capital herein has been a decided advantage to the place, towards
its rapid growth, providing for the wants and alleviating the trials of
the settlers, and we believe that their efforts thus far have been entirely
disinterested ; and we therefore most cordially invite them to remain
and continue their operations among us, at the same time assuring
them of our sincere approval of the past, and of our co-operation in the
future.

" 'Resolved, That we, as citizens of Lawrence, partictilarly approve
of the course pursued by the Lawrence Association towards the Emi-
grant Aid Society in extending an invitation to that company to invest
their capital here, and the basis upon which they are allowed to operate ;
and we shall duly respect their city rights, and support them in all law-
ful and liberal movements.'

" At the same meeting the committee of the Lawrence Association,
by their chairman, Mr. J. Hutchinson, reported the following resolu-
tions, which were adopted :

RESOLUTIONS OF ENDORSEMENT. 87

" 'Resolved, That while believing there is no legal redress for tres-
passes committed upon unsurveyed lands, we have never as an associa-
tion approved of cutting timber upon individual claims, made in good
faith ; but we fully discountenance such acts, believing them to be con-
trary to equity and good order.

" 'Resolved, That as the law holds a man's domicile no less sacred
and inviolate than his person, we regard all persons who shall molest
or destroy houses erected or in process of erection as men guilty of a
henious offense and regardless of the law of the land.

" 'Resolved, That while we uphold only justice and good order, we
believe that neither the Lawrence Association nor their officers are
accountable for individual acts civilly or politically, and that the late
attempts to bring this association into bad repute and to cast upon us a
stigma as undeserved as it is unjust, will bring down threefold odium
upon the heads of the vile perpetrators.'

" Dr. Robinson, towards the close of the meeting, made a short and
sensible speech, refuting some of the charges made against him, coun-
selling his hearers of the danger of quarrels among themselves, and
impressing upon them the duty and necessity of union ; that they might,
' with voice and hand and means combined, defend these hills and val-
leys, these rivers and broad prairies from the curse of human bondage
and the chains of slavery.' "

But resolutions and counter resolutions availed nothing
except to place the respective parties on record. The Free-
State men were in no mood to be driven off, and the claim-
ants were persistent for blackmail or the possession of the
land. Hostilities were continued when occasion offered, to
the annoyance of all concerned, whether on or off the town
site. One day, on the return of the agent of the Aid Com-
pany from a visit out of the settlement, he was informed that
his own house, erected on Oread Hill, was being cut down
by pro-slavery men. G. W. Deitzler, S. N. Wood, and S.
N. Simpson volunteered to go to the battle-field, but, as
soon as the house was reached, the cutting was discon-
tinued and the vandals slunk away. Such men never liked
Deitzler, Wood, and Simpson, and had no desire to associate
with them on such occasions. They would sooner leave
their work in hand unfinished than remain in such company.

In the month of February, the resident agent of the Aid

88 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

Company went East, and returned with the first spring party
in March, 1855. During his absence a compromise was
effected with the claimants to the town site by limiting the
area to six hundred and forty acres, and giving four or five
men one hundred out of two hundred and twenty shares into
which the site was divided, leaving one hundred and ten
shares for the original town company, and eight shares for
the Emigrant Aid Company, with two shares in trust for the
endowment of a school. This compromise was made with
the consent of the financial agent of the Aid Company, who
resided at Kansas City, Missouri. Why it was made has
never appeared. These town-site jumpers had no more
legal or equitable title to this one hundred shares than
Franklin Pierce or Jeff Davis.

The pre-emption law excepted from individual pre-emp-
tion all "sections or fractions of sections included within
the limits of any incorporated town, every portion of the
public land which has been selected for a site for a city or
town, and every parcel or lot of land actually settled or oc-
cupied for the purposes of trade, and not agriculture."

Lawrence was selected as a town site on the last of July,
1854, and the commissioner of the Land Office said the
Shawnee lands were not opened to settlement, by the extin-
guishment of the Indian title, till September 28th of that
year, therefore no individual claimant could acquire any right
whatever before that date. Neither could he after it, as the
place had already been selected and occupied for a town and
for " purposes of trade and not agriculture."

But the most unfortunate deal of all was the mutilation of
South Park. That had been platted to extend to Quincy
street on the north, Kentucky street on the west, Lee street
on the south, and Rhode Island street on the east. To
gratify the greed of the spoilsmen a strip of land, the width
of one-half of a block on each side of the park was platted
into lots, and divided among them, leaving the park as at
present, bounded on all sides by alleys in the rear of the lots

CLAIM CONTESTS.

89

appropriated, where can be found outhouses, stables, coal
and wood sheds, ash-heaps, garbage and offal of all descrip-
tions common to back yards of a city. In the original ar-
rangement, the members of the town association were to have
every other lot, leaving the remainder to be divided equally
between the Aid Company, and parties who would improve
the lots. Under this arrangement the company had in con-
templation not only mills and hotel, but the erection of an
educational institution for advanced pupils. As soon as this
surrender was learned in the East, there was virtually an end
of stock subscriptions in the company as an investment, and
an end of all college building at Lawrence. But few shares
of stock were afterwards subscribed, and money had to be
raised on the contribution plan. Mr. Thayer turned his at-
tention in this direction, and in 1856 had the entire North
organized on this basis.

Had this surrender quieted the title to Lawrence some
equivalent might have been received, but it had no such
effect. While the four town jumpers were quieted, a large
number of other persons were dissatisfied, and set up protests
and counter-claims, which were never put at rest till the title
was finally adjusted by Government officials. The uncer-
tainty of title was as great after the surrender as before,
although the new claimants were content to await official
action, while the jumpers were not. As late as August,
1855, over ninety occupants of the town made a protest
against this settlement showing its injustice and illegality.
Among other things they say :

" We beg leave respectfully to submit that they are deeply dissatisfied
with the ' settlement ' entered into in March last between your associa-
tion on the one part, and Messrs. C. W. Babcock, J. P. Wood, Wm.
Lykins, Wm. and John Baldwin, on the other. We are dissatisfied
with this so-called settlement, because it is extremely well calculated, in
our opinion, to impair the interests and check the progress of this town.
By its operations nearly one-half of all the land embraced in the town
plot is monopolized by half a dozen persons, whose right thereto
emanates from the association alone, while the number of actual inhab-

90 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

itants at the present time is not far from five hundred. At an early
period the Lawrence Association adopted a policy with reference to those
who desired to settle and acquire property in the town, well designed to
stimulate its growth and increase its prosperity. That association
adopted a resolution, October 9, 1854, ' to set apart every fourth lot in
the city to be given to those who would build upon them, or to those to
whom the association might deem it proper to donate the same.' On
the 1 6th December, 1854, it also enacted ' that every person who was
then, or might become, a resident of the town, and should remain during
the winter, should be entitled to three city lots of the standard size, on
condition of making improvements respecting the rules of the associa-
tion, etc.'

" These measures were just and judicious. They were just because
they served to distribute the land upon which the town was located to
all the inhabitants thereof upon terms graduated according to the amount
of service respectively rendered in building up the town and making
valuable the lands upon which it was located. And being just, they
were also judicious, because they extended a fair chance and solid in-
terest to all who thought proper to accept the same, and in this way
secured the settlement of a large number of persons who otherwise
would not have come, and whose exertions and improvements contribute
greatly to the advancement of the town. By the adoption of this settle-
ment their wise and beneficent policy was necessarily abandoned, and
nearly half of all the land pertaining to the city site allowed to pass into
the possession of five men, thus creating a monopoly which is already
showing deleterious and injurious effects upon this community, by the
rapid decrease in the value of real estate, and the uncertainty which
rests upon all business transactions. In consequence of this, also, the
association was compelled to disregard, in a number of instances, its
engagements with those who had come into the town upon the condi-
tions of its previous policy. So completely was it stript of its resources
by this silly transaction that it was constrained to repudiate some of its
most binding obligations. The impelling motive to the adoption by the
association of this strange measure seems to have been the desire to get
rid of a claim, by the gentlemen above named, to a portion of the city
site, and the association seems to have assented to the arrangement
under a gross misapprehension of the true grounds upon which that
claim was based, but the claim, as can now be seen by the foregoing
argument, was without the slightest foundation."

CHAPTER V.

SETTLEMENTS. ELECTIONS. — PUBLIC SENTIMENT.

NOTWITHSTANDING the persistent effort of pro-slavery men
to harass and drive off Free-State men on a pretext of priority
of claims/ not only at Lawrence but elsewhere, Free-State
settlers remained, defended their rights to lands settled upon,
and large accessions were constantly made to their numbers.
Before winter set in, people from all parts of the East, North,
and West, as well as the South, were moving to Kansas faster
than accommodations could be provided for their comfort.
The threats and bluster of the pro-slavery men and journals
had served to stimulate rather than prevent Northern emigra-
tion. The Herald of Freedom thus speaks of the emigration,
March 10, 1855 :

" The first company, consisting of thirty-one persons, arrived in
Lawrence on the first day of August last ; the second party arrived the
I3th of September, and numbered one hundred and thirty; the third
party arrived the 8th of October, and numbered one hundred and sixty-
two ; the fourth party arrived October 3Oth, and numbered two hundred
and thirty ; the fifth party arrived November 2Oth, with one hundred
persons ; the sixth and last regular party of the season arrived Decem-
ber 1st, and numbered fifty persons ; amounting in the aggregate to six
hundred and seventy-three. But this does not begin to show the num-
ber who were induced to emigrate to Kansas in consequence of this
organization. Other portions of our confederacy, witnessing the great
movement westward set in motion by this company, were induced to
fall into line. The Pennsylvania company, numbering fully three hun-
dred persons in all, were induced, to our certain knowledge, to come last
season in consequence of the advantage they expected to derive from
those connected with the Aid Company. Ohio sent forward her pio-
neers, who were also strengthened in their purpose to locate here from

92 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

the same cause. Hundreds on hundreds of individuals from all parts
of the free North were wakened up on the subject, and induced to
emigrate on account of the description of the country, and the advan-
tages to the settlers first furnished to the public press, and afterwards
extensively copied into nearly every anti-Nebraska journal, by the
agents of this organization. Even the American Settlement Company,
which claims to have done so much towards populating Kansas, was
but an offshoot of the New England organization, and owed its existence
to Mr. Thayer's great speech in the Tabernacle, New York ; he having
given birth to the New York Kansas League, and some of those con-
nected with that League devised the Settlement Company. We have
no doubt but, if all the instrumentalities which have operated to influence
the public mind directly and indirectly, could be brought to light, it
would appear that, instead of sending ' two or three hundred ' into the
Territory from the free States, it would be manifest that they had
influenced the settling of thousands among us — not a fiftieth part, how-
ever, of the number they will eventually induce in the same direction,
if need be, to make Kansas a free State."

On November 2gth was held an election for territorial
delegate to Congress. As this election had no direct agency
in State-making, it attracted much less attention than the
election for a territorial Legislature which was held in the
spring of 1855. But it was deemed of sufficient importance
by the pro-slavery men to make extensive preparations for
an invasion from Missouri. The machinery for controlling
elections had been well provided in advance, and was ready
for operation. The Congressional committee, in the report
of the majority, make this statement, based upon testimony
taken by it :

' ' Before any election was or could be held in the Territory, a secret
political society was formed in the State of Missouri. It was known
by different names, such as ' Social Band,' ' Friends' Society,' ' Blue
Lodge,' ' The Sons of the South.' Its members were bound together
by secret oaths, and they had pass-words, signs, and grips, by which
they were known to each other ; penalties were imposed for violating
the rules and secrets of the order ; written minutes were kept of the
proceedings of the lodges ; and the different lodges were connected
together by an effective organization. It embraced great numbers of
the citizens of Missouri, and was extended into other slave States and
into the Territory. Its avowed purpose was to extend slavery not only

DELEGATE ELECTION. 93

into Kansas, but also into other Territories of the United States, and
to form a union of all the friends of that institution. Its plan of oper-
ating was to organize and send men to vote at the elections in the Ter-
ritory, to collect money to pay their expenses, and, if necessary, to
protect them in voting. It also proposed to induce pro-slavery men to
emigrate into the Territory, to aid and sustain them while there, and to
elect none to office but those friendly to their views. This dangerous
society was controlled by men who avowed their purpose to extend
slavery into the Territory at all hazards, and was altogether the most
effective instrument in organizing the subsequent armed invasions and
forays. In its lodges in Missouri the affairs of Kansas were discussed.
The force necessary to control the election was divided into bands and
leaders selected. Means were collected, and signs and badges were
agreed upon. While the great body of the actual settlers of the Terri-
tory were relying upon the rights secured to them by the organic law,
and had formed no organization or combination whatever, even of a
party character, this conspiracy against their rights was gathering
strength in a neighboring State, and would have been sufficient at their
first election to have overpowered them, even if they had been united
to a man."

The great champion and leader of the slavery propagan-
dists, General D. R. Atchison, is reported by the Platte Argus
as explaining his position and that of his allies, at Weston,
Missouri, as follows :

"He would now pass to the settlement of Kansas, its destiny, and
the effect it was to have upon the State of Missouri.

" The organic law of the Territory vests in the people who reside
in it the power to form all its municipal regulations. They can either
admit or exclude slavery, and this is the only question that materially
affects our interests. * * *

" General Atchison said, that his mission here to-day was, if possible,
to awaken the people of this country to the danger ahead, and to sug-
gest the means to avoid it. The people of Kansas in their first election
would decide the question whether or not the slave-holder was to be
excluded, and it depended upon a majority of the votes cast at the polls.
Now, if a set of fanatics and demagogues a thousand miles off could
advance their money and exert every nerve to abolitionize the Territory
and exclude the slave-holder when they have not the least personal
interest in the matter, what is your duty ? When you reside within
one day's journey of the Territory, and when your peace, your quiet,
and your property depend upon your action, you can without an exer-

94 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

tion send five hundred of your young men who will vote in favor of
your institutions. Should each county in the State of Missouri only
do its duty, the question will be decided quietly and peaceably at the
ballot-box. If we are defeated, then Missouri and the other Southern
States will have shown themselves recreant to their interests and will
have deserved their fate. The abolitionists will have nothing to gain
or lose. It is an abstraction with them. We have much to gain or
much to lose. Said he : 'If you burn my barn, I sustain a great loss,
but you gain nothing. So it is with the colonizationist societies and
the dupes they send to abolitionize Kansas. If these abolitionists steal
your negroes, they gain nothing. The negroes are injured; you are
ruined. So much greater is the motive for activity on your part. Fel-
low-citizens, we should not be apathetic when so much is involved.
We should be up and doing.' He was for meeting organization with
organization. He was for meeting these philanthropic knaves peace-
ably at the ballot-box, and out-voting them. If we cannot do this it is
an omen that the institution of slavery must fall in this and other South-
ern States, but it would fall after much strife, civil war, and bloodshed.
If abolitionism, under its present auspices, is established in Kansas,
there will be constant strife and bloodshed between Kansas and Mis-
souri. Negro stealing will be a principle and a vocation. It will be
the policy of philanthropic knaves, until they force the slave-holder to
abandon Missouri ; nor will it be long until it is done. You cannot
watch your stables to prevent thieves from stealing your horses and
mules ; neither can you watch your negro quarters to prevent your
neighbors from seducing away and stealing your negroes. If Kansas
is abolitionized, all men who love peace and quiet will leave us, and all
emigration to Missouri from the slave States will cease. We will go
either to the North or to the South. For himself he could gather
together his goods, and depart as soon as the most active among us.
He had neither wife nor child to impede his flight. In a hybrid state
we cannot live ; we cannot be in a constant quarrel — in a constant state
of suspicion of our own neighbors. This feeling is entertained by a
large portion of mankind everywhere. Yet, he said, he was willing,
notwithstanding his pacific views, to hang negro theives ; he would not
punish those who merely entertained abstract opinions ; but negro
thieves and persons who stirred up insubordination and insurrection
among our slaves, he believed it right to punish, and they could not
be punished too severely — he would not punish a man who believed
that rape, murder, or larceny was abstractly right, yet he would punish
the man who committed either. It was not sufficient for the South to
talk, but to act ; to go peaceably and inhabit the Territory, and peace-
ably to vote and settle the question according to the principles of the
Douglas bilL"

POSITION OF PARTIES. 95

Eli Thayer, in his " Kansas Crusade," gives his views of
the issue on pages 31 and 32, as follows:

" The present crisis was to decide whether freedom or slavery should
rule our country for centuries to come. That slavery was a great na-
tional curse ; that it practically ruined one-half of the nation and greatly
impeded the progress of the other half. That it was a curse to the
negro, but a much greater curse to the white man. It made the slave-
holders petty tyrants, who had no correct idea of themselves or of anybody
else. It made the poor whites of the South more abject and degraded
than the slaves themselves. That it was an insurmountable obstacle in
the way of the nation's progress and prosperity. That it must be over-
come and extirpated. That the way to do this was to go to the prairies
of Kansas and show the superiority of free-labor civilization ; to go with
all our free-labor trophies : churches and schools, printing presses,
steam-engines, and mills ; and in a peaceful contest convince every poor
man from the South of the superiority of free labor. That it was much
better to go and do something for free labor than to stay at home and
talk of manacles and auction-blocks and blood-hounds, while deploring
the never-ending aggressions of slavery. That in this contest the South
had not one element of success. We had much greater numbers, and
much greater wealth, greater readiness of organization, and better facili-
ties of migration. That we should put a cordon of free States from
Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, and stop the forming of slave States.
After that we should colonize the northern border slave States and ex-
terminate slavery. That our work was not to make women and children
cry in anti-slavery conventions, by sentimental appeals, BUT TO GO
AND PUT AN END TO SLAVERY."

Amos A. Lawrence said, in his statement before the Mas-
sachusetts Historical Society :

"The enthusiasm increased; parties were formed all over the
Northern States. The Emigrant Aid Company undertook to give char-
acter and direction to the whole. This society was to be loyal to the
Government under all circumstances ; it was to support the party of
law and order, and it was to make Kansas a free State by bonaf.de set-
tlement if at all."

G. W. Brown, in the first number of the Herald of Free-
dom, gives the position of the Free-State men as follows :

" Our great object is to make Kansas a free State; and to that end
we shall labor by encouraging emigration. It is not our purpose to
engage in a crusade against our Southern brethren, nor upon their insti-

96 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

tutions, so long as confined within their legitimate sphere. Our field is
Kansas, and here we shall labor, and here shall erect anew the altar of
LIBERTY. With the Declaration of American Independence in one
hand and the Constitution of the Republic in the other, we engage in a
defensive warfare for the Right. We firmly believe that victory will
crown the efforts of the Sons of Freedom ; but the struggle will be long
and arduous. We may be stricken down at first, but not defeated."

While General Atchison's speech was comparatively con-
servative, not so the actions of his subordinates and the people
of the border counties in Missouri. On the day of the elec-
tion, and before, they invaded Kansas like an army of occu-
pation for the purpose of voting, and voting only. They
were residents of Missouri, and did not pretend to be bona
fide residents of Kansas, or intend to become such. This
army was recruited and paid as mercenaries to trample down
the rights of the people of Kansas and pollute their ballot-
boxes. On the other hand, no Free-State men were recruited
except to become bona fide settlers, and they received no pay
whatever.

The leading candidates for delegate at this election were
Whitfield, Pro-slavery ; Fleniken, Democrat, and Wakefield,
Free State. The character of the election can be seen from
the testimony of H. Miles Moore, now one of the most re-
spected citizens of Kansas. He testified before the Con-
gressional committee as follows :

" I came into the Territory to reside in September, 1855, from
western Missouri, where I had resided for about five years, practising
as an attorney at law. I had resided in St. Louis a year previous to
that. I came over to Leavenworth City on the 2gth of November,
1854, to attend the election for delegate to Congress. Arrangements
had been made throughout western Platte County, and western Missouri
generally, as I have been informed, for the purpose of going over there
and voting at that election. Messengers had been sent from one portion
of western Missouri to another, to notify. Meetings had been held to
make arrangements to come over here on that day to vote. For a day
or two previous, large numbers had passed through Weston to the Ter-
ritory, on horseback and in wagons, with their forage and provisions,
from the counties lower down on the north side of the river — Clinton,

PROOF OF INVASION.

97

Platte, and Clay counties. I saw parties from each of these counties at
the hotel ; among them, men whom I recognized. The companies raised
about Weston and Platte County were generally sent to the back portions
of the Territory. The lower counties sent men to the precincts near the
border. I myself came over with a large party from Weston and Platte
County to Leavenworth ; a large crowd was present then on the ground.
The election was held at the Leavenworth hotel, kept by Keller & Kyle.
There was a great crowd around the polls all day. There was a good
deal of excitement, and some quarrelling and fighting. I remained there
all day till nearly night. General Whitfield was the pro-slavery candi-
date ; Judge Fleniken was the Free-State candidate. All our party from
Weston voted for Whitfield. I believe I voted myself that day for
General Whitfield, but I do not see my name on the poll-books. I
should think there must have been from one hundred and fifty to two
hundred Missourians who voted there that day. The other Missourians
who came over said after they returned, that they went to the i4th and
I5th districts, and other districts farther back."

The number of votes polled at this election was, for Whit-
field, 2238 ; Wakefield, 248 ; Fleniken, 305 ; and scattering,
22 ; a total of 2833. Of these votes it is estimated that
1114 were legal, and 1729 illegal.

The majority of the committee thus reports:

' ' Thus your committee finds that in this, the first election in the
Territory, a very large majority of the votes were cast by citizens of the
State of Missouri, in violation of the organic law of the Territory. Of
the legal votes cast, General Whitfield received a plurality. The set-
tlers took but little interest in the election, not one-half of them voting.
This may be accounted for from the fact that the settlements were scat-
tered over a great extent, that the term of the delegate to be elected
was short, and that the question of free or slave institutions was not
generally regarded by them as distinctly at issue. Under these circum-
stances, a systematic invasion from an adjoining State, by which large
numbers of illegal votes were cast in remote and sparse settlements, for
the avowed purpose of extending slavery into the Territory, even
though it did not change the result of the election, was a crime of great
magnitude. Its immediate effect was further to excite the people of
the Northern States, and to exasperate the actual settlers against their
neighbors in Missouri."

At this time every considerable settlement in the Territory,
except Lawrence and vicinity, was pro-slavery, and an in-

7

98 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

vasion was wholly unnecessary, as Whitfield could have been
elected without. Being unnecessary, it was an inexcusable
blunder, as it served to expose the game the pro-slavery men
proposed to play, and increased the agitation and determi-
nation in the North. The conservatism, as well as the anti-
slavery sentiment of the country, had received a serious shock
in the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and was in no
mood for foul play in the game set by the slave interest.
Had there been no invasion or illegal voting, all would have
acquiesced in the election of Whitfield without a murmur.
This is one of a series of blunders made by General Atchi-
son's forces which was taken advantage of by Free-State
men. The settlers contented themselves by making this pro-
test to the governor :

"To his Excellency, A. H. Reeder, Governor of Kansas Territory :

" Believing that a large number of the citizens of the State of Mis-
souri voted at the election of the 29th instant for delegate to Congress
representing Kansas Territory, we respectfully petition your honor that
the entire vote of the district receiving the votes of citizens of Missouri
be set aside, or that the entire election be set aside."

SIGNED BY NUMEROUS CITIZENS.

Some of the pro-slavery editors and people professed to be
greatly elated over the result of this election, and to regard
it as a test of strength between the parties. The Kansas
Herald, published at Leavenworth, had this to say :

" There is not a single doubt that Kansas will be a slave State. Our
recent election shows a majority in its favor. General Whitfield, the
pro-slavery candidate, had out of twenty-eight hundred votes polled
twenty-two hundred. And notwithstanding the Aid Societies have
poured in hordes of her paupers for the purpose of abolitionizing Kan-
sas, they either become initiated in our institutions, or leave as fast as
they arrive. Now, if the South does her duty, and especially Missouri,
the Northern hope of abolitionizing Kansas will be a phantom hope.
*******

" Where is Lawrence, the reservoir for the overflow of the Aid
Societies? It is true she is still situated on the Kaw river, but is now
one of the principal pro-slavery towns in Kansas."

EFFECT OF INVASION.

99

Other papers were equally jubilant and earnest in their
appeals to the South to take possession of the Territory at
once with their slaves. On the other hand, a few Northern
papers were despondent and predicted the defeat of the Free-
State cause. Horace Greeley weakened, and said the chances
that Kansas would be a slave State were as four to one, and
he seemed to " hear the clanking chains of human bondage,
and saw the hideous shambles for the sale of human flesh."
However, the Missouri invasion was treated by most North-
ern papers as an outrage to be denounced and its repetition
resisted to the bitter end. Whatever the effect outside of
Kansas, the bonafide citizens were unconcerned. All parties
knew that it was no test of strength and could have but little
weight in settling the momentous question pending. The
Free-State men busied themselves with their work of cabin-
building, and in preparing their claims for spring cultivation.
They were men who had counted the cost and were not to
be discouraged by claim conflicts, personal assaults, or inva-
sions at elections. This election afforded good grounds for
encouragement. The fact that the pro-slavery party deemed
it necessary to import voters showed that it had no confi-
dence in a majority of settlers of its own faith, and the inva-
sion was conclusive evidence that law was to be disregarded
whenever it was supposed to block the way to success. The
bullying and bluster from the first, and now this invasion,
showed conclusively that the enemy, the Free-State men,
were rated as inferiors and to be despised, trodden upon and
crushed without ceremony. All these things were carefully
noted by the Free-State men, and gave great hope of success
in the final result. They would not have had it otherwise if
they could, as, had the pro-slavery men treated all with
civility and attended the elections under the forms of law,
coming quietly into the Territory under pretense of being
settlers, all elections could have been carried by them and
no valid protest could have been made. They had every
advantage ; their forces resided on the border, and as all were

100 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

recent settlers, no proof could have been easily furnished
against them.

In the months of January and February, 1855, a census
was ordered by the Governor, and an election was to be
held March 30th for a territorial Legislature. This election
was of the greatest moment, as, according to the organic act,
the question of a free or slave State would most likely be
settled by the first Legislature. The Free-State men, confi-
dent of their majority of voters, relied upon the promises of
the Governor that a fair election should be held, and had no
fears of the result. For the first time they held caucuses or
conventions to agree upon candidates to be supported. This
was no easy matter, as an effort had been made from the
first to divide Free- State men into two hostile camps. For-
tunately or unfortunately, three newspapers were started at
Lawrence in the early winter, and all professed to be in favor
of a free State. However, as is generally the case, a war
sprung up between them, and what one paper advocated
another must oppose. One paper, edited by men from the
West and South, was hostile to men from the East, and es-
pecially made war upon everything and everybody connected
with the Emigrant Aid Company.

The editors of this paper affiliated with the black law men,
associated on friendly terms with the invaders of the polls
and printed their tickets. They denounced the other ed-
itors, or one of them, as not sound on the slavery question,
and he retaliated in kind. On April 26, 1855, he submitted
this proposition :

" We propose that the pro-slavery journal of this city get a chapter
of denunciations against the Emigrant Aid Company stereotyped, to be
used on opportune occasions. It must be a matter of great inconven-
ience to reset its type so often with the same ideas, and all abounding
with much vindictiveness. ' The good trees in the orchard are always
the most stoned.' It is for this the Janus-faced press has been so
violent against certain men and measures in this city."

This newspaper quarrel, while a question of the most vital
importance was pending, disgusted all sincere Free-State

EDITORIAL QUARRELS. IOI

men, till some person wrote the following, which was pub-
lished in the Herald of Freedom, February 17, 1855 :

"ADVICE TO THE THREE EDITORS.

" LAWRENCE, February 14, 1855.
"Editor of Herald of Freedom :

"As a subscriber to all three of the Lawrence papers, as one of the
earliest pioneers to Kansas, as a well-wisher, and I trust co-worker in
the Free-State army, and as a matter-of-fact man, I am surprised and
annoyed and heartily sick at the course being pursued by some of the
city papers. Under the most silly and child-like pretexts attacks are
made, defamation of character attempted, influence and usefulness sought
to be circumscribed, and the ' rule or ruin ' principle endeavored to be
carried into effect. * * *

"In your private jealousies, your petty feuds, family jars, contempt-
ible bickerings, insolent calumniation, and harsh epithets, we have little
or no interest, and they only beget disgust. We seek information, we
desire respectability in our papers, and wish not to be ashamed to trans-
mit them to our friends at a distance.

" While anxious inquiries are hourly being made about Kansas from
abroad, her soil, her climate, her timber, her stone, her coal, water,
commercial advantages, and the probable introduction of slavery therein,
none are made as to the animosities, animadversion, or antipathy exist-
ing between Messrs. Brown, Miller, and Elliot, and the Brothers Speer,
severally editors and proprietors of the Herald of Freedom, Free State,
and Tribune. Gentlemen and brethren, if you cannot see alike, each
see for yourself. If some of you desire to be more radical than your
more conservative brother, it is your privilege. A generous and ap-
preciating public will award to you that merit you deserve, whether you
take either extreme, or a middle course between two. Were I not re-
echoing the feelings of four-fifths of all your subscribers, a delicacy
would prevent the plainness of this article. You all profess to be bat-
tling for the one common cause, ' Freedom for Kansas. ' Do so honestly,
peacefully, determinately, and successfully, and each in your own way.
If wrong has been done you, seek redress elsewhere than through your
own columns. If you have been insulted and must resent it, fight it
out hand to hand, and not embroil your readers in the 'muss.' In the
settling of your difficulties you must help yourselves. In making Kan-
sas free, you will always have the help of

"A CONSERVATIVE."

At length the conflicting elements were sufficiently harmo-
nized to present but one ticket to be voted for, instead of

102 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

two, as at the election of delegate to Congress. While the
Free-State elements were being conciliated and united, the
pro-slavery men were earnestly at work. The border and
territorial pro-slavery press sounded the alarm, beat their
tom-toms and gongs, and rallied the faithful to the rescue.
The Frontier News, of Westport, Missouri, as published in
the Herald of Freedom of February 17, 1855, had the fol-
lowing :

"KANSAS— THE ELECTION CRISIS.

" The election which is ultimately to decide the destiny of Kansas is
at hand : the census has been ordered, and the returns will be made on
the gth instant. Let the day of election come when it may, 'tis the
result of that day's work which finally determines the institutions of the
Territory, and the future State. It is therefore into this battle, heart
and soul, that our Southern friends must throw themselves. The
triumphant election of our delegate, though of no political importance
as far as the great cause is concerned, yet acted as a powerful prestige,
both to ourselves and to our abolition foes. Greeley was disheartened,
declared that there were four chances to one in favor of Kansas being
a slave State ; and already heard 'the clanking chains of human bondage,
and saw the hideous shambles for the sale of human flesh. ' But this
triumph was a mere skirmish, calculated to lull the energies of the South
into a peaceful slumber. The real battle, the decisive conflict, has yet
to be fought ; and think you, Southerners, if we lose it, that the South
can ever again obtain a foothold in the Territory? Vain thought! The
code of Lawrence, digested by Messrs. Robinson, Thayer and Com-
pany, and enforced by abolition tyrants, will be the code of Kansas ;
and the chivalric South must bow beneath the yoke. How galling,
how degrading to a sense of your manhood! Are you men? Then
gird up your loins, be up and doing ; remember, that which has been
done once can be done again.

" It is now time for the South to rally; to wait no longer with folded
arms for 'signs of the times,' but go to work boldly, fearlessly, and
with a sustained buoyancy of spirit and fixedness of purpose to secure
their great end.

" Southerners, you will baptize in a pond, and tar and feather a
poor devil who believes he is doing God service when he persuades a
slave to escape, and yet you will look on supinely when the whole insti-
tution is threatened with extermination — and stand by and see with
composure a ' paradisiacal garden' marked and dedicated as an asylum
for decoyed, stolen, and runaway slaves. Big-hearted but feeble-

ELECTION OF LEGISLATURE. 103

handed, you would look on, shedding tears of impotence and self-con-
tempt.

" Freemen of the South, pioneers of the West, ' these are the times
that try men's souls. ' This is the twelfth hour of the night — birds of
darkness are on the wing — the day will soon dawn — the battle will soon
commence. Arouse and fight a good fight ! Let the eagle of victory
perch upon your banners. Steady, men! Forward!"

The Leavenworth Herald said :

" Remember that free-soilers and abolitionists have combined under
the name of Free State, and boldly proclaim their hostility to the Douglas
bill, and their defense of the Aid Societies ! Such, ye Old Guard of
the West, is the progress of the lying and dastardly crew you have to
contend against. Saith the common law : When any number of persons
band themselves together for a common object detrimental to the inter-
est of any body, it is conspiracy! We say boldly that by law, all per-
sons having connection with the Aid Societies are conspirators, and
subject to indictment and conviction as such. They are criminals, and
beside openly deny the powers of the Constitution of the United States,
and consequently by their own acts have thrown themselves out of the
protection of law."

Stringfellow, in a speech at St. Joseph, is reported as

saying :

"I tell you to mark every scoundrel among you that is the least
tainted with free-soilism or abolitionism, and exterminate him. Neither
give nor take quarter from the d — d rascals. I propose to mark them
in this house, and on the present occasion, so you may crush them out.
To those who have qualms of conscience as to violating laws, State or
national, the time has come when such impositions must be disregarded,
as your rights and property are in danger ; and I advise you, one and
all, to enter every election district in Kansas, in defiance of Reeder
and his vile myrmidons, and vote at the point of the bowie-knife and
revolver. Neither give nor take quarter, as our cause demands it. It
is enough that the slave -holding interest wills it, from which there is
no appeal. What right has Governor Reeder to rule Missourians in
Kansas? His proclamation and prescribed oath must be repudiated.
It is your interest to do so. Mind that slavery is established where it
is not prohibited."

At length came election day, the 3oth of March, and with
it an invading horde from Missouri. They came with great

IO4 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

ostentation, with arms of every description, including can-
non. They were detailed to every district in sufficient
numbers to secure every member of the Legislature should
their votes be counted. They paid little attention to for-
mality, and less to legality. So open, unblushing, and over-
whelming was the demonstration, that it defeated itself. It
required no search for testimony to prove its illegality in a
contest, as the invaders brought the proof with them and
proclaimed it to all the world. This was very satisfactory to
the Free- State men, and most of them looked on without
effort to prevent the illegal voting, except in a formal way
by entering protest before the judges of election. The affair
was thus described in the Herald of Freedom of the next
day:

" Of the disgraceful proceedings in this place on Friday last, by
which the ballot-box was converted into an engine of oppression, we
have hardly patience to write. To see hundreds of hired mercenaries
on horseback, on foot, and in wagons and carriages, coming into Kan-
sas in a body from an adjoining State, and expressing a determination
to return so soon as they shall have polluted the freeman's safeguard
with their touch, and to see that purpose fulfilled without any action
whatever showing an intention to remain here for a single hour after
they shall have cast a ballot is, to say the least, enough to make a Re-
publican ashamed of his national connections ; and were he not strongly
wedded to the Federal Constitution, in a moment of vexation he might
be led to exclaim that he desired ' no union with such base mercena-

The majority report of the Congressional Committee is
based upon the testimony of both parties, and is a revelation
new to republican government. A few extracts only are
given. It says :

" By an organized movement, which extended from Andrew County
in the north, to Jasper County in the south, and as far eastward as
Boone and Cole counties, Missouri, companies of men were arranged
in irregular parties, and sent into every council district in the Territory
and into every representative district but one. The members were so
distributed as to control the election in each district. They went to
vote, and with the avowed design to make Kansas a slave State. They

COMMITTEE'S REPORT. 105

were generally armed and equipped, carried with them their own provi-
sions and tents, and so marched into the Territory. The details of this
invasion form the mass of the testimony taken by your committee, and
are so voluminous that we can here state but the leading facts elicited.

" First District. — Lawrence.

" The company of persons who marched into this district was col-
lected in Ray, Howard, Carroll, Boone, Lafayette, Randolph, Macon,
Clay, Jackson, Saline, and Cass counties, in the State of Missouri.
Their expenses were paid; those who could not come contributing
provisions, wagons, etc. Provisions were deposited for those who were
expected to come to Lawrence in the house of William Lykins, and
were distributed among the Missourians after they arrived there. The
evening before, and the morning of the day of election, about one
thousand men from the above counties arrived at Lawrence, and camped
in a ravine a short distance from town, near the place of voting. They
came in wagons (of which there were over one hundred) and on horse-
back, under the command of Colonel Samuel Young, of Boone County,
Missouri, and Claiborne F. Jackson, of Missouri. They were armed
with guns, rifles, pistols, and bowie-knives ; and had tents, music, and
flags with them. They brought with them two pieces of artillery, loaded
with musket-balls. On their way to Lawrence some of them met Mr.
N. B. Blanton, who had been appointed one of the judges of election
by Governor Reeder, and after learning from him that he considered it
his duty to demand an oath from them as to their place of residence,
first attempted to bribe him, and then threatened him with hanging, in
order to induce him to dispense with that oath. In consequence of these
threats he did not appear at the polls the next morning to act as judge.

" The evening before the election, while in camp, the Missourians
were called together at the tent of Captain Claiborne F. Jackson, and
speeches were made to them by Colonel Young and others, calling for
volunteers to go to other districts where there were not Missourians
enough to control the election, as there were more at Lawrence than
were needed there. Many volunteered to go, and on the morning of
the election several companies, from one hundred and fifty to two hun-
dred each, went off to Tecumseh, Hickory Point, Bloomington, and
other places. On the morning of the election the Missourians came
over to the place of voting from their camp, in bodies of one hundred
at a time. Mr. Blanton not appearing, another judge was appointed in
his place, Colonel Young claiming that, as the people of the Territory
had two judges, it was nothing more than right that the Missourians
should have the other one to look after their interests ; and Robert A.
Cummins was elected in Blanton's stead, because he considered that
every man had a right to vote if he had been in the Territory but an
hour.

106 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

" The Missourians brought their tickets with them; but not having
enough, they had three hundred more printed in Lawrence on the even-
ing before and on the day of election. They had white ribbons in their
button-holes to distinguish them from the settlers.

" When the voting commenced, the question of the legality of the
vote of a Mr. Page was raised. Before it was decided, Colonel Samuel
Young stepped up to the window where the votes were received, and
said he would settle the matter. The vote of Mr. Page was withdrawn,
and Colonel Young offered to vote. He refused to take the oath pre-
scribed by the Governor, but swore he was a resident of the Territory ;
upon which his vote was received. He told Mr. Abbott, one of the
judges, when asked if he intended to make Kansas his future home,
that it was none of his business ; that if he were a resident then he
should ask no more. After his vote was received Colonel Young got
up on the window-sill, and announced to the crowd that he had been
permitted to vote, and they could all come up and vote. He told the
judges that there was no use in swearing the others, as they would all
swear as he had done. After the other judges had concluded to receive
Colonel Young's vote, Mr. Abbott resigned as judge of election, and
Mr. Benjamin was elected in his place.

" The polls were so much crowded till late in the evening that for a
time, when the men had voted, they were obliged to get out by being
hoisted up on the roof of the building where the election was being held,
and passing out over the house. Afterwards, a passage-way through the
crowd was made by two lines of men being formed, through which the
voters could get up to the polls. Colonel Young asked that the old men
be allowed to go up first and vote, as they were tired with the travel-
ing, and wanted to get back to camp. The Missourians sometimes
came up to the polls in procession, two by two, and voted. During
the day the Missourians drove off the ground some of the citizens — Mr.
Stearns, Mr. Bond, and Mr. Willis. They threatened to shoot Mr.
Bond, and a crowd rushed after him, threatening him ; and as he ran
after them some^ shots were fired at him as he jumped off the bank of
the river and made his escape. The citizens of the town went over in
a body late in the afternoon, when the polls had become comparatively
clear, and voted.

" Before the voting had commenced, the Missourians said if the
judges appointed by the Governor did not receive their votes they would
choose other judges. Some of them voted several times, changing
their hats or coats and coming up to the window again. They said they
intended to vote first, and after they had got through the others could
vote. Some of them claimed a right to vote under the organic act,
from the fact that their mere presence in the Territory constituted them
residents, though they were from Missouri and had homes in Missouri.

REPORT CONTINUED.

I07

Others said they had a right to vote because Kansas belonged to Mis-
souri, and people from the East had no right to settle in the Territory
and vote there. They said they came to the Territory to elect a Legis-
lature to suit themselves, as the people of the Territory and persons
from the East and the North wanted to elect a Legislature that would
not suit them. They said they had a right to make Kansas a slave
State, because the people of the North had sent persons out to make it
a free State. Some claimed that they had heard that the Emigrant Aid
Society had sent men out to be at the election, and they came to offset
their votes ; but the most of them made no such claim. Colonel Young
said he wanted the citizens to vote, in order to give the election some
show of fairness. The Missourians said there would be no difficulty if
the citizens did not interfere with their voting ; but they were deter-
mined to vote peaceably, if they could, but vote any how. They said
each one of them was prepared for eight rounds without loading, and
would go to the ninth round with the butcher-knife. Some of them
said that by voting in the Territory they would deprive themselves of
the right to vote in Missouri for twelve months afterwards. The Mis-
sourians began to leave the afternoon of the day of election, though
some did not go home until the next morning. In many cases, when
a wagon-load voted they immediately started for home. On their way
home they said if Governor Reeder did not sanction the election they
would hang him.

" The citizens of the town of Lawrence, as a general thing, were
not armed on the day of election, though some had revolvers, but not
exposed as were the arms of the Missourians. They kept a guard
about the town the night after the election, in consequence of the threats
of the Missourians, in order to protect it. The pro-slavery men of the
district attended the nominating conventions of the Free-State men, and
voted for and secured the nominations of men they considered the most
obnoxious to the Free-State party, in order to cause dissension in that
party. Quite a number of settlers came into the district before the day
of election, and after the census was taken. According to the census
returns, there were then in the district 369 legal voters. Of those
whose names are on the census returns, 117 are to be found on the
poll-books of the 3Oth of March, 1855. Messrs. Ladd, Babcock, and
Pratt testify to fifty-five names on the poll-books of persons they knew
to have settled in the district after the census was taken, and before
election. A number of persons came into the Territory in March be-
fore the election, from the Northern and Eastern States, intending to
settle, who were in Lawrence on the day of election. At that time
many of them had selected no claims, and had no fixed place of resi-
dence. Such were not entitled to vote. Many of them became dissatis-
fied with the country. Others were disappointed at its political condi-

108 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

tion, and in the price and demand for labor, and returned. Whether
any such voted at the election is not clearly shown ; but from the proof,
it is probable that in the latter part of the day, after the great body of
Missourians had voted, some did go to the polls. The number was not
over fifty. These voted the Free-State ticket. The whole number of
names appearing upon the poll-lists is 1034. After full examination,
we are satisfied that not over 232 of these were legal voters, and 802
were non-residents and illegal voters. This district is strongly in favor
of making Kansas a free State, and there is no doubt that the Free-
State candidates for the Legislature would have been elected by large
majorities if none but the actual settlers had voted. At the preceding
election, in November, 1854, where none but legal votes were polled,
General Whitfield, who received the full strength of the pro-slavery
party, got but forty-six votes."

Here was a pretended election in open defiance of the
organic act, the Constitution and all law, and what could or
would be done about it ? The Free-State men demanded
that the whole farce should be ignored and a day set for
another election. It was true, a provision had been made
by the Governor for contests, in detail, but under the circum-
stances it was impracticable and unnecessary. The Governor
resided at the Shawnee Mission, near the border of Missouri,
and might have had ocular demonstration of the invasion if
he had kept his eyes open. The bonafide settlers had a right
to believe, from his previous pledges, that such an election
would be ignored. In reply to a letter in the fall previous
from citizens of Leavenworth, he used words of no ambigu-
ous interpretation. In this reply, dated November 21, 1854,
he said :

' ' The pledges of that law must be redeemed ; and it were a poor and
pitiless boon to have escaped from the domination of Congress, if we
are only to pass under the hands of another set of self-constituted
rulers, foreign to our soil, and sharing none of our burdens, no matter
what may be their virtues or their worth as men and citizens at home.
It may be very desirable for gentlemen to live among the comforts of
the States, with all the accumulated conveniences and luxuries of an old
home, and make an occasional expedition into our Territory to arrange
our affairs — instruct our people and public officers, and control our
government ; but it does not suit its, and I much mistake the people of

REEDER'S REPLY. 1 09

this Territory if they submit to it. One thing I am certain of, that
having sworn to perform the duties of the office of Governor with fidel-
ity, I shall denounce and resist it in friend or foe, and without regard
to the locality, the party, the faction, or the ism from which it comes.

" Thus much the citizens of Kansas have a right to demand at my
hands, and to fail in it would be the baldest dereliction of official duty.
We believe that we are competent to govern ourselves ; and as we must
bear the consequences of our own errors, and reap the fruit of our own
decisions, we must decline any gratuitous help in making them.

" We shall always be glad to see our neighbors across the river as
friends and visitors among us, and will endeavor to treat them with
kindness and hospitality. We shall be still more pleased if they will
abandon their present homes and dot our beautiful country with their
residences to contribute to our wealth and progress ; but until they do
the latter, we must respectfully, but determinedly, decline to allow them
any participation in regulating our affairs.

" When that is to be done, we insist that they shall stand aside and
permit us to do the work ourselves.

" This, gentlemen, with due respect for you personally, is the only
reply I shall give to the suggestions in behalf of your meeting relative
to the time and manner of taking our census and holding our election.
" Your obedient servant,

" A. H. REEDER.

"To F. G winner, D. A. N. Grover, C. Miller, Wm. F. Dyer, and
Alfred Jones, Esqrs., Committee."

Here was language worthy of a Jackson, and the people
of the Territory supposed that a Jackson was behind it.
When, therefore, Mr. Pomeroy sent word to Robinson that
the Governor would like to have some friends near when he
should declare the result of the election, a dozen men from
Lawrence went immediately to his headquarters, ready to
die with him if necessary while in the discharge of his official
duty.

But what was their disappointment and chagrin when,
after guarding him for about two days, he decided to issue
certificates of election to a large majority of persons chosen
by the invaders. Charity would plead ignorance as his ex-
cuse, but even that plea cannot be entertained, for out of his
own mouth is he condemned. In a speech at Easton, on

110 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

the 30th of April, he did not plead lack of information. The
Boston Atlas thus comments on the speech and invasion, as
published in the Herald of Freedom of May 26, 1855 :

"THE KANSAS OUTRAGES.

" In the address of Governor Reeder at Easton, on the 3Oth of April,
is the fullest official confirmation of the lawless violence with which the
legal rights of the free citizens of this Territory have been trampled in
the dust. Here we have a witness of the most unimpeachable veracity
— such an one as even the Boston Post or the Concord Patriot must
admit to be authority of the very highest and most indisputable char-
acter. An Administration Democrat of the straightest sect, appointed
by the President to the post of Governor of this Territory — a believer,
even now, in that hollow mockery miscalled ' popular sovereignty,' and
an advocate of this principle in the Nebraska bill. Against such a wit-
ness what whisper of doubt can these journals urge? None whatever.
They cannot but receive his testimony. And what is that testimony?
Is it that these outrages have been provoked by the eagerness of the
advocates of free territory, and therefore to some extent excusable, as
the Post would have its readers infer? Does he cast, even by imputa-
tion, the smallest blame upon the outraged citizens at Kansas? No!
He is open, explicit, dignified, and manly. He plainly and boldly puts
the whole wrong just where it belongs. He tells the citizens of Easton
that the people of the border counties of North Missouri have filled him
with amazement ' by their reckless disregard of all laws, compacts, and
constitutions,' that ' the Territory of Kansas has been invaded by an
organized army, armed to the teeth, who took possession of her ballot-
boxes and made a Legislature to suit themselves ! '

" He testifies to the already established fact that on that occasion
' Kansas was subdued, subjugated, and conquered by armed men from
Missouri.' He told his hearers that the solemn duty devolved upon
the North ' to vindicate and sustain the rights of her sons who had
settled in Kansas on the faith of solemn contracts.' He also declared
' that the accounts of the fierce outrage and wild violence perpetrated at
the election, and published in the Northern papers, were in nowise
exaggerated.' He concluded by saying that Kansas was now a con-
quered country — conquered by force of arms, but that the citizens were
resolved never to yield their rights, and relied upon the North to aid
them by demonstrations of public sentiment, and all other legal means,
until they shall be fully and triumphantly vindicated."

Here Governor Reeder is reported as saying that the
" citizens were resolved never to yield their rights," and most

THE CRISIS. Ill

fortunate would it be for his memory if it could be truth-
fully said that he had not yielded them in their stead. But
the practical question was what could be done for a free
State in future ? The Legislature, by the organic act, had
power to settle this question by special and explicit authority.
This body could enact a slave code, provide for all future
elections to be controlled by its own appointees, including
one for a constitutional convention, as in fact it proceeded
to do. No further invasion would be needed, as " returning
boards " would answer every purpose. It was evident that,
should this election be acquiesced in with its results, the
question at issue was finally disposed of. Should all hope
be abandoned, and if not, what policy should be adopted
and what action taken f If a stand was ever to be made for
a free State, should it be at the beginning or at the end of
the programme of the Slave-State party ? If at the begin-
ning, the battle must be fought in Kansas ; if at the end, it
must be in Congress. But as Congress had uniformly failed
to accomplish anything for freedom for a generation, hope
in that direction was vain. Had it not just broken down
the barrier of the Missouri Compromise and told the people
of the world, including the State of Missouri, that it would
admit Kansas and Nebraska to the Union, with or without
slavery, as their constitutions might provide ? Evidently, if
this battle was to be fought in Congress, the Free-State
settlers had made a mistake in coming to Kansas, and had
better go back East if they did not want to live in a slave
State. But if the conflict was to be settled in Kansas, what
steps were to be taken ? The first was to be repudiation of
the fraud. Should this be attempted, a case must be made
out satisfactory to the civilized world, or the repudiators
would be repudiated and fail. As has already appeared, this
conflict involved the entire nation. The pro-slavery party
were dependent upon their friends in the South for sympathy,
material aid, and recruits, as was the Free-State party upon
the North. Fortunately this invasion, as proclaimed by the

112 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

pro-slavery press, both before and after the outrage, saved
all trouble of procuring evidence or presentation of the case
to the jury. Quotations of utterances before the so-called
election have been already given, which show the intent,
and a few are quoted that followed as a plea of guilty to
the actual commission of the crime.

The following, from the St. Louis, Mo., Republican, of
3ist March, the day after the election, tells how the irrup-
tionists rejoiced over their mob triumph. It is a dispatch
from Independence to the Eastern press :

" Several hundred returning emigrants from Kansas have just
entered our city. They were preceded by the Westport and Independ-
ence brass bands. They came in at the west side of the public square
and proceeded entirely around it, the bands cheering us with fine music,
and the emigrants with good news. Immediately following the band
were about two hundred horsemen, in regular order ; following these
were one hundred and fifty wagons, carriages, etc. They gave repeated
cheers for Kansas and Missouri. They report that not an anti-slavery
man will be in the Legislature of Kansas. We have made a clean
sweep."

The following was issued in the shape of an extra from
the Richfield, Mo., Enterprise office, of date April 2, 1885,
and was headed in large capitals in display lines :

"O! K! on the Goose Question. All Hail! Pro-slavery Party
Victorious ! ! The Smoke of the Battle is Over.

" Friday, the 3Oth ult., was a proud and glorious day — one long to
be remembered ; the triumph of the pro-slavery party is overwhelming
and complete.

" Come on, Southern men ; bring your slaves and fill up the Territory.
Kansas is saved! Abolition is rebuked, her fortress stormed, her flag
is dragging in the dust! The tri-colored platform has fallen with a
crash ; the rotten timbers of its structure were not sufficient to sustain
the small fragments of the party.

" Kansas has proved herself to be S. Q. G. * * *

" From the best information we have received, the pro-slavery party
have carried their tickets in every district by a vote so decisive that
the free-soil party will return to their masters, Thayer and Company.

" The election passed off quietly, without the slightest disturbance.
There were on the ground from 1200 to 1500 persons. No man can

INVASION CONFESSED. 113

say that he was crowded from the polls. Our opponents are chopfallen ;
they look most dolefully, they talk most hopelessly, and feel, no doubt,
awfully bad."

The Independence, Mo., Messenger, took up the same

strain :

" KANSAS ELECTION.

" On the 3oth ult., the second political battle between slavery and
abolitionism was fought, and abolitionism driven to the bush. The
victory of the pro-slavery party was complete, and it is to be hoped that
the question is now settled forever in that Territory. The fanatical
propagandists of the North have only received a lesson in the Southern
political alphabet ; and it may be well for them if they do not push their
inquiries any further. Yankee inquisitiveness is proverbial, but we
opine he has enough Southern and Western learning to do him for a
time. The abolition vote in the Territory was extremely meagre, and
we do not suppose they will have a single member in either branch of
the Legislature. What comes now of the Northern boast that they
were going to abolitionize Kansas, and make it a free State? They
may yet do it, but their prospect is a little gloomy at present."

After this pretended election the pro-slavery papers pro-
fessed great confidence in the final result. The Kansas
Herald, published at Leavenworth, demonstrated the folly
of further Free-State efforts as follows :

"KANSAS SLAVE STATE.

' ' The brilliant and glorious triumph achieved by the noble and
unaided efforts of the gallant and chivalrous sons of the South over the
combined forces of the abolitionists, free-soilers and Emigrant Aid
societies in our late territorial election, furnishes a suitable occasion to
invite immigration from the South to our fair and fertile Territory. It
is well known that the seeming uncertainty of Kansas becoming a slave
State, and the stupendous efforts of the so-called Emigrant Aid societies
to abolitionize our Territory by the importation of hordes of paupers,
hirelings, and convicts have served in a great measure to discourage
and impede emigration from the South. We have been assured time
and again, nor do we doubt, that there are thousands of families in
many of the old Southern States who have been contemplating for
months past a removal to Kansas, but have been deterred from doing
so through fear of slavery not becoming one of her institutions.

" This obstruction is now obliterated, for the infernal machinations
of the Emigrant Aid societies have been defeated. Abolitionism has

114 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

been rebuked and discomfited. Free-soilism has been crippled and
overthrown. The Free White State Party has been annihilated, and
Kansas has declared loudly and decisively in favor of slavery. That
Kansas is to become a slave State will admit of no doubt. The ques-
tion has been decided. Her fate is sealed, and what has long since been
the hope of the pro-slavery party will soon be history.

" Everybody must admit that the popular vote at our late election is
the most infallible exponent of the squatters' views in regard to the
future introduction of slavery into Kansas. If this be so, we ask, does
the vox populi oppose or favor the introduction of slavery? We pause
for a reply.

" But let us for a moment recapitulate upon the returns of the late
election, which speak for themselves. By reference to our issue, which
contains the official returns of the election, we learn that the total num-
ber of votes polled in the Territory is no less than 5961, out of which
4893 were cast for the pro-slavery party, in favor of making Kansas a
slave State, against 1068 for the free-soil party, in favor of making
Kansas a free State. But why this great disparity, of what is it indica-
tive? It shows conclusively that seven-eighths of our population are in
favor of making Kansas a slave State."

The Free-State men had abundant evidence that the fraud
was understood throughout the land both by friends and
opponents. The New York Tribune, as quoted by the Free
State of May 14, 1855, said:

" After such a gigantic and unmistakable outrage upon the rights of
the real inhabitants of Kansas, we cannot conceive how Governor
Reeder could have granted any certificates of election. It would
seem that in doing so he must have yielded to intimidation. * * *
It seems that the Governor did grant a number of these certificates, and
then left for Washington. We shall be glad if some of our correspond-
ents there can throw any light on Governor Reeder's mission thither.
That no lives were taken by these brigands is very evident, because they
were in every case so powerful in number as to render opposition use-
less.

" It is abundantly demonstrated, from what we have published on the
Kansas election, that a more stupendous fraud was never perpetrated
since the invention of the ballot-box. The crew who will assemble
under the title of the Kansas Territorial Legislature, by virtue of this
outrage, will be a body of men to whose acts no more respect will be due,
and should be no more entitled to the weight of authority, than a Legis-
lature chosen by a tribe of wandering Arabs, who should pitch their
tents and extemporize an election on the prairies of that Territory."

PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 115

The New Haven Palladium said :

" The recent outrages in Kansas by the border slave-holders of Mis-
souri afford the free people of the North a foretaste of what they must
all come to, in due time, if they permit this heartless despotism to make
any further progress in this country. What is this Union worth with
the preponderance of such influences within its limits? Who would
not cry for dissolution more earnestly than did our fathers for a separa-
tion from the British Crown, if this overshadowing despotism is to
encircle us with its brutalizing influences ; and its outrageous defiance
of even the forms of law are to be continued? The last election in
Kansas was more outrageously conducted than the first. Armed slave-
holders from Missouri took entire possession of the polls, and votes
were put into the boxes without any reference to the right, or even to
a show of decency. All that we cherish in our Republican system as
essential to domestic order and the safety of life and property was
rudely trampled under foot. We would have the admission of that
State to this Union resisted, though it costs rivers of blood and a hun-
dred millions of treasure. We trust that when this crisis comes it will
appear that there is a North."

Again the New York Tribune says :

" We are not prepared either to say to what these proceedings are
likely to lead. They seem, however, pregnant with the seeds of great
good or evil. They sound in our ears like the distant roar of the com-
ing tempest. Events of startling character and magnitude may stand
in fearful proximity behind that dim and shadowy veil which divides the
present from the future. There is Kansas. Her territory is free soil.
It was never stained by the tread of a slave. Her plains never echoed
to the lash of the slave-driver's whip, nor the groans of the enchained
bondmen. The millions of the free States have thundered out the
declaration that they never shall. On one side, the slave power has
risen in its might and declared its purpose to subjugate that Territory,
and plant slavery there in defiance of the North, in defiance of the
pleadings of humanity, in defiance of the spirit of freedom. It has
armed its myrmidons, marshalled and sent them forth to execute its
purposes. The symbols of their errand were defiantly promenaded
through the Territory in the late scandalous inroad, in the shape of
negro fiddlers and negro attendants. As the conquerors of old carried
their captives in their train, so did our modern brigands open their
career by a similar demonstration. The appeal is now made to arms.
By the sword they declare shall Kansas be gained to slavery. The
vaunt is openly flung forth, and the challenge to all the world is, let
him dispute us who dare. The first step taken has been to put beneath

Il6 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

their heel the real residents and occupants of the soil. The next is to
depose the Governor, and pronounce another in his place. A third is
to declare war against all who dare oppose their plans. The army of
slavery is thus encamped on the soil of Kansas, belligerent and fierce.
It pretends to hold the country by the conqueror's title.

" Such is the position of one side in the struggle for the possession
of Kansas. On the other stands a little band of the sons of freedom,
just now borne down by numbers, but resolute in purpose and ready to
do their part in repelling the barbarian invaders. The question is
whether they are to be seconded by the people of the North. Is there
a genuine spirit of freedom in the country, ready to do something
against the atrocious strides of the slave power to continental dominion ?
Are there those who are willing to migrate to Kansas to aid in main-
taining the freedom of Kansas at the cost of such perils as may arise?
Are the Northern people generally up to the demand of the civilization
and the humanity of the times? Do they mean Kansas shall be free?
If they do, that is enough. The force that shall drive out hordes of
land pirates who have made their descent upon Kansas will not be long
in forming. Swayed and inspired by the sentiments of freedom, they
will scatter its enemies like chaff. But we are not quite sure that the
people of the free States are in earnest in the resolve to maintain the
freedom of Kansas. We do not know whether the emigrants thither
from the free States will prove themselves to accept the responsibilities
of their position, and meet the issue raised by the slave-holders. If
they do, the time is here for the North to show that her people are
worthy of their sires. If it be otherwise, their degradation is unspeak-
able and they are fit only to live as the slaves of slaves."

The Worcester Spy said :

" Every account from Kansas concerning the occurrences which took
place there at the election on the 3Oth of March tends to establish the
fact of the perpetration by the Missourians of one of the grossest out-
rages that ever was committed upon American citizens. Alleged Aus-
trian and Cuban outrages upon the persons and liberties of our country-
men abroad dwindle down into utter insignificance in comparison with
the brigandism which was perpetrated upon the people of Kansas by
the ruffians of Missouri at the period named. Accustomed, as we have
been, to the almost boundless insolence and unrestrained aggressions
of the slave power, it still seems scarcely possible for us to believe that
men bearing the names of 'American freemen ' could be guilty of such
cowardly assaults upon their fellow-citizens ; such dastardly attacks
upon the very principle of ' squatter sovereignty,' which they profess
to cherish, and such unprovoked, unjustifiable assaults upon the freedom

PUBLIC EXPRESSIONS. 1 17

and independence of a Territory with which they have no shadow of
right to interfere, as have been committed by Atchison and Stringfel-
low, and the scoundrels with whom they have twice carried war into
Kansas.

"It is shown that an army of Missourians, armed with rifles, re-
volvers, and knives, with a regular organized commissariat, and with
cannon, invaded the Territory of Kansas on the 2gth of March last ;
and on the 3Oth, prevented, by military outrage, the people of that
Territory from voting for a territorial Legislature, at the same time dic-
tating who shall be members of that Legislature.

" If Atchison and Stringfellow had organized their army of ruffians
for the purpose of invading Mexico, the general Government would
have seized those men and would have punished them severely for levy-
ing war. Why not do so in this case? It is the bounden duty of the
general Government to protect our Territories from invasion and their
inhabitants from foreign aggression. Why do they not do it in this
case of Kansas? The old answer comes to us with the same everlasting
response — the invaders of Kansas went there to establish slavery, and
slavery, which is now the supreme power at Washington, strikes the
Government blind and dumb with moral paralysis. It dare not act
against the power that made it. It dare not complain of the outrages
which it originally invited, by ignoring the Missouri Compromise, and
which it has since encouraged by its drivelling policy.

" But this condition of things is not a permanent one. The next
Congress will utterly condemn such proceedings. In the meantime let
the freemen of the North and West pour into the Territory, and in a
few months the freedom of Kansas will be established so that no ruffians
will be able to browbeat and intimidate those who alone have the right
to regulate its municipal affairs."

The New York Evening Post said :

" If there was any provocation either to force or fraud, it was simply
a provocaton to retaliate by sending colonists friendly to the institution
of slavery. The Territory was open to the inhabitants of slave States
as well as free. All they had to do was to occupy it and frame its
institutions after their own pattern, if they could.

"The emigration from the free States, say these apologists for the
dishonest proceedings of the Missourians, was a challenge and defiance.
Let it be a challenge to a race and not to a fight. It was boldly and
openly made. 'Let us see,' they said, 'who, in a fair contest of speed,
will get into the country first.' The Missourians, instead of abiding
by the challenge and giving their antagonists a fair field, take arms in
their hands and drive them out of it. It is precisely as if two men

Il8 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

should bet on a horse race, and one of them seeing the other likely to
win, should snatch the stakes out of the hands of the holder and run
off with them. This is an illustration which we suppose will be under-
stood in Missouri."

Some of the Southern papers did not seem as hopeful as
the border editors. The Charleston News said :

"UNMITIGATED CURSE.

" There never was a completer or more disastrous miscarriage than
the Nebraska bill. It has not only blasted every expectation that was
originally formed of it, but it proved to its authors a positive and un-
mitigated curse. Instead of strengthening the harmony of the country,
it has given rise to the intensest resentment and discord. Instead of
giving effect and confirmation to the compromise of 1850, it has blasted
that compromise into nothingness. Instead of securing two additional
slave States to the Union, it has secured two additional free States.
And instead of putting an end to free-soil doctrine, it has given that
doctrine a power and a respectability which it never possessed before,
and which, we believe, it could never have attained through any other
medium than that opened by the bill."

The Louisville Journal, under the head of "The late
Doings in Kansas and Missouri," said :

"It is painful to speak of the occurrences in Kansas and upon its
borders within the last few weeks, but they are too important in their
nature, and are likely to be by far too important in their consequences
to be passed by in silence. We have waited to see statements from all
sides in order that we might be able to speak upon the subject without
danger of being mistaken. We have no feeling that could prompt us
to speak as a partisan. We wanted the Missouri Compromise to be let
alone, but, as it has been' repealed, we wish to see Kansas admitted at
the proper time into the Union as a State, either with or without
slavery, as her own qualified voters shall decide.

" We have only slight means of judging whether a majority of the
present population of Kansas Territory are for or against making it a
slave State. But it certainly cannot be denied with a semblance of
truth that the recent election, so called, of delegates to the territorial
Legislature was the most open and scandalous mockery of an election
ever heard of in the United States, the old Plaquemine election of 1844
scarcely excepted. An official census of the inhabitants of the Territory
was carefully taken only four weeks before the election, and from this
it appears that, in some precincts alone, the votes polled at the election

SOUTHERN PROTEST. 119

considerably surpassed the whole number of voters in the entire Terri-
tory. The truth is, an army of Missourians, variously estimated at
from three thousand to five thousand, armed with bowie-knives and
pistlos and rifles, and even cannon, marched into Kansas on the day
before election, distributed themselves wherever they were wanted,
awed all opposition to silence, deposed and put up election judges to
suit themselves, allowed the privilege of voting to whom they pleased,
compelled by threats and the display of weapons the receiving of their
own votes, offered personal violence to all who were obnoxious to
them, carried everything before them, and, the next day, returned to
Missouri under streaming banners, and to the music of fife and drum
and trumpet. * * *

" The determination of the Missourians living near the borders of
Kansas to make that Territory a slave Territory and a slave State at all
hazards, and by whatever means, is abundantly evident from the late
proceedings of the residents of Platte County, Missouri. In that case
all the principal men of the county, to the number of two hundred,
assembled as a mob, destroyed a newspaper press simply because it
would not recognize the right of Missourians to vote in Kansas, at-
tempted to take the lives of the editors and proprietors, and solemnly
pledged their word and honor that, if those gentlemen should dare to
settle in any portion of Kansas, they, the people of Platte County, Mis-
souri, would follow them into the Territory and put them to death!
Thus this Missouri mob, a portion of the army of pistol and bowie-
knife voters who had crossed into Kansas and borne down everybody
and everything at the election, now boldly and audaciously announced
to the world that they claimed and would exercise the prerogative of
deciding who should and who should not settle in the Territory of Kan-
sas ; that they would not permit the people of Kansas to decide this
matter for themselves ; that they would cross the line and cut the
throats of any who should presume to become inhabitants of the new
Territory against their wishes.

" If any man, whether editor or private citizen, chooses to brand us
as free-soil in our propensities because we denounce the outrages of
the Missourians upon the rights of the inhabitants of Kansas, and are
in favor of permitting those inhabitants to fix their own institutions for
themselves according to the provision of the Nebraska law and without
obstruction or hindrance from any outside power, we have only to say
that he is a calumniator. The late proceedings in Kansas and Missouri
are infinitely more to be deplored by the South than by the North. We
all know that a deep and terrible excitement was created throughout the
North by the Missouri Compromise repeal, which gave to the people of
Kansas the nominal power of deciding by their own votes whether they
would have slavery or not, and we all know, too, that there has been,

120 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

from the date of the repeal, a mighty array of strength in the North,
resolved on never permitting Kansas to come into the Union as a slave-
holding State, no matter with what kind of a constitution she might
apply. By a course of fairness and moderation this perverse and wrong
resolve on the part of the North might possibly, and even probably, be
overcome, but we ask how it can fail to be vastly and boundlessly
strengthened and increased when the people of a slave-holding State, in
utter disregard of the rights guaranteed to Kansas, avowedly control
her elections by physical force, decide in mob meetings who shall and
shall not be tolerated within its borders, adopt measures for forcing a
slave constitution upon her, whether her settlers are willing or not, and
brandish the murderous blade before the eyes of the world as the instru-
ment by which they mean, in the event of resistance, to execute their
designs."

CHAPTER VI.

REPUDIATION. MEANS OF DEFENSE. THE COUNTRY AGI-
TATED. THE FIRST KANSAS CELEBRATION OF THE FOURTH

OF JULY.

IMMEDIATELY after the decision of Governor Reeder, the
resident agent of the Emigrant Aid Company came to the
conclusion that there was but one hope for a free State, and
that was to repudiate not only the election, but Governor
Reeder's action in giving certificates to the invaders. He
had seen what law-making could effect in the control
of oppressors as against the oppressed in California, and
knew very well what might be expected from this Legis-
lature that had just been legalized by the Governor's act,
so far as illegality and fraud could be legalized. The
Legislature could pass laws, as did the California Legis-
lature regarding land titles, purposely to deprive one class
of citizens of all legal protection. It was true, repudiation
was a most desperate remedy, but the case was desperate.
The fraudulent Legislature would be sustained by the Fed-
eral Executive and territorial judiciary, backed by the ter-
ritorial militia and Federal army. While the fraud was
patent to all, had been published throughout the land and
condemned by all Northern and many Southern men, it was
no easy matter to draw the line and keep on the right side
of it. While Northern papers would justify and uphold
repudiation of the bogus Legislature and its enactments,
scarcely a man north of Mason and Dixon's line would
justify the lifting of a finger against Federal authority. It
was therefore necessary in this conflict to draw the line at

122 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

that point. But how could this be done ? The laws would
be adjudicated by Federal judges and executed by a Fed-
eral governor and United States marshal. All justices of
the peace, probate judges, sheriffs, and constables would be
creatures of the usurpation. The Territory was without
other law, except common and Federal law, so far as this
was applicable to crimes, and the American people were
law-abiding. What influence could keep the Free-State
settlers from giving in their adherence, and thus making
this usurpation a Government de facto, although not a Gov-
ernment de jure ? No new election of both houses of the
Legislature would be held for two years. Would it be pos-
sible to hold oat that length of time without law, while
branded as repudiators and traitors by the Federal Executive
and one-half of the people of the country f Had the Free-
State settlers been high dignitaries, ex-members of Congress,
or ex-officers of any kind, such a course would have been
scouted as impracticable and Utopian ; but, fortunately, all
the Free-State settlers at this time were actuated and gov-
erned by a conviction of right and natural justice, and did
not stop to count the cost. And, even if they had stopped
to forecast the future, it would have been shrouded in thick
darkness. There had been no precedents that could throw
light upon the situation, except on a small scale in California,
and they were obliged to make the venture in the dark,
trusting to prudent and wise conduct to bring them through.
Should this policy of repudiation be adopted, means of de-
fense must be provided. Even without taking this step, and
before the election, bullying, browbeating, and bluster had
become intolerable. Four men with their pro-slavery allies
had frightened the whole town company of Lawrence into
giving up to them nearly one-half of the town site, to which
they had no legal or equitable right. The result of the
election gave these blusterers and bullies new courage, and
they were and would be more unendurable than ever. Ac-
cordingly, on returning from the Mission where the final act

SHARP'S RIFLES. 123

in the drama had been played by the Governor, George W.
Deitzler was sent with a letter to Eli Thayer for one hun-
dred Sharp's rifles. These rifles were needed in self-defense
against ruffians, and not for offensive war against the Fed-
eral Government, and were so used. General Deitzler, in
his letter to the invitation committee of the Quarter Centen-
nial Convention, at Lawrence, in September, 1879, gives this
account of his mission :

" SAN FRANCISCO, September 8, 1879.

' ' Judge J. S. Emery and others, Committee of Old Settlers, Law-
rence, Kansas:

"GENTLEMEN: I regret exceedingly that it will be impossible for
me to accept your kind invitation to attend the meeting of Old Settlers
of Kansas, at Lawrence, on the I5th inst.

" Time is making sad inroads upon our ranks. We are passing
rapidly away. Soon the ' Old Guard ' will have none of their number
left to call the roll. It is gratifying to observe that your State His-
torical Society is collecting the materials for a full and correct history of
the stirring events of 1855 and 1856, and no doubt justice will be done
to the people who perilled their all in securing freedom to Kansas, as well
as to those generous and patriotic men and women who inaugurated
and sustained the aid societies which proved such valuable instrumen-
talities in the furtherance of the cause. Among the latter stands the
able and truly good man, Hon. Eli Thayer, whose letter of acceptance
of your invitation, published in the Lawrence Journal, recalls an incident
of 1855, to which I beg to refer briefly. Some six weeks after my
arrival in the Territory, and only a few days after the territorial election
of March 3Oth, at which time Kansas was invaded by an armed force
from the Southern States, and the actual Free-State settlers were driven
from the polls, Governor Charles Robinson, than whom no truer or
braver man ever espoused the cause of free Kansas, requested me to
visit Boston with a view of securing arms for our people, to which I
assented. Preparations were quickly and quietly made, and no one
knew the object of my mission except Governor Robinson and Hon.
Joel Grover. At Worcester I presented my letter from Governor
Robinson to Mr. Thayer, just as he was leaving Oread Home for the
morning Boston train. Within an hour after our arrival in Boston,
the executive committee of the Emigrant Aid Society held a meeting
and delivered to me an order for one hundred Sharp's rifles, and I
started at once for Hartford, arriving there on Saturday evening. The
guns were packed on the following Sunday, and I started for home on

124 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

Monday morning. The boxes were marked ' Books.' I took the pre-
caution to have the (cap) cones removed from the guns and carried
them in my carpet sack, which sack would have been missing in the
event of the capture of the guns by the enemy. On the Missouri River
I met Hon. John and Joseph L. Speer, for the first time. They did
not know me, but may remember the exciting incidents at Booneville
and other points along the river. I arrived at Lawrence with the
' Beecher Bibles ' several days before the special election, in April,
called by Governor Reeder. But no guns were needed upon that
occasion, as the ruffians ignored that election, and when the persons
elected upon that day presented their credentials to the Legislature at
Pawnee, they were kicked out without ceremony.

" I have not referred to this transaction from any motives of personal
vanity, but simply to revive a feeling of gratitude towards Mr. Thayer
and his associates, for the kind and patriotic assistance rendered by
them to the Free-State people from the beginning to the end of the
great struggle which terminated, happily, in the overthrow of American
slavery, and to show how promptly they gave attention to the business
which took me to Boston. Those rifles did good service in the ' border
war,' and their movements in the hands of the brave and fearless
Stubbs would furnish incidents for a very interesting chapter in the
history of the Old Settlers. It was, perhaps, the first shipment of
arms for our side, and it incited a healthy feeling among the unarmed
Free-State settlers, which permeated and energized them until even the
Quakers were ready to fight. The temptation exists to say more while
I am up, but I must forbear. I beg to be remembered by all, and
trust the Old Settlers will have a jolly good time at this and at all
future meetings.

"Very respectfully, GEO. W. DEITZLER."

These were the first weapons procured for the defense of
the settlers in their repudiation career, and were indispen-
sable. As soon as their arrival was known a change in the
atmosphere was perceptible, most agreeable to Free-State
men and most chilling to the ardor of Slave-State men. So
salutary was their effect in the town that settlers wanted to
try them in the country, and the following letter was given
to Hon. J. B. Abbott :

" LAWRENCE, July 26, 1855.

"MR. THAYER — DEAR SIR: The bearer, J. B. Abbott, is a resi-
dent of this district, on the Wakarusa, about four miles from Lawrence.
There is a military company formed in his neighborhood, and they are

MORE ARMS. LAWRENCE. 125

anxious to procure arms. Mr. Abbott is a gentleman in whom you
can place implicit confidence, and is true as steel to the cause of free-
dom in Kansas. In my judgment, the rifles in Lawrence have had a
very good effect, and I think the same kind of instruments in other
places would do more to save Kansas than almost anything else. Any-
thing you can do for Mr. Abbott will be gratefully appreciated by the
people of Kansas. We are in the midst of a revolution, as you will
see by the papers. How we shall come out of the furnace, God only
knows. That we have got to enter it, some of us, there is no doubt ;
but we are ready to be offered.

" In haste, very respectfully yours, for freedom for a world,

" C. ROBINSON."

(The above letter has the following endorsement : )

"OFFICE OF THE NEW ENGLAND EMIGRANT AlD COMPANY,
" No. 3 Winter Street, Boston, August 10, 1855.
" Dr. Charles Robinson, within mentioned, is an agent of the Emi-
grant Aid Company, and is worthy of implicit confidence. We cheer-
fully recommend Mr. J. B. Abbott to the public.

" C. H. BRANSCOMB, Secretary pro tern."

Major Abbott also procured a mountain howitzer with
ammunition, as well as Sharp's rifles. During the spring and
summer several invoices of arms were received for different
parts of the Territory, nearly all furnished through the assist-
ance of persons connected with the Aid Company. The
following letters will show the interest taken by Amos A.
Lawrence, one of the most earnest and efficient friends

Kansas ever had :

"BOSTON, August n, 1855.

"DEAR SIR: Request Mr. Palmer to have one hundred Sharp's
rifles packed in casks, like hardware, and to retain them subject to my
order. Also to send the bill to me by mail. I will pay it either with
my note, according to the terms agreed on between him and Dr. Webb,
or in cash, less interest at seven per cent, per annum.

" Yours truly, AMOS A. LAWRENCE.

" Mr. J. B. Abbott, care of A. Rogers, Hartford, Conn."

" BOSTON, August 20, 1855.

"My DEAR SIR: This installment of carbines is far from being
enough, and I hope the measures you are taking will be followed up
until every organized company of trusty men in the Territory shall be

126 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

supplied. Dr. Cabot will give me the names of any gentlemen here
who subscribe money, and the amount, of which I shall keep a mem-
orandum, and promise them that it shall be repaid either in cash, or in
rifles, whenever it is settled that Kansas shall not be a province of
Missouri. Therefore keep them in capital order, and above all, take
good care they do not fall into the hands of the Missourians after you
once get them into use.

" You must dispose of these where they will do the most good, and
for this purpose you should advise with Dr. Robinson and Mr. Pom-
eroy.

" Yours truly, AMOS A. LAWRENCE.

"Mr. James B. Abbott, care of A. Rogers, Hartford."

" BOSTON, August 24, 1855.

" MY DEAR SIR: The rifles ought to be on the way. Have you
forwarded them? How much money have you received? The Topeka
people will require half of these.

" Yours truly, AMOS A. LAWRENCE.

"Mr. J. B. Abbott:'1

The howitzer was procured in New York through the
agency of Horace Greeley, Olmstead, and others. It would
seem that the statements of Deitzler and Abbott, with the
letters of Lawrence, Olmstead, and others, on file at the
rooms of the Historical Society, would be conclusive as to the
date of furnishing arms to Kansas, and as to the instrumen-
tality by which they were furnished, but at a reunion of
abolitionists at Boston, in September, 1890, F. B. Sanborn
said that " John Brown had carried for his sons' use a small
stock of arms before the Sharp's rifles from Boston go there."
On turning to "Appleton's Cyclopedia of Biography," page
405, it appears that John Brown's sons, when they went
to Kansas, in 1855, "were so little prepared for an armed
struggle that they had among them only two small shot-guns
and a revolver," while John Brown himself did not go to
Kansas till October of that year. This, however, is of no
importance, except to show how romance differs from state-
ments in cyclopedias and documents in historical societies.
In this speech of Mr. Sanborn he belittles the work of the aid

SANBORN'S CLAIMS. 127

companies, and, while he concedes there may have been
good accomplished in an indifferent manner by others, there
were but two men indispensable and worthy to be named,
and one of these was John Brown and the other James H.
Lane. But, up to the 3oth of March, at the election of a
Legislature which was to decide the question. of slavery or
no slavery, neither of these indispensable men had put in an
appearance, nor, in fact, did either appear till the policy of
the Free-State men had been decided upon and arms had
been ordered for putting it in force. According to a letter of
John Brown, Jr., published in the Cleveland Leader, in the
month of October, 1854, "five of the sons of John Brown,
residents of the State of Ohio, made their arrangements to
emigrate to Kansas." In the spring of 1855, three of them
started from Illinois to drive through some cattle, while the
two others went by rail, river, and land to a place eight
miles west of Osawatomie. As he says, they had for the five
brothers two squirrel guns and a revolver. Here, then, is
the alacrity of the Brown sons, while the father did not ar-
rive till October. How about Thayer and his Aid Com-
pany, and the settlers not worthy of a name in this conflict ?
Within one month of the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill,
three agents of that company, Colonel James Blood, C. H.
Branscomb, and Charles Robinson, were en route for Kansas
to arrange for its settlement. Six parties had emigrated from
the extreme East in the summer and fall of 1854, and several
in the spring of 1855. Several parties not connected directly
with this company also emigrated, besides a large number in-
dependently of all parties. Several Free-State newspapers had
been published since the first of January, 1855 — The Herald
of Freedom, Tribune, and Free State — and several Free-
State towns started, among them Lawrence, Topeka, Man-
hattan, Wabaunsee, and Osawatomie. All this had been
done before the Browns got fairly waked up to what was
going on in the United States of America. Suppose Thayer,
Sam Wood, Wakefield, G. W. Brown, the Speers, Miller and

128 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

Elliot, Holliday, Sam Walker Deitzler, Abbott, Goodnow,
Eldridges, Savages, Duncans, Smiths, Tappan, Fuller, Clarke,
and others without number, had been as sleepy as the Brown
family, where would free Kansas have been f Evidently the
question would have been settled, and forever. There would
have been no occasion for an invasion from Missouri and
the South, as there would have been only pro-slavery settlers
and voters in the Territory, and no persons would have ever
afterwards migrated to Kansas unless they were willing to live
in a slave state, which Kansas would have been without a
struggle. Unquestionably the Free- State settlers who arrived
in Kansas previous to the 3oth of March, 1855, made the in-
vasion necessary on the part of the Slave-State men, and the
infamy and illegality of that invasion gave a fighting chance
for success to the methods adopted by the Free-State party.
How did Lane, the other indispensable, welcome these
Sharp's rifles ? A letter from Lawrence to the Milwaukee
Sentinel, supposed to be by E. D. Ladd, dated May 23,
1855, a short time after Lane's arrival in the Territory, gives
this account of the reception of the rifles, just before the
second election, called to fill vacancies in the Legislature :

" LAWRENCE, KANSAS, May 23d.

" An intense excitement was produced in the minds of a few of our
citizens — I need not say who — preceding the election, by the arrival
on the Emma Harmon of five boxes of books, which, on being opened,
proved to be, instead of books, one hundred of Sharp's rifles, capable
of discharging looo shots per minute. Threats and imprecations were
loud and long. ' If not sent back immediately they would be thrown
into the Kansas ; ' ' there would be an armed force from Missouri here
to take them ; ' ' it was the work of the Emigrant Aid Society, for the
purpose of overawing and holding in subjection the Western men ; '
' it was opposed to the Constitution of the United States ; ' — Heaven
save the Constitution if these men are its defenders ! — ' if there were two
or three days before election, they would give us occasion to use them. '
Such were the feelings and expressions. Even Colonel Lane, the
distinguished ex-Congressman of Indiana, who is now one of our citi-
zens, advised their being sent back. No, gentlemen, they never go
back, and if they go into the Kansas, we go with them, and we don't
go alone."

SECRET ORGANIZATION. 129

But to return from this digression to the condition of the
Territory in the summer and fall of 1855. Notwithstanding
the wholesome influence of the Sharp's rifles, petty annoy-
ances were continued by the pro-slavery men whenever the
advantage of an encounter was on their side. Two or more
in company would pounce upon a Free- State man when un-
armed and alone, and do more or less bodily harm. To put
an end to this, a secret organization was effected of men
pledged to stand by each other under all circumstances, and
to see that these assailants were properly cared for. Also a
California bully was engaged, and paid by the month to de-
vote his time to the business in hand. This policy proved
to be most successful. The name of this man was Dave
Evans, and his only instructions were to act on the defensive
with his fists and revolver, while with his tongue he might
take the offensive according to the merits of each case.
While from first to last it was the policy of the Free-State
men to do no wrong, and commit no crime, self-defense was
always in order. This the pro-slavery men could not under-
stand. Because of the discreet conduct of Free-State men
they were at first thought to be cowardly, but by degrees their
opponents opened their eyes to the situation. The first man
killed was in the fall of 1854, soon after the election of dele-
gate to Congress. A pro-slavery man in an insulting man-
ner assaulted a Free-State man, who shot him dead. A trial
followed, but self-defense was pleaded successfully. After
the second election another pro-slavery man was killed.
Malcolm Clark, of Leavenworth, a pro-slavery man, assailed
Cole McCrea, a Free-State man, with a piece of scantling,
when McCrea shot him dead. This caused great excitement
for a time, and McCrea was held a prisoner at the Fort, but
as the facts became known the excitement subsided, no in-
dictment was found by the grand jury, and the prisoner went
free. A few lessons of this nature were eye-openers to many
who had despised the Free-State men as hirelings and pau-
pers. One of the most efficient men in this game was S. N.

130 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

Wood, of Quaker parentage, from Ohio. He was ever ready
for a scrimmage. One day, as he called for the mail for the
citizens of Lawrence, at the post-office at Westport, while
behind the boxes with the postmaster, some person in the
crowd in the store used insulting language about him, which
Wood overheard. When he had procured his mail he
walked out from behind the screen and called for his in-
sulter. He was pointed out, when Wood suddenly placed
him upon the floor, and gave him the weight of a Free-State
fist in his face and left him among his friends. Again, Wood
had a claim against a man for some money which he had re-
fused to pay. He said he had it in his pocket, but he defied
any one to get it. Wood immediately proceeded to take
the amount due from the pockets of his debtor. This was
all the law that was recognized at that time, and Wood, be-
ing a lawyer, knew how to enforce it.

Making life a burden and worrying out Free-State settlers
in Kansas by petty persecution was not the only occupation
of the Slave-State men. There was a paper at Parkville,
Missouri, called the Luminary, that had dared to criticise the
raid into Kansas, and a pro-slavery paper gives this account
of its treatment, as published in the Free State of Lawrence,
May 7, 1855:

" PARKVILLE MOB RESOLUTIONS.

"Resolved, I. That the Parkville Industrial Luminary is a nuisance
which has been endured too long, and should now be abated.

" 2. That the editors, to wit: G. S. Parks andW. J. Patterson, are
traitors to the State and country in which they live, and should be dealt
with as such.

" 3. That we meet here again this day three weeks, and if we find
G. S. Parks and W. J. Patterson in this town then, or at any subse-
quent time, we will throw them into the Missouri River, and if they go
to Kansas to reside, we pledge our honor as men to follow and hang
them wherever we can take them.

"4. That, at the suggestion of our Parkville friends, we will attend
to some other free-soilers not far off.

"5. That we will suffer no person belonging to the Northern
Methodist Church to preach in Platte County after this date, under

DESTRUCTION OF THE PRESS. 131

penalty of tar and feathers for the first offense, and hemp rope for the
second.

" 6. That we earnestly call upon our sister counties throughout the
State to rise in their might and clean themselves of free-soilism.

' ' 7. That our peace, our property, and our safety require us at this
time to do our duty.

" 8. That we request every pro-slavery paper in Missouri and Kan-
sas to publish the above resolutions.

" The press was then shouldered, with a white cap drawn over its
head and labelled ' Boston Aid ' ; the crowd followed in regular order.
It was marched up through town nearly to the upper landing, and there,
with three hearty cheers, it was deposited in the tomb of ' all the Capu-
lets,' to wit, the Missouri River.

' ' A speech was then made to the crowd, and they dispersed peace-
ably, each taking the road to his own home.

" During the day frequent telegraphic dispatches were received from
both ends of the line, of a most encouraging nature. Sic transit gloria
Saturdi."

All Free-State papers in Kansas were threatened with like
destruction.

The Platte, Mo., Argus, published this under the caption
" Quietus of the Press " :

' ' We further say, that the people having determined that Kansas
shall become a slave State, will probably put a quietus upon abolition
presses in Kansas Territory. The ' freedom of the press ' is not for
traitors and incendiaries, but for those confining themselves within the
bounds of the constitution and the laws ; and no bravado, no threats or
challenges of any character whatever, will prevent the people of the
South from driving from their midst men dangerous to their constitu-
tional rights and liberties."

Although the Legislature had been secured by the inva-
sion and the weakness of the Governor, those on the border
and in Kansas knew very well that the Free-State men were
not conquered, although tempcrarily beaten. While the pro-
slavery men claimed everything, and declared that the ques-
tion was forever settled, they were more active than ever in
their efforts to arouse the South and intimidate the North.
The Herald of Freedom, of June 16, 1855, quotes the St.
Louis Intelligencer as follows :

132 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

" The light that is breaking upon the western horizon looks very
much like the lurid flame of civil war. It is a solemn crisis that now
impends over the country. We know that agents are out from western
Missouri, striving to excite the people of the rest of the State to join
them in the violent proceedings they have already started in Platte
County.

" If they succeed, Missouri will soon be in a flame. It will spread
to the South; the Union itself will perish like a burnt scroll!

" It is time for every patriot to be cool and firm. Our country must
not perish thus. Our homes, our property, wives, and children must
not be given up to civil war, mob law, and anarchy, to serve the purpose
of a few desperate politicians. But there is great cause of alarm, and
we warn our friends throughout the State that a volcano will speedily
burst under their feet and destroy the State and the Union, unless they
have virtue, prudence, and courage enough to resist approaches that will
be made to them."

In the same issue the Squatter Sovereign is quoted as
saying :

" From reports now received of Reeder, he never intends returning
to our borders. Should he do so, we, -without hesitation, say that our
people ought to hang him by the neck, like a traitor's dog, as he is, so soon
as he puts his unhallmved feet upon our shores.

" * * * Reeder is unworthy of the place he fills — wholly unfit to
rule the independent sovereigns of Kansas. He cannot longer act as
their Governor. They will not submit to it. We call upon our people
to take the matter in hand. There is no other remedy. Vindicate your
characters and the Territory, and should the ungrateful dog dare to come
amongst us again, hang him to the first rotten tree. There is no other
remedy, and the character of ourselves and our country requires us to
act. A military force demanded — poor, contemptible puppy! — could
an honorable, high-minded American citizen ever dream of such a de-
mand? Nothing but the dark and muddy waters of abolitionism could
have produced such an offspring as Reeder."

The St. Louis Neivs had this to say :

" What has become of David R. Atchison, the former Vice-President,
by courtesy, of the United States, the wagon orator, the man who con-
tended with Stephen A. Douglas for the honor of having repealed the
Missouri Compromise; the boozy backwoods speaker, who, in his
maudlin speeches, blackguards better and greater men than himself, and
speaks of John Bell as a ' miserable devil ' — where is he? He left his
seat and duties in the Senate, and came to Missouri, before the close of

SOUTHERN SENTIMENT. 133

Congress, to get himself elected to the Senate for a second term, but he
didn't succeed.

' ' Rumors have reached us of tremendous threats made by him in re-
lation to Missouri and Kansas, and we should like to know if he is go-
ing to carry them out. We understand and believe that David R.
Atchison is at the bottom of all the troubles that have afflicted Kansas,
and is the chief instigator of the meetings, mobs and cabals, threats and
excitements which threaten to plunge the border into a wild fratricidal
strife. Atchison is the prime mover, and Stringfellow is his man of all '
work. Atchison is safely and quietly ensconced in his Platte County
farm, testing the glories of those five barrels of ' Derby, ''while his
myrmidons, to whom he gives his orders, are scouring the country and
arousing the people by flaming appeals to strife and bloodshed.

" Does our boozy ' Old Bourbon ' think he is going to drift on the
current of this fierce storm into the United States Senate? If so, he is
mistaken. Missouri will not permit herself to be represented in the
national councils by a political gambler, who would jeopardize his
country's peace for his own selfish, sordid aggrandizement."

The Charleston, S. C., Mercury sent up this shout of vic-
tory :

"THE KANSAS HOWL.

" Never since the world began, among the demons in Milton's ' black
abyss,' or the damned in Dante's Inferno, has there been heard such a
howl as is now set up all over the North, by the dogs of fanaticism,
upon their recent drubbing in Kansas. The abolition journals pour
out daily diatribes against the hardy Missourians who drove away from
their doors the horde of negro-stealers who threatened to overwhelm
them. Now, really, the whole affair is decidedly ' the best joke of the
season. ' Bent upon ousting slavery from this fertile region by any and
all means, not willing that civilization should flow on in its natural
course, and determine by natural laws its institutions, but hastening to
fill it up with hireling fanatics, seize the polls and control the Govern-
ment. The abolitionists find themselves beaten, routed at their own
game — their own emissaries made to vote the slavery ticket — while the
triumphant Missourians march back to Independence with colors flying
and bands of music, rejoicing that ' Kansas is safe!' No wonder they
now howl and rend their garments, for fanaticism has for once met its
master and been made to crouch. It is a signal and timely lesson.
Had the South in its past contest exhibited half the courage and prompt-
ness of Atchison and his true men, abolitionism would have been long
since a harmless thing. It is also a timely lesson to the North, yet
which will scarcely be heeded in its present fierce and aggressive mood,

134 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

that there is a point at which the South will rise and wipe out, with
deeds worthy of her hope and destiny, the wrongs and shame of the
past."

But, while the South was being thus cultivated for a new
crop of invaders, the field in Kansas was not overlooked.
Claim disputes were frequent, and persons singled out for
mob violence. Near Lecompton two men, Hancock and
Oakley, were removed from their claims, and one cabin
burned. " Marauding expeditions," says the Herald of Free-
dom of June 2, 1855, "were frequently sent out for the pur-
pose of annoying the settlers, or with the view of expelling
them from their claims." Nothing could so influence the
people of Missouri and the South as negro-stealing, as it was
termed, and if a person was to be made specially obnoxious,
this charge would be made. To mob a " nigger " thief
would meet with the highest approval and reward. Among
others the local agent of the Aid Company was set apart for
consideration. The Herald of Freedom of June 16, 1855,
has this clipping from the Frontier News:

" We every day see handbills offering rewards for runaway negroes
from Jackson and neighboring counties. Where do they go? There is
an underground railroad leading out of western Missouri, and we would
respectfully refer owners of lost niggers to the conductors of these
trains. Inquire of Dr. Robinson, sole agent for the transportation of
fugitive niggers."

In the issue of the 23d of the same month is the fol-
lowing :

" Dr. Robinson is the sole agent for the underground railroad leading
out of western Missouri, for the transportation of fugitive 'niggers.' His
office is in Lawrence, K. T. Give him a call." — Leavenworth Herald.

To which the editor of the Herald of Freedom added :

" We will go bail for the Doctor that he will be happy to receive a
visit from his friends at any time. Messrs. Eastin and Pollard, when
shall we inform Dr. R. that you and party will call upon him? "

CURRENT GOSSIP. 135

This defiant attitude was inspired by the one hundred
Sharp's rifles, brought by Deitzler in April, which were put
into the hands of a military company named " Stubbs."

The Herald of Freedom of June 16, 1855, presents this
picture of the current gossip :

" A FALSE REPORT.

"A correspondent of the Frontier Nevis, writing from Franklin, in
this Territory, gives the following startling intelligence :

" ' Three boats have passed up. One of them landed five hundred
Sharp's rifles at Lawrence, as a present from the Know-Nothing Legis-
lature of Connecticut to the Emigrant Aid Society. Now, what nour-
ishes ! Here guns have been fixed up in an armory, ready for use.
Let another squad of Missourians go to Lawrence for their runaway
negroes, and they will see sights. I understand that the Aid Society
men are to be organized with a regiment of one thousand men, to be
armed with these rifles — one gun to two men — one to hold while the
other shoots. The valiant Dr. Robinson is to be commander. The
Doctor has a military reputation — he killed his man in California by
knocking out a sleeping man's brains with a bar of iron. The Doctor
will do. This regiment is to march to Pawnee when the Legislature
meets and compel that body to give seats to Wood, Wakefield, and other
abolition candidates who were so badly defeated on the 3Oth of March. '

" Provided that report is true, when our border neighbors visit Law-
rence again they will need to come strong-handed. If it required a
thousand men and two cannon, with a heavy reserve who were sent to
other districts beyond this, to reduce Lawrence to subjection on the 3Oth
of March last, when we had less than two hundred resident voters in
the city, and only partially armed with shot-guns at that, how many
men, cannon, etc. , will it require when we are prepared with five hun-
dred Sharp's rifles, each capable of throwing ten balls per minute, with
exact precision, a distance of one mile, and, it is said, will carry very
accurately a distance of even three miles? We hope that the report of
our neighbor's correspondent is true. We would suggest that the next
paper which copies that statement add, as additional information, that
one hundred thousand cartridges, ready for immediate service, accom-
panied the arms. The additional information will be in keeping with
the other statement.

"And as to our commander: If Dr. Robinson killed his man in
California after a ball had passed through his body only two inches be-
low his heart, and had the ability to inspire a handful of men with so
much bravery on that occasion, what will he not do when the eyes of
the whole nation are upon him urging him to duty, and he is seconded

136 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

in every action by the thousand brave men who are ready to die in pref-
erence to becoming slaves? Will our neighbor answer? "

While the partisans of the South were endeavoring to reap
the fruits of the invasion, the effect in the North was very
encouraging to Free-State settlers. They were firm believers
in the law of retribution, and were only concerned that their
own conduct should be such as to meet the requirements of
this law. Action and reaction are equal, and the rebound
from the election was most terrific. It shook to its founda-
tions the most powerful party ever in authority. The leading
organs of that party were as outspoken and denunciatory as
the most radical press. Some extracts follow :

" RIFLES FOR KANSAS.

" It is stated that some hundreds of Sharp's rifles have been sent out
from Massachusetts, at the request of the new immigrants, to assist in
the election. With this, we understand, the aid associations have noth-
ing to do; it is entirely an individual affair." — Exchange.

" Things are come to a pretty pass when ' rifles ' are to ' assist in
our American elections.' The violent and indefensible conduct of the
Missourians residing on the border, in interfering in the affairs of Kan-
sas in a forcible manner, is the cause of the ' material aid ' now being
sent out from Massachusetts in the shape of rifles. It is high time that
the disgraceful scenes of turbulence and bloodshed, which have thus far
characterized the organization of the Government in Kansas, were put
an end to, for they are scandalizing the country. Upon Senator Atchi-
son and his friends in Missouri rests the chief odium of this late high
handed proceeding." — Cincinnati Enqtiirer.

" SENATOR ATCHISON AND HIS OLD FRIENDS.

" No one could have felt more regret than ourselves at the course
pursued by the armed bands of men who left Missouri, not with a view
to settle in the Territory of Kansas, but to overawe the actual residents
and control the elections there held. We saw clearly that public opin-
ion, even among those who are willing to go all lengths to protect the
South in her just rights, would not extenuate, much less sanction, so
gross a violation of every principle of Republican Government.

' ' We have heard Southern men denounce the act as one of madness,
which would, in the end, produce its bitter fruits, by alienating the pa-
triotic men of the Middle States from the South, or render them luke-

DEMOCRATIC PRESS. 137

warm. Already the effect of Missouri violence begins to manifest itself,
and Senator Atchison is denounced in a manner which will very much
damage his reputation as a public man and a good citizen. Some of the
papers not wedded to abolitionism describe him as a roving bandit,
armed with a bowie-knife, revolver, and rifle, and marching at the head
of an infuriated mob of misguided men.

" If this description be a truthful one, he is just the man that the
Government should arrest, if it has the authority, or sustain Governor
Reeder in doing the same thing, if the power is vested in him. Au-
thority to punish such an offense lies somewhere, and in the absence of
any statutory provision, the common law is adapted to just such an
emergency.

" The story is current in Philadelphia that Senator Atchison remarked
to a number of gentlemen in Washington City, ' that the duty of estab-
lishing slavery in Kansas had devolved on him.'

' ' He had pledged his word that should be done, and by all that was
holy, he would do it at every hazard. His own salvation depended
upon the successful execution of his pledge.' No fair-minded man can
doubt the right of Senator Atchison to legally execute his purpose. We
hold the Territory to be as much the property of the South as the North,
and equally susceptible of receiving their peculiar institutions ; but their
institutions can no more be established by violence than those of the
most ultra abolitionists." — Pennsylvanian.

" When we characterize this as an infamous outrage, we use the
mildest terms we can think of to convey our meaning. We supported
the Nebraska-Kansas bill on principle, and we still believe the principle
to be correct; but in the name of justice and freedom, we solemnly pro-
test against the conduct of the Missourian ruffians, and call upon the
proper authorities of Kansas to repudiate the election as illegal and
fraudulent. If the actual residents of Kansas, with all the blighting in-
fluences of slavery before their eyes, decide to plant that institution in
their fair Territory, we shall submit, because the voice of the majority,
fairly expressed, should and must govern in this country ; but God for-
bid that either the North or the South should stand by and see it planted
there by force and fraud without raising their voice, and if needs be their
arms, against the consummation of so gross and lawless an outrage." —
Harrisburg (Pa. ) Union.

" GOVERNOR REEDER, OF KANSAS.

" The Governor of Kansas, what is he? Who is he? Who made
him? Why was he made? Does he stand for anything? Has he a
function? A responsibility? An authority? A jurisdiction? Is he
really a bearer of office? Is there a spark of gubernatorial life in or

138 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

about him ? Or is he a man of straw, a thing tricked out in official garb,
but with a broom-stick for a back-bone and chalk for brains? It is high
time for those whose handiwork he is to give an account of him, to tell
us what manner of creature he is. If Governor Reeder is not a sham,
so made and so kept up, he ought to know it. Either he himself is an
imposition, or he is most outrageously imposed upon.

"One thing is certain, Governor Reeder practically counts as noth-
ing in the administration of Kansas. The Territory is at the mercy of
a most abandoned set of vagabonds, the most abandoned that ever pol-
luted the free soil of a country. There is actually neither governor nor
government. Brute force is the only rule. Men have talked of the Ne-
braska iniquity ; but that iniquity is spotlessness itself in comparison
with the abuse which has been made of it. The pledge-breaking was
bad enough, but it was done in the name of a principle. It is now the
principle itself that is set at defiance, and, in every conceivable way, out-
raged. The destroyers of the Compromise invoked the right of popular
self-government as a justification of their bad faith, and therewith alone
they carried their case. The Compromise disposed of, it is now the
turn of the popular right itself, and its trustees, to suffer. The agree-
ment of 1820 was superseded for the doctrine of squatter sovereignty.
The doctrine of squatter sovereignty is superseded by invasion and vio-
lence. It is absolutely certain — as certain as full and uncontradicted
testimony can make it — that the election in Kansas for delegates to Con-
gress, and the recent election for members of the territorial Legislature,
were both controlled by armed intruders from Missouri. The real set-
tlers of the country were outnumbered by men who took possession
of the polls with a strong hand, and voted without right. The Mis-
sourians themselves who engaged in this business not only admit it, but
they boast of it. The journals of western Missouri not only furnish
accounts of the departures and returns of the different detachments, but
make grand flourishes over the success achieved. The only coloring
they seek to put upon their baseness is a pretension that the errand of
the invaders was to baffle like invasions from the Eastern States. It is
a transparent mockery, which only adds insult to injury. * * *

" The wrong has been committed. The question now is, shall it
stand? Is this usurped election to hold good? Governor Reeder is a
witness against it ; but what is Governor Reeder without the support of
the Federal Government? He has not a man at his command. So far
from being in a situation to extend protection to others, he has been
covered with obloquy, been visited with deadliest threats ; he has been
obliged to repair to Washington to make his extremity better known,
and upon his heels comes a proclamation that his power is at an end, and
a demand is made upon the President of the United States that a Gov-
ernor shall be designated in the same way as the Legislature was chosen ;

DEMOCRATIC CENSURE. 139

in other words, that the original villainy shall be carried out with a fit
instrument. The President has but one line of duty. He is bound to
make the Federal law respected. He is bound to protect the territorial
rights of the settlers of Kansas, and to uphold, in all the breadth of its
application, the principle of squatter sovereignty. He is bound to invali-
date the late election as a monstrous piece of illegality, and to provide
Governor Reeder with an armed force sufficient to protect the polls. He
is bound to install Governor Reeder, the judges, and the marshals, into
not only nominal, but into real power, and to provide them with every
means for completing the organization of the Territory in accordance
with the law which gave it existence. If soldiers are necessary, soldiers
must be sent. Bayonets would be a thousand times better turned
against these depredators upon civil rights, these bandits of civilization,
than against the wronged and suffering Indians of the wilderness. The
President, who has the power, must either undo the wrong or share
the guilt. He is to act neither as an anti-slavery man nor as a pro-
slavery man, but as the Executive of the United States, sworn to see
that the Federal laws are faithfully carried into effect.

' ' We have yet seen no evidence that the Southern people will sanc-
tion or countenance these trespasses. We cannot believe that they
will ; but whether they will or not, official duty remains the same.

" The settlers of Kansas must be protected in their rights. The
principle of sovereignty which the law consecrates, under the guaranty
and with a full understanding of which the settlers have moved their
homes, must be fully sustained and vindicated." — N. Y. Courier ana
Enquirer.

" This Congressional District, well known as ' the Old Tenth Legion,'
gave General Pierce over five thousand majority, and sent Asa Packer
to Congress by a still larger vote. No one will deny that he was a firm
and consistent friend of the Kansas and Nebraska bill, and his course
was approved by a larger majority than any member on the floor in the
next House of Congress will be able to boast. The Democrats of this
district are sound national men — neither nullifiers nor abolitionists.
They despise the one as heartily as the other. They approve of the
doctrine of ' popular sovereignty,' but they desire it to be fairly, legally,
and honorably carried out. If it can be proven that men are sent from
New England to Kansas for the mere purpose of voting, they should
be expelled from the country. Such men have no business there. But
we are inclined to doubt if this has ever been done. It is not very
likely that men would travel two thousand miles with the single object to
vote at a territorial election. Besides, we have ourselves seen hundreds
of the men who went to Kansas under the auspices of the ' Emigrant
Aid Company ' settled down on their claims, living in their cabins and

140 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

ploughing up the land. The Missourians do not do this ; they go one
day and return home the next. To this we have a right, as Democrats
and American citizens, to object, and we do protest against it most
solemnly. It cannot be defended on any principle of right and justice,
and if the doctrine of ' popular sovereignty ' is not enforced in its purity
— if these invasions are not checked — if the state of things now existing
in Kansas is not improved, we pledge our word and honor that it will
be the last ' popular sovereignty ' bill the Democracy of Pennsylvania
will ever aid in passing. We look with equal contempt on the howlings
of abolitionists and nullifiers, and profess to speak only for National
Democrats, and the sensible and prudent of all parties." — Easton (Pa.)
Argus.

Thus it will be seen that both the Free-soil and national
Democratic press of the North afforded great aid and com-
fort to the picket guard of freemen on the frontier. Only
one party in the North gave no word of encouragement, and
that was the Garrisonian party. But one full-fledged Garri-
sonian, Charles Stearns, could be found in Kansas, and he
quarrelled with the aid companies, their agents, and the
policy adopted by the Free-State party. So bitter were his
denunciations of the resident agent of the Aid Company that
the papers refused to print some of them. He wrote to the
Liberator of February 16, 1855, as follows:

" It is true we denounce the Emigrant Aid Company, because we be-
lieve it to be a hindrance to the cause of freedom, and a mighty curse
to the Territory ; but we are the only ones who have taken a decided
ground on the anti-slavery question. I have never heard of the Law-
rence Association ever passing any anti-slavery resolutions.

" Another point of importance is, that this association, with Robin-
son at its head, advocates brute force in opposing the Missourians.
Said Mr. R. to the marshal, in reference to some Missourians arrested
for threatening the Yankees : ' If they fire, do you make them bite the
dust, and I will find coffins.' "

The Liberator of April 13, 1855, said: "Beyond a doubt
the fate of Kansas is sealed."

In the same paper of June i, 1855, it said:

" Will Kansas be a free State? We answer no, not while the existing
Union stands. Its fate is settled. We shall briefly state some of the
reasons which force us to this sad conclusion.

VIEWS OF GARRISONIANS. 141

" i. The South is united in the determination to make Kansas a slave
State — ultimately, by division, half a dozen slave States, if necessary.
She has never yet been foiled in her purposes thus concentrated and ex-
pressed, and she has too much at stake to allow free speech, a free press,
and free labor to hold the mastery in that Territory.

" 2. Eastern emigration will avail nothing to keep slavery out of
Kansas. We have never had any faith in it as a breakwater against the
inundation of the dark waters of oppression. Hardly an abolitionist
can be found among all who have emigrated to that country. Un-
doubtedly the mass of emigrants are in favor of making Kansas a free
State, as a matter of sound policy, and would do so if they were not
under the dominion of Missouri ruffianism, or if they could rely upon
sympathy of the general Government in this terrible crisis ; but they
have not gone to Kansas to be martyrs in the cause of the enslaved negro,
nor to sacrifice their chances for a homestead upon the altar of princi-
ple, but to find a comfortable home for themselves and their children.
Before they emigrated they gave little or no countenance to the anti-
slavery cause at home. They partook of the general hostility or indif-
ference to the labors of radical abolitionism ; at least they could only
dream of making ' freedom national and slavery sectional after the man-
ner of the fathers,' and they were poisoned more or less with virus of
colorphobia. If they had no pluck here, what could be rationally ex-
pected of them in the immediate presence of the demoniacal spirit of
slavery? They represent the average sentiment of the North on this
subject — nothing more — and that is still subservient to the will of the
South. * * *

"3. The omnipotent power of the general Government will co-
operate with the vandals of Missouri to crush out what little anti-slavery
sentiment may exist in Kansas, and to sustain their lawless proceedings
in that Territory. This will prove decisive in the struggle.

" 4. On the subject of slavery, there is no principle in the Kansas
papers ostensibly desirous of making it a free State. Here, for in-
stance, is the Herald of Freedom, of May I2th, published in Lawrence,
which claims to be, and we believe is, the most outspoken journal in
Kansas in regard to the rights of bona fide settlers. What does its ed-
itor say? Listen : ' While publishing a paper in Kansas, we feel that it
is not our province to discuss the subject of freedom or slavery in the
States.' Is not this the most heartless inhumanity, the most arrant,
moral cowardice, the clearest demonstration of unsoundness of mind?

" These are some of the reasons why we believe Kansas will inevita-
bly be a slave State."

Rev. T. W. Higginson is reported in the Liberator of
June 16, 1854, as follows:

142 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

" Here, for instance, is the Nebraska Emigration Society. It is, in-
deed, a noble enterprise, and I am proud that it owes its origin to a
Worcester man ; but where is the good of emigrating to Nebraska, if
Nebraska is to be only a transplanted Massachusetts, and the original
Massachusetts has been tried and found wanting? Will the stream rise
higher than its source? Settle your Nebraska ten years, and you will
have your New England harvest of corn and grain more luxuriant in
that virgin soil. Ah! But will not the other Massachusetts crop come
also, of political demagogues and wire-pullers, and a sectarian religion
which will insure the passage of the greatest hypocrite to Jieaven, if he
will join the right church before he goes ? And give the emigrants
twenty years more of prosperity, and then ask them, if you dare, to
break the law, and disturb order, and risk life, merely to save their
State from the shame that has just blighted Massachusetts."

Wendell Phillips is reported in the Liberator of September
28 and August 10, 1855, as follows:

" Talk about stopping the progress of slavery and of saving Nebraska
and Kansas ! Why, the fate of Nebraska and Kansas was sealed the
first hour Stephen Arnold Douglas consented to play his perfidious part.

" WThy is Kansas a failure as a free State? I will tell you. You
sent out there some thousand or two thousand men — for what? To
make a living ; to cultivate a hundred and sixty acres ; to build houses ;
to send for their wives and children ; to raise wheat ; to make money ;
to build saw-mills ; to plant towns. You meant to take possession of
the country, as the Yankee race always takes possession of a country —
by industry, by civilization, by roads, by houses, by mills, by churches.
But it will take a long time ; it takes two centuries to do it.

*******

" The moment you throw the struggle with slavery into the half-bar-
barous West, where things are decided by the revolver and bowie-knife,
slavery triumphs.

" What do I care for a squabble around the ballot-box in Kansas? "

The policy of repudiation of the election and Legislature
gradually gained strength in Kansas, and was formally an-
nounced in resolutions. At a meeting held June 25, 1855,
at Lawrence, these resolutions, among others, were adopted :

"Resolved, That we are in favor of making Kansas a free Territory,
and as a consequence a free State.

"Resolved, That we look upon the conduct of a portion of the people
of Missouri in the late Kansas election as a gross outrage upon the elect-

DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION. 143

ive franchise and our rights as free men, and a violation of the princi-
ples of popular sovereignty ; and, inasmuch as many of the members of
the present Legislature are men who owe their election to a combined
system of force and fraud, we do not feel bound to obey any law of their
enacting.

"Resolved, That the legally elected members of the present Legisla-
ture be requested, as good citizens of Kansas, to resign and repudiate
the fraud.

"Resolved, That in reply to the threats of war so frequently made in
our neighboring State, our answer is we are ready. (On account of
Sharp's rifles.)

"Resolved, That we urge upon the people of Kansas to throw away
all minor issues, and make the freedom of Kansas the only issue."

June 27, 1855, James H. Lane makes his first public ap-
pearance. He arrived in Kansas about the 2oth of April,
but had not before appeared in public councils or conven-
tions. Rumors said he came to Kansas in favor of slavery ;
tried to purchase a female slave on credit in Missouri, but
could not get trusted; had quarrelled with and separated
from his wife, and jumped a Free-State man's claim, besides
voting in Congress to open Kansas to slavery. At this date
a National Democratic Convention was held, with James H.
Lane as chairman, and Dr. J. N. O. P. Wood as secretary.
A committee on resolutions was appointed, consisting of E.
Chapman, C. W. Babcock, Dr. James Garvin, J. S. Emery,
and Hugh Cameron. Resolutions were reported and adopted,
some of which follow :

"Resolved, That, in the opinion of this meeting, the best interests of
Kansas require an early organization of the Democratic party upon truly
national grounds ; and that we pledge ourselves to use all honorable ex-
ertions to secure such a result.

"Resolved, That we fully endorse and re-affirm the Democratic plat-
form as laid down at the National Democratic Convention held at Bal-
timore in 1852."

No repudiation here. Mr. Chapman, one of the com-
mittee on resolutions, had been elected councilman by the
invasion of the 3oth of March, and Hugh Cameron, another

144 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

member, was judge of election and received the invaders'
votes.

The Herald of Freedom, of June 3oth, thus comments upon
this convention :

' ' We regret to learn that measures were taken by a few persons on
Wednesday evening last to organize a Democratic party of this Terri-
tory. Such a movement can result in no good to any one, but may do
much damage. There is but one issue pending in Kansas, and that
issue must be settled before others are precipitated upon us. The
movement looks to us like an effort to suppress the public will, and we
hope it will not be successful."

The Free State and Tribune also took a similar position,
as the editors of both papers attended the Free-State meet-
ing of the 25th, and endorsed the repudiation resolutions.

As the Fourth of July approached it was decided to cele-
brate that day in a fitting manner. The question of fitness
was not easily settled. Those who wanted a celebration to
glorify the Government and Union desired Colonel Lane for
orator, but such as wanted a celebration to correspond to the
condition of the people as subjects of Missouri desired Dr.
Robinson. As this was the more numerous class at Law-
rence, he was selected. His speech was bitterly denounced
by National Democrats, but warmly endorsed by the repudi-
ators. The gathering was very large, some walking sixteen
miles to attend it. The Shawnee and Delaware Indians
were present and participated in the proceedings. Being the
first Fourth of July celebration in Kansas, and Kansas being
virtually a conquered province, the like of it will never be seen
again. The two organized military companies, armed with
Sharp's rifles, besides many volunteers, appeared in uniform
and were presented with a beautiful silk banner by the ladies.
Mrs. Gates made the presentation speech, closing with these
words : " Let not threats of tyrants, foreign or domestic, intim-
idate you ; but move firmly and fearlessly in the path of truth
and right principle, and if you should fail to accomplish the
object of your mission, you shall at least have the sweet con-

FLAG PRESENTATION. 145

sciousness of having stood steadfastly in a good cause. Never
surrender that flag into the hands of your enemies, and save
it from dishonor or perish in the attempt."

S. N. Wood, on behalf of the companies, responded with
a patriotic speech, closing as follows : " And should a san-
guinary conflict be forced upon us, I know I speak the char-
acter of every soldier who has or may rally under these
talismanic stars and stripes, they will demean themselves like
men. This flag and the sacred cause it represents will by
them never be deserted or dishonored. Surrender this flag !
No, never, while one of our men is able to bear it above
the carnage of a battle-field, or falling, grasp its folds with his
hand for a winding sheet ! "

The condition of the people and spirit of the occasion may
be learned by a few extracts from the address :

" This day, the 79th Anniversary of the Declaration of American In-
dependence, finds us in a new and strange country, and surrounded by
circumstances interesting and peculiar. While the echoes of the boom-
ing canpon are reverberating among our native hills, and the merry
peals of the church-going bells are announcing to the world the rejoic-
ings of a great and prosperous people, that their days of weakness,
suffering, and thraldom are past, we are here in a remote wilderness,
to found a new State, and to plant anew the institutions of our patriotic
ancestors. It is a day to us of peculiar significance. While we would
pay a tribute of respect to that period which, in the annals of this nation,
will ever be regarded as most sacred ; while, with one accord and one
voice, we worship in the Temple of Liberty, uncontaminated by party
distinctions or sectional animosities, and unite in the endeavor to raise
some fitting memento of a nation's gratitude for the declarations of that
day, the most glorious in the history of a mighty people, we should also
gather lessons of instruction from the past by which to be guided in the
erection of a new State in the heart of this great Republic. * * *

" The Colonies, both North and South, made common cause against
the indignities and outrages heaped upon a part of the country, and united
in a general convention of representatives from different Colonies, to
devise ways and means for the common safety. The result of their de-
liberations was the Declaration of Independence, to the reading of
which we have this day listened. The truths of that ever -memorable
document were as old as the Christian religion, but their adoption as
the rule of faith and practice by a vigorous and growing nation, marked
10

146 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

an era in the history of the world unprecedented. A belief in the
equality of man and the sacredness of life and liberty therein expressed,
can be cherished only by those who believe ' that all the nations who
dwell upon the face of the earth are made of one blood.' The estab-
lishment of these principles cost our ancestors a struggle with the
mother country of seven years' duration. No sacrifice was counted too
dear to secure to the people of these United States the right to govern
themselves, to choose their own rulers, make their own laws, and wor-
ship God in their own way. Peace at length was proclaimed through-
out the land, and close in her footsteps came prosperity, which has
continued with but little interruption till the present time. * * *

" One lesson the history of our Government should teach us who
have chosen Kansas for our home, and that is especially applicable to
the instruction of this day, viz. : the more closely the principles of the
Declaration of Independence are followed as the basis of Government,
and the more universal they are made in their application, the more
prosperous the Government and people.

"As the people of Kansas Territory are to-day the subjects of a
foreign State, as laws are now being imposed upon us by the citizens
of Missouri, for the sole purpose of forcing upon this Territory the
institution of slavery, I surely need make no apology for devoting the
few moments allotted me on this occasion to an examination of the
effects of that institution upon a State and people, whether politically,
morally, or socially. I ask you not to-day to listen to arguments of
abolitionists, or for abolitionism. I wish not now to wage war upon
slavery or slave-holders in any State of this Union, or to interfere in
any respect with our neighbors' affairs, but it is for ourselves, our
families, our own institutions and our prosperity — it is for Kansas I ask
your attention. Is it politic, is it for our moral, intellectual or pecuniary
advancement to submit to the dictation of a foreign power in regard to
our laws and institutions? This is the question that deeply interests us
all, and for the consideration of which this day is most appropriate.
*******

" The foregoing are but a few paragraphs of the volumes that might
be quoted to prove the blessings of liberty and the evils of slavery.
Liberty, the goddess to whom this day is dedicated, showers upon her
votaries peace and prosperity, intelligence and enterprise, morality
and religion. The inspirer and guide of Washington and the patriotic
fathers, may she become the presiding genius of our own beautiful
Kansas ! Slavery — the opposite and antagonist of Liberty, the ruin of
nations, the impoverisher of States, the demoralizer of communities, the
curse of the world, and child of hell — may she go to her own place.
On this day and this occasion we may speak freely, assured that no
offense can be given by the strongest expression in favor of freedom,

CONDITION OF SETTLERS. 147

or in opposition to slavery, as no one who is in favor of the latter
can join in the celebration of this day. No person who does not
' hold these truths to be self-evident : that all men are created equal ;
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights ;
that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, ' can con-
sistently participate in the festivities of this day. Nay, should we fail
to speak in utter detestation of slavery, and to hurl defiance at the mon-
ster on this anniversary of freedom's natal day, especially when the
tyrant has already placed his foot upon our own necks, why, the very
stones would cry out.

" Fellow-citizens, let us for a moment inquire who, and where, and
what are we?

" Who are we? Are we not free-born? Were not our mothers, as
well as our fathers, of Anglo-Saxon blood? Was not the right to govern
ourselves, to choose our own rulers, to make our own laws, guaranteed
to us by the united voice of the United States?

"Where are we? Are we not in the most beautiful country that
human eye ever beheld? Is it not, for surface, soil, and productions,
worthy to be styled the garden of the world? A wilderness, yet already
budding and blossoming like the rose? A new country, yet having the
appearance in its diversity of meadow and woodland, hill and dale, of a
land long inhabited, and most beautifully and tastefully laid out into
parks and groves? With a mild and salubrious climate, a dry, pure
atmosphere, must it not soon become the resort of the invalid from the
consumptive East and the ends of the earth?

" Our situation, geographically, is in the centre of this Republic, at
the half-way station between the Atlantic and Pacific, the Gulf of Mexico
and the British possessions. The ' Father of Waters ' extends to us
his great right arm, and proffers the commerce of the world and a
market for all our productions ; and the line of steam and telegraphic
communication that is soon to encircle the globe will, of course, pass
directly through this Territory, thus bringing to our very doors the
commerce of China and the Indies.

" What are we? Subjects, slaves of Missouri. We come to the cele-
bration of this anniversary, with our chains clanking about our limbs ;
we lift to Heaven our manacled arms in supplication ; proscribed, out-
lawed, denounced, we cannot so much as speak the name of Liberty
except with prison walls and halters looking us in the face. We must
not only see black slavery, the blight and curse of any people, planted
in our midst, and against our wishes, but we must become slaves our-
selves. Hear our masters :

" ' Our Legislature should make the publishing or writing of aboli-
tionism an offense of a high grade, both indictable and actionable, if
loss is sustained.' — Squatter Sovereign.

148 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

" ' Only one Free-soiler will get a seat in the Legislative Assembly,
and he will be expelled unless he mends his manners very much.' —
Squatter Sovereign.

" ' It is to be admitted that they (the Missourians) have conquered
Kansas. Our advice is, let them hold it, or die in the attempt.' — Platte
Argus.

" At a meeting held at Leavenworth, our conquerors resolved as fol-
lows :

" 'Resolved, That no man has a right to go into any community and
disturb its peace and quiet by doing incendiary acts or circulating incen-
diary sentiments. We therefore advise such as are unwilling to submit
to the institutions of this country, to leave for some climate more con-
genial to their feelings, as abolition sentiments cannot, nor will not, be
tolerated here ; and while we do not say what may be the consequences,
for the peace and quiet of the community we urge all entertaining and
expressing such sentiments to leave immediately, claiming the righfrto
expel all such as persist in such a course.

" 'Resolved, That in the present state of public excitement, there is
no such thing as controlling the ebullition of feeling, while material re-
mains in the country on which to give it vent. To the peculiar friends
of our Northern fanatics, we say, this is not your country. Go home
and vent your treason where you may find sympathy.

" 'Resolved, That the institution of slavery is known and recognized
in this Territory, and that we repel the doctrines that it is a moral or
political evil ; and we hurl back with scorn upon its slanderous authors
the charge of inhumanity ; and we warn all persons not to come to our
peaceful firesides to slander us and sow seeds of discord between the
master and the servant, for much as we may be driven, we cannot be
responsible for the consequences.

" 'Resolved, That a vigilance committee, consisting of thirty members,
shall now be appointed, who shall observe and report all such persons
as shall openly act in violation of law and order, and by the expression
of abolition sentiments produce disturbance to the quiet of the citizens,
or danger to their domestic relations, and all such persons so offending
shall be notified and made to leave the Territory. '

" ' Abolition editors in slave States will not dare to avow their opin-
ions. It would be instant death to them.' — Missouri Argus.

"The Charleston Courier (nth August, 1835) declared that 'the
gallows and the stake* awaited the abolitionist who should dare to
' appear in person among us.'

" ' The cry of the whole South should be death, instant death to the
abolitionist, whenever he is caught.' — Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle.

" ' Let us declare through the public journals of our country, that
the question of slavery is not and shall not be open to discussion ; that

SOUTHERN THREATS.

149

the system is too deep-rooted among us, and must remain forever ; that
the very moment any private individual attempts to lecture us upon its
evils and morality, and the necessity of putting means in operation to
secure us from them, in the same moment his tongue shall be cut out
and cast upon the dunghill.' — Columbia (S. C.) Telescope.

' ' The true-hearted citizens of East Tennessee and property-holders
ought to enter into leagues, and whip, black, and ride on a rail, irre-
spective of age, calling, family, association, every preacher, citizen, or
traveller, who dares to utter one word in opposition to slavery, or who
is found in possession of an abolition document. These are our senti-
ments, and we are willing and ready to help others to carry them out.'
— Parson Brownlow.

"And who, or what is an abolitionist? Why, everybody is an
abolitionist, according to their dictionary, who dares to have an opinion
of his own upon the subject of the rights of man in any respect differing
from theirs. No distinction is made between the man who is opposed
to the establishment of slavery in Kansas and him who is opposed to
its existence in the States ; between the man who would return him who
had escaped to his master and him who would direct the fugitive to the
land of liberty. Said one of the chivalry, whose name is suggestive of
hemp factories, ' Had I the power, I would hang every abolitionist in
the country, and every man north of Mason and Dixon's line is an
abolitionist.' This was said with the emphasis and accompaniments
peculiar to the individual. These gentlemen and Christians ' repel the
doctrine that it (slavery) is a moral or political evil,' and 'hurl back
with scorn the charge of inhumanity,' and warn all persons of different
views not to come to Kansas, for they shall be ' made to leave the Ter-
ritory, ' if they do. 'Made to leave ! ' indeed. Well, a ' right smart good
time of it,' may our neighbors have in making all leave Kansas who
will not bow down and worship the calves they set up.

" Made to leave! Gentlemen, look at that beautiful banner, think
from whence it came, and of the motives which .prompted its presenta-
tion, and then think about being MADE TO LEAVE your country, for
no crime ! One thing appears evident : if we are made to leave, the
ladies will be ashamed to follow, and will let us go alone.

" Persons may teach that the Declaration of Independence is a lie;
that tyranny and oppression a thousand-fold more severe than that
which our ancestors rose in rebellion against are right ; that marriage
is a mockery ; that the parent shall not have possession of his own child,
nor the husband his wife ; that education is a crime ; that traffic in
human beings, the bodies and souls of men, is a virtue. All this may
be taught with impunity in this boasted land of ours, and those who
teach such things must be recognized as gentlemen and Christians ; but
to teach that all men are created equal ; that they have an inalienable

150 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

right to life and liberty ; that oppression is a crime, and that education,
religion, and good morals are virtues — this is not to be tolerated for a
moment. Tar and feathers, the gallows and stake, await all persons
who dare express a belief in such dangerous doctrines, if we can believe
our masters. Masters, did I say? Heaven forbid! Subjects? slaves?
Oh, no! It is all a mistake. What! the whiskey-drinking, profane,
blasphemous, degraded, foul-mouthed, and contemptible rabble that in-
vaded our Territory at the late elections our masters ? Never ! never !
I can say to Death, be thou my master ; and to the grave, be thou my
prison-house; but acknowledge such creatures my masters, never! No,
thank God, we are yet free, and hurl defiance at those who would make
us slaves.

' ' Look on who will in apathy, and stifle they who can,

The sympathies, the hopes, the words, that make man truly man ;
Let those whose hearts are dungeoned up with interest or with ease,
Consent to hear with quiet pulse of loathsome deeds like these!
We first drew in New England's air, and from her hardy breast,
Sucked in the tyrant-hating milk, that will not let us rest ;
And if our words seem treason to the dullard and the tame,
'Tis but our native dialect, — our fathers spake the same.'

" With truth and justice on our side we have nothing to fear, for —

' ' Thrice is he armed who has his quarrel just,
And he but naked, though locked up in steel,
Whose conscience with injustice is corrupted.'

" Whose conscience with injustice is corrupted, if not his who with-
holds from the laborer his due ; who makes merchandise of men, women,
and children ; who sunders family ties, sending the husband perhaps to
the cane-fields of Mississippi, the wife to a New Orleans brothel, and
the children to the rice swamps of Alabama, never to see each other
again, and all to spend their lives amid whips and chains? Is it not
' confirmation strong as holy writ, ' that their conscience is corrupted,
when such men ' repel the doctrine ' that such proceedings are wrong,
either morally or politically? when they ' hurl back with scorn ' the
charge that conduct like this can be inhuman? Perhaps it is not in-
human, if they are fair samples of humanity, but it is certainly unbeast-
like.

" And who are the cowards in this contest, if not those who shun in-
vestigation, tremble at free discussion, or even the expression of an
opinion ; who cry out, ' Down with the press, down with the church,
down with every man that disapproves of oppression? ' And what acts
are cowardly, if it is brave and manly for scores of men, maddened with

ISSUE ACCEPTED. 151

whiskey, to prowl about in the dark and destroy the defenseless, to
seize peaceable and unarmed citizens, to tar and feather them, to throw
printing presses into the river, and threaten to shoot governors and
hang editors, and especially to march upon a weak and defenseless
people by thousands, armed with deadly weapons of all kinds (the
most deadly of which is whiskey), and trample under their feet the
dearest rights of freemen, imposing upon a neighboring Territory
a foreign government and laws not of their choice, at the point of
the bayonet? If such acts are brave and heroic, what are cowardly and
villainous?

" What reason is given for the cowardly invasion of our rights by
our neighbors? No good reason is or can be given. They and their
apologists say that if Kansas is allowed to be free, the institution of
slavery in their own State will be in danger ; that the contrast between
a free and a slave State will be so great their own citizens will become
abolitionists, or the under-ground railroad will relieve them of their
slaves. But from the first cause there is no danger of alarm, if their
doctrine is correct, that slavery is a blessing, and not a moral or political
evil. If it is the humane institution they represent, who will want to
see it abolished? As to the second cause, there is no ground to fear,
provided the people of Missouri mind their own affairs and let ours
alone, for it is not true that the settlers in Kansas have enticed away
a single negro, or attempted to do so. On this point we speak by
authority, for do not the Westport and other Missouri papers say that
the general agency of this line of travel is under our charge, and did
those papers ever tell an untruth? We say, then, officially, that up to
the present time, not the first rail has been laid of this road in Kansas ;
but the workmen are in readiness, and will commence operations with a
will, if our affairs are again interfered with by foreign intruders. If
the people of Missouri make it necessary, by their unlawful course, for
us to establish freedom in that State in order to enjoy the liberty of
governing ourselves in Kansas, then let that be the issue. If Kansas
and the whole North must be enslaved, or Missouri become free, then
let her be made free. Aye, and if to be free 'ourselves, slavery must be
abolished in the whole country, then let us accept that issue. If black
slavery in a part of the States is incompatible with white freedom in any
State, then let black slavery be banished from all. As men espousing
the principles of the Declaration of the fathers, we can do nothing less
than accept these issues. Not that we are unfriendly to the South — far
from it. If there be any true friend of the South in this assembly, to
him we say that our love of the South is no less than his. If, then,
such friend demand why we are ready to accept this issue, this is our
answer: Not that we love the South less, but we love our country
more. ' Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than

152 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

that Caesar were dead, to live all freemen ? ' ' Who is here so base that
would be a bondman? If any speak, for him have I offended.'

" Fellow-citizens, in conclusion, it is for us to choose for ourselves,
and for those who shall come after us, what institution shall bless or
curse our beautiful Kansas. Shall we have freedom for all her people,
and consequent prosperity, or slavery for a part, with the blight and
mildew inseparable from it?

" Choose ye this day which you will serve, slavery or freedom, and
then be true to your choice. If slavery is best for Kansas, then choose
it ; but if liberty, then choose that.

" Let every man stand in his own place, and acquit himself like a
man who knows his rights, and knowing, dares maintain them. Let
us repudiate all laws enacted by foreign legislative bodies, or dictated
by Judge Lynch over the way. Tyrants are tyrants, and tyranny is
tyranny, whether under the garb of law or in opposition to it. So
thought and so acted our ancestors, and so let us think and act. We
are not alone in this contest. The entire nation is agitated upon the
question of our rights. The spirit of '76 is breathing upon some; the
handwriting upon the wall is being discerned by others, while the re-
mainder the gods are evidently preparing for destruction.

" Every pulsation in Kansas vibrates to the remotest artery of the
body politic, and I seem to hear the millions of freemen and the millions
of bondmen in our own land, the patriots and philanthropists of all coun-
tries, the spirits of the Revolutionary heroes, and the voice of God, all
saying to the people of Kansas, ' Do your duty.' "

CHAPTER VII.

THE TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE. THE TOPEKA CONSTI-
TUTION.

ON the second day of July the so-called Territorial Legis-
lature met at Pawnee, where it was called by proclamation
of the Governor. Governor Reeder recognized this body
as the Legislature of Kansas, and delivered an elaborate
message in due form. The first action taken was to purge
the body of the men chosen at the second election in place
of such as had been refused certificates by the Governor,
and to seat the latter in their stead. These men thus uncere-
moniously expelled had been importuned by the Free-State
men, privately, and publicly by resolution, to repudiate the
Legislature in advance, on the ground of invasion and fraud,
but they decided otherwise. It is true they made a long and
elaborate protest, but it had but little influence, as they had
yielded the strongest objection, namely, the illegality of the
body itself. M. F. Conway, on the other hand, who had been
declared elected to the council by throwing out one precinct,
stood up manfully and repudiated the whole performance. He
had visited Robinson's house with Kersey Coates and Deitz-
ler, and the whole matter was fully discussed. While Conway
was at first inclined to follow Reeder in recognition of the
legality of the Legislature, he yielded to the arguments of
Coates, Deitzler, and Robinson, and, instead of presenting his
credentials, sent his resignation to the Governor. As this res-
ignation embodies the Free-State case, extracts are here given :

" It is a fact which has travelled the circuit of the whole civilized
world, that this Legislature has been imposed upon the people of

154 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

Kansas by force of arms. Those who compose it, and those whom
they represent, and for whom they act, are alien enemies, who have
violently seized the legislative power of this Territory, and seek to dis-
guise their tyranny under the form of constitutional enactments.
Their Legislature is substantially a provincial council, instituted and
ordained by a daring and unscrupulous league in the State of Missouri,
and other parts of the South, to govern a people whose liberties they
have ruthlessly stricken down. This fact has been placed beyond
controversy by authentic details of concerted operations, looking to
this end, and of overwhelming violence, at the recent elections, unpar-
alleled in all our political history. Under these circumstances, it would
be either fraudulent or pusillanimous in me to respect this as the
Legislature of Kansas. I am not willing to do it. Whatever the
timorous or the time-serving may suggest or advise, I shall do nothing
of the kind. Instead of recognizing this as the Legislature of Kansas,
and participating in its proceedings as such, I utterly repudiate and
reprobate it, as derogatory to the respectability of popular government,
and insulting to the virtue and intelligence of the age.

" As an individual citizen of Kansas, I am furthermore free to say
to your Excellency, representing, as you do, the imperial authority of
the Federal Government in this land, that, while I am entirely disposed
to pay all respect to the lawfully constituted authorities, I am yet not
willing, whatever power may command it, to bend my neck, like a sat-
isfied and gentle slave, to the yoke of foreign tyrants. To do so,
would prove me recreant to all the lessons of heroism or of duty I ever
learned. I am so unfortunate as to have been trained to some crude
notion of human rights — some such notions as those for which, in ages
past, our foolish ancestry perilled their lives on Revolutionary fields.
And, however widespread may be the disrepute into which the puerile
fallacies have fallen in these sterling and enlightened times, I am still
bold to withstand their violation, in my own person, to the last ex-
tremity of just resistance. Simply as a citizen and a man, I shall,
therefore, yield no submission to this alien Legislature. On the con-
trary, I am ready to set its assumed authority at defiance, and shall be
prompt to spurn and trample under my feet its insolent enactments
whenever they conflict with my rights or inclination.

" Very respectfully yours,

" M. F. CON WAY.

"Gov. A. H. Reeder, Pawnee, K. T., June jo, 1855."

After seating the members elected by the invasion, the
Legislature adjourned from Pawnee, where the Governor
had located the temporary capitol, to the Shawnee Mission,

REEDER A REPUDIATOR. 155

near the border of Missouri. Governor Reeder vetoed this
action, but his veto was overridden with ease and Pawnee
was evacuated. Now the Governor joined the repudiators,
but, unfortunately, the ground of his repudiation was much
less firm than that occupied by the Free-State party, and he
never received the credit for heroic action that would have
been accorded had he placed his repudiation on the invasion
of the polls on the 3oth of March. However, his course,
even at this late day, gave great strength and encourage-
ment to the Free-State cause. From that time till the end
of the conflict he was a power second to none in the contest.
He was a lawyer of ability, a man of unimpeachable integ-
rity, and universally recognized as a statesman and patriot.
No man stood higher in Kansas or out, and the Free-State
men were proud of counting him on their side.

S. D. Houston, the only Free-State member whose elec-
tion was conceded by the Slave-State party, resigned his
seat, giving his reasons at length in a paper that was pub-
lished and regarded as most able and conclusive, as to the
illegality of this pretended Legislature. As the Governor
refused to recognize the Legislature, an issue direct was
made that could not be ignored at Washington. The Presi-
dent must side either with the Governor or with the Legis-
lature ; and if with the latter, the former would lose his official
head. Already steps had been taken to get rid of him. The
whole pro-slavery horde had demanded his removal, and
some charges or complaints had been made of land specula-
tion and the like. The excitement over the territorial elec-
tion had been so widespread that the Administration did not
dare meet the question fairly and give the true reason for
Reeder's removal. In the meantime two of the judges, with
unseemly haste, endorsed the validity of this Legislature and
the laws it might enact, foreshadowing the course of the Ad-
ministration at Washington. The Legislature, although ig-
nored by the Governor, whose prerogative it was to sign
their enactments, proceeded to business, and in sixty days

156 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

turned out a mass of statutes equal in volume, and almost
identical in substance, with the statutes of the State of Mis-
souri, providing that wherever the word " State " appeared in
any law the word " Territory " should be substituted or un-
derstood. At length, after various rumors, official informa-
tion was received by the Legislature, August 16, 1855, that
Governor Reeder was removed.

This removal, under the circumstances, reacted against the
Slave-State party with scarcely less effect than did the inva-
sion of the 3oth of March. Governor Reeder's answer to
the charge of illegal speculation in land, a most tart and
pungent reply to Commissioner Mannypenny, was published,
and the most conservative Democratic papers denounced the
removal and severely censured the Administration. Thus far
every step taken by the Slave-State party had helped the Free-
State cause in accordance with the unwritten and universal law
of retribution. The Slave-State men having the Government
in their possession, were arrogant, defiant, over-bearing, and
despised their antagonists. The Free-State men were osten-
sibly beaten, overwhelmed, and crushed, yet really self-reliant,
hopeful, and exultant over the blunders of their opponents.

When the character of the enactments of this Legislature
became known, another revulsion occurred most beneficial
to the Free-State cause. Not only was the worse than Dra-
conian code enacted against Free-State men, but they were
virtually disfranchised. Instead of leaving the choice of
county officers to the voters, the Legislature itself appointed
them for a term of years, and gave them full control of all
future elections, besides requiring a test oath of a challenged
voter. Many of the enactments were simply infamous, as
some selected specimens will show :

" SECTION I. If any person shall entice, decoy, or carry away out of
this Territory, any slave belonging to another, with intent to deprive
the owner thereof of the services of such slave, or with intent to effect
or procure the freedom of such slave, he shall be adjudged guilty of
grand larceny, and on conviction thereof, shall suffer death.

" SEC. 2. If any person shall aid or assist in enticing, decoying or

TYRANNICAL ENACTMENTS. 157

persuading, or carrying away or sending out of this Territory, any
slave belonging to another, with intent to procure or effect the freedom
of such slave, or with intent to deprive the owner thereof of the services
of such slave, he shall be adjudged guilty of grand larceny, and on
conviction thereof, suffer death.

" SEC. 3. If any person shall entice, decoy, or carry away out of any
State or other Territory of the United States, any slave belonging to
another, with intent to procure or effect the freedom of such slave, or
deprive the owner thereof of the services of such slave, and shall bring
such slave into this Territory, he shall be adjudged guilty of grand lar-
ceny, in the same manner as if such slave had been enticed, decoyed, or
carried away out of this Territory, and in such case the larceny may be
charged to have been committed in any county of this Territory, into or
through which such slave shall have been brought by such person, and
on conviction thereof, the person offending shall suffer death.

" SEC. II. If any person print, write, publish or circulate, or cause
to be brought into, printed, written, published or circulated, or shall
knowingly aid or assist in bringing into, printing, publishing or circu-
lating within this Territory, any book, magazine, handbill or circular,
containing any statements, arguments, opinions, sentiments, doctrine,
advice or innuendo, calculated to promote a disorderly, dangerous, or
rebellious disaffection among the slaves in this Territory, or to induce
such slaves to escape from the service of their masters, or to resist their
authority, he shall be guilty of a felony, and be punished by imprison-
ment and hard labor for a term not less than five years.

" SEC. 12. If any free person, by speaking or by writing, assert or
maintain that persons have not the right to hold slaves in this Territory,
or shall introduce into this Territory, print, publish, write, circulate,
or cause to be introduced into this Territory, written, printed, published
or circulated in this Territory, any book, paper, magazine, pamphlet or
circular, containing any denial of the right of persons to hold slaves in
this Territory, such person shall be deemed guilty of felony, and pun-
ished by imprisonment at hard labor for a term of not less than two
years."

The organic act professed to leave1 the slavery question
open for discussion and decision by the people, but this
Legislature had closed the case and rendered the verdict,
and proposed to send to the penitentiary every man who
dared to ask for a hearing. This legislation, as soon as
generally known, revived the interest in Kansas affairs in the
North and East, where it had begun to flag. On account

158 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

of the cholera, the political disturbances, the pretended elec-
tion of a Slave-State Legislature, and for other reasons, the
emigration had subsided during the summer, not only from
the North, but from the South. While the question was un-
decided, men from the South did not care to remove where
their slaves might be unsafe, and it required great courage
on the part of men from the North to remove to a Territory
where slavery so far had been triumphant. The St. Louis
Intelligencer, as given in the Free State of October 10, 1855,
says:

" Our news from western Missouri is of an ominous and most dis-
couraging character. That region is suffering from mildew and blight.
Its glory dimmed, its spirits abated, and its hope fading.

" The emigration to Kansas is almost entirely checked. Emigrants
from the Northern and free States have ceased to go to Kansas, because
they can find as good land elsewhere not cursed by mob law, nor ruled
by non-resident bullies. Emigrants from the Southern States do not
go to Kansas, because they will not put their slave property in peril,
by taking it into a Territory where there is a free-soil element, threaten-
ing the security of slaves.

" Any man of sense might have foreseen this result. Alabama and
Georgia may hold public meetings, and resolve to sustain the slave-
holders in Missouri in making Kansas a slave State. But their resolu-
tions comprise all their aid, which is not ' material ' enough for the
crisis. When slave-holders of Alabama and Georgia emigrate, they
go to Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas. They do not come with their
slaves to Missouri or Kansas. Call they that, backing their friends?

" Thus the matter stands : The Northern emigrants shun Missouri
and Kansas as plague spots of the nation. The Southern emigrants
shun Missouri and Kansas, because here is the battle-ground between
salvery and free-soil.

" The result is, Kansas, the fairest land under the sun, is neglected
and idle ; occupied by a few honest and earnest but disheartened
pioneers, and lorded over by a dozen or two feudal tyrants of Missouri,
who curse by their presence the land they have desolated.

*******

" The most aggravating stories of insults and outrages committed by
Missourians on the persons of emigrants from the Old World, or from
the free States, who are found ascending the Missouri River, are cir-
culated in the free States ; and it is impossible to conceive of the hatred
thus generated toward our whole State in the northern half of the Union.

SOUTHERN TESTIMONY.

'59

" Between these fires Missouri is leading on her languid existence.
St. Louis is retarded in a most woeful way. Our railroads creep at
a snail's pace. We build ten miles while other Western States build
one hundred. In every department of life we feel the paralysis. In-
stead of bounding forward, buoyant, strong, and rejoicing, we sit with
dull eyes and heavy spirits, and listen to the tick of the death watch.

" These are the bitter fruits of the repeal of the Missouri Com-
promise— a base and wrongful deed — that will bring a hell of bitter
self-reproaches to its authors. Missouri did not demand that repeal.
The South never asked it. Atchison solicited it, and in a moment of
political insanity the South consented to the wrong and made the wrong
her own. This was the suicide of slavery.

*******

"Atchison and Stringfellow, with their Missouri followers, over-
whelmed the settlers in Kansas, browbeat and bullied them, and took
the Government from their hands. Missouri voters elect the present
body of men who insult public intelligence and popular rights by styling
themselves ' the Legislature of Kansas.' This body of men are helping
themselves to fat speculations by locating ' the seat of Government,'
and getting town lots for their votes. They are passing laws disfran-
chising all citizens of Kansas who do not believe negro slavery to be
a Christian institution and a national blessing. They are proposing to
punish with imprisonment the utterance of views inconsistent with
their own, and they are trying to perpetuate their preposterous and
infernal tyranny by appointing for a term of years creatures of their
own, as commissioners in every county, to lay and collect taxes, and
see that the laws they are passing are faithfully executed. Has this
age anything to compare with these acts in audacity?

*******

" It has been a common opinion with thoughtless persons and thick-
headed bullies of the West, that the Northern and Eastern men will
not fight. Never was a greater mistake. The sons of New England
and of the Middle States do not like to fight. They would rather
work, plough, build towns, railroads, make money and raise families,
than fight. But fight they will, if need be. Remember, the sons of
New England shed the first blood in the American Revolution ; and
they were last to furl their flags in that terrible struggle. They have
never disgraced their community by cowardice, and they will not.
They are Americans, with spirit, courage, endurance, and deep love
of liberty to animate them. The Free-State men in Kansas will fight
before they will be disfranchised and trampled on. Mark the word.

" Here comes, then, the suicide of slavery. The outrages com-
mitted by Atchison and his followers in subjugating Kansas to non-

160 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

resident rule, will bring on a collision, first in Congress and then in
Kansas ; and who shall tell the end?

" Slavery will never sustain itself in a border State by the sword. It
may conquer in some respects, but it can never ' conquer a peace.'
Never! never! Once light the fires of internecine war in defense of
slavery, and it will perish while you defend it. Slave-holders will not
stay to meet the fight. Property is timid, and the slaves will be sent
to Texas to be in a ' safe place ' while the fight lasts ; and as soon as the
slaves are gone it will be found that Missouri has nothing to fight
about, and the fight will end ' before it begins ! '

' ' Thus the slavery propagandists who repealed the Missouri Com-
promise to make Kansas a slave State will make Missouri free ; and
in endeavoring to expel abolition from Kansas, they will fill both
Kansas and Missouri with an entire free white population, worth more
to the two States than all the negroes in America,

" Is not the Kansas outrage the suicide of slavery? Have not the
people of Missouri, interested in the preservation of slavery in the
State, brought themselves into a desperate predicament by following
the insane counsels of Atchison and Stringfellow? "

So general was the condemnation of the conduct of the
Slave-State party and of the Administration, that the indig-
nation of the North was again aroused and emigration set in
with renewed vigor.

In some respects the season of 1855 was the most dis-
heartening of any in the history of the struggle. On the
surface all was dark for freedom. The government, both
local and national, was in possession of the enemy, and how
it could be secured by the bona fide settlers was unknown.
While there was no thought on the part of the leading Free-
State men of abandoning the field, it was impossible to dem-
onstrate to the isolated settlers an immediate way out. The
situation, as viewed by one person, may be seen by a letter
quoted by Professor Spring in his "Kansas," page 61. He
says:

" November 1st, 1855, Dr. Robinson wrote A. A. Lawrence,
reviewing somewhat in detail the progress of events up to that time.
' We must be as independent and self-reliant and confident,' he said,
' as the Missourians are, and never, in any instance, be cowed into
silence or subserviency to their dictation. This course on the part of

SEASON OF 1855. j6i

prominent Free-State men is absolutely necessary to inspire the masses
with confidence, and keep them from going over to the enemy. * * *
I have been censured for the defiant tone of my Fourth of July speech,
but I was fully convinced that such a course was demanded. The
Legislature was about sitting, and Free-State men were about despairing.
* * * A few of us dared to take a position in defiance of the Legis-
lature, and meet the consequences. We were convinced that our success
depended upon this measure, and the demonstration of the Fourth was
to set the ball in motion in connection with Conway's letter to Governor
Reeder, resigning his seat and repudiating the Legislature. For a while
we had to contend with opposition from the faint-hearted, but by per-
severing in our course, by introducing resolutions into conventions and
canvassing the Territory, repudiation became universal with Free-State
men. * * * We conceived it important to disown the Legislature,
if at all, before we knew the character of its laws, believing they would
be such as to crush us out if recognized as valid, and believing we
should stand on stronger ground if we came out in advance. * * *
The first of July forms an important epoch in our history. It was
about that time that open defiance was shown our enemies. * * *
Pro-slavery bullies were daily in the streets, and insulted all Free-
State men who they supposed would make no resistance. This drove
our people into secret organization of self-defense, and it was not long
before they were glad to cry for quarter. A Free-State Missourian, a
regular California bully, came among us and took them in their own
way, and frightened every pro-slavery man from the field. His name
is David Evans ; and if I had a Sharp's rifle at my disposal, I should
make him a present of it. * * * To divide into parties before our
admission into the Union would be ruinous, and give our enemies the
advantage."

The effect of the invasion and legislation upon the country
may be seen from the following extracts from leading jour-
nals of that time :

" THE BLACK LAW IN KANSAS.

" In another column will be found a transcript of a law recently
passed by the Lower House of the Kansas Legislature, in regard to the
' better protection of slave property.' We invite the attention of Mis-
sourians especially, and in fact the whole people of the United States,
to its bloody provisions, whereby the life of a white man is made of
less consequence and value than the service of a negro slave. Our
correspondent, writing from Kansas, speaking of its provisions, says
that, ' in utter disregard of the natural rights of free speech and thought,
11

1 62 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

it is only paralleled by one thing in all past history.' Many acts more
severe in provisions, and more prescriptive as regards opinions, have
been passed, and even the resolution not to have the law printed has
been more than equalled in the past. A Roman emperor is said to
have written his edicts so fine, and hung them so high, that people
could not read them, and thereupon to have glutted his appetite for
blood to the uttermost upon the unconscious violators. This, we think,
fully parallels the decision of the Kansas Legislature not to print their
Draconian code on the subject of slave property. To the twelfth sec-
tion, however, it is our purpose at present to call more especial atten-
tion. It reads as follows :

" ' SEC. 12. If any free person, by speaking or by writing, assert or
maintain that persons have not the right to hold slaves in the Territory,
or shallintroduce into Kansas, print, publish, write, circulate, or cause
to be introduced into the Territory, any book, paper, magazine, pam-
phlet, or circular containing any denial of the rights of persons to hold
slaves in this Territory, such person shall be deemed guilty of felony,
and punished by imprisonment at hard labor for a term not less than
two years.'

" This is neither more nor less than making a difference of opinion
upon a constitutional question a penitentiary offense. It establishes the
prison and the pillory as the arbiter of constitutional law in preference
to the judiciary of the land, and makes the human mind square its
convictions to the ideas of a few accidentally elected legislators. The
' procrustean bed ' has been a myth heretofore ; it promises soon to be
a shamble and a slaughter-house in reality. Men are no longer to be
permitted in the new Territory to express abstract opinions upon moral
questions without suffering the ignominious penalties of a State peni-
tentiary, and this is what is called opening the Territories to the people
of a whole Union, and admitting all persons to the enjoyment of its
fair lands. Squatter sovereignty was much lauded by General Cass
and Mr. Douglas in the outset, and yet, under this phase of it, both
Mr. Douglas and Cass would be sent to the State prison if they dared
to utter in Kansas Territory what they have repeatedly said in glowing
language in the Senate of the United States.

'' In regard to this law, we have but few words to say, and they may
be said very briefly. We are in favor of the protection of slave prop-
erty and the rights of slave-holders, where slavery exists, by all laws
and statutes that can be enforced, and that human intelligence does not
revolt at. But this is none such. It could not be enforced, as was
well said in the debate on its passage, even in South Carolina, much
less in Kansas. It is foolish in operation, and will prove reactionary.
Massachusetts assuredly destroyed the Know-Nothing party in the
United States by the ultra course of her Legislature — by ignoring the

PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 163

Fugitve Slave Law — and by enacting the Personal Liberty bill. The
result, too, will prove that the Kansas Legislature has done more to
destroy the prospect of making that Territory a slave State by its ill-
tempered, senseless, school-boy legislation, and by the enactments of
the present ' Black Laws,' than could have been effected by all the
cohorts of the Emigrant Aid Society, or by all the zeal of Northern
fanatical divines." — Missouri Democrat.

" THE GATHERING STORM.

"The clouds now rising upon the Western horizon are dark and
portentous. Almost every mail from Kansas brings intelligence of
the approaching struggle between slavery and the Constitution — a
struggle which may be decided in blood. It would be useless to shut
our eyes to the signs which seem to indicate an appeal to arms at no
distant day. The crisis may be arrested, but only by exercise of a
wisdom, moderation, and firmness by the Administration, which cannot
reasonably be expected. The high-handed, unconstitutional, and ag-
gressive acts already performed or proposed in the ruffian Legislature
of Kansas conclusively show that despotism intends to wage uncom-
promising war upon the Constitution. Read the account in our paper
to-day of the measures which have been introduced or proposed. The
intended enactments of the mob Legislature of Kansas, we venture to
say, can never be enforced. They are unwarranted by the Constitution
of the United States, and therefore are not obligatory. Where does
the Legislature of Kansas obtain the constitutional power to pass a law
requiring a citizen emigrating from any State into that Territory to take
an oath of allegiance to support the laws of the United States, and
those which may be enacted by their own irresponsible body? Whence
do they obtain the power to make the oath of allegiance a qualification
for the rights of suffrage? What clause of the Constitution allows the
authorities of Kansas to use the jails of Missouri for the punishment of
offenders? Oh, the beauties of squatter sovereignty! Every day
reveals more clearly the supreme ridiculousness of the miserable farce.
There seems to be but one course to be pursued to prevent a civil war.
The organization of the Territory should be begun at once, and the
present miscalled Legislature to enact laws for Kansas must be chosen
by the people of the Territory, not by an invading army from Missouri!
This is the only course which will prevent collisions which may end in
blood. The people of that Territory never will bow to the unconstitu-
tional edicts of this mob-elected Legislature ; they never will recognize
it as a legislative body ; and they will be acting right in the sight of
God and of the country. Unless the general Government exercises
authority in the matter to sustain the settlers in the assertion of their

164 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

just rights, a few more weeks may see civil war raging in all its horrors
upon the soil of Kansas." — Boston Journal.

" From this time it will be seen that the bill whereby the Kansas
solons enacted that all officers in the Territory, for the term of six
years ensuing, should be filled by the present Legislature, has become
a law, and we are free to say that a more infamous invasion of the rights
of any people, a more unwarranted assumption of power not delegated,
was never perpetrated by any assembly that ever sat even in revolution-
ary France. Not content with legislating themselves into office in
violation of the organic law of the Territory ; not satisfied with denying
to the inhabitants and citizens of Kansas the constitutional rights of
free speech and a free press ; but beyond and above all this, they now
quietly inform the people that they, the Legislature, will now undertake
to appoint, of their own free will and accord, the sheriffs, constables,
attorneys, tax-assessors, and all local officers, not for the coming year,
or until an election can be held by the citizens, but for six years from
the present time." — Missouri Democrat.

" HELLISH.

" The above is harsh — almost an impious caption — but if the act does
not deserve it, then we confess that we do not know how to head an
article. If the freemen of the North submit to this without a murmur ;
if this does not arouse them to action against the slave power, then they
deserve to be slaves. If this does not stir the freemen of Kansas up
to civil war, then they deserve to wear the chains that the representa-
tives of the Missouri mob have forged upon them. From the Federal
Government we can expect nothing, while the cut-throat crew of Atchi-
son and Stringfellow can command and the Government obeys with
alacrity. The present Administration is the meanest despotism that
ever disgraced the face of the earth, and its governors and judges will
make law, as far as their sanction goes, of such damnable acts as this.
The life of a free white man is thus made cheaper than the service of a
negro slave! And to say that slavery is not right — to say that men
have no right to hold slaves, is made a criminal offense, punishable
with two years' imprisonment at hard labor! — it makes our blood boil
to read such things. We shall rejoice when the first gun is fired in civil
war in Kansas. Outraged, robbed, insulted, condemned to death for
following the dictates of humanity ; imprisonment for uttering manly
words of truth, and all to please the slave power! Great God! Why
is language so powerless ! Why cannot we find words to express the
thoughts and feelings that throng our heart and brain at such time as
this? They pass the act, but they refuse to publish it; they condemn
men to death and imprisonment for certain acts and words, but refuse

PUBLIC EXPRESSIONS. 165

to make known in a legal way what those acts and words are. The
act elicited some debate, but passed almost unanimously." — Galesburg
(III.} Democrat.

" THE CRISIS IN KANSAS.

" It is madness to suppose that any community of American citizens
will submit to such tyranny as this. If tlie settlers in Kansas do not
resist the enforcement of such laws to the last extremity — if they hesi-
tate an instant to take up arms, if need be, against the dastardly tyrants
who seek thus to trample their freedom under foot, and to spill the last
drop of their blood rather than be thus degraded and conquered, they
are unworthy of their name and descent. The provocation of our fore-
fathers to Revolution was trifling compared with that which these
Kansas settlers have experienced. And to this issue the matter must
come, if the pro-slavery madmen persist in the measure by which they
have thus far sought the accomplishment of their schemes. We are
confident the people of Kansas will not submit to the domination of
their invaders. They will resist the execution of the pretended laws.
They will not permit their enforcement against a single inhabitant, and
if their execution be attempted by force, it will be resisted by force, and
then the issue will be one of simple strength.

" Under such a menacing state of affairs, it would seem natural to
invoke the interposition of the Federal Executive. But the Adminis-
tration at Washington seems to have been as thoroughly conquered by
the Missouri invaders as the people of Kansas themselves. President
Pierce seems to be as completely under the control of Atchison and
Stringfellow as the myrmidons they marshal to the Kansas polls. It is
idle, therefore, to hope for aid from this quarter. The people of Kan-
sas must rely upon themselves for the defense of their liberties and the
protection of their rights. And if they are compelled to encounter the
weight of the Federal Government in their contest, they must appeal
from that to the people. They can trust to the justice of their cause for
final victory." — New York Times.

" KANSAS.

" When the affairs of Kansas were forcibly interfered with by in-
truders from Missouri, we could not, in the face of the evidence estab-
lishing the fact, deny its existence, or even justify it, because it had
been provoked by an almost as criminal interference upon the part of
the abolition Emigrant Aid Company of the East. We then expressed
the opinion that the acts of the Missourians would be prejudicial to the
South, placing it in a false position, and making it the violator of laws
which it is specially interested in upholding for its own protection.
The course pursued by the Kansas Legislature is already confirming

1 66 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

what we then predicted. Its ultra radicalism upon all subjects that call
into exercise its legislative functions, and the violence with which it
proscribes opinions not squaring with the ideas of its leaders, have
already made it a disgrace to the country, and thrown upon the cause
which it pretends to uphold an enormous degree of responsibility. An
instance of this is seen in a bill on the subject of slavery, which passed
without opposition.

" Laws of this complexion, which undertake to punish as a penal
offense differences of opinion, can but have one effect, and that is to
provoke opposition, to keep alive excitement, and ultimately to secure
their own repeal by the very strength of the objection they put in the
mouths of their opponents." — Baltimore American,

" The free-soilers have determined to appoint a government of their
own ; have disowned all obedience to the territorial Government
existing ; have determined to elect a delegate to Congress through their
own organization, and leave it to that abolitionized body to determine
between it and the law of the land ; and, finally, have determined to
hold a convention for the purpose of framing a Constitution, and pre-
senting themselves (a poor minority of the settlers of Kansas) for
admission into the Union as a free-soil State.

" The plan is one of those astute contrivances that could not have
originated on the frontiers. It bears the marks of Seward on every
section of it, and the object is to transfer the power of the Territories
over their domestic laws to the House of Representatives at Washing-
ton, where the revolutionary doings of a band of incendiaries, it is
hoped, will be treated by their brother fanatics as the 'Higher Law.' "
— Charleston (S. C.) Me miry,

" CONDITION OF THINGS IN KANSAS.

" The enormous outrages that have been perpetrated in Kansas
during the last six or eight months, are a disgrace to the country and
the age in which we live. Furthermore, the excesses that have been
committed there in violation of law, order, and decency, with the pas-
sive sanction of the Federal Government, will most assuredly be the
means of defeating the object which the authors of the bill had exclu-
sively in view — the organization of Kansas as a slave State. Messrs.
Atchison, Stringfellow, and the Missouri borderers generally, have
gone a little too far in their foray, and a time of retribution is soon to
follow. We notice that a reaction has already commenced ; however
perverted and misdirected popular sentiment may become for a season,
under the influence of violence, and the guidance and example of prom-
inent but unscrupulous leaders, it is sure in the end to correct itself.
The worst men, unless living entirely isolated, and beyond the soothing

STATEMENTS OF THE PRESS. 167

reach of civilization and association, cannot persist for any length of
time in an uninterrupted course of violence and profligate disregard of
all moral and civil obligation. The ruffians who are now committing
these lawless excesses in Kansas must in time become satiated, and
then mollified ; and a resort to the refuge of the law will become a
necessity to insure even an existence among themselves, for the exist-
ence of society is based upon the supremacy of the laws, and upon no
other safe foundation.

" But in the meantime who can estimate the mischief, irreparable it
may be, that these acts of lawless violence have already produced ;
the deep-seated hatred between contending factions on the spot, the
sectional animosities, the bitter jealousies, the revilings and vitupera-
tion, criminations and recriminations, all of which are tending to sever
social and fraternal ties, and ultimately, perhaps, to break asunder the
bonds of Union!

" There is a grave responsibility resting upon the authors of the
present state of disorganization in Kansas, and of the prospective trouble
which is to ensue from this condition of things.

" No one can justify, or even extenuate, the outrages and violation,
not merely of law, but of those conventional observances which exist
in the most rude and primitive societies, which have been disgracing a
Territory under United States Government for the past six months.
But this negative condemnation is not enough ; there should be direct
and emphatic denunciation of this condition of affairs. The class of
citizens who are friends of law and order, who deprecate the supremacy
of mobs and lawless assemblages, and who desire to see the people
exercise freely and peaceably the rights and privileges to which they
are entitled, should set their faces against this domination of reckless
and irresponsible power.

" We have seen, read, and heard enough of rows and mobs to hold
them in special abhorrence. Of all domestic evils, they are the most
to be deprecated ; they disorganize society, injure reputation, private
and public interests. The places where they prevail and are tolerated
are plague-spots, which all peaceably disposed citizens and good men
should avoid.

"The immediate consequences of the revolutionary condition of
Kansas have been almost entirely to check emigration. The people of
the free States do not choose to jeopardize their lives in a land cursed
by mob law, and ruled by reckless bullies ; the people of the slave
States are averse to peril their title to their slaves in a Territory where
the free-soil element so extensively prevails, and where there is no
security of property. Another consequence of these violent proceed-
ings, carried on under the sanction of the law, is, that they are having
the effect of alienating the friends of the South in the Northern States.

1 68 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

We could quote the strictures of some of the most moderate and con-
servative journals in the free States upon outrageous legislation of the
present hybrid Legislature of Kansas, which journals have been uni-
formly sustaining the cause of the South against the formidable com-
bination of party which have arrayed against us and them. Some of
the laws passed by the Kansas Legislature are so outrageously pre-
scriptive and violent, and so disgraceful in character, that the most
tolerant and forbearing of the Northern press cannot suppress their
indignation, but are compelled to give it utterance." — New Orleans
Bulletin.

"THE BATTLE GROUND.

" We can perceive no reason why we of the North should appropriate
to ourselves the whole terror and dread of war. We cannot tell why
the whole weight of its heaviest strokes will be for us ; albeit our
Southern friends evidently so regard it. We have more charcoal than
they have ; we have more saltpetre ; we have more brimstone ; we have
more lead ; we have more bone and blood, and nerve and muscle.
Will they have a trial by these? Are they ready for it? Are they
eager for the clinch of death? Let them beware! To insult and con-
tumely long continued they have added monstrous and unthought-of
perfidy, and now into the edge of that deep, slow-healing wound of our
abused faith, they will drive the sting of open and outrageous violence.
There is a time to stop. If at length force must end that struggle — by
a swift and terrible blow will it then be ended.

' ' We hope not for this ; we shall do all we can to avert it ; but
slavery will not get Kansas so. We are afraid that the ominous look
of things is keeping away emigrants who ought to go there. If it
were sure to become a slave State we would advise no freeman to seek
his home there. No freeman could find one. But this is not certain,
not in our view probable. A struggle there will be, and no man ought
to go there who fears one. There will be a call for sacrifice and self-
denial ; but sacrifice and self-denial pay.

' ' The natural resources of Kansas, various and ample as they are,
may not be superior to those of other sections of the West — but, while
the great streams of emigration will doubtless take their direction
mainly to the facilities offered for procuring a subsistence and for gain-
ing wealth, we yet hope that among those now leaving us there will be
found many with whom the wealth of the world is not all its worth,
nor the ease of life its end ; many who will not hold it a small thing
that in a most important and critical time they are thus allowed to aid
in rearing those institutions, civil, social, and religious, to whose benign
working themselves owe so much. Such men, and none but such, are
needed in Kansas. Far more is to depend on the thoroughness of

STATE CONSTITUTION. 1 69

character of the first free settlers, than on number. The danger of
acquiescence is greater than the danger of overthrow. We say, then,
to whoever is about deciding in this matter — if you are conscious of no
higher motive than love of gain, don't go to Kansas — you may grow
rich there, but you are likely enough to wish to do it by slave labor ;
if you desire only to live easily, don't go — sleepy men are not needed
there now ; if you want courage and moral firmness, don't go — proud,
angry men will look you in the eyes there ; if you believe liberty to be
sweet only as you have it, and justice sacred only as it guards your
rights, don't go — self-sufficient, self-seeking men sprout out of the
ground anywhere ; if you have a longing for office and favor, if you
suppose yourself to possess the attributes of a postmaster, don't go —
you may not be good for anything anywhere else, but then don't go to
Kansas ; if, on the contrary, you can take with you the mind and
strength of a man, and the generous heart and life of a freeman, go —
there is no better place in all the world for you." — Springfield (Mass.)
Republican.

When it became evident that the Legislature would be en-
dorsed by the territorial judiciary and the President, and
that there would be no escape by election for at least two
years, it was equally evident that some means must be de-
vised to keep the settlers from abandoning the fight. .While
the majority of the Free-State party were anti-slavery from
conviction, and would stand out against a slave State to the
bitter end, a large minority were indifferent to the question
of slavery, and had been driven to act with the Free-State
party because of the invasion of their own civil and politi-
cal rights. Under these circumstances it was deemed expe-
dient to agitate the question of a State constitution. Such
a movement would serve to occupy the minds of the people,
attract the attention of ambitious politicians, become a rally-
ing point for all opposed to the usurpation, and, in case of
necessity, when all other means of self-preservation should
fail, be used as a de facto government, even though not rec-
ognized by Congress. This step was taken with caution.
Influential Free-State men were consulted, especially Reeder,
Coates, Deitzler, and the staunch anti-slavery men of con-
viction. Lane, at that time, had not cast his lot fully with

1 70 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

the Free-State men, although the failure of his Democratic
convention had disgusted him with that venture. It was
known that he had recognized the legality of the Legislature,
and contemplated getting a divorce by its action. How-
ever, at an interview with several active Free-State men, he
said if those present would agree to support him for one of
the Senators under the constitution, he would enlist in the
movement. He was assured that if his labors should be
worthy of such a position he should have it. Accordingly, at
the convention of the i4th of August, 1855, this, among
other resolutions, was adopted :

" 5. That we consider the attempt to establish a territorial form of
government in this Territory as an utter failure ; and that the people
of the Territory should, at some convenient period, assemble at their
several places of holding elections in the various districts of the Terri-
tory, and elect delegates to a convention to form a State constitution
for the State of Kansas, with the view to an immediate State organiza-
tion, and application, at the next session of Congress, for admission
into the American Union, as one of the States of the American Con-
federacy."

While Colonel Lane opposed the resolution repudiating the
Legislature as a body, he favored this resolution and moved
its adoption. General Pomeroy thought the action prema-
ture, as he would prefer to know the wishes of the new
Governor appointed to fill Governor Reeder's place. When
the resolutions were first introduced by the committee, of
which Robinson was chairman, several politicians opposed
them, but after adjournment over night they had all received
new light, as they said, and the resolutions were adopted
without opposition. A mass meeting was called on the
1 5th, without distinction of party, and recommended a con-
vention to be held at Topeka, September igth, to take this
matter of a constitutional convention into consideration and
to provide for one if thought best.

Although several conventions had been held at Lawrence,
and resolutions adopted without number, it was concluded

BIG SPRINGS CONVENTION. 1 71

to call a general convention of the Free-State party at Big
Springs, September 5, 1855. The call was made by the con-
vention of the 1 4th of August, held at Lawrence, and the
notices were spread broadcast over the Territory. This con-
vention was well attended, and nearly all the leading Free-
State men were present in consultation, including the Free-
State executive committee. Judge G. W. Smith was made
president of the convention. Two important reports were
made, one by Colonel Lane, as chairman of the committee
on platform, and one by J. S. Emery, as chairman of the
committee on the Legislature. The latter report was drawn
by Governor Reeder.

The report on platform was substantially a repetition of
reports at previous conventions held at Lawrence, except
with reference to free negroes and abolitionists. It took
strong ground against both, and proposed not to interfere
with slave States or fugitive slaves. The report drawn by
Governor Reeder was most emphatic in its denunciation of
the Territorial Legislature. Among the resolutions are the
following :

"Resolved, That we owe no allegiance or obedience to the tyrannical
enactments of this spurious Legislature — that their laws have no validity
or binding force upon the people of Kansas, and that every freeman
among us is at full liberty, consistently with all his obligations as a
citizen and a man, to defy and resist them, if he chooses so to do.

"Resolved, That we will resist them primarily by every peaceable
and legal means within our power, until we can elect our own Repre-
sentatives and sweep them from the statute book ; and as the majority
of our Supreme Court have so far forgotten their official duty — have so
far cast off the honor of the lawyer and the dignity of the judge as to
enter clothed with the judicial ermine into partisan contest, and by an
extra-judicial decision giving opinions in violation of all propriety,
have prejudged our case before we could be heard, and have pledged
themselves to these outlaws in advance, to decide in their favor, we
will therefore take measures to carry the question of the validity of
these laws to a higher tribunal, where judges are unpledged and dispas-
sionate— where the law will be administered in its purity, and where
we can at least have the hearing before the decision.

"Resolved, That we will endure and submit to these laws no longer

172 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

than the best interests of the Territory require, as the less of two evils, and
will resist them to a bloody issue as soon as we ascertain that peaceable
remedies shall fail, and forcible resistance shall furnish any reasonable
prospect of success ; and that in the meantime we recommend to our
friends throughout the Territory the organization and discipline of vol-
unteer companies and the procurement and preparation of arms.

''Resolved, That we cannot, and will not, quietly submit to surrender
our great 'American birthright ' — the elective franchise ; which, first by
violence, and then by chicanery, artifice, weak and wicked legislation,
they have so effectually succeeded in depriving us of, and that with
scorn we repudiate the ' Election Law ' so-called — and will not meet
with them on the day they have appointed for the election — but will our-
selves fix upon a day, for the purpose of electing a delegate to Con-
gress."

At this convention Governor Reeder was nominated for
delegate to Congress, to be voted for on the second Tues-
day of October, instead of the day fixed by the Legislature.
He accepted the nomination and delivered a speech that set
the convention wild with enthusiasm. Perhaps no conven-
tion was ever held of greater importance, or that so ce-
mented the people of all shades of political views, except
pro-slavery. One dissenting voice, and one only, was heard,
and that was by Charles Stearns, the Garrisonian. As he
was the only representative of that party in Kansas, and
as that party now claims to have been instrumental in
saving Kansas and abolishing slavery, his letter to the Free
State of September 24th, is given :

" LAWRENCE, September 13, 1855.

" MESSRS. EDITORS: In your paper just issued, I notice the follow-
ing remark :

" ' The platform is such as every Free-State man can stand upon,
and, so far as we have learned, gives eminent satisfaction to all, except
those who desire division in our ranks.'

" Of course, then, you will set me down as one who ' desires division
in our ranks ' — for rather than be satisfied with such a platform, I
would submit to martyrdom. It fills me with grief and astonishment,
and, if I am not mistaken, will render the party adopting it a by-word
and reproach in the mouths of the nation.

" All sterling anti-slavery men, here and elsewhere, cannot keep from

BOLT OF A GARRISONIAN. 173

spitting upon it ; and all pro-slavery people must, in their hearts, per-
fectly despise the base sycophants who originated and adopted it.

" If such is the manliness of the ' Free-State ' party, commit me to
the slave-drivers themselves, for, much as I abhor them, I do not so
thoroughly despise them as I do a party that will ' make the welkin
ring ' about its anti-slavery principles, and then crawl, in the lowest
dust, at the feet of the slave power. I can and do apologize for a pro-
slavery man who has been educated under the influence of slavery, and
sincerely believes that slavery is right ; but for Northern men, who
know better, to tell the South they are their most humble servants, and
are willing to concede to them the right to buy and sell human beings,
and to pursue with blood-hounds the panting fugitive, is perfectly
infernal.

" If this is the platform the Free-State party are going to occupy,
God forbid that I should ever stand upon its rotten planks.

" I do not wish to multiply words on this occasion, but merely ask,
as a personal favor, that you will publish this renunciation of what I
can no longer look upon but as a base pro-slavery party fully equal in
depravity to either the Whig or Democratic parties.

" Yours, for genuine anti-slavery,

" CHAS. STEARNS."

Upon this the editor comments as follows :

' ' The author of the above communication is the only man in the
Territory that is so thoroughly disgusted with the Free-State platform.
It is due the author, however, to state that he is a Garrisonian aboli-
tionist of the deepest dye — a class of men who imagine the Union con-
ceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity, and therefore have no
participation in its affairs. It is also due the public to state that the
platform was not drafted for any such class of men, but for the Free-
State party, and we would be just as much surprised to find them en-
dorse it as we would be if Stringfellow and Atchison should endorse it."

Henry C. Wright, the non-resistant abolitionist, said he
would not cast his vote for a President though he knew that
vote would free all the slaves in the country, simply because
the Government was based upon force ; and so Mr. Stearns
would not act with the Free-State party because in some
particular it did not meet his views. He could not stoop in
the least, even to conquer in one of the most important en-
counters of the age. Many of the Free-State men had no

174 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

sympathy with the black law or fugitive slave law, neither
were they afraid of abolition or abolitionists, but it was well
known that many Western and Southern Free-State men did
care for these things, and as these were not the issue then
before the people, they were willing to accept the platform
without opposition. It would be time enough to attend to
such matters when the absorbing question of a free State
should be settled. Eli Thayer, as he has often said, looked
upon the struggle in Kansas as the entering wedge in the
conflict for the overthrow of slavery in the nation. Free-
dom once planted in Kansas would spread east and south
in accordance with the popular sovereignty of the Kansas-
Nebraska bill, till not a slave should be found in any State.
This was the view of the agents of the Aid Company and
many others who came to Kansas from the North and East.
If this view should prove to be right, it was immaterial
whether a resolution should be adopted in favor of a black
law or not, or against abolitionists ; for, when the struggle
should be ended, there would be no slavery, no fugitive
slaves to be returned, no prejudice against free colored men,
as all colored men would be free and abolitionists would dis-
appear when there was no slavery to abolish. Hence, the
most radical Free-State men cared for but the one issue —
a free State. If the emigrants from the West and South
wanted a resolution that the moon was made of cotton bales,
or coils of hemp rope, and Charles Stearns wanted one that
it was made of green cheese or Boston brown bread, they
would quarrel with neither, so they were right upon the ques-
tion at issue. John Brown, when he arrived a month later,
was also disgusted with the Free-State party. Redpath, in
his "Life of Captain John Brown," page 103, says:

" The first time I heard of old Brown was in connection with a cau-
cus at the town of Osawatomie. It was shortly after his arrival in the
Territory. The politicians of the neighborhood were carefully pruning
resolutions so as to suit every variety of anti-slavery extensionists ; and
more especially that class of persons whose opposition to slavery was

BOLT OF JOHN BROWN. 175

founded on expediency — the selfishness of race, and caste, and interest ;
men who were desirous that Kansas should be consecrated to free white
labor only, not to freedom for all and above all. The resolution that
aroused the old man's anger declared that Kansas should be a free
white State, thereby favoring the exclusion of negroes and mulattoes,
whether slave or free. He rose to speak, and soon alarmed and dis-
gusted the politicians by asserting the manhood of the negro race, and
expressing his earnest anti-slavery convictions with a force and vehe-
mence little likely to suit the hybrids then known as Free-State Demo-
crats. There were a number of emigrants from Indiana, I was told,
whom his speech so shocked that they went over and remained in the
pro-slavery party. This was John Brown's first and last appearance in
a public meeting in Kansas."

The convention called at Topeka on the igth of Septem-
ber met, decided to call a constitutional convention, and ar-
ranged for the election of members on the gth of October to
meet at Topeka on the fourth Tuesday of the same month
to frame a constitution. The committee appointed to take
charge of this work, called the Territorial Executive Commit-
tee, consisted of the following : J. H. Lane, chairman ; C.
K. Holliday, M. J. Parrott, P. C. Schuyler, G. W. Smith,
G. W. Brown, and J. K. Goodin, secretary.

The Free-State Territorial Executive Committee, which
superintended the affairs of that party, was : C. Robinson,
chairman ; J. K. Goodin, secretary ; G. W. Smith, J. A.
Wakefield, L. Macy, F. W. Giles, William Phillips, C. A.
Foster, J. P. Fox, J. D. Stockton, W. R. Vail, John Brown,
Jr., W. A. Ely, G. F. Warren, John Hamilton, H. Smith, L.
Smith, M. F. Conway, S. D. Houston, Dr. L. R. Adams,
Dr. L. B. Palmer, J. E. Gould, Abelard Guthrie.

Thus both committees had the same secretary, Joel K.
Goodin. Mr. Goodin was perfectly fitted for secretary,
and occupied that position on nearly all subsequent occasions
of importance during the entire conflict. No man had a
more sagacious or a cooler mind, and his counsel was in-
valuable. He had the courage of his convictions, and stood
ready to thwart any wild scheme, as will hereafter appear.

176 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

The convention to frame the constitution met as provided,
and the game of personal politics opened at once. The play
was serio-comic from the first, often verging upon the tragic
or ridiculous. The only officer of importance to be elected
was president of the convention. To this position Colonel
Lane, of course, aspired. As an evidence of his resources
and political ingenuity, he based his claims to the highest
office in the gift of the members on a damaging scandal.
He asked for votes as an endorsement and vindication of
his character. The Free State of October 2gth makes this
comment :

" It will be seen in another column that the constitutional convention
has met and elected its officers. They, of course, put in the chair a
certain individual, in order to counteract the effect of a true report that
was abroad that might injure him, and as he declared that he would
sink to hell rather than be defeated, we are rather afraid he will ' sink '
anyhow, notwithstanding his success."

The members of the convention were at once divided into
two factions, so far as aspiring politicians could divide them.
One was called the conservative and the other the radical
wing of the party. The first had headquarters at the Garvey
House, and the second at the Chase House. Slate-making
was at once inaugurated at the Garvey House, while the
radicals at the Chase House accepted the situation with
good-nature, as they were willing to forego all honors and
emoluments of office if they could only secure a free State.
That a visible line might be drawn in the convention, a reso-
lution was introduced endorsing squatter sovereignty and
Democracy generally. This was discussed each evening for
some time with considerable display of old campaign litera-
ture. Of course, no man who opposed this resolution could
find a place on the Garvey House slate. A small segment
of the members were thrown completely outside of all healthy
political organization by voting for negro suffrage. Their
names were R. H. Crosby, G. S. Hillyer, Amory Hunting,
O. C. Brown, Richard Knight, Philip C. Schuyler, and C.

DUEL.

177

Robinson. Some of these, also, as if to make their political
damnation sure, voted to strike out the word " male " as well
as " white " from the constitution.

But Lane was not fully satisfied with his vindication by
being elected president of the convention ; he must put a
gag in every man's mouth. For this purpose a resort was
had to " the code." One night, after all had retired in the
attic of the Chase House, G. P. Lowry, ex-private secretary
of Governor Reeder, appeared, said he had a challenge from
Lane to fight a duel, and wanted Dr. Robinson to act as his
second. Robinson, of course, was indignant that the Free-
State cause should be tarnished by such transactions, and
said it must not be permitted. He utterly detested duelling,
knew nothing of the code, and would have nothing to do
with it. He, however, thinking he could shame Lane out of
the business, went to the Garvey House attic to see Lane.
There he found him trembling with fear, or shaking with the
ague, so as visibly to move the cot on which he lay. On
being reproved for bringing disgrace upon the party, he said
Lowry had been repeating the scandal about himself and
Mrs. Lindsay, and he had determined to put a stop to it at
once and forever. Notwithstanding Lane had gone to Rob-
inson's house early in the morning and begged of him to as-
sist in preventing Lindsay from shooting him, and though
Robinson had endorsed a note to effect a settlement, yet
now Lane would try to make believe there was nothing to
the matter, and he was bound to stop all such talk. After
dwelling upon the folly of such a course, saying that if he
should kill Lowry it would not stop the scandal nor vindi-
cate him in public estimation, and if Lowry should kill him
he would fare no better, Lane replied that he could do noth-
ing about it, as Parrott was his second and the whole mat-
ter was in his hands. After saying that he had come to him
not at the instance of Lowry, as he was anxious to fight,
Robinson left the attic of Lane and returned to his own.

It was concluded to accept the challenge in due form, and
12

178 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

Major Robert Klotz was engaged to superintend the duel.
The fight was to come off at eight o'clock in the morning,
and the challenged party had nothing more to do but to
await developments. He did not wait long till a messenger
appeared and desired to change the hour from eight o'clock
to eleven o'clock. This evidently was the beginning of a
back-down, as the convention would be in session at that
hour, and most likely Lane would have some friend posted
to stop the duel. Lowry, however, accepted the change of
time and kept his peace. The convention opened as usual,
and the planets retained their accustomed orbits. About half
an hour before the fatal moment, Lane took the floor on
some unimportant question and went off in one of his windy
harangues. He talked up to the time set for the duel,
when he, with great dignity and solemnity, closed, took his
hat, and started to leave for the bloody battle-field. In-
stantly Judge Smith arose, in great apparent agitation, made
the announcement that he had learned a hostile meeting was
in contemplation, to which some members of the convention
were parties, and he desired " to move the adoption of the
following resolution," which had been previously prepared in
due form. This resolution apparently created a great sensa-
tion, and proposed to expel any member of the convention
who would be a party to such meeting, either as principal
or second. Of course it was unanimously adopted, but the
duel was not yet off. Robinson, as he was a member of the
convention, and was disposed to conform to the resolution,
deputized J. F. Legate to act as second in his stead. Leg-
ate was in his element, and demanded a fight or an igno-
minious back-down and apology on the part of Lane. It is
needless to say the apology and back-down came to the full
satisfaction of the challenged party. This was the first and
last duel in Kansas, so far as known, although Lane had
fought a similar duel in a similar bloodless manner when
a member of Congress, and he had another afterwards with
Senator Douglas, who charged him with forgery and lying

ADOPTION OF CONSTITUTION. 179

when he presented the Topeka constitution to the Senate.
Lane always had more or less solicitude about his reputation
for valor. To vindicate his record in the Mexican war he
had written a pamphlet, which he brought with him to Kan-
sas. No one seemed to care about such matters except
himself, but he evidently thought much ado about his honor
and courage was necessary to secure the confidence of the
people.

Notwithstanding the slate-making, political harangues and
duel, the convention completed its labors in about two
weeks, and the members departed to their respective homes.
Bank law and black law provisions were attached, to be voted
upon separately, and all factions were harmonized. On the
whole, the convention was a grand success. The constitu-
tion itself was nothing remarkable, but answered all purposes
for which it was made. Nothing could be more satisfactory
than the interest it elicited among politicians. The Topeka
State government in embryo had greater attractions for office-
hunters than a full-fledged territorial government with officers
appointed at Washington. Especially were the conservatives
held as with hooks of steel, as they only would be eligible
to office, the radicals having been already politically buried
by common consent and with their own approval. They
were safe to oppose the bogus Territorial Legislature and laws
from principle, while the conservatives might need some
other attraction than a mere free State. Hon. T. Dwight
Thacher, who came to Kansas in 1857, in his address at the
Quarter Centennial at Topeka, said : " If the question be
asked what useful purpose the Topeka constitutional move-
ment subserved, the obvious answer is that it served as a
nucleus, the rallying point, the bond of union of the Free-
State party during the most trying and dangerous period of
our territorial history. Without it the Free-State forces must
have drifted, been demoralized, and probably beaten. The
prospects of success were sufficiently flattering to supplement
the Free-State cause with the personal ambition of a large

l8o THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

number of able men who would be called to official position
under it."

This constitution was to be voted for or against on De-
cember 15, 1855, and, if adopted, State officers and a Legis-
lature were to be elected January 15, 1856.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE MURDER OF DOW. THE WAKARUSA WAR. MURDER

AND BURIAL OF BARBER.

THE unanimity with which the constitutional movement
was endorsed by the Free-State men of all shades and fac-
tions gave good cause for alarm to the Slave-State party.
" Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," and the indiffer-
ence shown to the Territorial Legislature and its laws was the
most terrible punishment that could be inflicted upon the in-
vaders. War would be infinitely preferable to such a peace.
Here were all the men of character and influence in the
Territory except Stringfellow and a corporal's guard of his
satellites adhering to the State movement. The Herald of
Freedom, Tribune, Free State, Freeman, and all other Free-
State journals were harmonized and earnestly at work. Then
there were the correspondents of the Eastern press. The
battle-field was the nation, and no step in advance could be
taken in Kansas that would not be sustained in the North
and East ; and there was no way to reach the people except
through the papers read by them. At this time, when the
constitution was framed or soon after, a corps of correspond-
ents was found in Kansas unexcelled if equalled elsewhere.
There was William A. Phillips, who must be admitted to
have been the leader of them, not only on account of his
ability and activity, but because of the great influence and
power of the paper for which he wrote, the New York Tri-
bune. No paper at that time had such influence with the
masses of the people, the industrial classes, as the Tribune,

1 82 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

and no man could speak with such authority as Horace
Greeley. Equal in importance was the Missouri Democrat,
published in the enemy's country. It is doubtful if Kansas
could have been saved from the grasp of the invaders but for
the hot shot poured into Atchison, Stringfellow and Company
by this paper. James Redpath, the fearless, indomitable
friend of the oppressed of all colors and all climes, was its cor-
respondent. Neither he nor Phillips allowed any incident to
escape attention, and if every outrage by the invaders and
their accomplices was not so presented as to have the great-
est possible effect upon readers, it was not for lack of will,
but of ability ; and if any one had more ability in that line
than these young correspondents, he had not appeared in
Kansas. Other papers, perhaps of less circulation, had
equally earnest, able, and efficient correspondents. There
was Hutchinson, of the New York Times, S. C. Smith, S. F.
Tappan, Ladd, Hinton, and Realf, of several New England
and other papers, as well as many occasional correspondents.
Besides correspondents, educators went among the people
in person and preached the doctrine of salvation to Kansas
from outrage. Thayer, of course, was always in the field,
and his equal as the preacher of a crusade has not been seen
since the time of Peter the Hermit. Reeder, Pomeroy, and
Branscomb made raids in different parts of the country and
struck most effective blows.

Another agency must not be forgotten. The churches
and clergy of the North and East enlisted with zeal in the
work of raising men and means for the cause of free Kansas.
As people would no longer take stock in the Aid Company
as a business venture, the churches and people subscribed
from considerations of patriotism or philanthropy. Hun-
dreds of ministers were made stockholders by contributions
from their churches, and a considerable amount of money
was thus raised. Emigration revived in consequence of this
agitation, and means were sent forward. Four aid com-
panies' steam mills, of not less than twenty-five horse power

MURDER OF DOW. 183

each, landed at Kansas City, in the month of August, 1855.
In short, if public sentiment was any criterion, the bogus
territorial government was in a most precarious condition,
and something must be done. What should it be ? If pos-
sible, this carcass must be galvanized into life, and, also, if
possible, these hated and once despised, but now feared,
Free-State men must be brought in conflict with Federal
authority and officials. As the Free-State men would do no
wrong nor break any law, it was difficult to make a case.
The most that could be charged to them was refusal to use
the territorial machine, and denunciation and repudiation of
the fraud. Not only by word of mouth, but in print through
every Free-State paper, the settlers in the most emphatic and
pointed terms defied and disowned the enactments of the so-
called Legislature. By the time of the adjournment of the
constitutional convention, in October, the bogus government
had become a by-word and reproach, a stench in the nostrils
of almost all the people. It was under these circumstances
that a case was made to order.

A pro-slavery man named Coleman killed a Free-State
man named Dow at a place fifteen miles south of Lawrence,
called Hickory Point, on Wednesday, November 21, 1855.
The pretended reason for the killing of Dow by Coleman
was a claim dispute, but the murder was evidently prear-
ranged. Dow went to a blacksmith shop to have some work
done, where he met some pro-slavery men. One of these
had a wordy quarrel with Dow and threatened death with a
musket, but did not fire. On his way home Coleman ap-
peared, shot Dow with slugs, and left him to die alone in
the middle of the road.

This murder caused intense excitement in the neighbor-
hood, extending to Lawrence. A meeting of citizens was
held at the place of the murder on the 26th, and resolutions
adopted denouncing the outrage in fitting terms. In the
night after this meeting, the bogus sheriff, Jones, appeared
with a posse of fifteen men at the house of Mr. Branson, the

184 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

landlord of Dow, and in a violent and insulting manner took
him away. The news of this arrest spread rapidly, and a
force of about fifteen men gathered and intercepted the
sheriff and prisoner at the house of J. B. Abbott. Colonel
S. N. Wood, one of the rescuing party, in a letter to A.
Wattles, dated August 29, 1857, thus describes the rescue:

" DEAR SIR: You request me to give you a history of the Branson
rescue. At this late date it would be impossible for me to give you an
exact history of that affair, but with pleasure I proceed to give you
some facts connected with the rescue.

' ' Charles Dow was from Ohio, from a Democratic family, his father,
if not himself, having voted for Franklin Pierce for President. Dow
was murdered on Wednesday, November 21, 1855. News of it came
to Lawrence late Thursday evening. I felt much excited. Dow had
come from an adjoining county in Ohio, had lived at my house in Kansas,
and was a noble young man. Early Friday morning, in company with
S. C. Smith, I drove to Hickory Point. We found that Coleman and
others, charged with the murder of our friend, had fled to Missouri.
Dow had just been buried, and a meeting agreed upon for Monday, the
26th. With the promise of attending said meeting we returned to
Lawrence. Monday, the 26th, again went to Hickory Point. S. F.
Tappan was also present. Found a meeting already organized. S. N.
Wood was appointed a committee to question witnesses. Some pro-
slavery men attended said meeting. The testimony clearly indicated
that Dow had been murdered, not out of personal feelings, but on
account of his principles, and that others were to meet the same fate,
in hopes thus of harassing the Free-State men, and to frighten us all
out of Kansas. All parties present deprecated the murder. One hun-
dred men or more attended the meeting, and a unanimous determina-
tion was manifested to stop such murders. A committee on resolutions,
of which S. N. Wood was chairman, presented a few resolutions regret-
ting the outrages and resolving to do all in their power to search out
the guilty parties and bring them to justice. The meeting lasted until
almost sundown. Much feeling was manifested against Coleman, and
a strong disposition exhibited to burn his house, which stood near.
Three or four men broke down the door, rushed in, emptied a straw
bed upon the floor, and fired it. S. C. Smith, S. N. Wood, and others
rushed into the house, smothered the flames, clearing the house, and
amid the greatest excitement, some crying, ' Burn the house,' and others
interceding to save property. S. N. Wood jumped upon the fence and
said murder, pillage, and arson were the peculiar avocations of our ene-
mies, that houses were too scarce to be burned, and that this meeting

RESCUE OF BRANSON. 185

must not be disgraced in this way. Wood moved as the sense of the
meeting that the house be not burned, which was carried unanimously,
and the meeting quietly separated.

" I set out with J. B. Abbott to return to Lawrence. It was very
dark in the fore part of the evening. Losing our way we got belated,
but finally, about ten or eleven o'clock, found our way to Blanton, where
we were met and told that a large party of armed men had just passed
towards Hickory Point. I immediately urged the necessity of follow-
ing the party to ascertain if possible their business to Hickory Point.
We finally adjourned to Abbott's for supper. After supper fresh horses
were procured. One was sent up and down the Wakarusa to notify
the settlers, two started upon foot to raise what Free-State settlers they
could on the route and rendezvous near the old man Branson's, while
Abbott and myself went to Hickory Point. Never shall I forget that
seven miles' ride. Almost the whole distance was passed in silence.
Just as we came to the timber I turned and inquired what we should
do if we found the rascals at Branson's. Abbott replied, ' You are the
leader; just what you say.' With tightened rein, revolvers in our
hands, we galloped into the thicket, and in a moment were at the door
of Branson's. Dismounting, I hastily inquired for Branson. His
wife, an old lady, in choking accents replied, ' Twenty armed men have
got him and gone.' 'Where?' I asked. 'Towards Lawrence,' she
replied, and at the same moment said they would ' murder him,' which
I believed true, and sprang into the saddle, and to the inquiry, ' Where
are you going? ' replied, ' To save your husband or die.'

" In a few moments we were again upon the open prairie, moon up
and bright. Different paths were examined, but no signs of horses
having passed. For two long hours we galloped over the prairie from
house to house, inquiring for passing horsemen, but could get no tidings
of the party. * At last, discouraged and dispirited, fearing they had
escaped altogether, we separated, Abbott to go to our rendezvous near
Hickory Point, I to see a few more settlers and to hasten to Abbott's
house — to stop any parties of friends en route for Hickory Point. I
got to Abbott's in time to stop a party of a dozen, when we were soon
joined by Abbott, who did not wait for the men on foot. A consulta-
tion was called, and we were about sending messengers to the pro-
slavery town of Franklin for information, when all at once some one
announced, ' They are coming.' Pell-mell we rushed out of the house
and got into the road ahead of them, they halting within two rods of us.
A moment was passed in silence, when one of their party said, ' What's
up? ' Abbott asked, ' Is Mr. Branson there? ' Branson replied, ' Yes,

* It turned out that the party left the road before getting out of the timber, and
taking a circuitous route, went to a pro-slavery man's house a mile in an opposite
direction and spent two hours in drinking and carousing.

1 86 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

I am here a prisoner.' Said S. N. Wood, ' If you want to be among
your friends come over here.' Said some of the opposite party, ' If you
move we will shoot you.' Said Huffs (a Hoosier), ' Shoot and be
d — d.' Said Wood to Branson, ' Come on, let them shoot if they want
to,' and, turning to them, said, ' Gentlemen, shoot, and not a man of you
shall leave alive." Said Branson to us, 'I will do just as you say.'
All hands on our side said, ' Come on.' Branson attempted to ride
to us; he was on a mule. Says some one, 'Whose mule is that?'
' Theirs,' says Branson. ' Get off of it,' said Wood, ' and let it go.'
Branson dismounted. Wood left the ranks, kicked the old mule, and
told it to go back among its friends. Guns were aimed and cocked upon
both sides, but just as Branson left one of the opposite party lowered
his gun with the remark, ' I ain't going to shoot.' Jones then advanced
upon horseback, said his name was Jones, that he was Sheriff of
Douglas County, Kansas, that he had a warrant to arrest the old man
Branson, and he must serve it. He was told that we knew of no Sheriff
Jones ; that we knew of a postmaster at Westport, Missouri, by that
name, but knew of no Sheriff Jones. We told him that we had no
Douglas County in Kansas, and what was better, we never intended
to have. But we told him if he must arrest Branson, to go at it. Jones
still said he had a warrant to arrest him, and must do it. S. N. Wood
said he was Branson's attorney ; that if he had a warrant to arrest
him he wanted to see it, and see if it was all right. Jones said he
had it, but refused to show it. Wood asked him if it had been read
or shown to Branson. Jones admitted it had not, when he was told
that, until he produced the warrant, Branson could not go with him.
An hour at least was spent in parleying, when Jones and Company
bid our party good-night and left. Our party immediately organized.
S. N. Wood was elected captain ; S. C. Smith, lieutenant. The
following persons were present at the time the rescue took place : S.
N. Wood, J. B. Abbott, Daniel Jones, Philip Hupp, Miner Hupp,
Philip Hutchinson, Harrison Nichols, Jonathan Kenneday, Elmore
Allen, Carlos Halloway, Rev. Julius Elliot, John Smith, Edward Curias,
Wm. Mears, A. Rowley — just fifteen of us. We had eight guns and
two revolvers. I shook hands with the most and counted the opposite
party. There were fifteen of them, each with a rifle and revolver. I
made a memorandum of the above names at the time. I was the only
citizen of Lawrence engaged in the rescue. Just after the rescue took
place S. C. Smith, S. F. Tappan, L. I. Eastabrook, and A. McCaw
joined our party. A few moments afterwards Louis Farley, C. Kiser,
Rev. J. E. Stewart, F. L. Loch, and Mr. Jeminson joined the party;
S. N. Wood and S. F. Tappan still being the only two from Lawrence
present. Our party being organized, we marched five miles to Law-
rence, where we arrived about daylight."

EFFECT OF THE RESCUE. 187

That the matter was premeditated but few Free-State men
at that time doubted. The killing of Dow was not of itself
sufficient to bring on a conflict with a pretended legal officer,
but the arrest of such a man as Branson when the people
were enraged at the murder would most likely provoke a
rescue, which was the excuse desired for calling out the mili-
tia, which meant the people of Missouri. To make the
arrest the more exasperating, it was made on a warrant
issued by the National Democrat and professed Free-State
man who, as judge of election, received the votes of Mis-
sourians on the 3oth of March, namely, Hugh Cameron. He
was appointed justice of the peace by the county commis-
sioners, who were appointed by the Territorial Legislature,
which Legislature was elected by the invaders, aided and
abetted by Cameron. On arriving at Lawrence, about few-
o'clock in the morning, the rescuing party went directly to
the house of Dr. Robinson, on Oread Hill, and reported
what had been done. Robinson said that probably this
action would furnish the long-wished-for pretext for calling
out a force against Lawrence, and advised that they report
in town.

No one could doubt that the Governor would call out
the militia, ostensibly to enforce the law, but really to hu-
miliate the Free-State men and destroy Lawrence, or at
least to compel the surrender of the Sharp's and other
rifles at that place. Here, then, was the first skirmish, and
what should be done? Undoubtedly the force would be
called out by authority of the Governor, and to resist it
would be to resist Federal authority, which could not be
thought of for a moment. While the Free-State men might,
under favorable circumstances, resist the bogus local au-
thority, the moment a Federal officer appeared all were loyal
citizens of the Republic. There was nothing left to be done
but to thwart, baffle, and circumvent. If the President
chose to persist in the enforcement of the fraud of the 3oth
of March, the bona fide settlers must so conduct themselves

1 88 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

as to make it cost him more in popularity and ease than he
would gain for the cause of slavery extension. In this case
the policy should be to let the Governor call on his " dogs of
war," the more the better, and after weeks of organization,
pillage and outrage upon the inhabitants, thwart the whole
movement by having no man in sight to arrest, leaving him
nothing to do but swallow his rage and send home his
minions. The spectacle would be one that would excite
loathing, disgust, and ridicule from one end of the nation to
the other, and the Administration would suffer more in repu-
tation than by the loss of thousands of men in a pitched
battle. If the Free-State men could succeed in compelling
the Administration to raise an army of one or two thousand
men every time a peace warrant was to be served, the people
of the country at large would soon remind it that this kind
of popular sovereignty was entirely too unpopular, and
would insist that the people of the Territory should be left
free to settle their own matters in their own way, according
to the pledge of the organic act.

After the rescue the bogus Sheriff went to Franklin, a pro-
slavery settlement four miles southeast of Lawrence, and
from there sent off his dispatches. According to the testi-
mony of L. A. Prather, before the congressional committee,
the first dispatch was sent to Colonel Boone, of Westport,
Missouri, and the second to the Governor.

Robinson met the rescuers in town about six o'clock in
the morning and advised that, as Lawrence had no connec-
tion with the matter, any formal action or endorsement by
its citizens would be impolitic. To this Colonel Wood and
others readily assented, Wood saying that he would willingly
be arrested in order to test in the Supreme Court the right of
Missouri to make laws in Kansas. About nine o'clock Rob-
inson made his second visit to the town, when he found a
meeting of the citizens in progress. He was informed that
a Committee of Safety had been appointed, of which he was
a member. The committee was at once convened, and it

PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENSE. 189

decided that Lawrence had nothing to do with the affair, and
should assume no responsibility for it as a town, although no
person censured the rescuers for their action.

As the Free-State men had been accused by the Adminis-
tration of insubordination and treason, it was important that
their position should be clearly stated and published to the
world. Accordingly, one of the first acts of the Committee
of Safety was to make this statement :

" We, the citizens of Kansas Territory, find ourselves in a condition
of confusion and defenselessness so great, that open outrage and mid-
day murders are becoming the rule, and quiet and security the excep-
tion. And whereas the law, the only authoritative engine to correct
and regulate the excesses and wrongs of society, has never yet been
extended to our Territory — thus leaving us with no fixed or definite
rules of action, or source of redress — we are reduced to the necessity of
organizing ourselves together on the basis of first principles, and pro-
viding for the common defense and general security. And here we
pledge ourselves to the resistance of lawlessness and outrage at all
times, when required by the officers who may from time to time be
chosen to superintend the movements of the organization."

After several days, a Leavenworth paper containing the
Governor's proclamation was received, and the following
answer was made : " That the allegations contained in the
proclamation aforesaid are false in whole and in part ; that
no such state of facts exists in this community ; that if such
representations were ever made to Governor Shannon, the
person or persons who made them have grossly deceived him ;
and no association of lawless men armed with deadly weap-
ons has ever been formed in this community for the purpose
of ' resisting the laws of the country, trampling upon the au-
thority of its officers, destroying the property of peaceable
citizens or molesting any person in this Territory, or else-
where, in the enjoyment of their rights.' "

While the Free-State men were stating their position to the
world, and acting strictly on the defensive, the other side
was making, through the officials, the most extravagant and
reckless assertions. The surveyor-general, J. Calhoun, sent

190 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

a letter to the St. Louis Republican, which is referred to by
the Kansas City Enterprise as follows :

"AUTHENTIC NEWS FROM KANSAS.

"Under this head the Missouri Republican publishes a letter from
Hon. John Calhoun, Surveyor-General of Kansas and Nebraska, detail-
ing the events connected with the difficulties at Lawrence. From this
letter we make the following extracts ; our want of room prevents the
publishing of the whole letter.

" After giving an account of the origin of the difficulty, the killing of
Dow by Coleman, his giving himself up to the sheriff, the arrest of
Branson, the leader of the band, who had been burning down houses
and driving women and children from their houses, either by force or
threats, he then gives the following extracts of a letter from Governor
Shannon :

" ' The excitement is up in Missouri. The appeals of flying women
and children, and the belief that the abolitionists have determined to
expel the pro-slavery men from Hickory Grove, has kindled a flame
that no human power can control.'

" The Governor further adds :

" ' The time has come when these armed men must be met, and
brought into subjection to law, or surrender the Government into their
hands. I have determined to have the laws executed, and to protect
the unoffending people of the Territory from lawless violence. If not,
there is no use in a Government ; and to let these armed bands triumph
now over law would be virtually surrendering the whole Government
to them. But I can do this by the force of our own citizens, and intend
to use no others. But who can control the storm? These abolitionists
are mad. They are bringing on themselves utter ruin, and all this is
the legitimate result of their lawless, secret military associations.'

" These are the facts as they have occurred up to this time. What
to-morrow will bring forth, amid the excitement which such outrages
have produced, none can tell. Of one thing rest assured, the laws of
this Territory will be executed. That Governor Shannon will do his
full duty in the present crisis no one need doubt. * * *

" It is estimated that some sixteen dwelling houses have been burnt, all
of them in the night time, with their contents, and their occupants, men,
women, and children, driven to the prairies without shelter or protec-
tion. The leading spirit of these lawless movements is C. Robinson,
the leading spirit also of the Topeka Convention. * * * It is said
that he has at least five hundred men, armed with Sharp's rifles and
revolvers, determined to offer a forcible resistance to the execution of
the laws. He has threatened to hang Sheriff Jones, Coleman, and

CALHOUN'S STATEMENT. igi

others, as soon as he can get hold of them. Men are coming to the
aid of the Governor from all parts of the Territory. He is determined
that the laws shall be executed, and that all these offenders shall be
punished as the law directs. Yesterday he sent a dispatch to President
Pierce, asking for authority to use the military force at Fort Leaven-
worth. To-day or to-morrow he will get a reply. If he should get
permission to bring Sumner's regiment to his aid, the difficulty will be
ended without bloodshed. If not, the most serious consequences may
be apprehended.

" There is one view of Kansas difficulties which at this time deserves
serious notice. While Robinson, the leading agent of the Massachu-
setts Aid Society, the head of the Reeder faction at Lawrence, is calling
upon abolitionists and free-soilers to elect a Governor and other officers,
in violation of all law, and is leading on five hundred fanatics openly
to resist the execution of the law, and burning down dwellings and
driving women and children from their homes, the Leavenworth wing
of the Reeder faction, under the lead of Delahay and Shankland, and
Parrott, the author of the Reeder proclamation, which says all sensible
men ' scorn and repudiate ' the Territorial laws, are advertising a ' law
and order ' convention, which is to take place on next Friday at Leaven-
worth. The violators of law, the associates of Robinson and his band
of midnight desperadoes, are to have a law and order convention!
This needs no comment. The object is too transparent not to be seen
at a glance, and the ridiculous farce will fall as dead as their previous
Topeka Convention.

" Respectfully, your obedient servant,

" J. CALHOUN."

When squads and companies of armed men began to ar-
rive at Franklin and the Wakarusa, the Committee of Safety
organized the men at Lawrence, some of whom had come
from other localities, into a regiment in due form, with Lane
as Colonel, under the general supervision of Robinson, who
was given supreme control, subject only to the Committee of
Safety or council. The town became a military camp, earth-
works were thrown up and preparations for a defense made
as complete as possible. Nothing could exceed the welcome
given to the re-enforcements as they came with their Sharp's
rifles from different settlements. Cheer upon cheer would
go up till the whole town was enthusiastic. Especially was
the arrival of one hundred men well armed, from Topeka,

IQ2 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

hailed with great demonstrations of joy. The Free-State
men from Leavenworth, compelled from circumstances to be
conservative, came over to criticise the course of their more
radical Free-State brethren. But on meeting with the Com-
mittee of Safety, and learning the situation, they fully en-
dorsed the course taken by the people and joined the army
of defense. Dr. James Davis, one of the Leavenworth men,
had been to Lecompton and learned that the pro-slavery
men were determined to demand a surrender of all Sharp's
rifles at Lawrence or elsewhere, and desired to know what
could be done about it. He was informed by Robinson
that another " Missouri Compromise " would be proposed in
such a case, namely, keep the rifles and surrender the con-
tents. This would be the only surrender the people would
make, as was afterwards manifested at a public meeting-.
The Free-State men were not over scrupulous in matters im-
material, and could shape their course relative to the bogus
laws and officers as policy might dictate, but when it be-
came a question of the surrender of a constitutional right, like
the one to have arms for personal defense, no man or set of
men could influence them to yield that right. As soon as
the military organization was perfected, the Committee of
Safety was supplanted by a council consisting of all officers,
from captain up. By this council the position to be oc-
cupied was fully discussed, and all knew that it was impreg-
nable, and that no war would result unless by accident, or
in violation of orders. All could see that no Federal officer
would dare attack a city without cause, and Lawrence had
given no cause, and if all would obey orders no cause would
be given. Hence, having full faith in themselves, and in
the strength of their position, all went about their duties in
preparing for defense with cheerfulness, and general good
feeling. No demonstrations, no threats, no bullying was
seen or heard among Free-State men, and they witnessed
such conduct from Jones and other pro-slavery men with
amusement or disgust. The position of the men at Law-

FREE- STATE POSITION. 193

rence may be seen from remarks made on the 2d of De-
cember, at a meeting of the citizens, as reported in Mrs.
Robinson's " Kansas," page 122 :

" Dr. Robinson, having been called upon several times to speak,
also having been called from the hall two or three times, at last said,
in a plain way, and in brief, that ' It was a time, in his opinion, for
acting rather than speaking ; that Shannon had placed himself in a bad
situation. At his bidding all these Missourians had come over to help
him enforce the laws ; but when they come to Lawrence they will find
that nobody has broken any laws ; for the people of Lawrence are a law-
abiding people. Their real object was to destroy Lawrence; but it was
a question whether they would attempt it without some pretext ; and
before the American people Shannon would be responsible for their
conduct. Fearful of some atrocious act upon the part of his drunken
rabble, he has been compelled to remove the most of them to the camps
on the Wakarusa. They really were in a predicament. They were
afraid, and with reason, to attack Lawrence without a pretext. He had
learned, but would not vouch for its truth, that Shannon had telegraphed
to President Pierce for the troops at the forts. It was also reported
that Pierce had telegraphed back again that he might have them, and,
of course, he would get them. Of course he would disarm the people
when an invading force of drunken Missourians was almost at our doors,
and we have no protection in the government of the country. ' ( Laughter,
and cries of ' Of course.') ' Men of Lawrence, and Free-State men, we
must have courage, but with it we must have prudence. These men
have come from Missouri to subjugate the Free-State men, to crush the
Free-State movement — their pretense, that outrages have been commit-
ted. They are sustained by all the United States authorities here ; and
while they do not think it essential that a good cause for fighting be
given them, the authorities will wait at least for a plausible excuse
before commencing to shed blood. This excuse must not be given
them. Each man must be a committee of one to guard the reputation
as well as the lives of the Free-State men. If the Missourians, partly
from fear and partly from want of a sufficient pretext, have to go back
without striking a blow, it will make them a laughing-stock and re-
dound fearfully against Shannon. This is the last struggle between
freedom and slavery, and we must not flatter ourselves that it will be
trivial or short. The Free-State men must stand shoulder to shoulder,
with an unbroken front, and stand or fall together in defense of their
liberties and homes. These may be dark days, but the American people
and the world will justify us, and the cause of right will eventually
triumph.' The enthusiasm with which these remarks were received
evinced the deep feeling and determined spirit of the meeting."
13

194 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

The forbearance of the Free-State men is shown on page
1 2 5 of the same book :

" A startling incident occurred last night. One of our picket guards
was fired upon. Two of the guard were sitting together, when a party
of Missourians approached and fired six shots at them. Our men had
strict orders not to fire, unless the emergency was desperate, and so
bore the insult with remarkable prudence, and obeyed orders.

" Our people are acting strictly upon the defensive, and these provo-
cations are continually offered us to provoke a collision. They are
endeavoring to draw them from the position which all the world will
justify, that they may have a pretext for the destruction of Lawrence,
which is really the whole cause of the invasion."

For the first week of preparation the pro-slavery men
were bold and blustering, threatening the direst vengeance
against the hated town of Lawrence and all abolitionists.
Jones frequently passed through Lawrence undisturbed, as
did other pro-slavery men, no person paying much attention
to them. On one occasion Jones was asked in presence of
Robinson what he wanted ? and he replied he would let the
people know when he got ready. Pro-slavery papers in
Kansas and on the border of Missouri sounded the alarm and
called loudly for volunteers to put down the terrible rebell-
ion and wipe out once for all the hated abolitionists. Such
reports as follow were current :

" WESTPORT, November 27th.
" Hon. E. A. McClarey, Jefferson City:

" Governor Shannon has ordered out the militia against Lawrence.
They are now in open rebellion against the laws. Jones is in danger."

"(Private.) DEAR GENERAL: The Governor has called out the
militia, and you will hereby organize your division, and proceed forth-
with to Lecompton. As the Governor has no power, you may call out
the Platte Rifle Company. They are always ready to help us. What-
ever you do, do not implicate the Governor.

" DANIEL WOODSON."

" WESTON, Mo., November 3Oth.

" The greatest excitement continues to exist in Kansas. The officers
have been resisted by the mobocrats, and the interposition of the militia
has been called for. A secret letter from Secretary Woodson to Gen-
eral Eastin has been written, in which the writer requests General

ORDERS FROM GOVERNOR SHANNON. 195

Eastin to call for the rifle company, at Platte City, Missouri, so as not
to compromise Governor Shannon. Four hundred men from Jackson
County are now en route for Douglas County, K. T. St. Joseph and
Weston are requested to furnish each the same number. The people of
Kansas are to be subjugated at all hazards."

In addition to his proclamation declaring the Free-State
men in rebellion, Governor Shannon sent this order to Gen-
eral Richardson:

" HEADQUARTERS, SHAWNEE MISSION, K. T.,

" November 27, 1855.
" Major-General William P. Richardson :

" SiR: Reliable information has reached me that an armed military
force is now in Lawrence, and that vicinity, in open rebellion against
the laws of this Territory, and that they have determined that no process
in the hands of the Sheriff of that county shall be executed. I have
received a letter from S. J. Jones, Sheriff of Douglas County, informing
me that he had arrested a man under a warrant placed in his hands,
and while conveying him to Lecompton he was met by an armed force
of some forty men, and that the prisoner was taken out of his custody,
and defiance bid to the laws. I am also duly advised that an armed
band of men have burnt a number of houses, destroyed personal prop-
erty, and turned whole families out of doors in Douglas County. War-
rants will be issued against these men and placed in the hands of the
Sheriff of Douglas County for execution. He has written to me
demanding three thousand men to aid him in the execution of the pro-
cess of law.

" You are, therefore, hereby ordered to collect together as large a
force as you can in your division, and repair without delay to Lecomp-
ton and report yourself to S. J. Jones, Sheriff of Douglas County,
together with the number of your forces, and render him all the aid and
assistance in your power in the execution of any legal process in his
hands. The forces under your command are to be used for the sole
purpose of aiding the Sheriff in executing the law, and for no other
purpose.

" I have the honor to be your obedient servant,

" WILSON SHANNON."

A similar order was sent to General Strickler.

General Eastin, editor of the Leavenworth Herald, both
through his paper and otherwise, sought to arouse the Slave-
State men. He sent out the following appeal :

196 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

"TO ARMS! TO ARMS!!

"It is expected that every lover of Law and Order will rally at
Leavenworth on Saturday, December I, 1855, prepared to march at
once to the scene of the rebellion, to put down the outlaws of Douglas
County, who are committing depredations upon persons and property,
burning down houses and declaring open hostility to the laws, and have
forcibly rescued a prisoner from the Sheriff. Come one, come all!
The laws must be executed. The outlaws, it is said, are armed to the
teeth, and number 1000 men. Every man should bring his rifle and
ammunition, and it would be well to bring two or three days' provision.
Every man to his post, and to his duty.

" MANY CITIZENS."

Governor Shannon, as has been seen, wrote John Calhoun,
who published it in the St. Louis Republican, that " the time
has come when these armed men must be met and brought
into subjection to law. * * * If not there is no use in
a government. * * * But I can do this by the force of
our own citizens, and intend to use no other. Who can
control the storm? These abolitionists are mad. They are
bringing on themselves utter ruin, and all this is the legiti-
mate result of their lawless secret military associations."

Survey or- General Calhoun himself says : " Of one thing
rest assured, the laws of this Territory will be executed."

So much for the first week of the invasion. Governor
Shannon's proclamations and letters, and the bluster of
others, intended to raise the wind for the purpose of serving
a peace warrant, threatened to raise not only a whirlwind,
but a cyclone, and they began to call upon the rocks and
mountains to hide them from the impending wrath. L. J.
Eastin, brigadier-general of militia, and editor of the Leav-
enworth Herald, who had been so bold and aggressive, sends
this to Governor Shannon : " Information has been received
here direct from Lawrence, which I consider reliable, that
the outlaws are well fortified at Lawrence with cannon and
Sharp's rifles, and number at least 1000 men. It will there-
fore be difficult to dispossess them. The militia in this por-
tion of the State are entirely unorganized, and mostly without

SHANNON CALLS FOR HELP. 197

arms. I suggest the propriety of calling upon the military
at Fort Leavenworth. If you have the power to call out
the Government troops, I think it would be best to do so at
once. It might overawe these outlaws and prevent blood-
shed."

Governor Shannon, who was so confident that he could
put down this rebellion with the " force of our own citizens,"
and who declared to Calhoun that he should "use no
others," now sent this dispatch to Colonel Sumner, dated
December 6th :

" WAKARUSA, December 6, 1855.
" Colonel Sumner, First U. S. Cavalry:

" SIR : I send you this special dispatch to ask you to come to Law-
rence as soon as you possibly can. My object is to secure the citizens
of that place, as well as others, from a warfare which, if once com-
menced, there is no telling where it will end. I doubt not you have
received orders from Washington, but if you have not, the absolute
pressure of this crisis is such as to justify you with the President and
the world in moving to the scene of difficulty. It is hard to restrain
the men here (they are beyond my power, or at least, soon will be)
from making an attack on Lawrence, which, if once made, there is no
telling where it will terminate. The presence of a portion of the United
States troops at Lawrence would prevent an attack, save bloodshed, and
enable us to get matters arranged in a satisfactory way, and at the same
time secure an execution of the laws. It is peace, not war, that we
want, and you have the power to secure peace. Time is precious —
fear not but that you will be sustained.

' ' With great respect,

"WILSON SHANNON."

He also sent to Jones :

" The known deficiency in arms and all the accoutrements of war,
which must necessarily characterize the law-abiding citizens who have
rushed to your assistance in the maintenance of order, will invite re-
sistance from your opponents, who are well supplied with arms. It
would be wrong, therefore, to place your men in a position where their
lives would be endangered when we shall, in all probability, have an
ample force from Leavenworth in a few days."

Sheriff Jones did not want to be hampered by Govern-
ment troops, knowing very well that he had no case at Law-

198 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

rence that Sumner would recognize as authorizing his action,
and he wrote the Governor as follows :

" CAMP AT WAKARUSA, December 3, 1855.
" His Excellency Governor Wilson Shannon:

" SIR : In reply to your communication of yesterday, I have to inform
you that the volunteer forces now at this place and Lecompton are get-
ting weary of inaction. They will, I presume, remain but a short time
longer, unless a demand for the prisoner is made. I think I shall have
a sufficient force to protect me by to-morrow morning. The force at
Lawrence is not half so strong as reported. I have this from a reliable
source. If I am to wait for Government troops, more than two-thirds
of the men now here will go away very much dissatisfied. They are
leaving hourly as it is. I do not by any means wish to violate your
orders, but I really believe that if I have a sufficient force it would be
better to make the demand. It is reported that the people of Lawrence
' have run off ' those offenders from that town, and indeed it is said that
they are now all out of the way. I have writs for sixteen persons who
were with the party that rescued my prisoner. S. N. Wood, P. R.
Brooks, and Samuel Tappan are of Lawrence, the balance from the
country around. Warrants will be placed in my hands to-day for the
arrest of G. W. Brown, and probably others in Lawrence. They say
they are willing to obey the laws, but no confidence can be placed in
any statements they may make.

" No evidence sufficient to cause a warrant to be issued has as yet
been brought against these lawless men who fired the houses. I would
give you the names of the defendants, but the writs are in my office at
Lecompton.

" Most respectfully yours,

" SAMUEL J. JONES,
" Sheriff of Douglas County."

Anderson followed suit with this letter to General Rich-
ardson :

"Major-General William P. Richardson:

" SIR: I have reason to believe from rumors in camp, that before
to-morrow morning the black flag will be hoisted, when nine out of ten
will rally around it, and march without orders upon Lawrence. The
forces of Lecompton camp fully understand the plot, and will fight
under the same banner.

' ' If Governor Shannon will pledge himself not to allow any United
States officer to interfere with the arms belonging to the United States
now in their possession, and in case there is no battle, order the United

FREE-STATE MEN SPEAK. 199

States forces off at once and retain the militia provided any force is
retained, all will be well, and all will obey to the end, and commit no
depredations upon private property in Lawrence.

" I fear a collision between the United States soldiers and the volun-
teers, which would be dreadful.

" Speedy measures should be taken. Let me know at once — to-night
— and I fear it will then be too late to stay the rashness of our people.
" Respectfully yonr obedient servant,

" J. C. ANDERSON."

The council at Lawrence sent the following to the Gov-
ernor, who was still at the Shawnee Mission :

"To his Excellency, Wilson Shannon,

' ' Governor of Kansas Territory :

" SIR : As citizens of Kansas Territory, we desire to call your atten-
tion to the fact that a large force of armed men from a foreign State
have assembled in the vicinity of Lawrence, and are now committing
depredations upon our citizens, stopping wagons, opening and appro-
priating their loads, arresting, detaining, and threatening travellers
upon the public road, and that they claim to do this by your authority.
We desire to know if they do appear by your authority, and if you will
secure the peace and quiet of the community by ordering their instant
removal, or compel us to resort to some other means and to higher
authority."

(Signed by committee.)

This must have been a revelation to the Governor, as it
was intended to be. Here was no appeal for mercy or par-
don for crimes committed, no cry for help in time of distress,
and no cringing of slaves to a master, but a stern demand of
rights from citizens to an official servant. This message was
taken to the Governor by two young men through the lines
of the enemy camped at Franklin and on the Wakarusa.
It was a most hazardous mission, as they had to encounter
drunken men as well as sentinels nearly the whole distance.
Their names are G. P. Lowry and C. W. Babcock, and well
did they execute their trust. They reached the Governor in
safety, and the interview is thus described by Lowry in his
testimony before the congressional committee, as reported
on page 1079 :

200 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

" We got to Shawnee Mission a little after sunrise, and presented
our letter to Governor Shannon, and he read it, as it was very short,

and then we conversed upon the affairs here.

*******

" Governor Shannon said he would answer the letter, and we went
out while he was doing so. When we returned we had a long conver-
sation concerning these affairs. He said there had been sixteen houses
burned here by Free-State men, and women and children driven out of
doors. We told him we were sorry that he had not taken pains to
inquire into the truth of the matter before he had brought this large
force into the country, which, perhaps, he could not get out again ; and
that his information was wholly and entirely false, as nothing of the
kind had happened. We told him of what we knew, of our personal
knowledge, of men from Missouri there; and he was not inclined to
admit, at first, that there was anybody from Missouri there. He made
a general argument against the Free-State men, and quoted their
resolutions, passed at different meetings, in regard to the Territorial
laws. We explained to him that the Territorial laws had nothing to do
with this case ; that we were getting ready at Lawrence to fight for our
lives, and the only question was, whether he would be particeps criminis
to our murder, or the murder of somebody else, should we be all
slaughtered. We explained to him that the rescue upon which he based
his proclamation took place a number of miles from Lawrence ; that
there were but three persons living in Lawrence who were alleged to
have had anything to do with it, and that they had left the town, and
were not there at all ; that from what we could judge of the intentions
of the force at Wakarusa, at Lecompton, and in the country about, from
their own declarations, they intended to destroy the town for a thing in
which they had had no part or parcel.

" We took our individual cases as instances that we had not been
present at the rescue ; that we did not undertake to have any sympathy
with it, or talk about it at all ; but that if we were to submit to the force
which he had called in, all our throats would be cut together — the
innocent and guilty, if there were any guilty. He then denied that
these Missourians were here by his authority ; that he had anything to
do with them, or was responsible for them. He said he had communi-
cation with Colonel Sumner, of Fort Leavenworth, and had sent an
express for him to meet him that night at Delaware Ferry, and go with
him to the camp on the Wakarusa. He said he should go to Lawrence
and insist upon the people agreeing to obey the laws, and delivering up
their Sharp's rifles. We denied his right, or the right of anybody else,
to make such a condition of a community, or make any such demand of
them, until it had been shown that they had resisted the laws, which
they had not done; that there had been as yet no proceedings in Law-

SHANNON'S EYES OPENED. 2OI

rence under the Territorial laws, and he had no right to presume that
there would be any resistance to them when they were instituted. He
gave up that point after some argument. I asked him, then, why he
insisted upon the giving up of Sharp's rifles, and if he meant to demand,
too, Western rifles, shot-guns, and other arms. He said he did not
intend to demand other than Sharp's rifles, but should demand them
because they were unlawful weapons. After some time he then said
they were dangerous weapons ; to which I agreed. I then told him, if
he had any such idea in his head as that, he had better stay away and
let the fight go on, as I thought the thing was not feasible, as he would
do no good by coming here if those were his terms. I told him he
might as well demand of me my pocket-book or my watch, and I would
resent the one no more than the other. I told him I did not consider
myself safe, or that General Robinson or Colonel Lane would be safe,
in going before our men with any such proposition. He then gave us
the letter he had written, and we started for Kansas City to change
horses."

Although Governor Shannon, before the same committee,
contradicted some of the testimony of Lowry, he got his
eyes opened by the message and interview sufficiently, at
least, to see "men as trees walking," and he hastened to the
encampment of his army of invasion or occupation. After
conferring with the high officials in command, he sent to
Lawrence, as previously arranged, for an escort to visit that
town. On arrival he and his friends were introduced to the
council and others, after which a consultation was held with
Robinson and Lane, who had been authorized to represent
the citizens. Governor Shannon needed no new facts or
arguments, but at once confessed his mistake. He had mis-
understood the situation, admitted there was no cause to
attack Lawrence, and that no crime or violation of law had
been committed in the town. His only solicitude was to get
his army to their homes without bloodshed. He did not
claim that he had a right to disarm the people, although his
army would demand the Sharp's rifles. On being assured
that no such demand would be listened to by the people of
Lawrence, he did not press it. He had sent a messenger to
Colonel Sumner, and expected his arrival in a short time. He

202 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

deemed it important to announce no conclusion of the con-
ference till the next day, when Sumner would certainly be
present with United States troops. An adjournment was
had accordingly. In the meantime each party was to pre-
pare a written statement that might assist the Governor in
reconciling his army to return without wiping out Lawrence,
as intended and promised by Jones and company. The
next day the Governor returned, but there was no Colonel
Sumner or United States troops in sight. The drafts for a
treaty or agreement were considered, and one finally approved
by both parties. It reads as follows :

" WHEREAS, There is a misunderstanding between the people of
Kansas, or a portion of them, and the Governor thereof, arising out of
the rescue, near Hickory Point, of a citizen under arrest, and some
other matters ; and whereas a strong apprehension exists that said mis-
understanding may lead to civil strife and bloodshed ; and whereas it is
desired, by both Governor Shannon and the people of Lawrence and
vicinity, to avert a calamity so disastrous to the interests of the Terri-
tory and the Union, and to place all parties in a correct position before
the world :

" Now, therefore, it is agreed by the said Governor Shannon, and
the undersigned people of Lawrence, that the matter in dispute be set-
tled as follows, to wit :

" We, the said citizens of said Territory, protest that the said rescue
was made without our knowledge or consent, but, if any of our citizens
were engaged, we pledge ourselves to aid in the execution of any legal
process against them ; that we have no knowledge of the previous, pres-
ent, or prospective existence of any organization in the said Territory
for resistance against the laws, and that we have not designed, and do
not design, to resist the legal service of any criminal process therein,
but pledge ourselves to aid in the execution of the laws, when called on
by proper authority, in the town or vicinity of Lawrence, and that we
will use all our influence in preserving order therein ; and we declare
that we are now, as we ever have been, ready at any time to aid the
Governor in securing a posse for the execution of such process : pro-
vided that any person thus arrested in Lawrence or vicinity, while a
foreign force shall reman in the Territory, shall be duly examined before
a United States District Judge of said Territory in said town, and ad-
mitted to bail ; and provided, further, that Governor Shannon agrees to
use his influence to secure to the citizens of Kansas Territory remu-
neration for any damages sustained, or unlawful depredations, if any such

MURDER OF BARBER. 203

have been committed by the Sheriffs, posse in Douglas County ; and,
further, that Governor Shannon states that he has not called upon per-
sons resident of any other State to aid in the execution of the laws, and
such as are here in this Territory are here of their own choice ; and that
he has not any authority or legal power to do so, nor will he exercise
any such power, and that he will not call on any citizen of another State
who may be here. That we wish it understood that we do not herein
express any opinion as to the validity of the enactments of the Territorial
Legislature.

(Signed), " WILSON SHANNON,

" C. ROBINSON,
" J. H. LANE."

The people of Lawrence were willing to help the Governor
out of his scrape as much as possible without compromising
their attitude towards the territorial fraud, the Legislature.
That there might be no quibbling as to the meaning of the
terms of the agreement relative to territorial laws, Robinson
added the last sentence to the document.

This was a most critical juncture. The Governor was
terribly in earnest to effect a settlement, while the pro-slavery
leaders, represented by Jones and the ultra men, were as de-
termined that Lawrence should be attacked. The day before
the arrival of the Governor at Lawrence, two men, G. W.
Clark, Indian agent, and Mr. Burns, left their party, which
was going from Lecompton to Franklin, and wantonly and
without provocation killed Thomas Barber, a Free-State man,
on his way from Lawrence to his home. Also the guard
was frequently fired upon with a view to bring on a conflict.
In one instance only was the fire returned, and that was
when Coleman, the murderer of Dow, passed down the road
on a mule and fired upon the guard. The return shot hit
the mule, but not the rider. Governor Shannon was visibly
affected when, on going up-stairs to the council-room, he saw
the dead body of Barber stretched upon a bench, dressed as
he had fallen from his horse, and with eyes apparently staring
at the stairway, and the moans of the widow, as they were
heard from another room, were not consoling to his feelings.

204 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

Probably the Administration at Washington was divided
by the same influences that operated in Kansas. Governor
Shannon telegraphed the President on the 3d of December
for permission to use the troops at Fort Leavenworth. He
was answered that he might use them. He sent this answer
to Colonel Sumner, and he at first promised to respond, but
on reconsideration of the matter he concluded to await an
order from the War Department before moving. This order
never came.

As Jeff Davis was the head of this department, and as he
probably desired a conflict of the militia or posse with the
citizens, and knew that the presence of United States troops
would prevent it, he declined to send the order, as authorized
by the President.

In his desire to reconcile his force to a back-down, Gov-
ernor Shannon had arranged, before going to Lawrence on
his second visit, to have a joint meeting of the opposing lead-
ers. Accordingly he desired a delegation from Lawrence to
accompany him to Franklin and meet with the captains of
the militia. Lane and Robinson complied with his request.
At the meeting in an unfinished building, Governor Shannon
led off with an explanation of the settlement, giving the posi-
tion occupied by the citizens of Lawrence. After him Colonel
Lane attempted to speak, but his opening so offended the
thirteen militia captains that they started to leave the room,
saying they did not come there to be insulted. Governor
Shannon begged of them to remain and hear Dr. Robinson.
Lane did not proceed, and Robinson, in a few words, ex-
plained the action of the people of Lawrence, saying that no
attempt had ever been made to serve any process in the town,
legal or otherwise, by any officer, real or pretended. Jones
was appealed to by a militia officer to know if Robinson told
the truth. Jones replied that he did. Then, the response
about the room was, " We have been damnably deceived."
As to the Sharp's rifles, Robinson appealed to them to say if
they would, as American citizens, submit to be deprived of

INTERVIEW OF LEADERS. 205

the constitutional right to bear arms, or if they would respect
any people who would thus submit ? The leading men saw
their predicament, and said, " Boys, it is no use, they have got
us ; we can do nothing this time," and the conference ended
with a pressing invitation to remain to supper. This Lane
and Robinson, as it was getting dark, and a strong north-
west wind had risen, with heavy sleet, tried to decline. But
they said that Governor Shannon and party had dined with
Robinson, and no refusal would be accepted. When supper
was over, it was so dark no object was visible, and the sound
of the horses' hoofs upon the hard road was the only guide
to the travellers. A solitary horseman started to escort the
visitors through the lines, but he proceeded only about one
hundred yards, when he said good-night and left his charge
to get by the guards as best they could. At this Lane said to
Robinson, " Hurry up, this means assassination ; they mean
to kill us," and started his horse upon the run. Franklin is
situated on the old California road, and the first valley west
of it is the place where the ox had its leg twisted on Sunday
in 1849, and brought on the lively discussion of the Sabbath
question. Deep gullies had been washed in the road at this
point, causing travellers to turn sharply to the right to avoid
them. As Robinson was on the left, his horse ran into one
of these gullies, while Lane's escaped. The horse fell with
great force, and for some minutes was unable to rise. No
damage, however, was done, except the delay. This valley
is undoubtedly an unfortunate place. In 1856 a Free-State
man was killed near it, and Franklin has perished from off
the face of the earth. The night after the ratification of the
treaty of peace, and after all had retired at headquarters upon
benches and on the floor, a guard reported that three men
had driven some women out of a cabin east of town and
taken possession, and he desired to know what should be
done ? All in the room heard the report, but all pretended
to be in a sound sleep, including the officer of the day, whose
duty it was to attend to the matter. After some minutes

206 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

Deitzler, who was adjutant-general, jumped up and said,
" Damn a paper hero ; who will go with me and bring them
in?" In due time he brought in three heavily armed men,
who claimed that in the darkness and sleet they had lost
their way. In the morning, as the war was over, they were
allowed to go. It is not doubted but these men were out
for the purpose of killing the guests of the Governor and of
the captains of militia. On the next day after peace was
declared, Governor Shannon dismissed his militia and re-
turned to Lawrence, where he expressed great satisfaction at
the termination of the war. While being entertained by the
citizens of both sexes, an alarm was raised that the disbanded
forces were marching upon Lawrence, when the Governor
gave this authority to Robinson and Lane :

' ' To Charles Robinson and J. H. Lane :

" You are hereby authorized and directed to take such measures, and
use the enrolled forces under your command in such manner, for the
preservation of the peace and the protection of the persons and property
of the people of Lawrence and vicinity, as in your judgment shall best
secure that end.

(Signed) " WILSON SHANNON.

"LAWRENCE, December 9, 1855."

However, on investigation, the rumor proved to be un-
founded, the militia having left the Territory by the most
direct route.

Such was the general rejoicing at Lawrence that a peace
jubilee was held on the loth, to which the Governor and
other officials were invited, including Sheriff Jones. The
Governor excused himself, but Jones attended. Several
speeches were made, and all would have passed off pleasantly
had it not been for an attempt to excite hostility to Jones
to such a degree as to require the utmost exertion and care
to prevent his assassination.

This is but a mere outline of the Wakarusa war, so-called,
as conducted by the Free-State party. Governor Shannon,
in his testimony, said that "the posse was over 1400, as re-

POSITION OF LANE AND BROWN. 207

ported to me by General Strickler, and I suppose there were
about five hundred that had never organized themselves, or
been placed under the Sheriff."

James F. Legate testified that Jones told him not over two
hundred men in the posse were residents of the Territory,
while the remainder were from Missouri. While some regard
the result as the greatest victory, under all the circumstances,
that could have been achieved, others call it a cowardly sur-
render and disastrous defeat. Such persons single out two
men, Lane and Brown, and claim that their policy, if adopted,
would have changed defeat to victory. They proposed to take
the offensive against Federal authority instead of a defen-
sive position. Colonel Lane one night was reported to head-
quarters as about starting to attack the militia, and doubtless
would have done so had he not been threatened with arrest.
John Brown, although he did not arrive till after the negotia-
tions for peace had commenced, also proposed the same
course. Lane also tried his best to procure the killing of
Jones at the peace party, which, of course, had he been suc-
cessful, would have opened the war in earnest, as the retiring
disbanded posse or militia wanted no better excuse to attack
the town. Mrs. Ropes, who was at the peace party, in her
" Six Months in Kansas," page 143, referring to this matter,
says:

" It seemed that some of the hotel crowd were not ready to give up
the war spirit, and accept with grace the peace-offering of social inter-
course offered * * * to those who had arrayed themselves so cruelly
against us. And, although Sheriff Jones was nothing more nor less
than an officer, acting under his oath of office, he became an apple of
discord, because he was the only representative of Missouri. I have to
confess to a feeling of mortification that everybody could not at once
bridge over the rapid current sweeping between these two contending
parties, and let ' by-gones be by-gones.' But perhaps this feeling came
to the surface because I had not entered into the atmosphere of blood-
shed, and had not made the creation of ' cartridges ' the occupation of
my leisure hours. Colonel Lane's voice could be heard in different
rooms, detailing to eager listeners the most painful circumstances of
poor Barber's death, and, with wonderful ingeniousness, keeping up

208 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

the wicked spirit of vengeance among those over whom he exercised any
power, ^^7hat on earth he was driving at by such a course, it seemed
to my stupid self quite impossible to understand ; while, at the same
time, I knew very well that he aimed at something he could not other-
wise attain so well. Any reader of human faces can never study his
without a sensation very much like that with which one stands at the
edge of a slimy, sedgy, uncertain morass. If there is any good in him,
I never, with all my industry in culling something pleasant from the
most unpropitious characters, have been able to make the discovery.
And he has not, in lieu of anything better, that agreeable fascination of
manner which so often gives currency in society to men as hollow-
hearted as he. General Robinson stood like an aggrieved king. He
not only stemmed the tide, but rolled back the surging emotions of the
crowd ; and the meeting closed much more like a gathering of peace
than at one time seemed likely."

Mrs. Robinson, who was also present, in her " Kansas,"
page 155, says:

" Governor Shannon did not stay to the ' party.' When the morning
came he found his business required his attention at the mission, and
he went on his way. But ' Sheriff Jones ' was there, and there were
some there beside who did not cherish that spirit of forgiveness and
conciliation which makes man magnanimous in the treatment of an en-
emy ; and the General's party at one time came near proving anything
but a ' peace party. ' There was a spirit there full of ambition, and a
desire for office. And while the murder of young Barber was fresh in
the minds of his friends ; while the voice of poor, weak human nature
would say revenge if the right cord was touched; and while ' Sheriff
Jones,' an officer of the Territorial courts, was an invited guest of Gen-
eral Robinson, and political capital could be made ; with what wonderful
ingenuity it wrought to keep alive this spirit of revenge in their breasts!
The object was evident to all, and the indignation of many was hardly
kept within bounds. The event, however, proved but another instance
of the evil, which was intended for another, recoiling upon one's own
head."

With reference to John Brown's course, James Redpath,
in his " Life of Captain John Brown," on page 92, quotes
approvingly a correspondence in the New York Herald, as
follows :

" After Governor Robinson had stated to the people who were gath-
ered around the hotel the terms of the peace, Brown took the stand

THE VICTORY.

209

uninvited, and opposed the terms of the treaty. He was in favor of
ignoring all treaties, and such leading men as Robinson, Lane, etc.,
and, proceeding at once against the border-ruffian invaders, drive them
from the soil, or hang them if taken. The Chairman of the Committee
of Safety ordered Brown under arrest."

Here is the position taken by the Free-State men, desig-
nated by F. B. Sanborn as "dastards," and the position
tried to be taken by the two " indispensable " heroes of that
gentleman, and the reader can take his choice. It is not
easy to conjecture what greater victory the Free-State men
could gain, or what greater defeat the pro-slavery men could
suffer, than to have 1900 men march from forty to one hun-
dred and fifty miles to serve a warrant issued by a justice of
the peace and then return, after cursing, swearing, shivering
and freezing for two weeks, as they came, minus the whiskey,
without serving any process whatever, legal or otherwise. If
a more brilliant victory has ever been gained, it has not been
recorded. How many such defeats could the Administra-
tion afford in enforcing " popular sovereignty " where the
people were to be left perfectly free to settle their institutions
in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the
United States ?

And what of the Free-State men called " dastards," who
obeyed orders and suffered wrong without doing wrong ? It
is safe to say an equal number of men, with a more unflinch-
ing courage, both moral and physical, has not been seen
since the days of the Revolution. A coward can give blow
for blow, eye for eye, and tooth for tooth, but it requires
true courage to suffer wrong without retaliation that a great
cause may be advanced. The Free-State men believed that
every outrage inflicted strengthened their cause and corre-
spondingly weakened that of their opponents ; that in their
sufferings lay their strength. In this respect the Wakarusa
war, while causing great annoyance and suffering, had en-
listed the sympathies and support of the civilized world.

The conclusion of this campaign was the funeral of Bar-
14

210 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

her, who was at first temporarily buried. This funeral was
attended by all the military companies accessible, and was
most solemn and impressive. As the remarks of Dr. Robin-
son present the issue of the war, placing the responsibility
where it belonged, in his estimation, they are here given as
published in the Herald of Freedom of December 22, 1855:
"THE BURIAL OF MR. BARBER.

" General Robinson read a eulogy upon Mr. B.'s life and character.
We extract the following :

" ' The occasion which calls us together is one of deep interest and
peculiar significance to every patriot and Republican.

' ' ' Our Territory has been repeatedly invaded, and our dearest rights
trampled upon, by the citizens of a foreign State. They have taken
possession of our ballot-boxes, and by force of arms have wrested from
us the right to make our own laws and choose our own rulers, and im-
posed upon us a system of laws uncongenial to our natures and wants.
Having accomplished all this by invasion and outrage, it was but natural
to suppose that invasion and outrage would be necessary to enforce their
enactments. " Misunderstanding " the facts and the temper of the peo-
ple as well as their tactics, the Executive recently gave the signal for
another invasion, and the armed hordes responded. Our citizens have
been besieged, robbed, insulted, and murdered ; and our town threatened
with destruction for two whole weeks, by the authority of the Executive,
and, as he now says, in consequence of a "misunderstanding." A
misunderstanding on the part of an Executive is a most unfortunate
affair.

" ' Our Governor having been told that the people of Kansas did
not recognize the laws of Missouri, and were determined these laws
should be a dead letter in the Territory, unwittingly fell into the error
of supposing the people would array themselves against the Government
of the United States, evidently not understanding how a code of enact-
ments can be effectually resisted and no law violated. Had he carefully
read the early history of his country, he might have understood the
" Sons of Liberty " better than to suppose any United States law would
be violated by the people, or, if violated, that the community would be
guilty of violating it.

" ' By whose act do the remains of the lamented Thomas Barber now
await interment at our hands? By whose hand is his wife made a
widow? By whose instrumentality are we made to mourn the untimely
fall of a brave comrade and worthy citizen ? Report says Thomas Bar-
ber was murdered in cold blood by an officer or officers of the Govern-
ment, who was a member of the Sheriff's posse, which was commanded

BURIAL OF BARBER. 211

by the Governor, who is backed by the President of the United States.
Was Thomas Barber murdered? Then are the men who killed him,
and the officials by whose authority they acted, his murderers. And if
the laws are to be enforced, then will the Indian Agent, the Governor,
and the President be convicted of, and punished for, murder. There
is work enough for the " law and order " men to do, and let us hear no
more about resistance to the laws till this work is done. If all Missouri
must be aroused and the whole nation convulsed to serve a peace war-
rant on an unoffending citizen, may we not expect some slight effort
will be made to bring these capital offenders to justice? Or are our
laws made for the low, and not the high — for the poor, and not the rich?

' ' ' For the dead we need not mourn. He fell a martyr to principle ;
and his blood will nourish the tree of liberty. An honorable death is
preferable to a dishonorable and inglorious life. Such was the death of
our brother, and as such he will ever be cherished by his companions
and fellow-citizens. It is glory enough for any man that a body of
men like the Barber Guards should adopt his name to designate and
distinguish their company.

" 'To his beloved and bereaved wife, to his brothers and relatives,
to the members of his company, to all who have pledged property,
honor, and life to the cause of freedom and humanity, I seem to hear
the spirit of our departed brother say, " Be of good cheer; weep not
for me ; you are engaged in a good work, and your reward will be glo-
rious. Death is no misfortune to the true ; indeed, it is sweet to die
in defense of liberty.".

" ' But the shock produced by the murder of our friend is felt beyond

the circle of his immediate relations and friends. It has shaken the

entire fabric of our Government to its very base, and nothing but the

, unseen hand of the All-Wise Governor of the Universe could have saved

this nation from civil war and political death.

" ' It is due to the bold stand taken by the freemen of Kansas dur-
ing the late invasion that the sun of Liberty is still above the horizon ;
and cold indeed must be his heart, wherever found, that does not beat
in unison with ours as we pay the last tribute of respect to the remains
of our brother ! Can the people of this nation approve the

" ' Costly mockery of piling stone on stone?

To those who won our liberty, the heroes dead and gone,
While we look coldly on, and see law-shielded ruffians slay
The men who fain would win their own, the heroes of to-day?

"'No!

" ' Be callous as they will,
From soul to soul, o'er all the world,
Leaps one electric thrill.' "

CHAPTER IX.

RESULTS OF THE WAKARUSA WAR. A CONGRESSIONAL

INVESTIGATION.

As the "smoke of battle" cleared away, an opportunity
was offered to take a calm and unbiased survey of the field
and ascertain the gain or loss to the respective parties.

One item on the side of gain was the opening of the eyes
of the Governor to the character both of the Free-State and
of the pro-slavery men. He had heard nothing but evil of
the one, and nothing but good of the other. The Free-
State men in his estimation were a set of anarchists, made
up of the offscouring of the land, ready to overthrow any
and all government that might stand in their way, while their
antagonists were but little, if any, lower than the angels. He
undoubtedly modified both these opinions. Also he had
learned that the Free-State men were under complete con-
trol, and that no outrage, however aggravating, could discon-
cert them or drive them to take a false or untenable position.
On the contrary, the pro-slavery men were desperate and
ungovernable characters, determined to accomplish their pur-
poses though the Government and the heavens should fall.

Another item of gain was that the Governer lost faith in
his militia as a posse comitatns. Before the " war " he was
self-confident and self-sufficient. On the 28th of November
he wrote the President :

" * * * Under these circumstances the Sheriff of the county has
called on me for three thousand men to aid him in the execution of the
warrants in his hands, and to protect him and his prisoner from the
violence of this armed force. The force required by the Sheriff is far
beyond what I believe to be necessary, and indeed far beyond what
could be raised in this Territory. From five to eight hundred men will

GOVERNOR SHANNON BEFORE THE WAR. 213

be amply sufficient, I have no doubt, to protect the Sheriff, and enable
him to execute the legal process in his hands. * * *

" The time has come when this armed band of men, who are seek-
ing to subvert and render powerless the existing government, have to
be met and the laws enforced against them, or submit to their lawless
dominion. If the lives and property of unoffending citizens of this
Territory cannot be protected by law, there is an end to practical gov-
ernment, and it becomes a useless formality.

" The excitement along the border of Missouri is running wild, and
nothing but the enforcement of the laws against these men will allay it.
Since the disclosure of the existence and purpose of this secret military
organization in this Territory, there has been much excitement along
the borders of Missouri, but it has been held in check heretofore by
assurances that the laws of the Territory would be enforced, and that
protection would be given to the citizens against all unlawful acts of
this association. This feeling and intense excitement can still be held
in subordination if the laws are faithfully executed ; otherwise there is
no power here that can control this border excitement, and civil war is
inevitable. This military organization is looked upon as hostile to all
Southern men, or, rather, to the law and order party of the Territory,
many of whom have relations and friends, and all have sympathizers in
Missouri, and the moment it is believed that the laws will not furnish
adequate protection to this class of citizens against the lawless acts of
this armed association, a force will be precipitated across the line to
redress real and supposed wrongs inflicted on friends that cannot be
controlled, or for the moment resisted. It is in vain to conceal the
fact : we are standing on a volcano, the upheavings and agitations be-
neath we feel, and no one can tell the hour when an eruption may take
place. Under existing circumstances the importance of sustaining the
Sheriff of Douglas County, and enabling him to execute his process,
independent of other considerations connected with the peace and good
order of society, will strike you at once ; and to do this by the aid and
assistance of the citizens of this Territory is the great object to be ac-
complished, to avoid the dreadful evils of civil war. I believe this can
be done ; in this, however, I may be mistaken. No efforts shall be
wanting on my part to preserve good order in the Territory, and I will
keep you constantly advised of the progress and state of things here.

" I have the honor to be, your obedient servant,

"WILSON SHANNON.

"His Excellency, Franklin Pierce."

But after the " war " his tune was pitched in another key,
and he wrote the President, December n, 1855, as follows:

214 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

" EXECUTIVE OFFICE, SHAWNEE MISSION,

KANSAS TERRITORY, December n, 1855.

" SIR: In my dispatch to you of the 28th ultimo, I advised you of
the threatened difficulties in relation to the execution of the laws of this
Territory in Douglas County. The excitement which then existed con-
tinued to increase, owing to the aggravated reports from Lawrence and
that vicinity in relation to the military preparations that were being
made to attack the Sheriff and resist the execution of the law. The
excitement increased and spread, not only throughout this whole Terri-
tory, but was worked up to the utmost point of intensity in the whole
of the upper portion of Missouri. Armed men were seen rushing from
all quarters towards Lawrence, some to defend the place, and others to
demolish it. The orders I had issued to Major-General Richardson
and General Strickler had brought to the Sheriff of Douglas County a
very inadequate force for his protection, when compared with the forces
in the town of Lawrence. Indeed, the militia of the Territory being
wholly unorganized, no forces could be obtained except those who vol-
untarily tendered their aid to the Sheriff, or to Generals Richardson
and Strickler. The whole force in the Territory thus obtained did not
amount to more than three or four hundred men, badly armed, and
wholly unprepared to resist the forces in Lawrence, which amounted
at that time to some six hundred men ; all remarkably well armed with
Sharp's rifles and other weapons. These facts becoming known across
the line, in the State of Missouri, large numbers of men from that State,
in irregular bodies, rushed to the County of Douglas, and many of them
enrolled themselves in the Sheriff's posse. In this state of affairs, I
saw no way of avoiding a deadly conflict but to obtain the use of the
United States forces at Fort Leavenworth, and with that view I ad-
dressed you a telegraphic dispatch, and received on the 5th instant your
very prompt and satisfactory reply of the 4th instant, a copy of which
I immediately transmitted, by special dispatch, to Colonel Sumner, with
the request that he would accompany me with his command to the scene
of difficulty. In reply, I was informed he would immediately do so,
having no doubt that in due time proper instructions would be received
from the War Department. Information, however, which I received
from both parties convinced me that my presence was necessary to
avoid a conflict, and without waiting for Colonel Sumner, I repaired to
the seat of threatened hostilities, at the same time advising Colonel
Sumner, by special dispatch, of this movement. On my way to Law-
rence, I met a dispatch from Colonel Sumner, informing me that, upon
reflection, he had changed his determination, and that he would not
march with his command until he had received orders from the proper
department, but that he would be ready to move with his command the
moment such orders came to hand. I proceeded as rapidly as possible

GOVERNOR SHANNON AFTER THE WAR. 215

to the camp of General Strickler, on the Wakarusa, six miles east of
Lawrence, and arrived in camp about three o'clock on the morning of
the 6th instant. I found General Strickler, as well as General Richard-
son, had very judiciously adopted the policy of incorporating into their
respective commands all the irregular forces that had arrived. This
was done with the view of subjecting them to military orders and dis-
cipline, and to prevent any unlawful acts or outbreaks. The great
danger to be apprehended was from an unauthorized attack on the town
of Lawrence, which was being strongly fortified, and had about one
thousand and fifty men well armed to defend it, with two pieces of
artillery, while on the other side there was probably in all nearly two
thousand men, many of them indifferently armed, but having a strong
park of artillery. I found in the camp at Wakarusa a deep and settled
feeling of hostility against the opposing forces in Lawrence, and appar-
ently a fixed determination to attack that place and demolish it and the
presses, and take possession of their arms. It seemed to be a universal
opinion in the camp that there was no safety to the law and order party
in the Territory while the other party were permitted to retain their
Sharp's rifles, an instrument used only for war purposes. After min-
gling with all the leading men in the Wakarusa camp, and urging on
them the importance of avoiding a conflict of arms, that such a step
would light the torch of civil war and endanger the very Union itself, I
still found that there was a strong desire with all, and a fixed determina-
tion with many, to compel the forces in Lawrence to give up their arms.
Believing that such a demand would lead to a conflict which, if once
commenced, no one could tell where it would end, and seeing no way
to avoid it except by the aid of the United States forces, I again wrote
another communication to Colonel Sumner, and sent it to him by special
dispatch about three o'clock on the morning of the 7th instant, request-
ing his presence ; a copy of which I send you herewith, marked E. I
received no reply until my return to this place, after the difficulty had
been arranged. I send you a copy of this reply, marked F. Early on
the morning of the yth instant I repaired to the camp at Lawrence,
and found them busily engaged in their fortifications and in drilling
their forces, and had a full and satisfactory interview with the commit-
tee appointed by the forces in Lawrence, in relation to the impending
difficulties. * * *

" Early on the morning of the 8th, through the influence of some
leading men, I procured thirteen of the leading captains in the Wakarusa
camp to be appointed a committee to confer with a committee from the
Lawrence camp, to meet at Franklin, midway between the twc hostile
forces. I proceeded to the Lawrence camp, and returned to Franklin
in the evening with the committee, where the proposed interview took
place. This interview, which lasted for some time, resulted in produc-

2l6 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

ing a better state of feeling, and the committee from Wakarusa camp
were satisfied to retire without doing anything more, and so reported to
the army. This, with the active exertions of myself and others, pro-
duced a better feeling among the men, and by daylight on the morning
of the gth I felt I could with safety order the forces to disband, and
accordingly did so. They retired in order, and refrained from any act
of violence, but it was evident there was a silent dissatisfaction at the
course I had taken. But I felt conscious I was right, and that my
course would be sanctioned alike by the dictates of humanity and sound
policy. I returned to Lawrence on the gth, remained until the morning
of the loth, when, everything being quiet and safe, I returned to this
place. Everything is quiet now ; but it is my duty to say to you,
frankly, that I have forebodings as to the future. The militia or volun-
teer corps cannot be relied on to preserve the peace in these civil party
contests, or where partisans are concerned. A call on the militia will
generally only bring in conflict the two parties. I am satisfied that the
only forces that can be used in this Territory in enforcing the laws, or
preserving the peace, are those of the United States, and with this
view I would suggest that the Executive of this Territory be authorized
to call on the forces of the United States when, in his judgment, the
public peace and tranquillity, or the execution of the laws, may require
their assistance. Should there be an outbreak, it will most probably be
sudden, and before orders can be obtained from Washington the crisis
will have passed. I send you herewith the copies of various affidavits,
letters, etc., which will give you some information in detail touching
the subject-matter of this dispatch.

" I have the honor to be, your obedient servant,

" WILSON SHANNON.
"His Excellency, Franklin Pierce."

One item gained to the Free-State men was a knowledge
of some of their own men. While the policy of the party
was distinctly outlined by the Committee of Safety and Coun-
cil, two men of influence proved disloyal to that policy. G. P.
Lowry, in his testimony before the Congressional Commit-
tee, as reported on page 1081, said: "My impression is,
that a conspiracy of one hundred men, to leave here (Law-
rence) without orders and attack the camp on the Wakarusa,
was found out shortly after Barber was killed, and put down
by General Robinson."

It was thought best at the time, and even when the Con-
gressional Committee visited the Territory, in 1856, to say

RESULTS OF THE WAR. 217

but little about this movement or " conspiracy," and particu-
larly of its prime mover, but Lowry, being on the general's
staff, knew all about it, and that Colonel Lane was the insti-
gator. Colonel Lane in this move was to the Kansas war
what Captain Maloney was to the Sacramento riot when
about to order an attack upon a private residence, with this
difference, that Maloney was in supreme command while
Lane was not. There has always been a question as to the
motive that actuated Lane. It was well known to the lead-
ing Free-State men that at heart he preferred a slave State ;
tried to buy a slave ; said in his first public speech at Law-
rence he had as soon buy a " nigger " as a mule ; recognized
the Territorial Legislature as a legal body, and only consented
to enlist in the Free-State constitutional movement when
promised the support of the party for Senator. He was
always on intimate terms with some of the pro-slavery lead-
ers, and during the " war " had General Richardson and staff
dine with him by invitation, when their forces were laying
siege to the town and killed Barber. Whether he designed
to change the position from one of defense to one of offense,
and thus bring ruin upon the Free-State cause, or whether
he wanted to court favor with inconsiderate and exas-
perated men to secure a little political prestige, may never
be known. Fortunately for the Free-State cause he was so
well understood, and his loyalty so questioned, that he was
never implicitly trusted, and hence could not betray the
cause if he should attempt it. John Brown proclaimed his
position most emphatically as an enemy to both territorial
and national government, but was able to mislead no party
and but few individuals.

Nothing so disappointed the pro-slavery men as the fact
that they could not get the Free-State men in collision with
Federal authority. They had organized as an army with all
the " circumstance of war," and one thing only was wanting
to constitute treason, namely, that this war should be levied
against the United States. Had the Slave-State men sue-

2l8 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

ceeded in their design, the indictments for treason found the
next spring would not have been the burlesque they proved.
Then convictions and executions would have followed with
the same alacrity as against the Harper's Ferry raiders, and
with the approval of the entire nation, with scarcely an
exception. The Free-State cause would have been blotted
out as easily and effectually as was the army of twenty-one
young men who threw themselves against a United States
arsenal in 1859, under the lead of John Brown, when he
was generalissimo and commander-in-chief of his new Re-
public, with F. B. Sanborn, secretary of the Kansas Relief
Committee, furnishing the sinews of war and out of the
funds raised, ostensibly for the relief of Kansas.

Another item of gain or loss in this war was the knowl-
edge the pro-slavery men gained of their antagonists. The
despised New England paupers had all at once assumed in
their estimation the proportions of men of courage and sagac-
ity, who could not be annihilated by an oath or anathema.
This was of great benefit to them and of no detriment to
the Free-State men. But the greatest gain to the Free-State
men, and corresponding loss to their antagonists, was the
record made before the country. They had demonstrated
their courage, sagacity, and loyalty to Federal authority.
Both North arid South recognized the fact that the men
stigmatized by the border press as paupers and hirelings
were not to be trifled with, and that the Administration,
even with Jeff Davis at the head of the War Department,
had its match in strategy and management generally. Also
the marching of an army from the State of Missouri, with
war equipments taken from a United States arsenal, to serve
a peace warrant in a Territory which was to be left perfectly
free to manage its own affairs, caused general indignation in
the Northern States, in some of which resolutions were
adopted announcing that if Kansas was to be thus interfered
with by one State, all States would take a hand in the busi-
ness, even though the Union should go up in smoke. Neither

SUMMARY OF 1855. 219

was the lesson entirely lost upon the President, as will later
appear.

The Chicago Tribune said : " The Free-State men have
acted well. We like their spirit. It is of the olden time
— cool, yet resolved ; deliberate, yet wisely courageous."

The year 1855 closed with a record less bloody than its
successor. Two pro-slavery men had been killed since the
opening of Kansas to settlement, namely, Henry Davis on
November 29, 1854, and Malcolm Clark on April 30,
1855; and three Free-State men, C. W. Dow, November
2ist, Samuel Collins in November at Doniphan, and Thomas
Barber on the 6th of December, 1855. Several men had
been brutally mobbed, all Free-State, among them William
Phillips of Leavenworth, tarred and feathered, Pardee But-
ler of Atchison County sent down the Missouri on a raft,
and J. W. B. Kelly, severely beaten at Atchison.

Two elections for delegate to Congress had been held,
one on the ist of October, when General Whitfield was
voted for by the Slave-State men, and one on the gth of the
same month, when Governor Reeder was voted for by the
Free-State men. Although there was no conflict, over 800
illegal votes were cast for Whitfield, as estimated by the
Congressional Committee. These elections paved the way
for a contest in Congress which resulted in the appointment
of Howard, Sherman, and Oliver as a committee to visit
Kansas in the spring of 1856 to procure testimony concern-
ing the workings of " popular sovereignty."

On the 1 5th of December, a few days after the close of
the Wakarusa war, the election on the adoption of the To-
peka Constitution was held, resulting in 1731 votes for, and
46 votes against the Constitution; and 1287 against and
453 for free negroes. This vote on free negroes was to be
construed as instructions to the Legislature to exclude them
from Kansas by law. If not so excluded the constitutional
provision would be inoperative. This little manoeuvre was
to catch both Eastern and Western congressional votes for

220 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

admission into the Union. General Lane is entitled to full
credit for setting the trap. Besides, as a large percentage
of Free-State settlers at that time were from black law
States, and many even from Missouri and the South, it
seemed a very expedient provision, although vehemently
denounced by the no- voting, no-policy abolitionists like
Charles Stearns and John Brown.

On the 22d of December came the convention for the
nomination of State officers to be voted for on the 1 5th of
January. At this convention the Garvey House and all
other " slates " were ignored, and a ticket selected of as many
colors, politically, as Joseph's coat. Three candidates were
prominent for governor — Judge Smith, W. Y. Roberts, and
Colonel Lane. The first two claimed that each had the
pledge of Lane for his support, when, to their great discom-
fort, Lane himself was a candidate with all the appliances
of which he was master. As Lane distanced his other com-
petitors on the first heat, they were virtually out of the race,
and as those who were aware of Lane's career in Kansas,
including his attempt to take the offensive at the late war,
did not dare trust him at the head of the State movement,
a new man was agreed upon, namely, Dr. Robinson. This
name, of course, created some friction, as it always had and
probably always will. He had voted in the convention not
only for negro suffrage, but for woman suffrage also, and
would be a bitter pill for many to swallow. No one knew
this better than himself, and he would have declined the
nomination, as he would have declined the conduct of the
late war, if he could have been assured that Lane would not
wreck the Free-State cause. The ticket was declared by a
few men to be an abolition ticket, and a bolt was inaugu-
rated, resulting in the nomination of an "anti-abolition"
ticket, although five names were the same on each.

The Free State, then edited by Mr. Elliot, who never did
like Robinson or the Aid Company, and who was nominated
for State printer on the bolting ticket, opposed the ticket,

STATE OFFICERS ELECTED. 221

and placed at its mast-head the bolters' ticket, because the
first was "abolition" and the second "anti-abolition."

This was too ridiculous for even Charles Stearns, the
Garrisonian, and he wrote the Herald of Freedom y closing as
follows :

" ' Anti-abolition ticket,' forsooth! Of course, then, Mr. Elliot, one
of the principal supporters of the new ticket, must be a strong anti-
abolitionist. Well, ' the times change ' and men change with them, I
suppose ; but this same Mr. Elliot, together with myself and a few
others, one year ago strongly condemned the leading nominee of what
Mr. Elliot now terms the ' abolition ticket ' because he was not aboli-
tion enough. The Free State denounced Dr. Robinson, as well as your-
self, for taking ' conservative ground ' on the anti-slavery question, and
supported one of the nominees of the ' anti-abolition ticket ' because he
was more of an abolitionist, or anti-slavery man, than Dr. Robinson's
favorite, Mr. Fleniken ; but now Dr. Robinson is too much of an aboli-
tionist for Mr. Elliot. Verily pro-slavery has had quite an effect upon
our former redoubted champion of undiluted anti-slavery. For my
part, I shall not support the first ticket for the reason that it is not an
abolition ticket, and of course not the second, because it carries a lie on
the face of it, as I have above explained.

' ' Yours respectfully,

" C. STEARNS."

Quite an effort was made for the bolting ticket, but the
result showed for it 410 votes to 1296 for the other. This
was the death and burial of " anti-abolition " or conserva-
tism in Kansas. From that time nothing more was heard
of " black law " or " anti-abolition " ; and even Colonel Lane,
who had been the champion of this cause, became the most
radical of radicals, compelling the former radicals, like
Brown, the Speers, Deitzler, Wood, Lowry, Robinson, and
others to put on the brakes to prevent political wreck. At
this time the correspondents of the Eastern press were dis-
trustful of Lane, and no men were so active and influential
in defeating his nomination for governor as they. Espe-
cially Phillips and Redpath were untiring in their devotion
to the ticket as nominated.

The Herald of Freedom of January 19, 1856, reports a

222 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

meeting at which Colonel Lane presented a platform of
principles diametrically opposed to his Nebraska resolution in
the Constitutional Convention, and says that all the National
Democrats endorsed it. The editor adds :

' ' Kansas evidently is a healthy climate for the mind as well as body.
The sophisms of the South cannot live here. Lawrence is a pool of
Bethesda, into which, if the life-long invalid step, he is straightway made
whole. Colonel Lane, for example, who came here with the squatter-
phobia, of which he had been long and dangerously sick — having been
bitten in Congress by Nebraska bill itself — and whose unfortunate con-
stitution withstood every effort of Eastern political physicians to cure
him — is now beginning to give evidences of speedy recovery — what he
has hitherto denied — that he was deceived in imagining that squatter-
phobia is a symptom of good health. We have no doubt, if our people
take good care of him, that in less than a year he may be pronounced
politically convalescent. If Colonel Lane adopts the Republican creed,
he will make a valuable accession to the party. As yet, he has not
done so ; but he must do so ere long, if he wishes to preserve a character
for consistency."

The winter of 1855-56 was one of preparation rather than
of open demonstration. It is true, R. P. Brown, of Leaven-
worth, was most brutally murdered, at an election held at
Easton, by some drunken pro-slavery men. Brown had
been prominent in the defense of Lawrence, and was one
of the noblest men ever in Kansas. He was true as steel
and brave as a lion, and hence was feared and hated by his
opponents as were but few others. His murder was most
cowardly. Its brutality was too much for Captain Martin,
of the Kickapoo Rangers, who was at Easton and tried to
save Brown from his fate, but the mob was too drunken and
desperate to heed him or any one else. Nothing would answer
but his death, and he fell a hero and martyr in a noble
cause.

Although on the surface there was general calm, mutter-
ings of discontent, dissatisfaction, and preparation were oc-
casionally heard, as of distant thunder before a storm, during
the entire winter. Jones and the ultra Slave-State men were

WINTER OF 1855-6. 223

never satisfied with the outcome of the Wakarusa war, and
openly declared that next time they would wait till Secretary
Woodson should be acting governor, when they would have
their own way.

The Squatter Sovereign said :

" We would it were within the range of the most liberal indulgence
for us to express satisfaction with the adjustment of the difficulties
which called so large a number of the squatter sovereigns from their
firesides to encounter the inclemency of bleak December winds.
* * * Had the matter rested with Mr. Jones, the Sheriff, the result
would have been different. The criminals would have been traced to
their hiding-places, and safely secured against the audacity of a set of
God-forsaken fanatics. This would have given satisfaction, answered
the purpose of the requisition, and fulfilled the ends of justice. As it is,
base, cowardly, sneaking scoundrels will go unpunished, and be left
free to perpetrate their infamous outrages wherever they may find an
unprotected pro-slavery family."

About the time of the murder of Brown, alarms of in-
vasion from Missouri were frequent, causing some precau-
tions to be taken by the Free-State men. Colonel Blood,
in command of a squad of cavalry, visited Easton and
vicinity to quiet the fears of the settlers in that neighbor-
hood. Two dispatches were sent off to the President as
follows :

" LAWRENCE, January 21, 1856.
" To Franklin Pierce, President of U. S. A.

" SIR : We have authentic information that an overwhelming force of
the citizens of Missouri are organizing on our borders, amply supplied
with artillery, for the avowed purpose of invading this Territory, de-
molishing our towns, and butchering our unoffending Free-State citi-
zens.

" We respectfully demand on behalf of the citizens of Kansas, that
the commandant of the United States troops be immediately instructed
to interfere to prevent such an inhuman outrage."

(Signed by Lane, Deitzler, Goodin, and Robinson.)

" LAWRENCE CITY, January 23, 1856.
"To the President of the United States.

" SIR: We notified you that an overwhelming force, supplied with
artillery, were organizing on our border for the avowed purpose of in-

224 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

vading Kansas, demolishing the towns, and butchering the unoffending
Free-State citizens, and they constituting fourteen-twentieths of the en-
tire population. We earnestly request you to issue your proclamation
immediately, forbidding the invasion. We trust there may be no delay
in taking so important a step to prevent an outrage which, if carried out
as planned, will stand forth without a parallel in the world's history.

" Yours respectfully."
(Signed by Lane and Robinson.)

It was well known that a movement was contemplated
against Kansas, but the time could not be ascertained when
the forces were to march. Meetings were being held in all the
border counties, some of them delegate conventions embrac-
ing all western Missouri. One such meeting was held at
Lexington. Such was the threatening aspect that many
Free-State men became anxious for the future, and there
was danger that so man}' would leave in despair as to dis-
courage such as might remain to meet the anticipated shock.
At the time when the clouds were the most threatening a letter
was received from Eli Thayer describing a new gun he was
making of about an inch and a half calibre, which would
carry several miles as accurately as the best rifle at a shorter
range. This was to be breech-loading and with it every
officer of the enemy's forces could be picked off before the
battle should begin by the rank and file. This letter was
read and re-read to squads and individuals, and it inspired
great confidence in the drooping spirits of the despondent.
Not only would such a weapon be of great importance, but
the fact that the friends of Kansas were active in its be-
half also gave great encouragement. A report at this time
reached Kansas of a meeting held at Worcester, at which it
appeared that General Pomeroy spoke, and many leading
citizens of Worcester, among them Mr. Thayer, who offered
to give ten Sharp's rifles in advance of the guns being made
at his foundry, on condition the number should be made up
to one hundred by the other citizens. A large sum was re-
ported as pledged at the meeting. Also other- cheering news

PROCLAMATION OF THE PRESIDENT. 22 5

was received from different Northern States showing the
deep interest felt for the pioneers.

As spring approached, various rumors reached Kansas
from Washington. Governor Shannon, after the "war,"
repaired to the Capitol, where the situation might be dis-
cussed without the formality of official correspondence.
Washington letter-writers to the New York papers, such as
the Herald and Times, sent contradictory dispatches — one
day that Governor Shannon on his return to Kansas would be
instructed to arrest all the members of the State Government
should it attempt to organize on the 4th of March, as con-
templated, and the next day this report would be denied by
one stating that the President would recognize the right of
the Legislature to meet undisturbed. Such was the agita-
tion throughout the country both North and South, in some
States appropriations being proposed or made to defray the
expenses of men to be sent to Kansas, that the President
issued his proclamation as follows :

" Whereas, Indications exist that public tranquillity and the supremacy
of the law in the Territory of Kansas are endangered by the reprehen-
sible acts or purposes of persons both within and without the same, who
propose to control and direct its political organizations by force ; it ap-
pearing that combinations have been formed therein to resist the execu-
tion of the territorial laws and thus, in effect, subvert by violence all
present constitutional and legal authority ; it also appearing that persons
residing without this Territory, but near its borders, contemplate armed
intervention in the affairs thereof; it also appearing that other persons,
inhabitants of remote States, are collecting money and providing arms
for the same purpose ; and it further appearing that combinations in the
Territory are endeavoring by the agencies of emissaries and otherwise
to induce individual States of the Union to interfere in the affairs
thereof in violation of the Constitution of the United States ; and
•whereas, all such plans for the determination of the future institutions
of the Territory, if carried into execution from or within the same, will
constitute the fact of insurrection, and from without that of invasive ag-
gression, and will in either case justify and require the forcible interpo-
sition of the whole power of the general Government, as well to maintain
the laws of the Territory as those of the Union :

" Now, therefore, I, Franklin Pierce, President of the United States,
15

226 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

do issue this my proclamation, to command all persons engaged in un-
lawful combinations against the constituted authority of the Territory of
Kansas, or of the United States, to disperse and retire peaceably to
their respective abodes, and to warn all such persons that an attempted
insurrection in said Territory, or aggressive intrusion into the same,
will be resisted, not only by the employment of the local militia, but
also by that of any available force of the United States ; to the end of
assuring immunity from violence and full protection to the persons,
property, and civil rights of all peaceful and law-abiding inhabitants of
the Territory. If in any part of the Union the fury of faction or fa-
naticism, inflamed into disregard of the great principles of popular sov-
ereignty, which, under the Constitution, are fundamental in the whole
structure of our institutions, is to bring on the country the dire calamity
of an arbitrament of arms in that Territory, it shall be between lawless
violence on one side and conservative force on the other, wielded by legal
authority of the general Government.

" I call on the citizens, both of adjoining and of distant States, to ab-
stain from unauthorized intermeddling in the local concerns of the Ter-
ritory, admonishing them that its organic law is to be executed with
impartial justice ; that all individual acts of illegal interference will incur
condign punishment, and that any endeavor to interfere by organized
force, will be firmly withstood.

" I invoke all good citizens to promote order by rendering obedience
to the law; to seek remedy for temporary evils by peaceful means ; to
discountenance and repulse the counsels and the instigations of agitators
and disorganizers, and to testify their attachment to their pride in its
greatness, their appreciation of the blessings they enjoy, and their de-
termination that republican institutions shall not fail in their hands by
co-operating to uphold the majesty of the laws and to vindicate the
sanctity of the Constitution.

" In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the
seal of the United States to be affixed to these presents.

" Done at the City of Washington, eleventh day of February, one
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, and of the Independence of the
United States, the eightieth.

" By the President. " FRANKLIN PIERCE.

" W. L. MARCY, Secretary of State."

Governor Shannon also was clothed with authority to call
on the officers at Fort Leavenworth whenever he might think
best.

Most frantic appeals were made to the South to furnish

SOUTHERN APPEAL.

227

men and money for the conflict, and widely circulated, both
North and South. The Springfield, 111., Journal, makes
this reference to them :

" In the National Intelligencer of a recent date, we find published a
circular from the Kansas Emigration Society of Missouri, addressed to
the people of the Southern States, some of the statements of which are
well worthy the consideration of the people of the North. After direct-
ing ' the attention of the people of the slave-holding States to the abso-
lute necessity of immediate action on their part,' and the adoption of
prompt and decisive measures in relation to the settlement of Kansas
Territory, the circular makes the following acknowledgment :

" ' The western counties of Missouri have for the last two years been
heavily taxed, both in money and time, in fighting the battles of the
South. Lafayette County alone has expended more than $100,000 in
money, and as much more in time. Up to this time the border counties
of Missouri have upheld and maintained the rights and interests of
the South in this struggle unassisted, and not unsuccessfully. But the
abolitionists, staking their all upon the Kansas issue, and hesitating at
no means, fair or foul, are moving heaven and earth to render that beau-
tiful Territory a " Free State."

" ' Missouri, we feel confident, has done her duty, and will still be
found ready and willing to do all she can, fairly and honorably, for the
maintenance of the integrity of the South. But the time has come when
she can no longer stand up single-handed, the lone champion of the
South, against the myrmidons of the entire North. It requires no fore-
sight to perceive that if the " higher law " men succeed in this crusade,
it will be but the commencement of a war upon the institutions of the
South, which will continue until slavery shall cease to exist in any of
the States, or the Union is dissolved.

" ' The great struggle will come off at the next election, in October,
1856, and unless the South can at that time maintain her ground, all
will be lost. We repeat it, the crisis has arrived. The time has come
for action — bold, determined action. Words will no longer do any good ;
we must have men in Kansas, and that by tens of thousands. A few
will not answer. If we should need ten thousand and lack one of that
number, all will count nothing. Let all, then, who can come do so at
once. Those who cannot come must give their money to help others to
come. There are hundreds of thousands of broad acres of rich lands,
worth from $5 to $20 per acre, and open to settlement and pre-emption
at $1.25 per acre. Shall we allow these rich lands and this beautiful
country to be overrun by our abolition enemies? We tell you now,
and tell you frankly, that unless you come quickly, and come by thou-
sands, we are gone. The elections once lost are lost forever.' "

228 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

The State Legislature assembled on the 4th of March,
1856, according to the provision of the Constitution, with-
out interruption. Both Houses were organized, a message
was delivered, and Reeder and Lane elected United States
Senators. A codifying committee was appointed to prepare
bills for future action, when the Legislature adjourned to the
4th of July, 1856, after adopting a memorial to Congress
asking for admission into the Union as a State.

The constitution and memorial were taken to Washington
by Senator elect Lane and delivered to General Cass of the
Senate and Daniel Mace of the House. Galusha A. Grow
prepared a bill for the admission of Kansas into the Union
which passed the House July 3, 1856, by a vote of 99 to
97, but it failed to pass the Senate.

The committee to visit Kansas in the interest of the con-
test for the seat of territorial delegate was appointed March
19, 1856, consisting, as before stated, of Messrs. Howard
and Sherman, Republicans, and Oliver of Missouri, Demo-
crat. They arrived in Kansas on the i8th of April and
proceeded to take testimony relative to the troubles in the
Territory previous to their appointment. The committee,
after taking a large volume of testimony, reported as follows :

"MAJORITY REPORT.

" Your committee report the following facts and conclusions as es-
tablished by the testimony :

"First. That each election in the Territory, held under the organic
or alleged territorial law, has been carried by organized invasion from
the State of Missouri, by which the people of the Territory have been
prevented from exercising the rights secured to them by the organic
law.

"Second. That the alleged Territorial Legislature was an illegally
constituted body, and had no power to pass valid laws, and their enact-
ments are therefore null and void.

"Third. That these alleged laws have not, as a general thing, been
used to protect persons and property, and to punish wrong, but for un-
lawful purposes.

"Fourth. That the election under which the sitting delegate, John
W. Whitfield, holds his seat, was not held in pursuance of any valid

COMMITTEE'S REPORT. 229

law, and that it should only be regarded as the expression of the choice
of these residents who voted for him.

" Fifth. That the election under which the contesting delegate, An-
drew H. Reeder, claims his seat, was not held in pursuance of law, and
that it should be regarded only as the expression of the resident citi-
zens who voted for him.

"Sixth. That Andrew H. Reeder received a greater number of votes
of resident citizens than John W. Whitfield for delegate.

"Seventh. That in the present condition of the Territory a fair elec-
tion cannot be held without a new census, a stringent and well-guarded
election law, the selection of impartial judges and the presence of
United States troops at every place of election.

"Eighth. That the various elections held by the people of the Ter-
ritory preliminary to the formation of the State Government have been
as regular as the disturbed condition of the Territory would allow ;
and that the constitution passed by the convention held in pursuance of
said elections embodies the will of a majority of the people.

"As it is not the province of your committee to suggest remedies for
the existing troubles in the Territory of Kansas, they content themselves
with the foregoing statement of facts.

" All of which is respectfully submitted. " w A TTnwAun

" JOHN SHERMAN."

" MINORITY REPORT.

" In conclusion, the undersigned begs to report the following facts
and conclusions, as he believes established by the testimony and sanc-
tioned by law :

"First. That the first election held in the Territory under the or-
ganic act, for delegate to Congress, General John W. Whitfield received
a plurality of the legal votes cast, and was duly elected as such delegate,
as stated in the majority report.

"Second. That the Territorial Legislature was a legally constituted
body, and had power to pass valid laws, and their enactments were
therefore valid.

"Third. That these laws when appealed to have been used for the
protection of life, liberty, and property, and for the maintenance of law
and order in the Territory.

"Fourth. That the election under which the sitting delegate, John
W. Whitfield, was held was in pursuance of valid law, and should be
regarded as a valid election.

"Fifth. That as said Whitfield, at said election, received a large
number of legal votes without opposition, he was duly elected as a
delegate in this body, and is entitled to a seat on this floor as such.

230 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

"Sixth. That the election under which the contesting delegate,
Andrew H. Reeder, claims his seat, was not held under any law, but
in contemptuous disregard of all law, and that it should only be re-
garded as the expression of a band of malcontents and revolutionists by
the House.

"Seventh. As to whether or not Andrew H. Reeder received a
greater number of votes of resident citizens on the gth than J. W.
Whitfield did on the ist of October, 1855, no testimony was taken by
the committee, so far as the undersigned knows, nor is it material to
the issue.

" All of which is respectfully submitted.

" M. OLIVER."

The House voted to declare the seat vacant by no yeas
to 92 nays, neither admitting Whitfield nor Reeder.

CHAPTER X.

THE MARSHAL'S INVASION OF LAWRENCE, MAY 21, 1856. —

SHOOTING OF JONES. AN OFFICIAL RIOT. ARREST OF

ROBINSON. PROTEST TO PRESIDENT. REEDER'S ESCAPE.

ANOTHER scene in the tragedy called "popular sover-
eignty " was to be enacted in the spring of 1856. This was
to be a second edition of the Wakarusa war, with only a
change of scene and characters. The Free-State men had
no new moves to make, as their policy had already been
adopted, and they had only to hold their ground and fill
the Territory with Free-State voters and have them in readi-
ness for the election of a Territorial Legislature to be held
in 1857. In the meantime they had only to "thwart,
baffle, and circumvent " the Slave-State party in establishing
slavery in Kansas by means of the legislation resulting from
the invasion of the 3oth of March, 1855. As in the fall of
1855, so now, the game on the Slave-State side was to get
the Free-State men pitted against Federal authority. Gen-
eral Whitfield wrote to his friend Clark, who shot Barber,

as follows:

" WASHINGTON, ist March, 1856.

" MY DEAR CLARK: I assure you I have not forgotten our mutual
friend, Dr. Rodrique. I have sent him seeds, documents, etc. One
thing you perhaps are not aware of, that two-thirds of the seeds are
stolen, and having to pass through that Hell Hole (Lawrence) it is rea-
sonable to suppose that nearly all are stolen there. Say to the Doctor
that his name is on my special list. Clark, you have no idea of the work
I have to do in addition to my labors as delegate. I must confess that
Reeder and his army of abolitionists give me some trouble. I have
thrown him twice, and I think I will give him another tip. I feel cer-
tain they have despaired of his getting a seat, and only hope to send the
election back. The last move is to send for persons and papers ; one
object is to pay his army of abolitionists that he has here. I think,

232 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

though, he will be defeated, and a commissioner will be sent out. If
so, I will get S. F. Woodson and others to take depositions. I have
labored hard every day since I left Kansas to induce Southern men to
go to Kansas, and I have strong hopes that we shall have a large emi-
gration. Our friends should meet and appoint committees in every town
to attend to them on their arrival.

" Shannon is with you, I hope, before this, with full and ample
power to put down the abolitionists in the Territory. We think here
that Mr. Pierce comes up to the scratch nobly. Your humble servant
is charged with figuring in getting up the message. One thing certain,
Clark, if they attempt to fight Uncle Sam's boys, the ball is open, and
civil war is inevitable. If so, you will see me in Kansas. You can
command me here at any and all times.

" Yours truly,

" J. W. WHITFIELD."

" One thing certain, Clark, if they attempt to fight Uncle
Sam's boys, the ball is open, and civil war is inevitable."

Yes, yes! But fortunately the Free-State men were as
well aware of this fact as Whitfield, and there was more
prospect of getting the Slave-State men in collision with
Uncle Sam's boys than the Free-State men, unless by acci-
dent or disregard of orders.

The preliminary skirmish was by " Sheriff " Jones, who
appeared at Lawrence, April igth, to arrest S. N. Wood, who
had returned from the East where he had been lecturing on
Kansas affairs. Wood was to be arrested as one of the
Branson rescuers. Although at first submitting to an arrest,
the bystanders good-naturedly jostled him away from Jones,
leaving the Sheriff to return to Lecompton without his pris-
oner. The next day, Sunday, he returned with additional
writs, and called for a posse to enable him to serve them.
But the citizens were desirous of attending church, or were
otherwise inclined, and proved very inefficient as a posse.
However, Jones seeing S. F. Tappan, another Branson res-
cuer, somewhat roughly attempted to arrest him, when Tap-
pan struck him in the face. This answered every purpose,
and Jones called upon Governor Shannon as aforetime for
assistance. Shannon promptly furnished a lieutenant and

SHOOTING OF JONES. 233

six United States soldiers. With these Jones again visited
Lawrence, but not to meet with resistance. The soldier's
uniform was a safe passport in any Free-State community.
However, such as did not desire arrest were invisible and
no one seemed to know where they were, or if so, would
not tell. Wood, especially, was not found, and Jones con-
cluded to spend the night at Lawrence in the officer's tent.
Some person, in violation of the policy and wishes of the
Free-State party, shot Jones in his tent, the ball striking him
between the shoulders. This was a very impolitic act, and
was just what was wanted to arouse the Slave-State party
to the highest pitch of enthusiasm for their cause. Their
papers announced that Jones had been killed in the hated
town of Lawrence, and war had already commenced. The
people held a meeting and denounced the outrage in severe
terms, and offered a reward of $500 for the arrest and pun-
ishment of the criminal. The following correspondence will
show how the matter was viewed by Colonel Sumner and
the public :

" HEADQUARTERS FIRST CAVALRY,

" CAMP NEAR LAWRENCE, April 27, 1856.

" SIR: As there are no municipal officers in the town of Lawrence,
I think proper to address you before returning to my post. The recent
attempt made upon the life of Sheriff Jones will produce great excite-
ment throughout the Territory and on the Missouri frontier, and I con-
sider it of the utmost importance that every effort should be made by
your people to ferret out and bring to justice the cowardly assassin. It
is not too much to say that the peace of the country may depend on it,
for, if he is not arrested, the act will be charged by the opposite party
upon your whole community. This affair has been reported to Wash-
ington, and whatever orders may be received will be instantly carried
into effect. The proclamation which requires obedience to the laws of
the Territory as they now stand until legally abrogated, will certainly
be maintained, and it is very unsafe to give heed to people at a distance
who counsel resistance. If they were here to participate in the danger,
they would probably take a different view of this matter.
" I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

" E. V. SUMNER,

" Colonel First Cavalry Commanding.
" To Mr, Charles Robinson,''1

234 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

" REPLY.

" LAWRENCE, K. T., April 27, 1856.

" SIR: Your note of this morning is received, and in answer permit
me to say that the cowardly attack upon Mr. Jones receives no counte-
nance whatever from the citizens of Lawrence, but, on the contrary,
meets with universal condemnation, and if the guilty party can be found,
he will most certainly be given over to justice. It is and has been the
policy of the people of Lawrence to yield prompt obedience to the laws
and officers of the Federal Government, and as Mr. Jones was acting
with the authority of that Government on the day of the assault, the
guilty party was an enemy to the citizens of Lawrence no less than a
violator of the laws. The people of Lawrence are without any organ-
ized municipal government, and consequently no person or persons can
speak or act officially for them, but from what I know of their feelings
and disposition, I have no hesitation in saying that they will ever be
found loyal citizens of the Government, and ready to do all in their
power to maintain the laws of their country. As an evidence of the
public sentiment of this community, I enclose a copy of the proceedings
of a public meeting held on the morning after the unfortunate affair oc-
curred. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

" CHARLES ROBINSON.

" Colonel E. V. Sttmner."

Although Jones was not fatally injured he was disabled for
a time, and his duties devolved upon Deputy Sheriff Salter.

After this, preparations on a more elaborate scale were
made to subdue the hated rebels. The District Court was
held the second week in May, and Chief Justice Lecompte
foreshadowed the plan in his charge to the jury. Among
other things he said :

" This Territory was organized by an act of Congress, and so far its
authority is from the United States. It has a Legislature elected in
pursuance of that organic act. This Legislature, being an instrument of
Congress by which it governs the Territory, has passed laws. These
laws, therefore, are of United States authority and making, and all who
resist these laws resist the power and authority of the United States,
and are therefore guilty of high treason. Now, gentlemen, if you find
that any person has resisted these laws, then you must, under your
oaths, find bills against them for high treason. If you find that no such
resistance has been made, but that combinations have been formed for
the purpose of resisting them, and individuals of notoriety have been
aiding and abetting in such combinations, then must you find bills for
constructive treason."

TREASON INDICTMENT. 235

As Lane and Brown had failed to use the force at Law-
rence against the Federal, or any other authority, no treason
could be discovered ; and as the force at Lawrence was
organized for purely defensive purposes, not even construct-
ive treason could be successfully charged. This charge to
the jury was conclusive evidence of the programme, and the
trap was ingeniously set, but it was in full view of the bird
to be caught and proved to be in vain. The plan was well
laid. As treason was supposed not to be a bailable offense,
an indictment would enable them to place in confinement
all such persons as were not wanted to run at large. Ac-
cordingly, Reeder, Deitzler, G. W. Brown, G. W. Smith,
Gaius Jenkins, and Robinson were indicted, and all but
Reeder, who escaped in disguise, shut up or confined on the
prairie. Lane and S. N. Wood were also indicted, but not
arrested. As the plan was to bring the Free-State men in
conflict with " Uncle Sam's boys," and as Wood had led the
rescue of Branson, and Lane and John Brown tried to lead
an attack upon the Governor's militia, they were supposed
to be of more use running at large than in confinement.
All the men arrested, except, perhaps, Robinson, were cool,
sagacious, and conservative, and could not be driven to take
a false position. The same is true of S. N. Wood, though
the Slave-State men did not know that fact. But before
any indictments were found, the Free-State men were put in
possession of the purposes of their opponents and hence
were not taken unawares. James F. Legate, one of the
Grand Jury, met Howard and Sherman of the Congres-
sional Committee, and Reeder and Robinson, at or near
Tecumseh, and divulged the plan as foreshadowed in the
Grand Jury room. This plan contemplated the indictment
not only of those active in the defense of Lawrence for
treason, but of all persons connected with the State Gov-
ernment, whether State officers or members of the Leg-
islature. Such as resided in Douglas County were to be in-
dicted by the jury then in session, and the others would be

236 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

indicted when the court should convene in Shawnee County,
where the Legislature had met and organized. The night
after receiving this information Howard, Sherman, Reeder,
Roberts, Mrs. Sherman, Mrs. Robinson, and Robinson held
a " council of war " in the Garvey House, which continued
till nearly daylight. A full and free discussion of the situ-
ation was had and this conclusion reached, namely, that in
the execution of the plan of the Slave-State men there was a
possibility of a geneal conflict of arms ; that should it be
impossible to avoid such conflict without a surrender of the
Free-State cause, it must be met, and if met the Free-State
men should take issue rather in defense of the State organiza-
tion than offensively against the territorial. In view of such
a contingency it would be necessary to have the sympathy
and aid of the people of the Northern States, and they must
be informed of what might occur. It was decided at this
council that Robinson was the proper person to send East
to visit the governors and other sympathizers ; and, as there
had been no law passed by the State Legislature that could
be used in such contingency, it was decided that if it were
thought necessary to use the State Government, Lieutenant-
Governor Roberts should convene the Legislature before the
court should sit in Shawnee County, that militia, habeas cor-
pus and such other laws as might be needed should be passed.
Robinson would complete his mission and return at the con-
vening of the Legislature. He was desired also to carry
with him the testimony already taken by the Congressional
Committee as there was great danger that it might be seized
and destroyed. As no indictments had yet been found by
the Grand Jury, no interference was anticipated with Rob-
inson, at least before his return. Accordingly, he started
on his mission the gth day of May, with Mrs. Robinson,
without concealment or disguise. But a general pro-slavery
convention had been held at Lexington not long before,
where doubtless the plan of campaign had been matured,
and it was there known that Robinson was to be indicted,

ARREST OF ROBINSON. 237

if he had not already been, and he was arrested on pretense
of being a fugitive from justice. It happened in this wise.
Having spent one night in consultation at Topeka with the
Congressional Committee ; another at Lawrence in consul-
tation with leading Free-State men, and a third at Kansas
City with Kersey Coates, as soon as Robinson could get to
his state-room on the steamboat, anticipating no interference
of any kind, he improved the occasion for a sound sleep.
He was thus occupied when on arriving at Lexington he
was aroused by loud raps at the door of his room. On
opening it he was confronted by some gentlemen, who in-
formed him they were appointed a committee to notify him
that he must leave the boat at that place. On inquiring of
them the name of the place and why he must stop there, he
was told that the place was Lexington, and the people had
understood he was a fugitive from justice. Robinson said
he had heard of no indictment as yet found, that he had
been openly in the Territory and was going to the States on
business and not as a fugitive. On being told that a large
number of people were on the boat and drinking freely at
the bar, Robinson desired to address them, as he was sure
he could satisfy them they had no business to interfere with
him. To this the committee decidedly objected, as the mob
would not listen to reason from any one, much less from
him. It appearing that force would be used if necessary,
Robinson referred the matter to Mrs. Robinson, whether to
use such means of defense as he had — one revolver — or go
with the committee, when she promptly replied, " They will
kill you if you go, and you may as well make a stand
here." But the committee assured her that no harm should
come to her husband, they would pledge their honor and
lives if need be for his protection, if he would go with them ;
when Mrs. R. withdrew her objection, and both left the boat,
avoiding the crowd at the bar. The landing was covered
with people, but there was no disturbance, and the prisoners
with their baggage were taken to Judge Sawyer's, who was

238 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

afterwards a member of Congress. He had resided in Fitch-
burg, Massachusetts, where he had studied law, and treated
his prisoner more like a prince than a fugitive from justice.
At night a boat came down the river and remained till morn-
ing. A gentleman on board, learning that a man by the
name of Robinson was held as prisoner in Lexington, called
at Judge Sawyer's place to see him. On being admitted he
proved to be Dr. R. H. McDonald, the " Vinegar Bitters "
man, now a millionaire, who was the physician of Sacra-
mento County in 1850, and extracted the ball from Robin-
son's body when he was shot in the squatter riot of that
year. His first salutation was, "Well, it is you, sure
enough ! When I heard a man with your name was a pris-
oner I thought it must be you, as you are always in some
scrape."

As Mrs. R. was not regarded as a fugitive from justice,
or labor, she was permitted to go on her journey, taking
with her the testimony of the committee.

Judge Sawyer informed his prisoner that two men from
the country tried one day to get up a mob to lynch him,
but when it was proposed to turn Robinson into the street
against these two men with the same kind of weapons they
should have, they subsided and nothing more was heard of
lynching.

As no indictment had been found against Robinson, he
was held in Lexington about a week while messengers could
go to Lecompton for an indictment, and to the Governor of
Missouri with a requisition from Governor Shannon after it
should be found by the Grand Jury, which could furnish any
indictment to order on short notice. In this case it was for
usurpation of office on account of having been elected Gov-
ernor under the State constitution. The treason indictment
came later.

At length, the Deputy United States Marshal Preston
appeared at Lexington, armed and equipped with requi-
sition, posse, revolvers, and conveyance. The route by land

ARRIVAL AT WESTPORT. 339

instead of river was taken, and soon Westport was reached,
where a halt was made. Soon after entering the hotel, the
prisoner was called upon by W. H. Russell, a lawyer who
was employed in California by the squatters in their land
conflicts. He was now a resident of Missouri, had heard of
the arrest of a man by the name of Robinson, and called to
see if it was his old client indicted for murder, etc., in
Sacramento. He was ready to be employed again if de-
sired, and engaged in the case. One question he wished to
ask. He said there was a man by the name of Hayes now at
Westport who had some slaves taken from him in California
on a writ of habeas corpus by a man named Robinson. He
was very bitter, and swore that if the prisoner was that Rob-
inson he would shoot him on sight. Russell desired to
know the facts, and if the prisoner had nothing to do with
the matter he would like to know it. Robinson informed
him that while in California he had nothing to do with
such a case, but had heard of a man of the same name with
a family who was connected with the freeing of some slaves.
However, Hayes proposed to investigate the matter for
himself, and took his position at the foot of the stairs as the
prisoner descended for his dinner. No demonstration, how-
ever, was made except a mutual stare as the dining-room
was entered. At Westport, Robinson sent for Colonel Ker-
sey Coates, and retained him as attorney. From him Robin-
son learned the situation at Lawrence, which had not yet been
entered by the Marshal's posse of eight hundred men. On
his way East Colonel Coates had given Robinson the result
of an interview with a man connected with the Blue Lodges,
and at Robinson's request had imparted that information to
the people at Lawrence, with the advice that under no cir-
cumstances should Federal authority be resisted. Here,
with proper caution, was an opportunity for gaining a grand
victory. If the United States Marshal, or any other officer
under sanction of the Federal authority, would enter Law-
rence unresisted and execute such writs as were in contem-

240 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

plation, it would be a victory against the bogus laws and
officials, including the President of the United States, that
could not be achieved by a hundred battles and the killing
of thousands of men. The infamy would be unparalleled,
and the more wanton and extensive the outrage, the greater
the victory to the Free-State cause. Colonel Coates agreed
fully with this view.

Governor Shannon, in a letter to the Secretary of State, gave
his view of the rebels and the rebellion in part as follows :

" I herewith transmit a certified copy, marked No. 8, of evidence
that was elicited by the Grand Jury of Jefferson County, at their last
term, in relation to a secret, oath-bound military organization, which
exists in this Territory. It will be perceived that it is different and
much more dangerous than the one which was exposed some time since.
I have satisfactory information that this secret organization exists in
the East, and that by means of the signs and grips the new emigrants
from the East are enabled to recognize their fellow-members in this
Territory to whom personally they are unknown. I am now able to
state, upon reliable information, the whole plan of resistance to the ter-
ritorial laws and their execution, which has been adopted by those who
pretend to deny their validity. This plan is well understood and sup-
ported by a dangerous, secret, oath-bound organization of men who, it is
believed, from the manifestations and threats already made, will be un-
scrupulous as to the use of means to accomplish their objects. The
plan is this : whenever an officer, whether United States marshal, sheriff,
or constable, shall attempt to execute a writ or process issued under
any territorial law, aided and assisted by a posse of United States troops,
he is to be evaded, but not openly resisted. Should an attempt be made
by any officer to execute any writ or process issued under the laws of
this Territory, unaided by a posse of United States troops, he is to be
resisted by force at all hazards. There is a determined purpose to carry
out this programme, regardless of all consequences, and the country is
filled with armed men, the greater portion of whom have recently arrived
in the Territory, ready to carry out this plan by force of arms. It will
be obvious to the President that, if every officer of the Government
charged with the execution of legal process, issued under, and to enforce
the territorial laws, is compelled to call on a military posse of United
States troops to aid in executing the law, that the territorial Govern-
ment will be practically nullified. It will be impossible to collect the
taxes assessed for county or territorial purposes if this plan of resistance
should be successful.

SHANNON TO MARCY. 241

" Indeed, the people of the Territory will not submit to it without an
attempt at least to enforce the laws against all. There is now in the
town of Lawrence an arsenal well supplied with all the munitions of
war, which have been purchased in the East and secretly introduced into
that place. They have ten pieces of artillery, at least one thousand
stand of Sharp's rifles, and a large supply of revolvers. There are said
to be about five hundred men in the town of Lawrence at this time who
refuse to submit to the territorial laws, and who openly declare that no
officer shall execute any process issued under these laws without being
resisted by force. A large portion of the country people who took an
active part with the citizens of Lawrence in the difficulty last fall seem
to hold themselves entirely aloof from the difficulties with which we are
now threatened, and are now open in their denunciations of C. Robin-
son and his party. But the recent emigrants from the East (with some
exceptions, of course) seem determined to provoke a civil conflict. The
law-and- order party of the Territory so far seem determined, on the
other hand, to avoid this calamity. But it is in vain to conceal the fact
that we are threatened on all sides with most ' serious difficulties, and
that a dangerous crisis is rapidly approaching. Sheriff Jones had a very
extensive acquaintance not only in this Territory, but also in the border
counties in Missouri, where he formerly resided, and was universally
respected and esteemed as a high-minded, honorable, and brave man.
The dastardly attempt to assassinate him while in the discharge and for
the performance of his official duties, connected with the threats openly
made of assassination against others, and the firm conviction in the pub-
lic mind that this is a part of a settled policy, to be carried out through
the agency of a secret order or organization, have already produced
strong feeling of excitement throughout the whole country, which is
rapidly on the increase, and it is difficult to see at this time where it
will end. Large parties, both from the North and South, are daily
arriving with pre-existing prejudices and hostile feelings, which will
greatly increase the difficulty of preserving the peace of this Territory.
' ' I have the honor to be your obedient servant,

" WILSON SHANNON.
Hon. W. L. Marcy.

While the statements relative to secret organizations and
arms and men at Lawrence are greatly exaggerated, the pur-
pose on the part of the Free-State men to thwart and baffle
territorial officials unaided by Federal authority, so as to
make the bogus enactments a dead letter, is correctly stated.
The object was not only to prevent any advantage to slavery
from being gained by the usurpation, but, by compelling

16

242 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

a resort to United States troops, or United States militia
or marshal's posse to serve every warrant, however trifling,
to hold the fraudulent government up to the contempt
of all people, and so to harass the Administration that it
would be glad to get out of the difficulty by insuring or
permitting a fair election for the next Legislature, to be
chosen in the fall of 1857. It was thus immaterial how
many printing presses, hotels, and bridges were indicted
and destroyed, or how many men should be killed in the
operation, so that the responsibility could be placed upon
the Federal authority. Of course, the destruction of life
and property under any circumstances, would be a misfort-
une to such as might suffer, but every such outrage would
react against the usurpation with more force than a pitched
battle. In fact, could the Administration plead the least
armed resistance to Federal authority, the justification of the
officers would be complete, and the reaction would be
against the Free-State men. This was, in one sense, a state
of war, but unlike any other war known to history, inasmuch
as the more outrages the people could get the Government
to perpetrate upon them, the more victories they would gain,
and this simply because the field of battle embraced the
entire country, and the chief victories at this stage were to
be moral, political, and national.

To show what desperate efforts were made by the officials
to exasperate the Free-State men, and drive them to take
position against Federal authority, the following memorial
is given, as sent to the President, setting forth the whole
case from the settlers' point of view. But two things were
done which might as well have been omitted ; one was the
expression, " we make no resistance to the execution of the
laws, national or territorial." Had they stopped at the
word "laws" leaving every person at liberty to reject as
laws the bogus enactments, the expression would have been
generally endorsed. Also, the voluntary delivery of the
howitzer to Jones was uncalled for and did no good. With

MEMORIAL TO PRESIDENT. 243

these exceptions the memorial is a representative docu-
ment :

" MEMORIAL TO THE PRESIDENT FROM INHABITANTS
OF KANSAS.

"To his Excellency Franklin Pierce, President of the United States.

" SIR: The undersigned residents of Kansas Territory, and a com-
mittee of the citizens of the town of Lawrence and vicinity, appointed
to represent to your Excellency the insufferable wrongs which they are
called upon to endure at the hands of territorial officials, and to petition
for redress and prevention of the same.

" The statements made in this communication are of facts mostly
within our personal knowledge, and all of them we are prepared at any
time to substantiate by testimony conclusive and unimpeachable.

" The first of the recent great outrages on the town of Lawrence of
which we complain is the following proclamation of the United States
Marshal of Kansas Territory :

" ' PROCLAMATION.

" ' To the People of Kansas Territory :

" ' Whereas, certain judicial writs of arrest have been directed to me
by the First District Court of the United States, etc., to be executed
within the County of Douglas ; and, whereas, an attempt to execute them
by the United States Deputy Marshal was violently resisted by a large
number of citizens of Lawrence ; and as there is every reason to believe
that any attempt to execute these writs will be resisted by a large body
of armed men :

" ' Now, therefore, the law-abiding citizens of the Territory are com-
manded to be and appear at Lecompton as soon as practicable, and in
numbers sufficient for the proper execution of the law.

" ' Given under my hand, this nth day of May, 1856.

" ' I. B. DONELSON,
" ' United States Marshal for Kansas Territory.'

" The allegations contained in this proclamation are untrue in fact,
as well as grossly unjust in effect to the people of Lawrence.

" A demonstration has been made by the Deputy Marshal towards
the arrest of ex-Governor Reeder, while here in attendance on the Con-
gressional Committee ; but as the latter demurred to the legality of the
process, and denied the jurisdiction, the attempt was not made. This
was a circumstance involving no violence on the part of the citizens of
Lawrence ; as no posse was called for by the official, it is clear that they
can in no way be held accountable for any of its results. No actual

244 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

effort to arrest any person in Lawrence had been made by the Marshal
previous to this proclamation.

" At this time, there were in the Territory many hundreds of men
who had entered it in organized companies from Southern States, actu-
ated by an avowed political purpose, and proclaiming a deadly hostility
to the town of Lawrence. These men were immediately enrolled in the
Marshal's posse, and supplied by the Governor with arms belonging to
the United States, and intended for the use of the territorial militia.
All the facts warrant the belief that it was the intention of the Marshal,
by this proclamation, to justify this misuse of these national arms, and
to give, as far as possible, to the outrages being perpetrated by these
companies, the sacred sanction of the law. Without this sanction it
was known that these outrages would be resisted by any and all means
of defense in the power of an indignant, and not yet enslaved people.
This posse of the Marshal was further increased by accessions from the
neighboring State of Missouri, and supplied from the same source with
several pieces of artillery. Camps were formed at different points along
the highways and on the Kansas River, and peaceful travellers subjected
to detention, robbery, and insult. Men were stopped in the streets and
on the open prairie, and bidden to stand and deliver their purses at the
peril of their lives. Cattle, provisions, arms, and other property were
taken wherever found, without consent of the owners. Men were
choked from their horses, which were seized by the marauders, and
houses were broken open and pillaged of their contents.

" Resistance to these outrages was followed by further violence, and
in some cases by the most wanton and brutal sacrifice of life. The pas-
sage of the United States mail was frequently interrupted, and exam-
inations made in defiance of law. In the border counties of Missouri,
citizens of Lawrence were seized without warrant, conveyed to the va-
rious camps, and there subjected to detention and unlawful trial, accom-
panied by threats of immediate death.

" In the meantime these alarming demonstrations have excited appre-
hension in the community, and a letter was sent to the Governor as fol-
lows :

" ' LAWRENCE CITY, May n, 1856.

" ' DEAR SIR: The undersigned are charged with the duty of com-
municating to your Excellency the following preamble and resolution,
adopted at a public meeting of the citizens of this place at seven o'clock
last evening, viz. :

" ' Whereas, We have the most reliable information from various
parts of the Territory, and the adjoining State of Missouri, of the or-
ganization of guerilla bands, who threaten the destruction of our town
and its citizens : therefore,

" ' Resolved, That Messrs. Topliff, Hutchinson, and Roberts consti-

MEMORIAL.

245

tute a committee to inform his Excellency, Governor Shannon, of these
facts, and to call upon him, in the name of the people of Lawrence, for
protection against such bands by the United States troops at his dis-
posal.

" ' All of which is respectfully submitted,

" ' Very truly, etc.,

'"C. W. TOPLIFF,
" ' W. Y. ROBERTS,
" ' JOHN HUTCHINSON.
"' His Excellency Wilson Shannon, Governor of Kansas Territory.''

" This letter drew forth the following reply:

" ' EXECUTIVE OFFICE, LECOMPTON, K. T., May 12, 1856.

" ' GENTLEMEN: Your note of the nth instant is received, and in
reply I have to state that there is no force around or approaching Law-
rence except the legally constituted posse of the United States Marshal
and Sheriff of Douglas County, each of whom, I am informed, has a
number of writs in his hands for execution against persons now in Law-
rence. I shall in no way interfere with either of these officers in the
discharge of their official duties.

" ' If the citizens of Lawrence submit themselves to the territorial
laws, and aid and assist the Marshal and Sheriff in the execution of pro-
cess in their hands, as all good citizens are bound to do when called on,
they, or all such, will entitle themselves to the protection of the law.
But so long as they keep up a military or armed organization to resist
the territorial laws, and the officers charged with their execution, I shall
not interpose to save them from legitimate consequences of their illegal
acts.

" ' I have the honor to be, yours, with great respect,

" ' WILSON SHANNON.

" ' Messrs. C. W. Topliff, John Hutchinson, W. Y. Roberts:

' ' In commenting upon this letter, we have only to say that the im-
plied charge upon the citizens of Lawrence of keeping up 'a military or
armed organization to resist the territorial laws, and the officers charged
with their executions,' is utterly untrue ; and that Governor Shannon
must have been fully aware of its falsity, or ignorant to a degree of
criminality.

" The proclamation of the Marshal was not made public by him in
Lawrence ; but a copy having by chance reached the town, another
meeting of citizens was called on the I3th of May, and the following
preamble and resolution adopted :

" ' Whereas, By a proclamation to the people of Kansas Territory,

246 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

by I. B. Donelson, United States Marshal for said Territory, issued the
nth day of May, 1856, it is alleged that certain "judicial writs of ar-
rest have been directed to him by the First District Court of the United
States, etc., to be executed within the County of Douglas, and that an
attempt to execute them by the United States Deputy Marshal was vio-
lently resisted by a large number of the citizens of Lawrence, and that
there is every reason to believe that any attempt to execute these writs
will be resisted by a large body of armed men " ; therefore,

" ' Resolved, By this public meeting of the citizens of Lawrence, held
this I3th day of May, 1856, that the allegations and charges against us
contained in the aforesaid proclamation are wholly untrue in fact, and
the conclusion entirely false which is drawn therefrom. The aforesaid
Deputy Marshal was resisted in no manner whatsoever, nor by any per-
son whatever, in the execution of said writs, except by him whose ar-
rest the said Deputy Marshal was seeking to make. And that we now,
as we have done heretofore, declare our willingness and determination,
without resistance, to acquiesce in the service upon us of any judicial
writs against us by the United States Marshal for Kansas Territory,
and will furnish him a posse for that purpose, if so requested ; but that
we are ready to resist, if need be unto death, the ravages and desola-
tion of an invading mob.

" ' J. A. WAKEFIELD, President.
" 'JOHN HUTCHINSON, Secretary.'

" The indications of an intended attack upon the town continuing to
increase, on the I4th instant another meeting of citizens was called, of
which G. W. Deitzler was president and J. H. Green secretary, and the
following letter prepared and sent to the United States Marshal :

" ' LAWRENCE, May 14, 1856.

" ' DEAR SIR: We have seen a proclamation issued by yourself,
dated nth May, instant, and also have reliable information this morn-
ing that large bodies of armed men, in pursuance of your proclamation,
have assembled in the vicinity of Lawrence.

' ' ' That there may be no misunderstanding, we beg leave to ask re-
spectfully (that we may be reliably informed) what are the demands
against us? We desire to state most truthfully and earnestly that no
opposition whatever will now, or at any future time, be offered to the
execution of any legal process by yourself, or any person acting for
you. We also pledge ourselves to assist you, if called upon, in the exe-
cution of any legal process.

' ' ' We declare ourselves to be order-loving and law-abiding citizens,
and only await an opportunity to testify our fidelity to the laws of the
country, the Constitution, and the Union.

MEMORIAL. 247

" ' We are informed, also, that those men collecting about Lawrence
openly declare that their intention is to destroy the town and drive off
the citizens. Of course we do not believe that you give any counte-
nance to such threats ; but, in view of the excited state of the public
mind, we ask protection of the constituted authorities of the Govern-
ment, declaring ourselves in readiness to co-operate with them, for the
maintenance of the peace, order, and quiet of the community in which
we live. Very respectfully,

" ' ROBERT MORROW,
" ' LYMAN ALLEN,
" ' JOHN HUTCHINSON.
" ' I, B. Donelson, United States Marshal for Kansas Territory.'1

" The following reply was received to this communication :

" ' OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES MARSHAL,

LECOMPTON, K. T., May 15, 1856.

" ' On yesterday I received a communication addressed to me, signed
by one of you as president and the other as secretary, purporting to
have been adopted by a meeting of the citizens of Lawrence, held on
yesterday morning. After speaking of a proclamation issued by myself,
you state "that there may be no misunderstanding, we beg leave to ask
respectfully (that we may be reliably informed) what are the demands
against us ? We desire most truthfully and earnestly to declare, that no
opposition whatever will now, or at any future time, be offered to the
execution of any legal process by yourself, or any person acting for you.
We also pledge ourselves to assist you, if called upon, in the execution
of any legal process," etc.

" ' From your professed ignorance of the demands against you I must
conclude that you are strangers, and not citizens of Lawrence, or of re-
cent date, or have been absent for some time ; more particularly when
an attempt was made by my deputy to execute the process of the First
District Court of the United States for Kansas Territory against ex-
Governor Reeder, when he made a speech in the room and presence of
the Congressional Committee, and denied the authority and power of
said court, and threatened the life of said deputy if he attempted to exe-
cute said process ; which speech and defiant threats were loudly ap-
plauded by some one or two hundred of the citizens of Lawrence, who
had assembled at the room on learning the business of the Marshal, and
made such hostile demonstrations that the deputy thought he and his
small posse would endanger their lives in executing said process.

" ' Your declaration that you " will truthfully and earnestly offer no
opposition now, nor at any future time, to the execution of any legal
process," etc., is, indeed, difficult to understand. May I ask, gentle-

248 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

men, what has produced this wonderful change in the minds of the
people of Lawrence? Have their eyes been suddenly opened, so that
they are now able to see that there are laws in force in Kansas Terri-
tory which should be obeyed? Or is it that just now those for whom I
have writs have sought refuge elsewhere? Or it may possibly be, that
you now, as heretofore, expect to screen yourselves behind the word
" legal," so significantly used by you. How am I to rely on your
pledges, when I am well aware that the whole population of Lawrence
is armed and drilled, and the town fortified — when I recollect the meet-
ings and resolutions adopted in Lawrence, and elsewhere in the Terri-
tory, openly defying the laws and officers thereof, and threatening to
resist the same to a bloody issue, and recently verified in the attempted
assassination of Sheriff Jones while in the discharge of his official
duties in Lawrence? Are you strangers to all these things? Surely
you must be strangers at Lawrence! If no outrages have been com-
mitted by the citizens of Lawrence against the laws of the land, they
need not fear any posse of mine. But I must take the liberty of execut-
ing all processes in my hands, as the United States Marshal, in my own
time and manner, and shall only use such power as is authorized by law.
You say you call upon the constituted authority of the Government for
protection. This, indeed, sounds strange coming from a large body of
men armed with Sharp's rifles and other implements of war, bound to-
gether by oaths and pledges to resist the laws of the Government they
call on for protection. All persons in Kansas Territory, without regard
to location, who honestly submit to the constituted authorities will ever
find me ready to aid in protecting them ; and all who seek to resist the
laws of the land and turn traitors to their country will find me aiding
and enforcing the laws, if not as an officer, as a citizen.

" ' Respectfully yours,

" ' I. B. DONELSON,

" ' United States Marshal of Kansas Territory.
" 'Messrs. Deitzler and J. H. Green, Lawrence, K. T.'

" We should consider this letter entirely unworthy of criticism were
it not official. Its chief misstatements, however, must be corrected,
and of these we shall notice the following :

" I. That ex-Governor Reeder threatened the life of the Marshal,
and was applauded therefor by the people of Lawrence ; the fact being
that the words used by the former can only by forced construction be
made to imply a threat against the person of the officer ; and that the
Deputy Marshal had no personal fear of the citizens is proven by the
fact that he frequently, during these difficulties, entered the town, and
remained during his pleasure, without molestation or insult.

" 2. His reiteration of the falsehoods that the whole population is

MEMORIAL.

249

armed and drilled, and the town fortified, while he possessed evidence
through his deputies that such was not the case. That the so-called
fortifications as there existing were not considered formidable for de-
fense is proven by his subsequent neglect to demolish them while the
town was in the hands of his posse.

" 3. His wanton misapplication of certain resolutions passed at
some other point in the Territory, and having no relation to the officers
of the United States.

"4. His effort to fasten the attempt on the life of Samuel J.
Jones on the citizens of Lawrence, when it is a known fact that said
citizens denounced that attempt in a most emphatic manner, and made
all practicable effort to detect its author.

" 5. The compound falsehood that the citizens of Lawrence are a
large body of men armed with Sharp's rifles, bound together by oaths
and pledges to resist the laws of the Government they call on for pro-
tection, it being undoubtedly well known to himself that no such oaths
or pledges exist, and that the citizens of Lawrence have never been com-
bined to resist the laws of the United States.

' ' From a reply thus disingenuous and partisan in character, the
threatened town could derive no hope. Nevertheless, as the movements
of the marauding forces grew daily more menacing in their character,
the following letter was sent to the Marshal on the 1 7th instant :

" ' DEAR SIR: We desire to call your attention, as citizens of Kan-
sas, to the fact that a large force of armed men have collected in the vi-
cinity of Lawrence, and are engaged in committing depredations upon
our citizens, stopping wagons, arresting, threatening, and robbing un-
offending travellers upon the highway — breaking open boxes of mer-
chandise and appropriating their contents — have slaughtered cattle, and
terrified many of the womqp and children.

" ' We have also learned from Governor Shannon that there are no
armed forces in the vicinity of this place but the regularly constituted
militia of the Territory. This is to ask you if you recognize them as
your posse, and feel responsible for their acts. If you do not, we hope
and trust you will prevent a repetition of such acts, and give peace to
the settlers. On behalf of the citizens,

"' C. W. BABCOCK,
" ' LYMAN ALLEN,
"' J. A. PERRY.'

" To this letter no reply was vouchsafed. The same day a commu-
nication was sent to the Governor by Messrs. S. W. and T. B. Eldridge,
proprietors of the Eldridge House, asking for it protection against de-
struction threatened by the mob in the Marshal's posse. The building

250 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

itself was the property of the Emigrant Aid Company, but it had been
furnished by the Messrs. Eldridge at heavy expense, and was not yet
opened as a public house. A verbal reply was returned by the Gov-
ernor to this appeal, expressing regret that the proprietors had taken
possession, and giving some encouragement for protection. On the
i8th he was visited by the Messrs. Eldridge in person, and a full and
truthful representation made of all the facts in the case. At this inter-
view, the Governor, as well as the Marshal, seemed disposed to accord
the protection needful. In addition to their own personal appeal, the
Messrs. Eldridge presented a communication from the citizens of Law-
rence, as follows :

" ' LAWRENCE, K. T., May 17, 1856.

" ' GENTLEMEN : Having learned that your reason for assembling so
large a force in the vicinity of our town, to act as a posse in the enforce-
ment of the laws, rests on the supposition that we are armed against
the laws and the officers in the exercise of their duties, we would say,
that we hold our arms only for our own individual defense against vio-
lence, and not against the laws or officers in the execution of the same ;
therefore, having no further use for them when our protection is other-
wise secured, we propose to deliver our arms to Colonel Sumner so
soon as he shall quarter in our town a body of troops sufficient for our
protection, to be retained by him as long as such force shall remain
among us. Very truly, etc.,

" ' MANY CITIZENS.

" 'His Excellency Wilson Shannon, Governor, and I. B. Donelson,
Esq. , United States Marshal for Kansas Territory. '

" Both the Governor and the Marshal expressed satisfaction with this
proposition, and agreed to its terms in case a demand should be en-
forced for the surrender of the arms. If n^ resistance was offered his
force, the Marshal gave a positive promise of protection to the property
of the citizens. But it was said that a portion of the posse was clam-
orous for the destruction of the hotel and the printing offices ; and the
Messrs. Eldridge were invited to return again on the following day,
after time had been afforded for consultation with the captains of the
companies.

" It is worthy of remark, that all messengers to the Executive and
Marshal were under guard during the whole time of their being within
the lines of the besieging camp and on the road to Lecompton, and
that the following pass was given to the Messrs. Eldridge on their de-
parture this day :

" ' LECOMPTON, May 18, 1856.

" ' The bearers of this, S. W. and T. B. Eldridge, desire to return to
Lawrence this evening and return in the morning.

MEMORIAL. 251

" ' Now, therefore, all persons will permit these gentlemen to go and
return without molestation or delay.

" ' WILSON SHANNON,
' ' Governor of Kansas Territory.
" '/. B. Donelson, United States Marshal, Kansas Territory.'

" On the I Qth Messrs. Eldridge renewed their visit according to
agreement, but found a great change in the tone of the officials. It
would appear that the companies composing the posse would be satis-
fied with nothing short of some destruction of private property, and this
feeling was so strong as to defy the power of the Marshal. The Messrs.
Eldridge, on behalf of the citizens of Lawrence, offered the Marshal
their services, and proposed, if he would supply them with weapons, to
make all necessary pledges to sustain him in the protection of property
and the execution of the laws. This offer the Marshal did not see fit
to accept, alleging only the excuse of a deficiency of arms. It was evi-
dent that a course of violence was resolved upon. One of the captains
— a Colonel Titus, of Florida, a member of the late expedition against
Cuba — declared boldly that the printing presses must be destroyed to
satisfy the boys from South Carolina. But promises of protection to
the hotel were renewed, and the Marshal pledged his word that if no
resistance was made, he would enter the town with a small posse of
unarmed men, and that the remainder should not be admitted. He also
further promised not to dismiss them in the vicinity of the town. The
incongruities of these various statements it is not for us to reconcile.

" Feeling from all these circumstances the necessity to the town of
efficient protection, the Messrs. Eldridge made a last effort to secure aid
from the Governor. He disclaimed all authority over the force of the
Marshal, and stated that he should not interfere with the officer's opera-
tions. He was implored to summon to his aid the force of Colonel
Sumner for the protection of the property of the citizens, but peremp-
torily refused. It was represented to him that the Marshal's posse had
resolved on perpetrating unlawful outrages in Lawrence, and he said
the people of Lawrence must take such consequences as should ensue ;
that he could protect them with the United States troops if he chose,
but that he should not do so. When apprehensions were expressed to
him that these outrages would finally madden the people to the point
of resistance, and precipitate all the horrors of civil war, he turned an-
grily away and left the room with the expression, ' War then it is, by
God ! '

" These were the last words spoken to persons representing the
people of Lawrence by the highest officer of the Territory.

" During the following day the Deputy Marshal, W. P. Fain, a resi-
dent of Calhoun, Georgia, visited the town, and in conversation with a

252 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

citizen expressed the belief that the printing presses would be destroyed,
but that the Eldridge House would be spared.

" On the morning of the 2ist instant a cavalry force was seen sta-
tioned on a hill commanding the town. It was soon increased by a
company of artillery and another of infantry. A white flag was first dis-
played, which soon gave place to a red one. This emblem would have
incited the citizens to resistance but for the known fact that the force
was commanded by a United States officer (whose pledge of protection
had been given) and armed with national weapons. Beside the red flag,
whose motto was ' Southern rights,' soon floated that of the Union.

' ' The Deputy Marshal entered the town with less than ten men, and
proceeding to the Eldridge House, summoned both the proprietors to
act on his posse, together with Dr. Garvey (Garvin?), John A. Perry,
C. W. Topliff, and Wm. Jones, all citizens of the town. This sum-
mons was promptly obeyed, and all required assistance cheerfully given.
Only two arrests were made during the morning, and with these, after
dinner, the whole posse repaired to the camp. Colonel Topliff was
charged with the delivery to the Marshal of the following communica-
tion:

" ' LAWRENCE, K. T., May 21, 1856.

" ' We, the committee of public safety for the citizens of Lawrence,
make this statement and declaration to you as Marshal of Kansas Ter-
ritory :

" 'That we represent citizens of the United States and of Kansas
who acknowledge the constituted authorities of the Government ; that
we make no resistance to the execution of the laws, national or terri-
torial ; and that we ask protection of the Government, and claim it as
law-abiding American citizens.

" ' For the private property already taken by your posse we ask in-
demnification, and what remains to us and our citizens we throw upon
you for protection, trusting that under the flag of our Union and within
the folds of the Constitution we may obtain safety.

" ' SAMUEL C. POMEROY,
" ' W. Y. ROBERTS,
" ' LYMAN ALLEN,
" ' JOHN A. PERRY,
" ' C. W. BABCOCK,
" ' S. B. PRENTISS,
" ' A. H. MALLORY,
" 'JOEL GROVER.
" ' /. B. Donelson, United States Marshal, Kansas Territory.''

' ' It was now hoped that the crisis had passed. On summoning on
his posse the proprietors of the Eldridge House, Deputy Marshal Fain

MEMORIAL.

253

had renewed his promise to protect their property. The officials had
been treated with every courtesy, and even generous hospitality. But
by three o'clock the streets were filled by a company of armed horse-
men, headed by Samuel J. Jones, Sheriff of Douglas County, who drew
up his force in front of the Eldridge House and demanded of the citi-
zens, in the name of the law, the surrender of their rifles and cannon.
He gave five minutes for a reply. He was answered by General Pome-
roy that the cannon, and all rifles not individual property (if any such there
were), would be given up on his giving an official receipt for the same.
General Pomeroy and General Roberts proceeded with him to assist in
their delivery. This done, it was announced that the printing offices and
the Eldridge House must be destroyed. Remonstrance was in vain.

" In the meantime, the remainder of the force, comprising several
hundred men, with United States muskets and fixed bayonets, were tak-
ing position in the town. Men endeavored by argument, and women
by tears, to alter the determination of Jones, but in vain. At 3:15
o'clock he announced to Messrs. Eldridge that he would give them till
five to remove their families and furniture from the house. The work
of pillage had already commenced ; the contents of the printing offices
were scattered in the streets, and the red flag planted on the roof, first
of the office of the Herald of Freedom, and afterwards of the Eldridge
House. The family of Mr. G. W. Brown were driven from their home,
and the immediate pillage of the hotel prevented only by the resolute in-
terference of a few citizens, aided by some individuals of the mob, who
kept a strict guard at the doors, and insisted that the families of the pro-
prietors should have the time promised by Jones in which to collect
their most necessary effects and leave. At last the cannon were placed
and ready, and it was announced to Colonel S. W. Eldridge that the
bombardment would commence in five minutes. His wife and children,
and such personal effects as they had been enabled to collect, were
placed in carriages and driven off between files of United States bayo-
nets, and amidst the yells of the impatient mob. As they left the town
the first boom of a cannon told that the work of destruction had begun.
Soon (as the impression made by the cannon was not great) the build-
ing was fired, and with the aid of gunpowder reduced, with its furniture
and stores, to a pile of ruins.

' ' The work of pillage spread through the whole town, and continued
until after dark. Every house and store which could be entered was
ransacked, trunks broken open, and money and property taken at will.
Where women had not fled, they were in some cases insulted, and even
robbed of their clothing. From one house over two thousand dollars
in money were carried away. The house of Charles Robinson was pil-
laged and burned to the ground. The same evening, forces were drawn
off to their camp, and the sack of Lawrence was concluded.

254 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

" Some incidents of this authorized outrage here demand mention.
While Messrs. Topliff and Perry were aiding the Marshal in making
the arrests, both their houses were broken open and pillaged. Some of
the flags which floated beside that of the Union had for mottoes, ' Su-
periority of the white race,' ' Kansas the outpost,' ' South Carolina';
while one had the national stripes, with a tiger in place of the Union ;
another had alternate stripes of black and white. While the cannon
were being placed for the destruction of the Eldridge House, David R.
Atchison, late Vice-President of the United States, was conspicuous
among the mob. When the final doom of the hotel and printing offices
was pronounced, it was said by the officials to be by order of the Gov-
ernment, as the Grand Jury of Douglas County had ordered them abated
as nuisances. The only charge against the Eldridge House was its
ownership by the Emigrant Aid Company.

" To evade the pledge given by the Marshal that he would not allow
his posse to enter Lawrence, they were disbanded by him, after the ar-
rests were made, and enrolled as a sheriff's posse by Samuel J. Jones ;
the Marshal thus keeping one pledge at the expense of another. On
the next day they were again enrolled as the posse of the Marshal.

" There are also some facts of another character which we wish to
record. We believe that many of the captains of the invading com-
panies exerted themselves to the utmost for the protection of life and
property. Some of them protested against these enormous outrages,
and endeavored to dissuade Samuel J. Jones from their perpetration.
Many used personal effort to remove such property as was possible from
the Eldridge House before its destruction. Among these stood promi-
nently Colonel Zadock Jackson, of Georgia, who did not scruple either
in Lawrence or his own camp to denounce the outrages in terms such
as they deserved. Colonel Buford, of Alabama, also disclaimed having
come to Kansas to destroy property, and condemned the course which
had been taken. The prosecuting attorney of Douglas County, the
legal adviser of the Sheriff, used his influence in vain to prevent the de-
struction of property.

" We have thus given an outline of the events which have concluded
an unparalleled chapter in the history of our country. That we have
dealt mildly with the facts, and fallen short of the real atrocity of the
case, will be proven by the testimony which, in time, public opinion
will not fail to gather. So gigantic is that official villainy of which we
are being made the victims that the understanding almost refuses to
believe the evidence, however strong. That any set of men in a repre-
sentative Government like ours can be so reckless, and so defiant of
right, as to attempt the administration of law on principles of perjury
and brigandage is a combination of fatuity and corruption almost pass-
ing belief. Yet the facts spring out with startling boldness on the pict-

MEMORIAL.

255

ure of events, and we see the spectacle of rulers utterly ignoring the
oaths they have taken, and perverting the beneficent power of govern-
ment to the base uses of a ruthless despotism — at will despoiling men
of their property and lives — endeavoring to bind fast the hands of the
loyal citizens who look to them for protection, and to deliver them over
as bondmen to an invading force. We cannot but feel that you will be
slow to believe facts such as we have stated here, and for the credit of
humanity we cannot otherwise hope ; yet we cherish the trust that you
will heed the voice, however feeble, that pours its complaint into your
ear, and exert the influence of your office to prevent the possible occur-
rence of abuses of power on the parts of those officials who are directly
responsible to you for the faithful discharge of their duties ; and to insti-
tute such a scrutiny into their past conduct as will reveal its true charac-
ter and inspire a salutary caution in future. In making such a scrutiny
it seems to us inevitable that the communications of the territorial of-
ficers of Kansas, as given in this memorial, coupled with the undisputed
facts resulting from their action, will show at least a criminal disregard
of good faith sufficient of itself to prove their unfitness for the responsi-
bilities they have assumed. And in the meantime we have been driven
to the appointment of a committee of protection, whose duty it will be
to organize and use all means for the defense of our liberties and prop-
erty, during such time as we are unable to procure protection from the
Government under which we live.

" As regards the pecuniary damage sustained by this community at
the hand of the Government as administered by these officials, we can-
not doubt but you will see the justice of our claim, and employ the in-
fluence of your position to procure for us an adequate compensation.
The readiest way to do this would seem to be by an appropriation by
Congress, which it is within your province to recommend. It is at
present impossible to estimate this damage, as new depredations are
continually being made. How long these will be permitted to continue
will depend to a great extent upon the pleasure of our rulers. But it is
certain that the amount is, even at present, for a community like ours
very great. The loss to the proprietor of the Eldridge House alone is
to nearly the full extent of their investments, time being denied them to
remove any material portion of the costly furniture and abundant stores
provided for its use. The destruction of the printing offices, like that
of the hotel, involves not only the cost of the property, but the complete
ruin of the business in which it was employed. And then there is
scarcely a freeholder in Lawrence, or for many miles around, but has
had costly experience of that depredatory action which the Marshal in
his proclamation has called ' the proper execution of the law."

"Were the destruction of property, however, the gravest result of
this mal-administration, it would be shorn of its chief importance. But

256 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

it must not be forgotten that among ts consequences has been loss of
life, and it is due to the community that justice be administered upon
those who caused it. And surely when we say to your Excellency that
our country is still being overrun, and that this very day has brought to
our ears the fresh complaints of property taken, and women ravished in
their homes, it will not be considered either disrespectful or ill-timed in
us to urge, with all the earnestness of men who know the truth of the
things whereof they speak, that the facts herein set forth, and the peti-
tions preferred, receive the earliest attention in the power of your Excel-
lency to bestow.

" O. E. LEARNARD,
" S. W. ELDRIDGE,
" C. W. BABCOCK,
" J. M. WINCHELL,
" LYMAN ALLEN,
" S. B. PRENTISS,
" L. G. HINE,
" JOSEPH CRACKLIN,
" JOHN PERRY.
" LAWRENCE, K. T., May 22, 1856."

Here is an arraignment of the Government more terrible
than an "army with banners." The indictment of the
Slave-State party had been made on paper and sent broad-
cast over the land — the invasions at elections, the despotic
code enacted, the Wakarusa war and general lawlessness —
but here is the conviction of official crime before the Ameri-
can people as a jury, and the verdict was unanimous. The
Wakarusa war was a great victory, but this was much
greater ; as the first simply resulted in compelling nearly two
thousand men to march to Kansas and then march back again,
accomplishing nothing, not even serving a peace warrant
issued by a bogus justice of the peace, while this demon-
strated the nature of the Government imposed upon Ameri-
can citizens in Kansas. Here were the law-abiding citizens,
having committed no crime, ready to act as a posse to ferret
out and arrest criminals, if any there were, almost on their
knees as suppliants for protection from outrage by an
official mob, without avail. The picture cannot be dupli-
cated in the most despotic government on earth. Did the

POLICY ADOPTED.

257

people do right in permitting this official infamy without
resistance ? F. B. Sanborn says no. His two heroes, Brown
and Lane, might have said no, had they been present and
not timid, judging them by their designs at the Wakarusa
war. But when it is remembered that this struggle was
national and not local merely, that the Federal authority was
desirous of abetting the Slave-State party, and of crushing
out the Free-State men, that this Government had to be
held up before the country in its true light, the answer must
be in the affirmative. Had this mob been unofficial, could
it have been attacked without attacking Federal authority,
as was the case at Osawatomie, Franklin, Fort Saunders,
and Titus, it would have been utterly wiped out by the men
who were at Lawrence, who much preferred to fight rather
than submit passively to insults from this official mob. In
the estimation of the world, these men showed more true
courage and heroism than even when Titus' fort was after-
wards taken within sight of the Federal army. Suppose, for
a moment, Sanborn's policy had been adopted — this hero
who, although an accomplice with Brown in Harper's Ferry
raid, was at a safe distance from harm in Massachusetts
when the fight came off, and at a safer distance in Canada
when the accomplices were being picked up — suppose an
excuse had been given by armed resistance to enter Law-
rence, the Administration would have been vindicated in its
assumptions that the Free-State men were rebels to Federal
authority. And even the burning and pillage of the entire
town would have been regarded as the merited punishment
of a nest of traitors. That success, if possible for the
moment, would have lasted only till Colonel Sumner could
have reached Lawrence with his soldiers, all men of ordinary
intelligence must know. In such a case, instead of the
approbation and sympathy of all good people everywhere,
the Free-State men and cause would have been abandoned
by all its friends at home and abroad, and from that moment,
hanging of traitors — real traitors — and the expulsion of all
17

258 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

remnants of anti-slavery would have been the congenial
work of the Atchisons, Stringfellows, and their allies of the
Slave-State party. Besides, in no other way could the
infamy of the territorial usurpation be so conclusively dem-
onstrated as by the official destruction of printing presses
and hotels as nuisances, without trial or hearing of any kind.
As in the Wakarusa war, so in this case, the pro-slavery
men were divided in counsel. Some were conservative and
some ultra. Governor Shannon and the President were
opposed to the Marshal's employment of civilians, but the
Marshal was controlled by the fire-eaters. Governor Reeder,
in hiding at Kansas City during this invasion, in his diary
under date of May 1 5th, six days before the serving of the
writs, refers to this division of sentiment as follows :

" He [Colonel Coates] says, also, that Donelson, the Marshal, has is-
sued a proclamation calling for a force, and reciting generally that he
has writs against sundry citizens of Lawrence. He says also, on the
authority of Colonel Sumner, that Shannon had become alarmed, but
was powerless, and no better than a prisoner in the hands of those around
him ; that he had essayed to take into his own hands the collection of a
posse, but the Marshal would not allow it ; that he had insisted that
Donelson should not accept the service of any Missourians, to which a
reluctant assent was given, but that this was a mere evasion, and that
there were camps of Missourians now in the Territory who called them-
selves Georgians, as was learned from a man by the name of Wise, who
was in the camp. There have come to the Territory this spring some
three or four hundred young men, including Buford's party, who evi-
dently came here to fight, and whose leaders probably understood the
whole programme before they left home.

" Under cover of these men and assuming their name and character,
the citizens of Missouri will doubtless come over. Mr. Coates also
says, on authority of Colonel Sumner, that Shannon has actually fled
the country, under pretense of business, to avoid the storm which he
cannot control and dare not face. Also, that our friends at Lawrence
sent a messenger (Captain Walker) to Shannon, with a letter request-
ing him to order out the troops for the defense of the town ; that Walker
had difficulty to get into town, and was compelled to conceal himself,
and send in another person ; that he was recognized and fired at, but
not hit. Shannon's reply was written while surrounded by the ultra
men about him, and was evasive and unsatisfactory. Also, that the at-

THE PRESIDENT'S POSITION. 259

tack was fixed for to-morrow evening. This is most alarming news,
and I tremble for our people."

Governor Shannon, in his letter to the President, under
date of June i7th, said : " I have already stated my opinion
as to the utter impossibility of preserving order or prevent-
ing civil war by means of the militia of the Territory. Their
use would lead to a contrary result."

The position and solicitude of the President may be seen
by reference to his dispatches to Governor Shannon as fol-
lows :

" EXECUTIVE OFFICE, May 23, 1856.

" Has the United States Marshal proceeded to Lawrence to execute
civil process? Has military force been found necessary to maintain civil
government in Kansas? If so, have you relied solely upon troops under
the command of Colonels Sumner and Cooke? If otherwise, state the
reasons. The laws must be executed ; but military force should not be
employed until after the Marshal has met with actual resistance in the
fulfillment of his duty.

" FRANKLIN PIERCE.

"Wilson Shannon, Governor of Kansas, Lecompton, Kansas Terri-
tory."

" EXECUTIVE OFFICE, May 23, 1856.

" Since my telegraph of this morning was sent, the Secretary of War
has laid before me Colonel Sumner 's letter to you of the I2th instant.
His suggestion strikes me as wise and prudent. I hope that before this
reaches you decisive measures will have been taken to have the process
in the hands of the Marshal quietly executed. My knowledge of facts
is imperfect ; but with the force of Colonel Sumner at hand, I perceive
no occasion for the posse, armed or unarmed, which the Marshal is said
to have assembled at Lecompton. The instructions issued to yourself
and Colonel Sumner during your last visit to this city must be efficiently
executed. Sufficient power was committed to you, and you must use it.

" Obedience to the laws and consequent security to the citizens of
Kansas are the primary objects.

" You must repress lawless violence in whatever form it may mani-
fest itself. „ FRANKLIN PIERCE."

" EXECUTIVE OFFICE, June 6, 1856.

"Were my dispatches of May 23d received by yourself or Colonel
Sumner? If they were, why have they not been acknowledged? Con-
fused and contradictory accounts continue to reach me of scenes of dis-

260 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

order and violence in Kansas. If the civil authorities, sustained by the
military force under the command of Colonels Sutnner and Cooke placed
at your disposal, are not sufficient to maintain order and afford protec-
tion to peaceable and law-abiding citizens, you should have advised me at
once. I hardly need repeat the instructions so often given. Maintain
the laws firmly and impartially, and take care that no good citizen has
just ground to complain of the want of protection.

" FRANKLIN PIERCE.

"Hon. Wilson Shannon (care of Colonel Sumner), fort Leavenworth,
Kansas Territory.''''

Governor Shannon, in his letter to the President, May
3ist, says: "Had the Marshal called on me for a posse, I
should have felt myself bound to furnish him with one com-
posed entirely of United States troops. Knowing this to be
the case, and feeling satisfied that, with a posse composed of
such troops, the parties to be arrested would evade the
service of process, he determined, by virtue of the legal
powers vested in him as Marshal, to summon his own posse
from the citizens of the Territory."

It will be seen that Governor Shannon has more than
once unwittingly conceded that the Free-State policy was more
than a match for the Government. As before quoted, in his
letter to Secretary of State Marcy, dated April 27, 1856, he
says: "It will be obvious to the President that, if every
officer of the Government charged with the execution of
legal process, issued under, and to enforce the territorial
laws, is compelled to call on a military posse of United
States troops to aid in executing the law, the territorial
government will be practically nullified."

Take this in connection with this statement to the Presi-
dent on June 17, 1856 : " I have already stated my opinion
as to the utter impossibility of preserving order or prevent-
ing civil war by means of the militia of the Territory. Their
use would lead to a contrary result." And this from his
letter to the President dated December n, 1855, immedi-
ately after the Wakarusa war: "The militia or volunteer
corps cannot be relied on to preserve the peace in these civil

SUCCESS OF FREE-STATE POLICY. 261

party contests, or where partisans are concerned. A call on
the militia will generally bring in conflict the two parties.
I am satisfied that the only forces that can be used in this
Territory in enforcing the laws, or preserving the peace, are
those of the United States " ; and yet, should this course be
adopted, according to his letter of April 27, 1856, " the terri-
torial Government will be practically nullified."

Now, the Free-State men had been able to study this all
out in advance, and before they sent for the first installment
of Sharp's rifles. Several of them had been through the
same process in California, and knew what "thwarting,
baffling, and circumventing " could accomplish. But it took
the Administration more than a year, till September, 1856,
to learn by bitter experience what the Free-State men stud-
ied out soon after the 3oth of March, 1855.

About the time that Robinson started East, steps were
taken to arrest Governor Reeder, who was in attendance
upon the Congressional Committee. He plead his privilege
from arrest as Member of Congress, but it was ineffectual.
He then refused to be arrested, and told the Deputy Mar-
shal that if he attempted it, he would do so at his peril.
But Governor Reeder's friends, seeing that his presence
would precipitate a conflict with Federal authority, or result
in his being held a prisoner, advised that he should visit the
States and Washington. He reached Kansas City, where
he remained concealed for about two weeks, when he es-
caped, and arrived in Illinois.

Mrs. Robinson, after the arrest at Lexington, was per-
mitted to go on her journey. She met Governor Chase, of
Columbus ; Amos A. Lawrence, of Boston ; H. B. Claflin,
of New York, and such men as Lovejoy, Arnold, Browning,
Medill, Ray, Lincoln, and Brown, of Illinois. To these
people she explained the situation in Kansas. Mr. Law-
rence at once set about procuring petitions, for calling to-
gether Northern Legislatures, and drew up a remonstrance
to the President, to be signed by Northern governors. Mrs.

262 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

R. attended the State convention at Bloomington, Illinois,
at which Governor Reeder appeared, fresh from his conceal-
ment at Kansas City. J. S. Emery was also at this conven-
tion. The appearance of Reeder created the wildest enthu-
siasm. In a word, the invasion of Lawrence on the 2ist
of May by Federal authority, with the official destruction
of the best hotel west of St. Louis and two printing offices,
fired the whole North. It did more to arouse the people
than Robinson, had he been permitted to go on his mission,
could have done in a year. It was seized upon by the Re-
publican party as its special campaign thunder, and it rever-
berated all along the political skies from Maine to California.
A convention was held at Buffalo, which organized a
National Relief Committee, with headquarters at Chicago,
and Thaddeus Hyatt, of New York, was made President.
This convention appointed Eli Thayer a committee of one
to organize the entire North in the interest of free Kansas.
Also, other large organizations, besides the National, were
effected, among them the Massachusetts, of which George
L. Stearns was chairman, and F. B. Sanborn became secre-
tary. Many of the Kansas settlers took the field in the
States, among others Lane, Emery, Conway, Schuyler, Hol-
liday, Roberts, Smith, Wood, and others. Thus the Slave-
State party did immeasurably more for their opponents than
their opponents could have done for themselves. Men and
money from this time were raised with the greatest ease for
the purpose of rebuking this tyranny, and making sure a
free State in Kansas. Even the Slave-State men were far
from jubilant over their conduct. The memorial to the
President, as above quoted, makes this honorable mention :

" There are also some facts of another character which we wish to
record. We believe that many of the captains of the invading com-
panies exerted themselves to the utmost for the protection of life and
property. Some of them protested against these enormous outrages,
and endeavored to dissuade Samuel J. Jones from their perpetration.
Many used personal effort to remove such property as was possible from
the Eldridge House before its destruction. Among these stood promi-

SLAVE-STATE MEN DIVIDED. 263

nently Colonel Zadock Jackson, of Georgia, who did not scruple, either
in Lawrence or his own camp, to denounce the outrages in terms such
as they deserved. Colonel Buford, of Alabama, also disclaimed having
come to Kansas to destroy property, and condemned the course which
had been taken. The prosecuting attorney of Douglas County, the legal
advisor of the Sheriff, used his influence in vain to prevent the destruc-
tion of property."

Thus, not only was their pretended victory a most disas-
trous defeat before the country, but it served to alienate many
of their allies, men who were supposed to be unscrupulous in
the work of establishing slavery in Kansas.

It was under such circumstances that the Marshal's posse,
after the execution of pretended writs by the destruction of
innocent property departed, singly or in squads, to their
homes in Missouri. So far, the record of the Free-State
men was without a blot or blemish of any kind, and was
universally applauded. Up to this point no Federal official
had been resisted or threatened, and no crime had been
committed. Their friends on the stump, in the press, or else-
where, had no mistakes to explain, and no apologies to
make. Even the pro-slavery party, including the Admin-
istration, could point to no crimes except the crime of enter-
taining opinions and expressing them. The battle, to all
appearances, was fought to the finish, and won by the Free-
State party. Governor Shannon was satisfied, in the fall
before, that no militia could ever be used in Kansas, and he
never would use it. Also, he had admitted that the policy
of the Free-State men, of compelling the use of the army to
enforce peace warrants, " practically nullified " the territorial
Government ; and now the Marshal had had an experience
he would not forget, or, if he should forget it, the President
would most surely remind him of it. What more could
be done by the Slave State men? Nothing whatever that
could seriously annoy their antagonists. They could not
enter upon a course of lawlessness, for the Administration
was responsible for the peace of the Territory, and could

264 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

not afford to have its own adherents bring discredit upon
the Government. Fortunately for the Slave-State party,
there was one man among the Free-State men as sorely dis-
appointed at the result as they were. This was John Brown.
He had come to Kansas " not to settle " or " speculate " — or
from idle curiosity ; but for one stern, solitary purpose — to
have a shot at the South." (Redpath, in " Roving Editor.")
But that " shot at the South " was not the making of a free
State in Kansas, according to the plan of the Free-State
party, but the engaging the country in a civil war. This is
abundantly shown by his biographer, James Redpath.
When he arrived at Lawrence, near the close of the Waka-
rusa war, he was given the command of a company, and
Redpath, on page 86 of his " Life of Captain John Brown,"
quotes an eye-witness as saying : " From that moment he
commenced fomenting difficulties in camp, disregarding the
command of superior officers, and trying to induce the men
to go down to Franklin, and make an attack upon the pro-
slavery forces encamped there. The Committee of Public
Safety were called upon several times to head off his wild
adventure, as the people of Lawrence had planted them-
selves on the law, claiming that they had not been guilty
of its infraction, and that no armed body of men should
enter the town for any purpose whatever, and that they
would not go out of town to attack any such body. Peace
was established, and Old Brown retired in disgust."

CHAPTER XI.

THE POTAWATOMIE MASSACRE AND ITS EFFECTS. — A GUER-
RILLA WAR. DISPERSION OF THE STATE LEGISLATURE.

ARRIVAL OF LANE AND BROWN.

THIS decisive victory over the Slave- State party was
achieved May 21, 1856, and to all appearance it was final,
as neither the Governor's militia nor Marshal's posse would
ever be called upon again, and the United States soldiers
were perfectly harmless in their attempts to foist upon the
people the territorial usurpation. Nothing remained but to
fill up the Territory with bona fide settlers, and to take pos-
session of the Government at the election of the Legislature,
when the day should arrive.

But now came a new conflict, inaugurated by John Brown.
As his friends and foes alike have conceded that the tes-
timony of James Townsley is trustworthy, extracts from it
are here given, in order to show the nature of the war to
be waged henceforth. This testimony was taken by John
Hutchings, an able lawyer of Lawrence, and some of it is as
follows :

" I joined the Potawatomie rifle company at its re-organization in
May, 1856, at which time John Brown, Jr., was elected captain. On
the 2 1st of the same month information was received that the Georgians
were marching on Lawrence, threatening its destruction. The com-
pany was immediately called together, and about four o'clock P.M. we
started on a forced march to aid in its defense. About two miles
south of Middle Creek we were joined by the Osawatomie company
under Captain Dayton, and proceeded to Mount Vernon, where we
waited about two hours, until the moon rose. We then marched
all night, camping the next morning, the 22d, for breakfast, near Ot-
tawa Jones's. Before we arrived at this point news had been received

266 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

that Lawrence had been destroyed, and a question was raised whether
we should return or go on. During the forenoon, however, we pro-
ceeded up Ottawa Creek to within about five miles of Palmyra, and
went into camp near the residence of Captain Shore. Here we re-
mained undecided over night. About noon the next day, the 23d, Old
John Brown came to me and said he had just received information that
trouble was expected on the Potawatomie, and wanted to know if I
would take my team and take him and his boys back, so they could keep
watch of what was going on. I told him I would do so. The party,
consisting of Old John Brown, Watson Brown, Oliver Brown, Henry
Thompson (John Brown's son-in-law), and Mr. Winer, were soon ready
for the trip, and we started, as near as I can rememreber, about two
o'clock P. M. All of the party except Winer, who rode a pony, rode
with me in my wagon. When within two or three miles of the Pota-
watomie Creek, we turned off the main road to the right, drove down
to the edge of the timber between two deep ravines, and camped about
one mile above Dutch Henry's crossing.

" After my team was fed and the party had taken supper, John Brown
told me for the first time what he proposed to do. He said he wanted
me to pilot the company up to the forks of the creek, some five or six
miles above, into the neighborhood where I lived, and show them where
all the pro-slavery men resided ; that he proposed to sweep the creek as
he came down of all the pro-slavery men living on it. I positively re-
fused to do it. He insisted upon it, but when he found that I would
not go, he decided to postpone the expedition until the following night.
I then wanted to take my team and go home, but he would not let me
do so, and said I should remain with them. We remained in camp that
night and all the next day. Some time after dark we were ordered to
march.

" We started, the whole company, in a northerly direction, crossing
Mosquito Creek above the residence of the Doyles. Soon after cross-
ing the creek some one of the party knocked at the door of a cabin, but
received no reply — I have forgotten whose cabin it was, if I knew at
the time. The next place we came to was the residence of the Doyles.
John Brown, three of his sons, and son-in-law went to the door, leaving
Frederick Brown, Winer, and myself a short distance from the house.
About this time a large dog attacked us. Frederick Brown struck the
dog a blow with his short two-edged sword, after which I dealt him a
blow with my sabre, and heard no more of him. The old man Doyle
and two sons were called out and marched some distance from the house
towards Dutch Henry's, in the road, where a halt was made. Old John
Brown drew his revolver and shot the old man Doyle in the forehead,
and Brown's two youngest sons immediately fell upon the younger
Doyles with their short two-edged swords.

TOWNSLEY'S STATEMENT. 267

" One of the young Doyles was stricken down in an instant, but the
other attempted to escape, and was pursued a short distance by his as-
sailant and cut down. The company then proceeded down Mosquito
Creek to the house of Allen Wilkinson. Here the old man Brown,
three of his sons, and son-in-law, as at the Doyle residence, went to the
door and ordered Wilkinson to come out, leaving Frederick Brown,
Winer, and myself standing in the road east of the house. Wilkinson
was taken and marched some distance south of his house and slain in
the road, with a short sword, by one of the younger Browns. After
he was killed his body was dragged out to one side and left.

" We then crossed the Potawatomie and came to the house of Henry
Sherman, generally known as Dutch Henry. Here John Brown and
the party, excepting Frederick Brown, Winer, and myself, who were
left outside a short distance from the door, went into the house and
brought out one or two persons, talked with them some, and then took
them in again. They afterwards brought out William Sherman, Dutch
Henry's brother, marched him down into the Potawatomie Creek, where
he was slain with swords by Brown's two youngest sons, and left lying
in the creek.

" It was the expressed intention of Brown to execute Dutch Henry
also, but he was not found at home. He also hoped to find George
WTilson, Probate Judge of Anderson County, there, and intended, if he
did, to kill him too. Wilson had been notifying Free-State men to
leave the Territory. I had received such a notice from him myself.
* * * * # * #

' ' Brown wanted me to pilot the party into the neighborhood where
I lived, and point out all the pro-slavery men in it, whom he proposed
to put to death. I positively refused to do it, and on account of my re-
fusal I remained in camp all of the night upon which the first attack
was to be made, and the next day. I told him I was willing to go with
him to Lecompton and attack the leaders, or fight the enemy in open
field anywhere, but I did not want to engage in killing these men.
That night and the acts then perpetrated are vividly fixed in my memory,
and I have thought of them many times since.

*******

" I make this statement at the urgent request of my friends and
neighbors, Judge James Hanway and Hon. Johnson Clarke, who have
been present during all the time occupied in writing it out, and in whose
hearing it has been several times read before signing.

"JAMES TOWNSLET.

" LANE, KAN., December 6, 1879."

This massacre occurred on the 24th of May, 1856. On
the 28th this mode of warfare was continued by the robbery

268 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

of Morton Bourn of his money, guns, horses, saddles, and
store. Mr. Bourn testified, as found in the report of the
Congressional Committee, on page 108, as follows:

" I own slaves, and have a crop of corn and wheat growing. Have
never taken any active part with the pro-slavery party, only voted the
pro-slavery ticket, and was for sustaining the laws. * * * These
men said I must leave in a day or two, or they would kill me, or hinted
as much — said I would not fare well, or words to that effect. I left for
fear of my life and the lives of my family. They said that the war was
commenced, that they were going to fight it out, and drive the pro-slav-
ery people out of the Territory, or words to that amount. The men
that robbed my house and drove me away from my property were abo-
litionists, or free-soilers. * * * I believe they hated me so becausef
I am a pro-slavery man, and in favor of the territorial laws, and be-j
cause I served on the last Grand Jury at Lecompton." *r^

The store of J. M. Bernard was robbed on the 2yth of
May. Of this robbery, John Miller testifies :

" I was in the store with Mr. Davis. Whilst there a party of thir-
teen men came to the store on horseback, armed with Sharp's rifles, re-
volvers, and bowie-knives. They inquired for Mr. Bernard. I told
them that he had gone to Westport. One of them said to me, ' You are
telling a God damned lie,' and drew up his gun at me. Some of them
came into the store, and the rest remained outside. They called for such
goods as they wanted, and made Mr. Davis and myself hand them out,
and said if we ' didn't hurry ' they would shoot us. They had their guns
ready. After they had got the goods — they wanted principally blankets
and clothing — they packed them upon their horses and went away.
Mr. Joab Bernard is a pro-slavery man. [Mr. Miller recognized one of
the party as an active Free-State man.] They on the next day came back
with a wagon, and took the remainder of the goods in the store, except
about one hundred and fifty dollars' worth — including flour, sugar, cof-
fee, bacon, and all kinds of provisions, as well as two fine horses, three
saddles, two bridles, and all the money there was in the store."

In the conclusion of his affidavit, Mr. Miller says :

' ' When they first came, they looked up at the sign, and said they
would like to shoot at the name."

James Redpath, in his " Life of Captain John Brown,"
page 1 01, says that Charley Lenhart and John E. Cook,

REDPATH'S JUSTIFICATION. 269

after the 2ist of May, left Lawrence, "to commence re-
prisals." Also, he says on page 117 :

" On the 23d of May, John Brown left the camp of his son, at Osa-
watomie, with seven or eight men, and from that moment began his
guerrilla warfare in southern Kansas."

The same author fully justifies this midnight assassination
and robbery, and from that time this kind of warfare con-
tinued in full force till the i4th of September.

Andreas, in his history, page 131, says:

" The aggressive warfare thus begun was not in accordance with
the plans or purposes of the leaders of the Free-State movement ; on
the contrary, it was in direct opposition to their counsel, and had been
persistently decried and successfully restrained up to this time. For
the disorders that ensued, the Free-State organization was in no man-
ner responsible."

Two attempts at justification are made for this mode of
warfare :

First, it was a means of self-defense against like out-
rages.

Second, it quieted the disturbances in the Territory. The
first and principal witness for the defense theory is James
Redpath. Up to this time he and the other newspaper
correspondents were loyal to the policy of the Free-State
party, but now they, some of them, defended its enemies.
Redpath, in his " Life of Captain John Brown," begin-
ning at page 115, gives this account and defense of this
tragedy :

" I have spoken of the rumors of midnight murder in the Potawat-
omie region, and stated that Captain Brown was accused by the invaders
of having done the deed. The charge is false. It was first made by
his enenies, who feared him, and desired to drive him out of the dis-
trict, and subsequently repeated by a recreant Free-State journalist,
who sold himself to the Federal Administration for the paltry bribe of
the public printing.

" The killing of the ruffians of Potawatomie was one of those stern
acts of summary justice with which the history of the West and of

270 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

every civil war abounds. Lynch law is one of the early necessities of
far- western communities ; and the terrors of it form the only efficient
guarantee of the peaceful citizen from the ruffianism which distinguishes
and curses every new Territory. The true story of Potawatomie is
briefly told.

" In all that region, ever since the opening of the Territory for set-
tlement, the pro-slavery party had been brutally tyrannical, Free-State
men were daily robbed, beaten, and killed ; their property was stolen,
openly, before their eyes ; and yet they did not dare to resist the out-
rages. One or two families alone were occasionally exempted, by their
character for desperate courage, from these daring and unwarrantable
assaults. Among them were the sons and son-in-law of Old John
Brown ; and even they had repeatedly suffered from the conduct of the
ruffians, until the arrival of their father in the autumn, with arms.
Then, until the months of April and May, a season of peace was allowed
them. But when, in fulfilment of the plan of the Missouri secret lodges,
the Territory was to be conquered for slavery, it at once became a ques-
tion of life, death, or immediate banishment to the settlers in southern
Kansas how they should act against the invading pro-slavery party and
their allies among the squatters. Men who have passed their lives in
the quiet of New England's valleys, or in Eastern cities, can never
know what it is to be in earnest on what is seemingly a mere question
of political right or constitutional interpretation. Hence this chapter
may shock them ; but it is my duty, nevertheless, to write it.

'"'" The pro-slavery party, in all the region around Potawatomie, re-
newed their system of aggressions on the Free-State men. John Brown
began to stir himself and prepare for the defense of his neighborhood.
With his two sons or friends he went out into the prairies where a num-
ber of invaders were encamped, and, pretending to survey the country,
drove his imaginary lines through the middle of their camp. All the
Government officers in Kansas, from the Governor down to the humblest
workmen, were at this time, and for long afterwards, ultra pro-slavery
men ; many of them professed secessionists, who publicly cursed the
Union as a burden to the South. John Brown frequently adopted this
plan of entering the camp of the invading forces, and not only never
was suspected, but was never asked what his political opinions were.
Never doubting that he was a Government surveyor, the Southrons
never doubted his political orthodoxy.

" The men in this camp freely told him their plans. There was an
old man of the name Brown, they said, who had several sons here whom
it was necessary to get out of the way, as, if they were driven out or
killed, the other settlers would be afraid to offer any further resistance.
They told him how Wilkinson, the Doyles, and a Dutchman named
Sherman, had recently been in Missouri, and succeeded in securing

REDPATH'S STATEMENT. 271

forces to drive out the Browns, and that it was determined to kill them
in the latter part of May. They mentioned several other prominent
Free-State men who were to share this fate.

" John Brown left their camp, and at once notified the settlers who
had been marked out for destruction, of the murderous designs of the
Missourians. A meeting of the intended victims was held ; and it was
determined that on the first indication of the massacre, the Doyles — a
father and two sons — Wilkinson, and Sherman should be seized, tried
by Lynch law, and summarily killed.

" On the 23d of May, John Brown left the camp of his son, at Osa-
watomie, with seven or eight men, and from that moment began his
guerrilla warfare in southern Kansas. He ordered them to the vicinity
of his home, to be ready for the Missourians when they came. He
himself went in a different direction, for the purpose of obtaining fur-
ther aid.

" On the night of the 2$th of May, the Doyles, Wilkinson, and
Sherman were seized, tried, and slain. This act was precipitated by a
brutal assault committed during the forenoon on a Free-State man at the
store of Sherman, in which the Doyles were the principal and most
ruffianly participators. These wretches, on the same day, called at the
houses of the Browns ; and, both in words and by acts, offered the
grossest indignities to a daughter and daughter-in-law of the old man.
As they went away, they said, ' Tell your men that if they don't leave
right off, we'll come back to-morrow and kill them.' They added, in
language too gross for publication, that the women would then suffer
still worse indignities.

" What redress could the husbands of these women have received
had they asked the protection of the law? They would have been
obliged to seek it from Wilkinson, one of these ruffians, who was the
magistrate of the Potawatomie District ! This instance had hundreds
of parallels.

" I do not know whether New England people will be able to vin-
dicate the summary punishment inflicted on these wretches ; but I do
know that nearly every Free-State man then in Kansas, when he came
to know the cause, privately endorsed it as a righteous act, although
many of them, ' to save the party,' publicly repudiated and condemned it.

" These facts I derived from two squatters who aided in the execu-
tion, and who were not ashamed of the part they took in it. Neither
of them was a son of John Brown. They were settlers in the neigh-
borhood.

"John Brown himself subsequently corroborated their statements,
without knowing that they had made them, by his account of the affair
and denial of any participation in it. ' But, remember,' he added, ' I
do not say this to exculpate myself ; for, although I took no hand in it,

2)2 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

I would have advised it had I known the circumstances ; and I endorsed
it as it was.'

" ' Time and the honest verdict of posterity,' he said, in his Vir-
ginia cell, ' will approve of every act of mine.' I think it will also en-
dorse all the acts that he endorsed ; and among them this righteous
slaughter of the ruffians at Potawatomie. John Brown did not know
that these men were killed until the following day ; for, with one of his
sons, he was twenty-five miles distant at the time. He was at Middle
Creek. This fact can be proved by living witnesses. It is false, also,
that the ruffians were cruelly killed. They were tried, made confession,
allowed time to pray, and then slain in a second."

R. J. Hinton has said : " Doyle was engaged with others
in a fiendish attempt to outrage the persons of Captain
Brown's daughter and daughter-in-law, the wife of one of
Brown's sons."

A brother of John Brown, in the Cleveland Plaindealer,
November 29, 1859, says:

" My brother John and his two sons were living in the same neigh-
borhood, and a committee of five from the border ruffian camp called
upon him, and said they were instructed to warn him that if the Free-
State men were found there the next Thursday night, they would kill
every one of them."

Dr. G. W. Brown, in his " Reminiscences of Old John
Brown," gives other current reasons or excuses for this
massacre. Among them are these : " A band of pro-slavery
men went to the house of John, Jr., insulted his wife, burned
his cabin, and drove off his cattle."

" John Brown's cabin was burned, his blooded stock were
driven off, and the women of his family were grossly in-
sulted. Wilkinson, Sherman, and the Doyles were caught
in the act of hanging a Free-State man, and were shot by
friends of the injured party."

John Brown is reported as saying, in a speech before the
Legislature, at Boston, on the i8th of February, 1857 :

" He saw a great deal of Buford's men in Kansas ; that they spoke
without hesitation before him, because he employed himself as a sur-

PURPOSE OF THE MASSACRE. 273

veyor; and as nearly all the surveyors were pro-slavery men, they
probably thought he was ' sound on the goose. ' They told him all their
plans ; what they intended to do ; how they were determined to drive
off the Free-State men, and possess themselves of the Territory, and
make it a slave State at all hazards, cost what it might. * * * They
did not hesitate to threaten that they would burn, kill, scalp, and drive
out the entire Free-State population of the Territory, if it was necessary
to do so to accomplish their object."

This is a partial report of the case, as made up by letter-
writers and others, and it was the only case for many years,
and until disinterested historians gathered their materials.
Supposing the statements of Redpath, the correspondent of
the Missouri Democrat, and others, had given substantially
the facts, the writer of this excused the massacre as best he
could, as an act of retributive justice for similar outrages
already committed against Free-State men. But, unfortu-
nately for the vindication of such an outrage, it was the first
of its kind in Kansas, a.nd a professed Free-State man com-
menced this war of midnight assassination. It is now evi-
dent, since the testimony of Townsley, admitted by the
friends of Brown to be substantially correct, that this blow
was not struck to punish criminals, or protect Free-State
men, or to aid the cause of a free State in Kansas, but to
involve the sections, North and South, in war, in accordance
with Redpath's purpose, as given in his " Roving Editor,"
page 300, as follows :

" I believed that a civil war between the North and South would
ultimate in insurrection, and that the Kansas troubles would probably
create a military conflict of the sections. Hence I left the South, and
went to Kansas ; and endeavored, personally and by my pen, to precipi-
tate a revolution. That we failed — for I was not alone in this desire —
was owing to the influence of prominent Republican statesmen, whose
unfortunately conservative character of counsel — which it was impos-
sible openly to resist — effectually baffled all our hopes : hopes which
Democratic action was auspiciously promoting."

The testimony of Townsley would seem to be conclusive
on this point. He says, as already quoted :
18

274 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

" He [Brown] said he wanted me to pilot the company up to the
forks of the creek, some five or six miles above, into the neighborhood
where I lived, and show them where all the pro-slavery men resided ;
that he proposed to sweep the creek as he came down of all the pro-
slavery men living on it."

Again he says :

" Brown wanted me to pilot the party into the neighborhood where
I lived, and point out all the pro-slavery men in it, whom he proposed
to put to death. I positively refused to do it, and on account of my re-
fusal I remained in camp all of the night when the first attack was to be
made, and the next day."

From this testimony it appears that John Brown was not
hunting for criminals who had insulted his family, driven off
his stock, killed his son or any one else, but simply for pro-
slavery men, innocent or guilty, it mattered not which. It
has been seen that Brown could tell the Massachusetts
Legislature only that the pro-slavery men had used " threats "
of driving off Free-State men. He didn't pretend that any
one had been driven off or molested in any manner. When
it is known that such threats were as plenty as blue-berries
in June, on both sides, all over the Territory, and were re-
garded as of no more importance than the idle wind, this
indictment will hardly justify midnight assassination of all
pro-slavery men, whether making threats or not. Governor
George A. Crawford, in a letter to Eli Thayer dated August
4, 1879, says that Brown "gave as a reason" (for the
slaughter) that the men were carriers of news to the Mis-
sourians, that they kept a " grape-vine telegraph " with Mis-
sourians, and were endangering the settlements by bringing
in invaders.

And John Brown, Jr., in the Cleveland Plaindealer, says :
" The Doyles, Wilkinson, and Sherman were furnishing places
of rendezvous and active aid to armed men who had sworn
to kill us and others." Here are more threats. Had all
men been killed in Kansas who indulged in such threats,
there would have been none left to bury the dead.

INDIGNATION MEETING. 275

John Brown, Jr., and H. H. Williams, both prominent
men at or near Osawatomie, were brought to the camp of
the treason prisoners soon after this massacre, and neither
gave information of any wrong-doing on the part of the men
killed. And Mrs. Brown, wife of John, Jr., associated inti-
mately with Mrs. Robinson, Mrs. Jenkins, and others in
camp, but never referred to any outrage or threatened vio-
lence upon her person. But a report of a meeting of men
of both parties has been discovered and published, which
ought to be conclusive. It is referred to in Andrea's his-
tory, on page 132, as follows:

" At a meeting of the citizens of Potawatomie Creek, without dis-
tinction of parties, held at the branch between Messrs. Potter and Par-
tridges, on the 27th day of May, 1856 (three days after the killing), C.
H. Rice was chosen chairman and H. H. Williams secretary. The
chairman then stated the object of the meeting, and a committee was
appointed to take the subject under consideration. The committee
consisted of R. Golding, R. Gilpatrick, N. C. Dow, S. V. Vanderman,
A. Castele, and John Blunt. After consultation, the committee reported
the following preamble and resolutions, which were unanimously
adopted, and a copy of them ordered to be printed.

" ' Whereas, an outrage of the darkest and foulest nature has been
committed in our midst by some midnight assassins unknown, who have
taken five of our citizens at the hour of midnight from their homes and
families, and murdered and mangled them in an awful manner ; to pre-
vent a repetition of these deeds, we deem it necessary to adopt some
measures for our mutual protection and to aid and assist in bringing
these desperadoes to justice. Under these circumstances, we propose
to act up to the following resolutions :

" ' Resolved, That we will from this time lay aside all sectional and
political feelings and act together as men of reason and common sense,
determined to oppose all men who are so ultra in their views as to de-
nounce men of opposite opinions.

" ' Resolved, That we will repudiate and discountenance all organized
bands of men who leave their homes for the avowed purpose of exciting
others to acts of violence, believing it to be the duty of all good-disposed
citizens to stay at home during these exciting times and protect, and, if
possible, restore the peace and harmony of the neighborhood ; further-
more, we will discountenance all armed bodies of men who may come
amongst us from any other part of the Territory or from the States, un-
less said parties shall come under the authority of the United States.

276 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

' ' Resolved, That we pledge ourselves, individually and collectively,
to prevent a recurrence of a similar tragedy, and to ferret out and hand
over to the criminal authorities the perpetrators for punishment.

' H. H. WILLIAMS, Secretary,
1 C. H. PRICE, President,
1 R. GOLDING, Chairman,

R. GlLPATRICK, ~ ... , „

\ Comrmttee.'

' S. V. VAN DERM AN,
A. CASTELE,
1 JOHN BLUNT,

Among the active men of this meeting are some of the
most radical Free-State men of the Territory, and most
certainly had there been any palliation or excuse for this kill-
ing, it would have been given.*

Did this slaughter of five men and boys quiet the disturb-
ance in the Territory ? As has been seen, the official dis-
turbances had run their course, and the members of the last
Marshal's posse had retired to their homes in Missouri or
elsewhere, with but few exceptions. Up to this time no Free-
State men had been killed south of Douglas County, not-
withstanding the statement to the contrary of Redpath and
others, and no such massacre as that on the Potawatomie
had ever occurred anywhere within the Territory or without.
Its equal in atrocity must be sought for in the dark ages, as
it cannot be found in modern times. No violence had been
offered in southern Kansas of a serious character except at
Stanton, in Miami County. This is thus recorded in
Andrea's history, page 895 :

"At the meeting of April 16, 1856, at which resolutions were adopted
against the payment of taxes, and at which John Brown made an abo-
lition speech, the Rev. Mr. White several times offensively interrupted
the speaker. As the reverend gentleman was generally exceedingly ob-
noxious to the Free-State men, a few nights after the above-mentioned
meeting occurred, a party of twelve of them attacked his house, open-
ing fire upon it. The firing was vigorously replied to by those inside.
The attacking party soon retired, taking White's horses with them. On

* See Appendix A.

EFFECT ON JOHN BROWN, JR. 277

the next day White moved to Missouri, settling permanently in Bates
County."

As will be seen, this same Rev. Martin White, after this
massacre, had the satisfaction of killing Frederick Brown,
just before the battle of Osawatomie.

Here is the only serious disturbance with deadly weapons
in southern Kansas so far as known, and that happened to
be on the wrong side to be pleaded as an excuse for the
midnight slaughter by John Brown, May 24th, of the same
year. If no unusual troubles can be found existing before
May 24th in southern Kansas, did any occur after that date,
and if so, were they " quieted " or caused and aggravated
by John Brown's new warfare ? It is claimed by Redpath
and others that Brown's family were disturbed by pro-slavery
men before this massacre. Although this claim is not sup-
ported by evidence, how much better was their condition
afterwards ? G. W. Brown, in his " Reminiscences of Old
John Brown," page 30, gives this account of the effect of the
massacre on John Brown, Jr. :

" John Brown, Jr., and H. H. Williams were brought into the camp,
near Lecompton, about the :6th of June, 1856, and were held as pris-
oners with us. They were indicted on the 27th of May, at Paola, then
Lykins County, charged with 'conspiracy to resist the collection of
taxes.' John was also suspected of responsibility for the Potawatomie
murders, but I am glad to say there was no truth whatever in this alle-
gation. He became an occupant of my tent, and remained with me
some time after he was brought into camp. He was partly insane : his
mind seemed continually running on the Potawatomie massacre, and he
appeared to suppose he was under arrest for that offense. During the
entire period he was with us — nearly three months — whenever that event
was mentioned in his hearing his eyes would flash and sparkle like a
mad man's. He would exhibit the wildest excitement, and express
himself in the severest terms at the enormity of the outrage. On
several occasions I attempted to allay his irritation by offering an apology
for it. He replied invariably : ' There can be no apology for such a
transaction. Every feature of it was too barbarous to admit of an
apology.' And then I would divert his mind as speedily as possible,
engage his thoughts on some other subject, when he would gradually
regain his composure.

278 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

" In his ravings about these murders on the Potawatomie, John, Jr.,
told me of the incidents lying between his disbanding his command
when the news reached him, on the morning after its committal, until
his arrest. He said his best friends in Osawatomie turned the ' cold
shoulder ' on him when he arrived in the town ; a public meeting of
Free-State men was soon held, which repudiated it, and denounced the
actors ; he called on his wife and child, and made his way to the bottom
lands, where he secreted himself behind logs and trees. He forded the
river several times to avoid exposure. A severe storm of rain and
lightning came on, and he thought, in the flashes, he could see his pur-
suers. He said he suffered for food ; but his wife occasionally found
and relieved him. Finally, at the suggestion of his friends, he volun-
tarily surrendered himself to the civil authorities, and was taken in
charge by Federal troops. He was removed to Paola ; thence to Te-
cumseh, where he had a hearing before United States Commissioner
Hoagland, and was sent to camp for safe-keeping. He represented
that he was bound with ropes • and chains, and was compelled to ' trot
along,' thus bound, between two horsemen, for forty miles, in a hot
June sun."

The effect upon old Brown himself may be learned from
the Springfield, Mass., Republican. It says :

" In a letter written to his wife and children at North Elba in June,
1856, Brown gave the only written account of the expedition which has
been received from him. Portions of this letter have been published,
but not the whole. In it he says : ' On the second day and evening
after we left John's men — which was Saturday, May 22, 1856 — we en-
countered quite a number of pro-slavery men, and took quite a number
prisoners. Our prisoners we let go, but we kept some four or five
horses. We were immediately after this accused of murdering five men
at Potawatomie, and great efforts have since been made by the Mis-
sourians and ruffian allies to capture us. John's company soon after-
ward disbanded, and also the Osawatomie men.'

" In the original letter, which was written in pencil, something has
been erased after this, and a note on the margin, in Brown's handwrit-
ing, adds : ' There are but very few who wish real facts about these
matters to go out. ' Apparently Brown himself is willing that the real
facts should be known, but, for the sake of others, does not state them.
Towards the end of the letter, after describing the fight at Black Jack,
the burning of his son's house at Brown's Station, on Middle Creek,
ten miles west of Osawatomie, and other ' trying events,' Brown says :

" ' Since then we have, like David of old, had our dwellings with the
serpents of the rocks and wild beasts of the wilderness, being obliged to

EFFECT ON TREASON PRISONERS.

279

hide away from our enemies. We are not disheartened, though nearly
destitute of food, clothing, and money. God, who has not given us
over to the will of our enemies, but has, moreover, delivered them into
our hands, will, we humbly trust, still keep and deliver us. We feel
assured that He who sees not as men see does not lay the guilt of in-
nocent blood to our charge.' "

It is very remarkable that this man, who, according to
F. B. Sanborn and others, put an end forever to all difficul-
ties in Kansas by this " one stroke," should himself become
an outlaw, and have to dwell "with the serpents of the
rocks and wild beasts of the wilderness." If the pro-slavery
men had been all driven from the Territory, and profound
peace reigned, as some of his eulogists claim, who was there
to trouble either him, the " Liberator," or his son?

As has been stated, Deitzler, G. W. Brown, Jenkins, and
Smith were arrested for treason on or about the 2ist of
May, and taken to Lecompton by the Marshal. G. W.
Brown, in his " Reminiscences," page 1 2, gives the effect of
the news of this massacre, as follows :

" On Sunday, late in the afternoon of the 2$th of May, '56, informa-
tion was given to the treason prisoners, at Lecompton, of whom the
writer had the honor of being one, that a terrible massacre of pro-
slavery men had been perpetrated on Potawatomie Creek ; that the news
had reached the Kickapoo Rangers, Atchison Tigers, and such other
pro-slavery organizations as were still about Lecompton after their suc-
cessful raid of the 2ist on Lawrence. The excitement was reported
very high among them.

" On the evening of the 25th, Marshal Donelson entered the build-
ing in person, and said that a party were organizing among the Rangers,
Tigers, etc., to take the prisoners and hang them in retaliation for these
murders. He said he had learned that we were all Odd Fellows or
Masons ; that he had so reported ; and besides enlisting all the terri-
torial officers, including the Governor, Judges, etc., and such members
of the Order as he could find in Lecompton, he had found some in the
several companies, and with these he hoped to be able to save us ; that
they should stand guard through the night, and if an attack was made
he should place arms in our hands, that we might aid in our own de-
fense.

" The guard was kept up for the night. The next day the Marshal's
' posse ' were again discharged, and left Lecompton ; but Donelson

280 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

himself remained with us in the room for the night, for our protection
against contingencies, as he asserted."

Robinson arrived at Westport, Missouri, as has been stated,
on the aoth of May, and there remained until the service of
the writs at Lawrence on the 2ist, when he was taken to
Lecompton by way of Leavenworth. He was at Leaven-
worth when the news of the killing was received.

A Westport paper had published an account of the killing
of " eight pro-slavery men " on the Potawatomie, whose bod-
ies were brutally mutilated, and this was republished in the
Leavenworth Herald. The excitement in the town was in-
tense. A public meeting was held, and steps taken to drive
all Free-State men and women from Leavenworth. G. W.
Brown, in his book, says, on page 23, as follows :

" Governor Robinson was taken by a mob at Lexington, Missouri,
while descending the Missouri in company with his wife. He was de-
tained there for a few days ; thence taken by way of Westport, to Franklin,
within four miles of Lawrence ; thence back to Kansas City, and up the
Missouri to Leavenworth, where he arrived on the eve of these murders
on the Potawatomie. The news of the massacre caused the most in-
tense excitement. It was all that active pro-slavery men, who were
warm personal friends of the Governor, some of whom were under last-
ing obligations to him for favors rendered in California and on his way
thither, could do to save him from violent death. Indeed, the people
were wrought up to such a furious frenzy that his death was expected
at any moment. An eye-witness of the scene told me that the cooler
and better class of the citizens, thinking they were powerless to save
him, wept like children as one by one they took him by the hand and
bade him farewell.

" The Congressional Investigating Committee were in session at
Leavenworth. They could not proceed with business because of the
excitement, hence removed to Kansas City, where they also found it
impossible, with personal safety, to continue their investigations, and
left for Washington, one of the members remaining long enough to ob-
tain affidavits detailing the incidents of this awful tragedy, portions of
which I have copied. In his minority report to Congress, he said of
these murders : ' In savage barbarity and demoniac cruelty they have
scarcely an equal in the history of civilized man.' The majority of the
Committee were compelled to stultify themselves, and throw out im-

EFFECTS IN LEAVENWORTH. 281

portant evidence they had already taken, in order to suppress the loath-
some details of the butchery.

" A lady resident of Leavenworth, at the time the news of the tragedy
reached the city, told me, on her way up the Missouri in the following
spring, returning for the first time after the occurrence to Kansas, of its
effects on the Free-State population there. She said a public meeting
of pro-slavery men was immediately called, when the account of the
Potawatomie massacre was narrated to the already crazed pro-slavery
mob. The most violent denunciatory and threatening speeches were
made. Resolutions were passed of a fiery character, setting forth that
the first blood had been shed by the Free-State men ; that the midnight
assassins were not satisfied with simply murdering their victims, but
that they had mutilated them in a shameful manner. They declared
that it was impossible for the abolitionists and the pro-slavery settlers
to live together in Kansas, and that the former must leave. She said a
body of armed men marched through the streets, visiting each dwelling,
and ordered every Free-State man, woman, and child to go at once to
the levee. They would not allow her even to close her house ; but with
her chidren she was marched to the river, where she found hundreds of
others. All were forced upon a steamer lying at the levee, including
her husband, whom she found there. The Captain was ordered to take
these involuntary passengers to Alton, and there leave them. She re-
mained in that city until the spring of 1857, when she returned with
her husband, and again settled in the Territory."

Phillips, in his " Conquest of Kansas," page 318, says:

' ' On the morning of the 28th of May [four days after the murders,
as the reader will observe], the office of the Leavenworth Herald issued
a reprint of a violent ' war ' extra of the Westport paper, the design of
which was to excite the border men to acts of violence against the Free-
State settlers of Kansas. In the forenoon of that day a pro-slavery
meeting was held, at which Stringfellow and General Richardson were
prominent actors. At this meeting it was decreed that all persons who
had taken an active part as Free-State men must leave the Territory."

When Robinson arrived at Leavenworth, he was placed
in charge of Captain William Martin, of the Kickapoo Ran-
gers, and three assistants. On the day of the excitement,
Captain Martin was called to attend private meetings of
the pro-slavery men, reporting occasionally to his prisoner
the determination relative to himself. He said the pro-slav-

282 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

ery men wanted him to surrender his prisoner that night, and
when he declined, they wanted him to lock him in a room
and leave him without a guard. He said he got mad and
told them that when a prisoner was placed in his charge
by the United States Government, he would protect that
prisoner while his own life should last. Martin had served
one or more enlistments in the United States army, and had
a sense of honor which all civilians did not possess. Being
Captain of the Kickapoo Rangers, he had acquired a bad
reputation, but it was not wholly deserved. According to tes-
timony before the Congressional Committee, he did what he
could to save the life of R. P. Brown, killed at Easton, and
surely no man could have acted more honorably than he did
while he held the writer as prisoner. It is doubtful if there
was another pro-slavery man who would or could have
saved him from the wrath of the excited mob.

In the afternoon, the keeper announced a caller, who was
shown into the parlor of the Shawnee House, where the
prisoner was guarded. This caller seemed much affected,
and immediately left the room without speaking. He, how-
ever, soon returned, and asked the prisoner if he remem-
bered him ? On being answered in the negative, he said,
" Do you remember attending a young physician attacked
with cholera at Kansas City the night before you started
overland for California in 1 849 ? " On being answered in
the affirmative, he said, " Well, I am that physician, and you
saved my life, and I have been trying all day to save yours,
but have so far failed. They have determined to kill you
to-night, and I can't prevent it." In saying this, he shed
tears like a child. Robinson tried to console him in his dis-
tress, saying it might result better than he feared ; at any rate,
all had to die once, and it was not very material as to the
time. This physician's name is Dr. Ridge, of Kansas City,
now a millionaire and influential citizen. Although then
pro-slavery, he is and was a gentleman with a large and
generous heart.

EFFECT OF THE MASSACRE. 283

However, the officials did not agree to the programme of
the meeting, and Judge Lecompte and Marshal Donelson
slept by the door of the prisoner's room, while General
Richardson occupied his bed. Early the next morning, be-
fore the excited people were on the street, a company of
United States dragoons from Fort Leavenworth appeared
with an empty saddle, which was soon filled by the prisoner,
when he was taken to Lecompton to join the other " traitors "
on the prairie, under charge of United States troops.

As another evidence of the "quieting" effect of John
Brown's warfare, inaugurated on the Potawatomie, a few
extracts are given from Mrs. Robinson's " Kansas." On
returning from the East, about the first of June, she was
compelled to remain several days at Kansas City on account
of the disturbances in the Territory. She reports as follows,
beginning on page 273 :

" I arrived at Kansas City on the night of June 3d, at twelve o'clock,
after my Eastern flying trip, and in hopes soon to join my husband.
* * * The last day or two of the trip on the Missouri River rumors
of war became more frequent. Inflammatory extras were thrown upon
the boats at different landings. People at Lexington, and other points
along the river, were much excited and preparing for a new invasion.
The extras stated the murder of eight pro-slavery men, by the abolition-
ists, and the cruel mutilation of their bodies ; the death of the United
States Marshal, of H. C. Pate, and J. McGee. Deeds of blood and
violence, of which they were hourly guilty, were charged upon the
Free-State men. The following is a sample of the incendiary extras
which flew through the border counties : ' Murder is the watchword and
midnight deed of a scattered and scouting band of abolitionists, who had
courage only to fly from the face of the wronged and insulted people,
when met at their own solicitation. Men, peaceable and quiet, cannot
travel on the public roads of Kansas, without being caught, searched,
imprisoned, and their lives, perhaps, taken. No Southerner dare vent-
ure alone and unarmed on her roads ! ' Such were the false statements
made to arouse the passions of the border men.

*******

" The threats of destroying this hotel were still frequent, and nightly
the danger of attack was imminent. The Mayor of the city had kept
out a guard one or two nights. But he had declined doing this longer,

284 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

and, a meeting of the citizens being called, it was decided to ask the
' Eldridges ' to sell the hotel, to save it from the fury of the South Caro-
linians and border men ; they expressed to them at the same time their
regret that such was the excitement against it.

' ' Again and again the mob had assembled, and with groans, whose
hideousness no one can appreciate who was not forced to listen, and
with yells, declared the house should come down. The ' Eldridges '
proposed their terms, which were accepted, and, on the morning of the
tenth, the hotel passed into the keeping of two pro-slavery men. * * *
Robberies and murders were repeated every day in the early part of
June. Every evening's intelligence was of some fresh outrage. * * *

" A Mr. Cantrell, then recently from Missouri, but a Free-State man,
was taken prisoner on the evening of the 5th of June by one of General
Whitfield's scouting parties. On the next day he was carried down the
Santa Fe road. At Cedar Creek he was taken out into a ravine by two
men. Then there was a shot ; — then a cry, ' O, God, I am shot ! — I
am murdered! ' Then another shot, and a long piercing scream; —
another shot, and all was still!

" A Mr. Bailey narrowly escaped a violent death, and through many
sufferings at last reached his friends. He had started from his home to
get a load of provisions for himself and his neighbors. When near Bull
Creek, Coleman, who had twenty men encamped close by, came and
ordered him to stop over night. Among these twenty men were Buck-
ley and Hargous, his accomplices in the murder of Dow. In the morn-
ing his horses were missing, their halters having been cut. The men
expressed sympathy for his loss, and told him the horses could be found
in the camp at Cedar Creek, and they proposed to go with him to find
them. Before reaching Cedar Creek they met a company of two hun-
dred men. A consultation was held with them, and Coleman said,
' There may be treachery used.'

" Soon after the company passed on, three men took Mr. Bailey into
the prairie about one hundred yards from the road, and demanded his
money ; without hesitation or one word of objection he gave them forty-
five dollars, all he had. One of the men raised his gun as though
he would fire. Mr. Bailey said, ' If you mean to kill me, you will
kill a better man than yourself ; ' to which the ruffian, lowering his
gun, replied, ' I wish you to take off those pantaloons ; perhaps they
will get bloody.' But Mr. Bailey said, ' They are mine as long as I
live.'

" This tool of the Administration, armed with a United States mus-
ket, again raised his gun and fired. The ball struck Mr. Bailey in the
side, glancing along the ribs, and lodged in the back. Mr. Bailey fell,
and was struck at again and again with the musket. Then two of the

PRO-SLAVERY RETALIATION. 285

men disappeared, and left this more than demon to finish the work of
killing a peaceable man. He jumped on the body of the prostrate man,
stamping on his face and head. But as Mr. Bailey caught hold of the
musket, and was able to hold on upon it, the murderer ran after the
others, calling upon them to return. They, however, were too far
away. After lying in the grass three hours, Mr. Bailey attempted to
find his way home. In doing so, he passed near their camp the next
morning at daybreak, and for a while lay hid in the grass, to learn their
movements. While there, he heard a cry, ' Are you going to hang me? '
and no reply, save the ringing of a bell. In about five minutes, he
heard a shot, then a whistle, and six other shots at intervals of five
minutes. He lay in the woods all day, and at night crawled along about
two miles ; was hid near the Wakarusa all the next day ; saw a wagon
stopped by five men ; heard angry words, and a shot fired. In the
night, worn down by his sufferings from the wound and bruises, having
had nothing to drink but stagnant water, he reached the house of Dr.
Still, at Blue Mound.

"A young man, by the name of Hill, was going to Missouri, also
for provisions, and as night came, he asked two men on the road where
he could find water for his horses. They said they would show him, if
he would go with them. When he had gone with them to the ravine,
where they said he would find water, they searched him, took whatever
he had of money, and threatened to kill him. He told them he had
a mother, and young brothers and sister dependent on him ; that day
after day, as she looked out for his coming, and night only brought a
renewal of the sad suspense as to his fate, in sorrow she would go to
the grave ; but there was no pity in their hearts, no mercy. They tied
the young man's arms behind him, and, bending his feet backwards,
tied them also to his arms ; then put a stick an inch and a half wide in
his mouth, prying it open, and tied the string back of his head. Then,
more barbarous than the New Zealanders, they cut places in his hat,
and tied that also over his face, and laid him face downwards on the
stones. They went away, leaving him to die.

"After a time they came back; and, as one placed his pistol directly
over his eye, he feeling its pressure through the hat, the other said,
' Don't shoot him; he will not go any further on his journey to-night.'
They left again to report at the camp, probably, another victim to the
vile tools of slavery propagandism.

" When this young man found himself again alone, and thought they
would not return, he commenced making an effort to extricate himself
from his painful position. By working his boot upon the sharp stones,
he found the rope loose enough for him to draw his foot out. His feet
were thus left at liberty, while one boot was swinging on his back. By

286 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

working his hat between his knees, he was able to pull it off his face.
Then with the strip of board still lacerating his mouth, and hands fas-
tened with strong cords behind him, he set out to find some house in
the darkness of the night.

" He had come from Iowa in the spring, and was but little acquainted
with the country. After travelling eleven miles, he knew, by the bark-
ing of the dogs, he was near a house, but was unable to get over the
fence. The strange cries he made at last attracted the attention of the
family, but, supposing him to be a drunken Indian, they did not at first
come to his aid. He was, however, cared for by them. Elliot, who
with Titus pledged five hundred dollars for the head of Captain Walker,
when the United States Marshal offered, with his usual servility, to
send a posse for him, was one of the actors in this savage transaction.
Other men were continually shot and robbed.

" A man who had a pass from United States Marshal Donelson,
with a load of freight, was returning to his home in the Territory. On
the evening of the day he left he returned, robbed of his money, wagon,
and oxen, and saved his life only by a promise to leave the Territory.
The men who attacked him were encamped about two miles from West-
port, armed, as all their men were, with United States rifles and side
arms.

' ' The questions asked of him were, ' Where do you live ? \Vhere
are you from ? What are your politics ? How much money did that
d — d Emigrant Aid Society give you to come out here? What the h — 1
did you come out here for ? Did you come to make Kansas a free
State ? Why didn't you go to Nebraska ? That's a good country, and
you d — d Yankees may have it ; but Kansas you'll have to fight for, and
we'll whip h — 1 out of you, but we'll get it, Union or no Union!
That's a game that must win, I am thinking. ' The question was finally
asked, ' If we will let you go, will you take a gun and march with the
pro-slavery party ? '

"'Never!' was the invariable reply. In an instant, the cry re-
sounded through the camp, ' The rope, boys, the rope!'

" It was thrown over his head, and he was dragged to the nearest
tree, exclaiming, ' You do not intend to kill me in this manner, do
you ? '

' ' The reply was, ' Yes, G — d d — n your abolition heart, and all like
you !'

' ' He asked, if he was thus to be sacrificed, for time to collect his
thoughts, and arrange his worldly affairs. The fiends told him he
could have ten minutes to make any disposal of his property, and his
peace with God. He then gave a list of his effects to one of the cap-
tains, asking him to send it East to his friends ; and, at the expiration
of the ten minutes, the rope was thrown over a limb and they jerked him

OUTRAGES SUBSEQUENT TO MASSACRE. 287

from the ground. After being let down, he was asked, ' Will you leave
the Territory, if we'll spare your life ? '

"The prisoner objected, stating he "had broken no law, infringed
upon no man's rights. The leader, who had ordered him let down
when hanging, again interposed, saying he must make this promise, or
lose his life. He told the men that this gentleman had a ' right to be a
Free-State man, though no right to hold such views in Kansas ; that he
was guilty of no crime.' With a guard he was sent back to Kansas
City.

" Others, going out with loaded teams, soon returned, having gone
through the same operation of questioning and hanging. In one in-
stance, as one was released, and left the camp, he heard the screams of
another man in the camp across the road. * * *

" A young man and his wife, formerly from Iowa, came to Kansas
City. They were fearful, and dared not stay longer in the Territory.
Nine yoke of cattle, which he was going to take into Iowa to sell, were
taken from him by a ruffianly band just as he approached Kansas City.
Some gentlemen stopping at Kansas, who had lost teams on their
way down, were anxious to get back into the Territory. They started
one day, but returned ere its close. They thought, by going on foot,
and keeping off of the travelled roads, they should be able to get through
without molestation ; but, when about twelve miles out, they fell into
the enemy's hands. They were released after a time, and advised to
return to Kansas City, 'as they would meet other bands, where they
might fare worse.' "

Phillips, in his " Conquest of Kansas," relates as follows :

" While near Osawatomie, he contrived to seize two of the old
man's sons — Captain John Brown, Jr., and Mr. Jason Brown. These
were taken while quietly engaged in their avocations. Captain Brown,
Jr., had been up with his company at Lawrence, immediately after the
sacking of the place, and at the time the men at Potawatomie were
killed. He had returned home when he saw he could not aid Law-
rence, and quietly went to work. He and his brother Jason were taken
by Pate, charged with murder, kept in irons in their camp, and treated
with the greatest indignity and inhumanity. While Pate was thus tak-
ing people prisoners without legal authority or writs, he was joined by
Captain Wood's company of dragoons, who, so far from putting a stop
to his violent career, aided him in it, and took from him, at his desire,
two prisoners, keeping them under guard in their camp, heavily ironed
and harshly treated. While these companies were thus travelling close
to each other, Captain Pate's company burned the store of a man named
Winer, a German; the home of John Brown, Jr., in which, among a

288 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

variety of household articles, a valuable library was consumed ; and also
the house of another of the Browns — for the old man had six grown
sons ; and also searched houses', men, and Free-State settlers, and acted
in a violent and lawless manner generally. Not being able to find Cap-
tain Brown, ST., at Osawatomie, Pate's company and the troops started
back for the Santa Fe road."

James Redpath, in the "Life of Brown," on pages 136
and 137, says:

' ' When the news of the defeat of Clay Pate reached Missouri, a
force of twenty-one hundred mounted men, not one of them citizens of
Kansas, set out from the border village of Westport, under the lead of
the territorial delegate to Congress, with the triple purpose of rescu-
ing their brother-highwaymen, seizing Old Brown, and completing the
conquest of the disputed land. * * * But the Federal troops has-
tened down, and induced the Missourians to retire ; which, knowing our
readiness to fight, they willingly consented to do ; but not until, in cold
blood, they had murdered seven Free-State men, not one of whom was
armed, when they were taken prisoners by the invading forces. Mr.
Cantrell was murdered by a ruffian named Forman, one of Captain
Pate's men, who was wounded at Black Jack, carefully nursed at Prairie
City, and dismissed by his captors uninjured. Of such were the South-
ern companies."

Other testimony of the " quieting " effect of the Potawat-
omie massacre is given by Andreas on page 133 of his his-
tory:

" As soon as the news of the Ossawatomie murders reached the Mis-
souri border towns, the soldiers just returned from Lawrence were
rallied for a new invasion, not as before, under the call of the United
States Marshal, but, as the pro-slavery papers put it, to protect the
pro-slavery settlers who were being driven from their homes or slaugh-
tered without mercy by their abolition neighbors."

Holloway, in his history, on page 351, says that this oc-
currence, the Potawatomie massacre, " was used as a pretext
for new outrages by Southerners and Missourians. The
usual ' war extras ' were issued," etc.

Andreas, on page 132, says of Henry Clay Pate:

" On hearing of the murders, he set out for Osawatomie with his
company, with the design of 'capturing or killing old Brown,' who was

ANDREA'S STATEMENT. 289

assumed to be the leader of the murderous gang. The old man was in
hiding on his arrival. Failing to find him, he took prisoners two of his
sons, John Brown, Jr., and Jason, whom he found at work upon their
claims, on suspicion of being accessories to the crime. They were
charged with murder and put in irons. Other arrests of Free-State men
were made and a few cabins burned. A company of United States
dragoons, under Captain Wood, joined Pate soon after the arrests were
made, and to them he turned over his prisoners. On the 3ist the two
companies moved together as far as Middle Ottawa Creek. There they
separated. * * * Six of Henry Clay Pate's men had that day (June
1st) made a raid on Palmyra, in retaliation for the Potawatomie mas-
sacre, and had taken several prisoners, among them two of the Barrick-
lows and Dr. Graham. They then concluded they would go over to
Prairie City and take that village also."

Page 133:

" In addition to the command of Captain Pate, whose career was
temporarily checked at Black Jack, a considerable force was raised at
Westport, Independence, and other Missouri towns for a new invasion.
The commander-in-chief was General Whitfield, the pro-slavery dele-
gate to Congress, who had left the Investigating Committee, then in
session at Leavenworth, to engage in the more congenial work of or-
ganizing and leading a force from Missouri into the Territory, to
' whale ' into submission the abolition part of the constituency he claimed
to represent. The force with which he left Westport for the seat of
war numbered something over two hundred and fifty men, well armed
and accounted for a short campaign. He entered the Territory on
June 2d."

How " quieting " ! These hostile demonstrations from
Missouri once more called together the Free-State forces,
which attacked and captured Pate on the 2d of June, and at-
tacked, but did not capture, Franklin on June 4th. Seeing
a civil war being waged with all the earnestness of bitter
partisans, Governor Shannon issued another proclamation,
and called upon Colonel Sumner to enforce it. This proc-
lamation begins with a "Whereas, information has been
received by us that armed bodies of men exist in different
parts of the Territory, who have committed and threaten to
commit acts of lawless violence on peaceable and unoffend-
ing citizens — taking them prisoners, despoiling them of their

19

290 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

property, and threatening great personal violence." He
proceeds to say that all illegal bodies of armed men must
be dispersed, and all persons of whatever party must be pro-
tected in their persons and property.

Here is some official testimony as to the " quieting " effect
of John Brown's war. In his letter to the President, dated
May 31, 1856, Governor Shannon has this:

" I send you herewith three communications which I have received
— one from General Heiskell, one from General Barbee, and the third
from Judge Cato (Nos. 3, 4, and 5), detailing the circumstances attend-
ing the murder of six men in the County of Franklin, which is the
county immediately south of this. Comment is unnecessary. The re-
spectability of the parties and the cruelties attending these murders have
produced an extraordinary state of excitement in that portion of the
Territory, which has heretofore remained comparatively quiet. As
soon as I was advised of these horrid murders, I sent an express to
Captain Wood, at Lawrence, to move out into that section of country
with his whole command, and to protect the people as far as possible
from these midnight assassins. He moved with his whole command
immediately, but I have received no intelligence from him yet. I hope
the offenders may be brought to justice ; if so, it may allay to a great
extent the excitement ; otherwise, I fear the consequences.

*******

" At this time affairs seem to wear a favorable aspect, except in the
Wakarusa valley, and south of Lawrence, in the region of country
where the recent murders were perpetrated."

Judge Cato testifies :

" PAOLA, LYKINS COUNTY, May 27, 1856.

"DEAR SIR: You will have learned, perhaps, before this reaches
you, that Mr. Allen Wilkinson, Mr. Doyle and two sons, and Mr.
Sherman, all of Franklin County, were on Saturday night last most
foully and barbarously murdered. There can be no doubt of the fact
that such murders have been perpetrated, and that the community, as I
understand, generally suspect that the Browns and Partridges are the
guilty parties. I shall do everything in my power to have the matter
investigated, and there seems to be a disposition on the part of the
Free-State men in Franklin to aid in having the laws enforced. As
soon as the proper evidence can be procured, warrants will be issued
for the arrest of the parties suspected, and I have promised the officers
to whom these warrants will be intrusted all the aid necessary to exe-
cute the law. These murders were most foully committed in the night

OFFICIAL TESTIMONY.

291

time by a gang of some twelve or fifteen persons, calling on, and drag-
ging from their houses, defenseless and unsuspecting citizens, and,
after murdering, mutilating their bodies in a very shocking manner.

" As the murders were committed in the night, it has been difficult,
so far, to identify the perpetrators. I hope, however, that sufficient
evidence may be procured.

" Most respectfully, your obedient servant,

" General William Barbee." " S. G. CATO.

" CAMP HEADQUARTERS, SECOND BRIGADE,

"SOUTHERN DIVISION, KANSAS MlLITIA,

" PAOLA, Monday morning, May 25, 1856.

" DEAR SIR: We were all surprised this morning by the sad intelli-
gence that Allen Wilkinson (late member of the Legislature) was, to-
gether with a Mr. Sherman and three Messrs. Doyle, on Saturday
night taken from their beds by the abolitionists, and, in the hearing of
their families, ruthlessly murdered and hacked to pieces ; also, a man
found dead at the Potawatomie. There were some twenty in the gang.
All is excitement here ; court cannot go on.

" I have just had an interview with the bereaved wife and family,
that they spared, also a McMinn ; all of whom I am acquainted with, so
that there can be no doubt as to the correctness of the report. Families
are leaving for Missouri. Yankees concentrating at Osawatomie and
upon the Potawatomie, also at Hickory Point, where they have driven
off the inhabitants without even provisions or clothing, save what they
had on.

" We can, perhaps, muster to-day, including the Alabamians, who
are now encamped on Bull Creek, about a hundred and fifty men, but
will need a force here. I have dispatched to Fort Scott for one hundred
men. The men will come from Fort Scott under Major Hill. There
will be more men in readiness, if needed, at Fort Scott. We are desti-
tute of arms ; send wagons for both my brigade and General Heiskell's,
we are together ; we have scarcely any arms. I wait further orders.

" Your obedient servant,

" WILLIAM BARBEE,
" Commanding Second Brigade, S. D. K. M."

General William A. Heiskell writes :

" PAOLA, May 26, 1856.

" DEAR SIR: All here is excitement and confusion. We have just
heard of the murder on Saturday night of Allen Wilkinson, Doyle and
his two brothers, and William Sherman ; all living in Franklin County,
near Potawatomie Creek. The body of another man has been found at
the ford of Potawatomie. These murders, it is supposed, were com-

29 2 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

mitted by the abolitionists of Osawatomie and Potawatomie creeks, on
their return from Lawrence.

" How long shall these things continue? How long shall our citizens,
unarmed and defenseless, be exposed to this worse than savage cruelty?
Wilkinson, it is said, was taken from his bed, leaving a sick wife and
children, and butchered in their sight. The two young Doyles were
unarmed, and shot down on the prairie like dogs.

" We have here but few men, and they wholly unarmed. We shall
gather together for our own defense as many men as we can ; we hope
you will send us as many arms as possible, and if, under the circum-
stances, you can do so, send as many men as you may think necessary.
General Barbee is here. He has sent to Fort Scott for aid. We must
organize such forces as we can, but for God's sake send arms. General
Coffey is in the neighborhood ; I have not yet had an opportunity to see
him ; he will be here to-day.

"We hope to be able to identify some of the murderers, as Mr.
Harris, who was in their hands, was released, and will probably know
some of them. Yours truly,

" WILLIAM A. HEISKELL.
Governor Wilson shannon.

Colonel Sumner, in his letter to the Adjutant-General of
the army, dated May 28, 1856, says : " From present appear-
ances, it looks very much like running into a guerrilla war-
fare. * * * As the affair now stands, there is great
danger of our being compelled to use force."

Governor Shannon writes :

" EXECUTIVE OFFICE, LECOMPTON, K. T., May 27, 1856.
" SIR: I received last night, about twelve o'clock, reliable informa-
tion by a special dispatch from Osawatomie, in the County of Franklin,
that on last Saturday night five persons had been taken out of their
houses and cruelly murdered ; that it seemed to be a regular system of
private assassination which the Free-State party had adopted towards
their opponents. Under these circumstances, I am compelled to send
into that country Captain Woods with his whole command, who is sta-
tioned at Lawrence, leaving that place without any force. I have to
ask you, therefore, to send me two more companies, with directions for
them to camp at or near Lawrence until they receive further orders.
' ' Yours, with great respect,

" WILSON SHANNON.
" Colonel Sumner."

Major John Sedgwick writes to Colonel Sumner, June

OFFICIAL TESTIMONY. 293

i, 1856: "There are, undoubtedly, many outrages com-
mitted daily ; some of them of the most atrocious character."
Colonel P. St. George Cooke, in a letter to the Adjutant-
General, dated June, 1856, said: "The disorders of the
Territory have, in fact, changed their character, and consist
now of robberies and assassinations, by a set of bandits
whom the excitement of the times has attracted hither."
Colonel Sumner writes :

" HEADQUARTERS FIRST CAVALRY,

" FORT LEAVENWORTH, June 23, 1856.

" SIR: I returned to this post last night. I have been busily en-
gaged in dispersing armed bodies of both parties, and have been so
fortunate as to do it without meeting resistance.

" I have stationed five companies in two camps near Westport, to
prevent any further inroads from that part of Missouri.

" I do not think there is an armed party in the Territory, with the
exception of a few freebooters, who may be together in small numbers.
" Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

" E. V. SUMNER,

' ' Colonel First Cavalry, Commanding.
" Assistant Adjutant-General, Department of the West, St. Louis, Mo."

" HEADQUARTERS FIRST CAVALRY,

" FORT LEAVENWORTH, June 23, 1856.

" COLONEL: I returned to this post last night. On the I4th instant
I concentrated several companies at Palmyra, on the Santa Fe road, and
moved down that road towards the Missouri line. I met two armed
parties on their way into the Territory — one from Missouri and one
from Alabama — but they both returned into Missouri.

" I do not think there is an armed body of either party now in the
Territory, with the exception, perhaps, of a few freebooters, who may
be together in small numbers. These fellows belong to both parties,
and are taking advantage of the political excitement to commit their own
rascally acts. I have stationed five companies near the Missouri line,
to indicate plainly to all that the orders of the President and the procla-
mation of the Governor will be maintained.

" I am, Colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

" E. V. SUMNER,

" Colonel First Cavalry, Commanding.
" Colonel S. Cooper, Adjiitant-General."

" EXECUTIVE OFFICE, June 14, 1856.
" SIR: I send you two copies of the proclamation — all I can find.

294 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

" The complaints of robberies on the roads near Westport are dis-
tressing.

" I hope you will clear those roads and drive those people back at
once. Yours, etc.,

" W. SHANNON.
" Colonel Sumner."

While the war of murder and pillage thus inaugurated was
being prosecuted by the revolutionists in a private manner,
the larger bodies were becoming formidable. Pate's com-
pany was encountered at Black Jack on the 2d of June by
about thirty Free-State men, and, after exchanging shots
several hours from the ravines and tall grass, Pate, seeing
Captain Abbott with his company approaching to reinforce
the Free-State men, surrendered. No serious harm was
done. A skirmish was had at Franklin on the 4th of June,
and Osawatomie was sacked by the pro-slavery forces. Of
this attack, Gihon says :

" On the yth, Reid, with one hundred and seventy men, marched
into Osawatomie, and, without resistance, entered each house, robbing
it of everything of value. There were but few men in town, and the
women and children were treated with the utmost brutality. Stores
and dwellings were alike entered and pillaged. Trunks, boxes, and
desks were broken open, and their contents appropriated or destroyed.
Even rings were rudely pulled from the ears and fingers of the women,
and some of the apparel from their persons. The liquor found was
freely drunk, and served to incite the plunderers to increased violence
in the prosecution of their mischievous work. Having completely
stripped the town, they set fire to several houses, and then beat a rapid
retreat, carrying off a number of horses, and loudly urging each other
to greater haste, as 'the d — d abolitionists were coming!' There are
hundreds of well-authenticated accounts of the cruelties practised by
this horde of ruffians ; some of them too shocking and disgusting to
relate, or to be accredited if told. The tears and shrieks of terrified
women folded in their foul embrace failed to touch a chord of mercy
in their brutal hearts ; and the mutilated bodies of murdered men hang-
ing upon the trees, or left to rot upon the prairies or in the deep
ravines, or furnish food for vultures and wild beasts, told frightful
stories of brutal ferocity, from which the wildest savages might have
shrunk with horror."

COLONEL SUMNER'S REPORT. 295

All these movements resulted from the massacre. Colonel
Sumner, in accordance with the Governor's proclamation,
took the field, and soon sent home the Missourians as well
as the Free-State forces. John Brown subsided or left the
country, and comparative quiet was restored.

Colonel Sumner thus refers to his action in a letter to the
Adjutant-General, U. S. A., under date of June 8, 1856 :

" HEADQUARTERS FIRST CAVALRY,

"FORT LEAVENWORTH, June 8, 1856.

" COLONEL: I have just returned to this post to prepare the last two
companies of my regiment to take the field. On the 5th instant, as
soon as I received the inclosed proclamation, I moved from Lecompton
with about fifty men to disperse a band of free-soilers who were en-
camped near Prairie City ; this band had a fight with the pro-slavery
party, and had taken twenty-six prisoners. As I approached them,
they sent out to request me to halt, which of course was not done, and
the leaders then came out to meet me as I was advancing. They yielded
at once, and I ordered them to release all prisoners and to disperse
immediately, which was complied with. While engaged in this camp
in seeing my orders carried into effect, I received intelligence that two
or three hundred of the pro-slavery party, from Missouri and elsewhere,
were approaching, and I immediately turned my attention to them. I
found them halted at two miles' distance (about two hundred and fifty
strong), and, to my great surprise, I found Colonel Whitfield, the mem-
ber of Congress, and General Coffey, of the militia, at their head. I
said to these gentlemen that I was there by order of the President and
the proclamation of the Governor to disperse all armed bodies assem-
bled without authority ; and further, that my duty was perfectly plain,
and would certainly be done. I then requested General Coffey to as-
semble his people, and I read to them the President's dispatch and the
Governor's proclamation.

" The General then said that he should not resist the authority of
the general Government, and that his party would disperse, and shortly
afterwards they moved off. Whether this is a final dispersion of these
lawless armed bodies is very doubtful."

Colonel Sumner's efforts so far succeeded as to enable
General Smith, who succeeded him in command, to write on
July 26, 1856, as follows: "Colonel: Everything has been
tranquil in the department since I assumed command. In
the Territory of Kansas there have been no disturbances, but

296 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

emigrants are coming in armed, as though they were pre-
pared to begin again when an opportunity offers."

Also, August i st he wrote: "Things remain apparently
quiet in Kansas Territory, and I hear of no threatened hos-
tilities from Indians."

Governor Shannon and Colonel Sumner construed their
instructions from headquarters to require the dispersion of
the State Legislature, which was to meet on the 4th of July.
This was done by Colonel Sumner in a manner to entitle
him as a man and officer to the respect of the Free-State
men, believing he was simply obeying orders from his superi-
ors. But such was the detestation in which the act was held
throughout the country, that the President and Secretary of
War denied all responsibility for it, and left Sumner under a
cloud of implied censure, which he resented in his corre-
spondence.

As this was to be an inexcusable interference with the
rights of the people, even though by Federal authority, the
Legislature would be justified before the world in making at
least a show of resistance. Accordingly, the treason prison-
ers sent this letter to the members of the Legislature :

CAMP NEAR LECOMPTON, KANSAS, July i, 1856.
"To the Friends of Law and Order? convened at Topeka :

" The undersigned desire to say a word to their friends in regard to
the present aspect of affairs in Kansas.

"It is highly important at this time that the oppressed people of
Kansas should occupy a tenable position, one which the country and
the world will sustain. There is, it seems to us, a position which we
can occupy and be triumphant, whether overcome by numbers or not ;
while there is another position, which, if taken, would prejudice our
cause and might lead to defeat, and weaken the confidence and support
of our friends in the country.

' ' The first and true position is, defense of the State organization.
You have a constitutional right to meet as a Legislature, complete the
State organization, and pass all laws necessary to the successful admin-
istration of justice, and the Federal Government has no authority to
interfere with you in the exercise of this right ; should it do so, resist-
ance becomes justifiable self-defense.

LETTER OF TREASON PRISONERS.

297

" The second and untenable position is resistance to a Federal officer
in the service of a legal process, when the defense of the State organiza-
tion is not involved. Should a collision occur under such circumstances,
it would be most unfortunate, and should be avoided if possible. If
an attempt, however, is made to arrest the members of the State organ-
ization merely because they are such, with a view to disable it, then
resistance becomes defense of the State organization, and is manifestly
justifiable.

"Accordingly, all persons against whom indictments are known to
be pending, for any other charge than that of being a member of the
State organization, should not be found at the capital, as that might in-
volve the people in their cases. We feel that our hope of success in
this important crisis depends, first, upon a right position, and second,
upon calm and unflinching firmness.

" You have met for the purpose of doing what other new States
have done, and what you have a constitutional right to do, and no man
or class of men have a right to interfere, not excepting even the Presi-
dent of the United States.

" Our desire to be with you in this crowning emergency is almost
irresistible, and nothing but the fear that your position might be changed
from a defense of the State organization to a resistance to our re-arrest,
can reconcile us to this absence. As it is, you have our earnest solici-
tude and fervent prayers that all may go on well with you, and that you
may earn, as you will if every step is judiciously and firmly taken, the
gratitude of millions of your fellow-men and the approbation of the God
of Justice and Humanity.

" GEORGE W. SMITH,
"CHARLES ROBINSON,
" GAIUS JENKINS,
" G. W. DEITZLER,
" HENRY H. WILLIAMS,
"JOHN BROWN, JR."

Colonel Sumner reported his action on that occasion to
Washington, and the following endorsement was made upon
his report :

"The President's proclamation having been sent from this depart-
ment to Colonel Sumner, as a part of his instructions, a general refer-
ence to that paper is no compliance with the requirements of the letter
addressed to him, dated July 21, 1856. If any portion of that procla-
mation was understood as directing military officers to use the force
under their command for the dispersion of an illegal legislative body,
that part of the proclamation should have been specially cited.

298 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

" If the ' serious consequences ' anticipated by the Colonel command-
ing First Cavalry from the convention of the Free-State Legislature of
Kansas had been realized, it might have been necessary for him to use
the military force under his command to suppress resistance to the exe-
cution of the laws, and he would have no difficulty in finding his author-
ity, both in the President's proclamation and in the letter of instructions
which accompanied it. But if the exigency was only anticipated, it is
not perceived how authority is to be drawn from either, or both, to
employ a military force to disperse men because they were 'elected and
organized without law.'

" The reference to the dissatisfaction of the Missourians seems to be
wholly inappropriate to the subject under consideration, and the depart-
ment is at a loss to understand why that reference is made ; the more
so because, in answer to an inquiry from Colonel Sumner, he was dis-
tinctly informed by letter of March, 1856, that the department expected
him, in the discharge of his duty, to make no discrimination, founded
on the section of the country from which persons might or had come.
"JEFFERSON DAVIS, Secretary of War.

"WAR DEPARTMENT, August 27, 1856."

Thus it appears that, had there been a conflict, the action
of Sumner would not have been sustained, and the victory
would have been with the Free-State party.

Colonel Sumner visited the prisoner's camp after this
transaction, and complained that the Legislature compelled
him to make a show of force, when Robinson told him the
movement was violating a constitutional right of the people,
and had he been at Topeka, he would have made it neces-
sary for him to kill some one in doing so. Colonel Sumner
replied that he would not have killed any one, but would
have arrested them. Yet he had no writs for such arrest.

As, after the shipment of the Free-State people from
Leavenworth down the river, after the Potawatomie massa-
cre, it became unsafe for immigrants from the North and East
to travel that route, a way was opened through Iowa and
Nebraska. During the summer large parties were raised all
through the Northern States, more or less well armed and
equipped for their own protection. With some of these
parties Lane and Brown appeared on the line of Nebraska.

ARRIVAL OF LANE AND BROWN. 299

But those in charge of the parties were unwilling to enter
the Territory under their auspices, and went by themeslves.
Professor Spring, in his " Kansas," page 169, says:

"July agth, Dr. S. G. Howe and Thaddeus Hyatt, representatives
of the National Kansas Committee sent out to investigate matters, reached
the Nebraska camp. They found many of the immigrants in forlorn
condition — ragged, almost penniless, poorly supplied with even the
scanty furniture of a camper's outfit. Leadership had fallen into Lane's
hands, and the whole expedition became accredited to him, though he was
neither directly nor indirectly concerned in raising more than a fourth
part of it. The committee demanded that his connection with it should
be completely severed on penalty of withholding further supplies. Con-
siderations which led to this summary step were the fact that papers
had been made out for Lane's arrest — a circumstance which might lead
to complications ; that in an emergency his discretion and self-command
could not be trusted. These considerations, the committee reported,
'conspired to create a well-grounded apprehension in our minds that, by
some hasty and ill-timed splurge, he would defeat the object of the ex-
pedition if suffered to remain even in otherwise desirable proximity.'
Lane took the decision much to heart. * * * But he sullenly
yielded, set off towards the Territory with old John Brown, Captain
Samuel Walker, and three or four others."

Both of these men appeared at Topeka, August 10, 1856,
and commenced operations. Lane had been absent since
early in March, and, as Brown was usually in hiding, it was
not definitely known when he left the Territory. As has
been seen by the dispatches of General Smith, quiet had
been partially restored since the Potawatomie killing, and
this, of all things, was what Brown, and perhaps Lane,
would most dislike. But if they had had their way this
quiet would soon have been exchanged for general war
against the Federal Government. John Brown sent word
from his hiding-place, near Topeka, to his son, John, Jr.,
with the treason prisoners, proposing a rescue from the sol-
diers who had him in charge.

Redpath, in his " Life of Brown," page 142, says : " Slowly
coming to the Territory, with a little army, but a mightier
influence of inspiring rude men with furious passions, was

300 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

General 'Jim Lane'; while in the woods, near the town
[Topeka], lay John Brown encamped, who did not despair,
but was ready to release the prisoners at Lecompton, or
attack the dragoons, if the party would advise it. They did
not ; and he left the town."

Lane sent this letter, written with his own hand, to the
treason prisoners :

" TOPEKA, August 10, 1856.

"DEAR FRIENDS: I am here at last with a sufficient force and
ready to rescue you.

' ' It were better if you can escape to do so, and let me meet you with
my defending force just outside of your prison-house.

" It is necessary for me to remind you that time is all-important —
my whereabouts cannot long be concealed from the bloodhounds who
are seeking my blood. Act promptly ; if you cannot escape, I can and
will attack your guard, although it were better policy, if blood is to flow,
that it be shed in your defense rather than in your rescue ; decide, and
that quickly. Time is everything.

" Yours, etc.,

, "J. H. LANE.

" To His Excellency C. Robinson, Governor State of Kansas ; George
W. Smith, Councillor ; General George W. Deitzler, George IV.
Brown, Esq., Hon. John Brown, and others, Free-State prisoners
at Lecompton. "

The Attorney-General of Ohio wrote to Eli Thayer, from
Columbus, May 30, 1856, and said:

" I have had a long personal interview with him [Lane]. * * *
I might add that the great inducement for Lane's immediate return, and
which has induced him to do so, is to save Governor Robinson. He
thinks he has only one hope — a rescue."

" Truly your obedient servant,

" F. D. KIMBALL,
" Attorney-General of Ohio."

Lane came into the Territory disguised as " Captain Joe
Cook." He always magnified his importance in the estima-
tion of the pro-slavery men, and always would make it
appear that they were after his " heart's blood." It is true,
some Administration men regarded Lane as a disturber and

LANE'S DISGUISE. 301

mischievous character, yet the ultra men did not want him
arrested or disturbed in his career. His disguise, of course,
was the merest sham, as his identity was always known, and
he could have been arrested at any time by a single orderly of
Colonel Sumner or any other United States officer. The
same also was true with reference to John Brown, although
Redpath, and perhaps others, claim that no man dared
arrest him. These men depended upon the Free-State party
for their protection, if in danger, and that party could not
be brought in conflict with Federal authority on account of a
regiment of Browns, Lanes, or any other such characters. In
fact, it is notorious, that a large number of the leading Free-
State men, those who devised the policy of the party, re-
garded the cause as much safer in their absence than when
they were present.

CHAPTER XII.

FREE-STATE AND PRO-SLAVERY FORCES. ARRIVAL OF GOV-
ERNOR GEARY. END OF THE WAR. THE PARTS PLAYED

BY BROWN AND LANE.

SEVERAL questions will arise for the future historian re-
garding the motives that led Brown and Lane to propose a
rescue of the treason prisoners from the custody of the offi-
cers of the United States army. The arrest of Deitzler,
Brown, Smith, Jenkins, and Robinson, on a charge of
treason, and their confinement with the officers in whose
hands was placed largely the responsibility for the peace of
the Territory, was the best investment for the Free-State
cause, and the worst for its opponents, that was made dur-
ing that season, excepting only the destruction of the hotel
and printing offices by bogus officers. During most of the
season, the prisoners were in immediate charge of Captain
Sackett, under Major Sedgwick and Colonel Sumner, all
Free-State men and in full sympathy with the prisoners and
their cause. The prisoners were in daily, and sometimes in
hourly, communication with the Free-State men outside, and
with the Captain in charge at all hours. Thus the United
States officers knew with absolute certainty how far the
Free-State men would go, and were in no fear of being com-
promised by them. They were also kept informed in regard
to every movement of the two parties, including the terri-
torial officers, bogus or otherwise. The Governor and his
party became aware of all this, and tried hard to cut off
communication between the prisoners and their friends out-

OBJECT OF LANE AND BROWN. 303

side. Failing in this, word was sent to General Smith to
have them removed to Fort Leavenworth. Even this was
declined. In Mrs. Robinson's "Kansas," page 319, these
efforts are referred to as follows :

" On the 20th [of July] Cramer, the deputy marshal, came to camp,
and ordered Captain Sackett not to allow any person to converse with
the prisoners privately. ' His responsibility, since the sacking of Law-
rence, in regard to the prisoners, had weighed upon him much.' But
Captain Sackett at once informed him, ' he need give himself no further
trouble on the subject, as the responsibility of their safe-keeping rested
upon him. ' The little fellow appeared pleased ; but his wrath was only
pent up. He met a man soon after leaving camp, and poured it forth
in execrations upon the Captain, declaring that ' Robinson was more the
Governor of the Territory than Shannon ' ; that ' the prisoners should
be taken from Captain Sackett's charge, and that their lives would not
be safe an hour.' On the 2ist the little deputy came again, with a letter
from Governor Shannon, in which he advised that ' persons and letters
be not allowed to go into camp ; that the Territory had never been in so
bad a condition ; that he believed the prisoners were implicated in these
disturbances, and in' great measure the occasion of them. ' Cramer, at
the Captain's tent, also said, ' The Governor don't know what to do.'
He talked so loudly it was quite impossible not to hear what was said.
It will be remembered that only two days had passed since the Governor
had been informed that, if such outrages as that of Titus continued, the
people would try to suppress them. Word was returned to the Gov-
ernor from Captain Sackett, that ' he had his orders from Colonel Sum-
ner to give up the prisoners to the civil authorities if unnecessary restric-
tions were placed upon them.' Governor Shannon immediately sent to
Captain Sackett that ' he did not know he had orders from Colonel
Sumner, but, if he had, of course he must obey them.' He swore,
however, ' he would see if he could not make Captain Sackett obey
orders,' and sent an express to General Smith at the fort. General
Smith proposed not to interfere in matters in the Territory, and, no
change being made in the treatment of the prisoners, the Governor was
disappointed, and unable to carry out his threats. On the igth he was
heard to say, as at many other times, ' that Governor Robinson would
be hung.' "

Not only did the confinement of these men help the cause
in Kansas, but it had a most beneficial effect throughout the
country. Here were five men charged with a " constructive "
crime, held in confinement on the prairie, pouring "hot

304 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

shot " in the shape of letters to the press of the country,
dated at " Treason Camp," which did more to damage the
Administration politically than these men could have done
at liberty in any capacity.

Then why did Lane and Brown propose the rescue ?

In Brown's case the answer is easy, as Redpath's biog-
raphy, his own confessions, and his later course in Virginia
show that a desire for revolution and civil war actuated him.
Did it also actuate Lane ? Brown and Lane agreed in a
policy that would have produced this result at the Waka-
rusa war the fall before ; and were they acting in concert
and by previous agreement now ? Or, did Lane believe
such a course would be the overthrow of the Free-State
cause and the establishment of a slave State in Kansas,
which he had preferred? According to official report of
army officers, he was seen in friendly communion with Gen-
eral Richardson, of the territorial militia, when the bogus
officials were pretending to want him arrested. Was he in
collusion with the enemy to betray and ruin the Free-State
cause ? He was well aware that the treason prisoners be-
lieved him to be totally without convictions or principles of
any kind, cowardly and treacherous. Did he desire their
destruction by. the army, which certainly would have shot
them down like dogs had a rescue been attempted ? Jen-
kins, one of these prisoners, whose claim he had jumped, he
afterward killed with his own hands in a most cold-blooded
and cowardly manner. These questions will not be answered
by the writer, for it is too early. The future historian, how-
ever, will consider them.

Notwithstanding armed bodies of men had disappeared
under the active operations of Colonel Sumner, to such an
extent that General Smith could say all was peace and quiet
on the surface, there was no time during the summer that
Brown's disciples, such as Whipple, or Stevens and Cook,
both of whom lost their lives at Harper's Ferry, Leonhardt
and others, were not more or less active in the " reprisal "

GUERRILLA PARTIES.

305

business. Professor Spring, in his "Kansas," says: "So
great was the enterprise and success in what one of the
victims called ' the roguing business,' that few pro-slavery
men of the neighborhood [Topeka] escaped. Free-State
depredators, in larger or smaller gangs, scoured the region,
filling the air with profanity, intimidating pro-slavery settlers,
shooting at those who were not sufficiently docile, and plun-
dering right and left." While the Free-State men were thus
active, the pro-slavery men were by no means idle. Their
thefts and robberies, if they did not equal those of the Free-
State men, were not far behind. As no forces were permit-
ted by the vigilance of Colonel Sumner to take the field,
both parties established places of rendezvous, from which
they could emerge, accomplish their work, and return. The
bases of operations for the Free-State men were the larger
settlements, like Topeka, Lawrence, and Osawatomie, while
the pro-slavery men, having but few towns of importance,
resorted to log cabins and camps on creeks and other favor-
able places. Several of these camps were established during
the summer. One was in southern Kansas, near Osawato-
mie, one at Franklin, one at Fort Saunders, and one at
Titus's house, near Lecompton.

When the depredations from these nests of thieves and
plunderers became intolerable, it was decided to break them
up. As John Brown had left southern Kansas for Ne-
braska, Captain Cracklin, with a company from Lawrence,
went for the fort near Osawatomie and frightened the occu-
pants away. This was about the 8th of August. Fort
Saunders, on Washington Creek, had become quite trouble-
some to the neighbors, and after repeated appeals to the
authorities for protection, the people took the matter in hand.
A staunch Free-State man, Major Hoyt, visited the camp,
and was riddled with bullets. Before attacking them, how-
ever, it was decided to break up the nest at Franklin, where
the enemy had a cannon, as well as other war supplies.
Accordingly, on the night of the i3th of August, after a
20

306 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

fight in the dark for several hours, a load of hay was set on
fire and started for the fort or block-house. This brought a
cry for quarter and the desertion of the place by its defend-
ers. The cannon and other stores were captured. As no
ammunition was found for the cannon, one day was occu-
pied by Captain Bickerton in making moulds and casting
balls from what was left of the type of the Herald of Free-
dom office. On the 1 5th, the attack was made upon Fort
Saunders, on Washington Creek, where Hoyt had been mur-
dered. As this was Lane's first appearance as commander
in a battle, some particulars of it are given, as furnished by
his friend John Speer, in the Lawrence Tribune, July 20,
1876:

" He [Lane] ordered out all his forces of cavalry. Then he gathered
in all the farmers' wagons ; and placing boards across them like seats,
made holes in these boards, into which he stuck pegs, and around these
pegs he tied bundles of straw so as to make them at a distance look like
men. Thus prepared, the whole force of live and straw men made their
appearance upon the heights in sight of Fort Saunders. As the view of
them was an oblique one from the Fort, the teams were spread out a
good distance apart, but still looked as if they were close together. As
they emerged from the woods, they seemed to keep coming as if there
was no end to them. The ruse had its effect, and before a gun was
fired the men were seen fleeing in all directions."

After this battle, Lane left the army with a body-guard of
half a dozen men, going by way of Topeka. He crossed
the Kansas River in the night, for Nebraska, where his
friends say he at once commenced throwing up breastworks
on or near the territorial line. These details of the work
of Brown and Lane are only important because Higginson,
the historian, and Sanborn, the biographical writer, say that
it was their military prowess that saved Kansas to freedom,
and all readers will be interested in their exploits. After the
commander, Lane, had started for Nebraska, the army at
first disbanded. However, learning that Colonel Titus was
active in his expeditions of plunder, and that his wife and
family had just left for Missouri, the men were rallied again,

CAPTURE OF FORT TITUS. 307

and under Colonel Walker started for Fort Titus, within sight
and hearing of the United States camp, where were guarded
the treason prisoners. This was a most daring enterprise,
and most skillfully managed. Lane's "straw" men were
left behind, and solid men and solid shot soon told the story.
The men did not escape as at Fort Saunders, but were taken
prisoners to Lawrence. Captain Shombre, a brave Free-
State man from Indiana, was killed, and two pro-slavery
men. As soon as the firing commenced, one ball whizzing
past the United States camp, boots and saddles was sounded,
but the soldiers leisurely took their position between Titus's
house and Lecompton, apparently well pleased to witness
the little battle that was being fought. The next day Gov-
ernor Shannon, Major Sedgwick, and Dr. Rodrigue went
to Lawrence, met with Colonel James Blood and William
Hutchinson, committee, and made a treaty and exchanged
prisoners. Also the howitzer, taken by Jones from Law-
rence on May 2ist, was returned. Here ended another
chapter in the guerrilla warfare inaugurated by John Brown
on the 24th of May. Thus far the Free-State men, in this
brief campaign, had triumphed, but their victory was to be
short-lived. Governor Shannon, who would under no prov-
ocation call out the territorial militia, resigned and aban-
doned the Territory, leaving Secretary Woodson acting
Governor. This was glory enough for the Slave-State men.
Now the machinery for invasion, devastation, and annihila-
tion was put in order. Even Jeff Davis was ready to come
to the rescue of his friends.

At this point it may be appropriate to give a specimen of
the way in which the history of Kansas has been written,
which will serve to show how heroes are made — and un-
made. General James Blood, who came to Kansas in July,
1854, has been a prominent character ever since, and has
filled various positions of responsibility. His attention being
called to some historical writing by Mr. Sanborn and Owen
Brown, he made this answer :

308 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

"WAS JOHN BROWN A FRAUD?

" To the Editor of the Transcript:

"My attention has been called to a letter signed F. B. Sanborn,
dated Concord, July 12, 1884, and published in the Boston Evening
Transcript of July, 1884.

"Some of the statements in Mr. Sanborn's letter in regard to what
transpired here in Kansas in the summer of 1856 are so new to me that
they are really quite interesting. To illustrate, I quote as follows :

' ' That Brown's brave fighting record in Kansas, during the summer
of 1856, was the glory of the friends of freedom all over the North, and
that when difficult or dangerous work in Kansas was proposed, Brown
was called for by the Kansas people to take part in it. Thus, on the
I2th of August, 1856, General Lane, who had returned to Kansas from
the North with several hundred armed Free-State men, but was passing
under the name of ' Joe Cook,' sent this message through his aid, Mr.
Stratton, to John Brown :

" ' TOPEKA, 7 p.m., August 12, 1856.

" ' General Joe Cook wants you to come to Lawrence this night, for
we expect to have a fight on Washington Creek. Come to Topeka as
soon as possible, and I will pilot you to the place.

" ' Yours in haste, H. STRATTON.'

' ' This fight actually took place August 1 5th, and Brown had the
credit of the victory with the Georgians and Missourians who were
beaten. The next day Captain Samuel Walker, a friend of Brown's,
* * * made an attack on ' Fort Titus,' a pro-slavery block-house, not far
from Lecompton, and was also successful; so that on the iyth of Au-
gust, Shannon, the pro-slavery Governor of Kansas, went to Lawrence
and made a ' treaty of peace ' very favorable to the Free-State men.
These matters and some others, throwing light on the condition of
Kansas then, are thus related in a letter from Owen Brown (a son of
John), who was then recovering from illness in Iowa, to the wife of
John Brown, among the Adirondack Mountains.

'"OWEN BROWN'S COMMENTARIES ON THE KANSAS

WAR.

" ' TABOR, FREMONT COUNTY, IOWA, August 27, 1856.
"'DEAR MOTHER: The last news we had from Kansas, father
was at Lawrence, and had charge of a company of the bravest men the
Territory could afford. Those who come through here from the Terri-
tory say that father is one of the most daring, courageous men in Kan-
sas. You have, no doubt, heard that the Free-State men have taken
two forts or block-houses, with a fine lot of arms, several prisoners, and

SAMPLES OF HISTORY WRITING. 309

two cannon. Shannon was obliged to flee for his life ; afterwards came
to Lane to negotiate for peace. He proposed that the Free-State men
should give up the prisoners and arms they had taken ; at the same time
they (the enemy) should still hold our men as prisoners and keep all
the arms they had taken from the Free-State men. But Lane would
not consent to that ; he required Shannon to deliver up the howitzer
they had taken at Lawrence, release some prisoners, disarm the pro-
slavery men in the Territory, and do all in his power to remove the
enemy from the Territory. With fear and trembling Shannon con-
sented to all of Lane's demands. * * * And now the news comes from
reliable sources that Lane is about to enter Leavenworth with two
thousand men ; that he has sent word to the citizens of Leavenworth
requiring them to deliver up a few prisoners they had taken, with some
wagons and other property, or he will destroy the town forthwith.
Colonel Smith, of Leavenworth, commander of the Government troops,
refuses to protect the pro-slavery men of the Territory, replying that
Lane is able to dress them all out, troops and all. Shannon made a
speech to them, urging them to cease hostilities, that he could not defend
them (i.e., our enemies). At present our enemies and the Missourians
are trembling in their boots, if reports are true. * * * For the want
of time I leave out many particulars in connection with the taking of
those forts which would be quite interesting, and show Yankee skill and
strategy at least.'

" This letter of Owen Brown to his mother in the Adirondack
Mountains is truly romantic. Then follows a letter from John Brown
to his wife, dated ' Lawrence, K. T., 7th September, 1856,' giving a
fictitious account of what took place at Osawatomie on the 3Oth of
August. Following these letters the truth-seeking Sanborn indulges in
a little flowery rhetoric and gushing sentiment. I will make no more
quotations from Mr. Sanborn's article at this time. But believing it to
be a duty, I have reluctantly concluded to call attention to some of the
errors contained in the above quotations. A large convention of the
settlers in Kansas was held at Topeka on the 4th of July, 1856, at
which a large territorial committee was elected, to look after and take
charge of the interests of the settlers, as Governor Robinson was a
prisoner under guard of United States soldiers, and the Legislature was
that day broken up and dispersed by Federal troops. The committee
immediately organized, and appointed a sub-committee of five, who were
charged with the duty of looking after and taking immediate charge of
all public affairs and interests of the people of the Territory, and to
provide for their protection from armed bands of guerrillas and ruffians.
Mr. William Hutchinson and myself, then residing in Lawrence, were
appointed members of the sub-committee. Lawrence was made head-
quarters, and the business of the committee was transacted here. As

310 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

Mr. Hutchinson and myself were the only members of the territorial
committee residing here, most of the work devolved upon us ; conse-
quently it became our duty to be informed in regard to what was taking
place. I make the above statement that you may judge of my oppor-
tunities for obtaining or possessing correct information or knowledge of
what transpired here at the time, as well as of the principal actors and
their part in affairs. In regard to the first statement quoted from Mr.
Sanborn's article, I wish to say that Mr. Sanborn is mistaken. John
Brown had no such record here. The second statement is utterly with-
out foundation in truth. John Brown was never called upon by the
Kansas people to take part in any difficult or dangerous work. Perhaps
the best way to correct or refute the statements contained in the quota-
tions from Mr. Sanborn's article would be to make a correct statement
of what did take place here at the time. In August, 1856, we found
that armed bands of ruffians were stationed at Franklin, a few miles
east of Lawrence, on the road to Kansas City, and that they engaged
in robbing travellers and freighters, and pillaging settlers in the neigh-
borhood. Another band was at what was called Fort Saunders, on
Washington Creek, near the old Santa Fe road, and about fifteen miles
southwest of here. At this place a number of robberies and murders
had been committed. Major Hoyt had been murdered here. Another
band was about twelve miles northwest of here, and near Lecompton,
called Fort Titus. As the United States authorities were doing nothing
for our protection, we determined to protect ourselves. We had been
for some time preparing to attack them, and try to drive them out of the
country or stop their depredations, and had decided to attack the camp
at Franklin on Wednesday, the 1 3th of August. The attack was not
made till evening, when considerable of a fight took place. On the
morning of that day I was informed by Mr. Hutchinson that Lane had
just come in from Iowa, and was in concealment over his store, and had
assumed the name of Captain Joe Cook. At his request I went up and
saw Lane. I said to him that, in my opinion, there was no necessity
for his hiding, that he was in no more danger than the rest of us. In
the evening, when the ' Stubbs ' Company and others had started for
Franklin, Lane came down from his hiding-place and mounted a horse,
and in company with several gentlemen rode down to a point between
Lawrence and Franklin, where they remained upon their horses, taking
no part until the fight was over. After killing one of our men and
seriously wounding several others, the band of ruffians in the block-
house surrendered. They were disarmed and ordered or allowed to
leave the country on their promise never to return. Among other arms
captured was a brass cannon. Immediately after the affair at Franklin
was over, our men started for Fort Saunders, and went into camp on
Rock Creek, a short distance east of Bloomington. The cannon taken

GENERAL BLOOD'S STATEMENT. 311

at Franklin was brought to Lawrence, as there was no ammunition for
it. The next morning (the I4th) I went with Captain Bickerton and a
few others to the Herald of Freedom office, and took a quantity of type
to a blacksmith shop, where Captain Bickerton spent the day in casting
balls from the type, while another force was occupied in making car-
tridges. By night we had quite a supply of ammunition prepared for
the cannon, which we loaded into a wagon with the gun, and loading
one or two more wagons with provisions and ammunition for the men
in camp on Rock Creek, we started with a small guard that we were
able to collect, arriving at the camp some time in the night, when a
consultation was held with the officers, at which General Lane was
present, and it was decided to march upon Fort Saunders the next
morning. John Brown was not present — at least I did not see or hear
of him. The next day (the i$th) our men went over to Fort Saunders,
but upon their arrival there they found the place deserted, not a man,
woman, or child to be found. Dinner had been cooked, but was left
upon the table untouched. Yet Sanborn states positively ' that a fight
actually took place at Fort Saunders, August I5th, and that Brown had
the credit of the victory with the Georgians and Missourians, who were
beaten.' However, it is certain that there was no fight that day, and
that John Brown was not there. Our men returned that night to the
camp on Rock Creek. Lane, with H. Stratton and a few others as
aids or body-guard, left for Nebraska, crossing the ferry at Topeka
about midnight. The next heard of them here was about a week after-
wards, when they were found to be engaged in the ludicrous employ-
ment of throwing up breastworks near the Nebraska line. Saturday
morning (the l6th) the attack was made upon Fort Titus under com-
mand of Colonel Walker. Captain Bickerton placed the cannon taken at
Franklin in range of the block-house and opened fire, sending the balls
made from the Herald of Freedom type into it. At this fight Captain
Shombre, who had recently arrived from Indiana and was in command
of a company, was killed. After Titus had been seriously wounded,
as well as some of his men, he surrendered. The buildings were burned,
and the prisoners were brought here and placed under a strong guard.
Sunday morning, the 1 7th, Governor Shannon, accompanied by Major
Sedgwick, came down from Lecompton and sent for the committee. As
Mr. Hutchinson and myself were the only members of the committee
here, we went to the Cincinnati House, where they were stopping.
The Governor commenced negotiations for the release of Titus and his
men. The most of the day was spent in discussing various propositions
for a settlement. The terms finally agreed upon were about as follows,
to wit : That we should keep the arms taken at Titus and at Franklin, in-
cluding the cannon ; that the howitzer taken from here at the sacking of
Lawrence by the United States Marshal's posse in May should be de-

312 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

livered to us here in good condition ; that some five to eight prisoners
arrested a day or two before by the United States Marshal, charged
with being concerned in the attack upon Franklin, with robbing the
post-office at Franklin, and other crimes against the United States Gov-
ernment, should be unconditionally released and delivered to us here
unharmed, and that he should issue a proclamation disbanding the so-
called territorial militia, and order all bands of armed men to disperse,
and for all such bands of non-residents to leave the Territory, and do all
in his power as Governor to protect the settlers and restore peace.
That then we would release Titus and his men. After we had agreed
upon the terms of settlement with Governor Shannon and Major Sedg-
wick, we sent for Colonel Walker and stated to him the terms of the
agreement, and as we were obliged to keep a strong guard over the
prisoners to prevent their being mobbed by some of our own men, we
were glad to get rid of them. Colonel Walker approved of what we
had done, and only asked to go up with his company and get the how-
itzer and bring it into town. Monday morning (the i8th) the howitzer
was brought down here, and the prisoners were brought in a Govern-
ment ambulance. The ambulances were then driven to the guard-house,
and Titus and his gang were put into them and escorted out of town.
The terms of the agreement were carried out by Governor Shannon, as
far as it was in his power to do. But he was very soon compelled to
leave the Territory, and was at once removed, and Geary appointed in
his place.

" In the foregoing I have endeavored to truthfully narrate what oc-
curred here during those few eventful days in August, 1856. Important
occurrences may not have come to my knowledge, or may have escaped
my memory. I am sure that I have not been actuated by malice or ill-
will towards any one, living or dead. I have submitted this to Colonel
Walker, who says that, as far as he knows, or can recollect, it is correct.
He says he does not remember seeing John Brown during that time
until Sunday, the 1 7th, when he saw him here denouncing the leaders
of the Free-State party and their policy, and denouncing the committee
for making terms with Governor Shannon, and trying to incite a mob
to overpower the guards and kill the prisoners. Brown was not in
charge of any company here.

" But, according to Mr. Sanborn's story, John Brown was here mak-
ing a record that was the glory of the friends of freedom all over the
North, to the end that General Lane was able to make a treaty of peace
very favorable to the Free-State men, while in fact Lane was not in the
Territory at the time, having left two days previous for Nebraska, as
before stated.

" In regard to the letter of Owen Brown to the wife of John Brown,
among the Adirondack Mountains, regard for the truth requires me to

SLAVE-STATE MEN AROUSED.

313

say it is pure fiction from beginning to end, entirely destitute of any
shadow of truth. I deny each and every allegation contained therein.
Mr. Owen Brown drew upon his imagination, or was badly informed.
John Brown never had the confidence of the Free-State party here in
Kansas, and never was intrusted with any command. They feared that
his want of discretion would involve the Free-State people in trouble,
embarrassment, and disgrace, and endanger the cause. I have written
the above, believing the time has come when it is best to ' tell the truth. '

" Respectfully, J. BLOOD.

"LAWRENCE, KANSAS, December 18, 1884."

" I have examined the accompanying statement made by J. Blood, in
regard to what occurred here in August, 1856, from the I3th to the
1 8th, and believe it to be correct as far as I know or can now remem-
ber. " SAMUEL WALKER.

" LAWRENCE, KANSAS, December 19, 1884."

After the capture of Titus all pro-slavery parties took
fright. Governor Shannon, on the lyth of August, sent this
dispatch to General Smith :

" EXECUTIVE OFFICE, LECOMPTON, K. T.,

" August 17, 1856.

" SIR: This place is in a most dangerous and critical situation at this
moment. We are threatened with utter extermination by a large body
of Free-State men.

'' The report of Major Sedgwick, which will accompany this, will
give you the particulars of the various outrages which this body of armed
men have perpetrated within the last few days. I have just returned
from Lawrence, where I have been this day, with the view of procuring
the release of nineteen prisoners that were taken. I saw in that place
at least eight hundred men, who manifested a fixed purpose to demolish
this town. I know that they intend an attack, and that, too, in a very
short time. I have correct information that they have five hundred
men over in the Osawatomie country, some forty miles south ; about
three hundred in the valley of the Wakarusa, and a large body above
this place, variously estimated at from three to six hundred. There can
concentrate at this place, in a very short time, some fifteen hundred or
two thousand men, well armed, with several pieces of artillery. It
would seem that the business of ' wiping out,' as it is called, of the pro-
slavery party has been commenced. This heavy force has most unex-
pectedly sprung into existence, and made its appearance within a few
days past. The women and children have been mostly sent across the
river, and there is a general panic among the people. The force here

314 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

is small — say eighty or a hundred dragoons, and some hundred and
twenty citizens poorly armed, and badly supplied with ammunition.
Under these circumstances, I have to request you to send from the fort
all disposable force. A few companies of infantry would be very desir-
able, and some light artillery. Permit me to express the hope that
whatever force you can dispatch to the relief of this place will be sent
as soon as possible. Delay may be ruinous.

" Yours, with great respect, WILSON SHANNON.

" General P. F. Smith."

The next day, the 1 8th, General Richardson, in command
of the northern division of the territorial militia, wrote
General Smith as follows :

" HEADQUARTERS FIRST DIVISION KANSAS MILITIA,

" DONIPHAN COUNTY, KANSAS, August i8th.

" SIR: In addition to the extra herewith inclosed, I have received
reliable information that a state of actual war exists in Douglas County,
and that in other parts of the Territory within this division, robberies
and other flagrant violations of law are daily occurring by armed bodies
of men from the Northern States. In the absence of all information
from the Governor of the Territory, I have taken the liberty of exercis-
ing the authority in me vested in cases of invasion, by ordering out the
entire strength of my division, to rendezvous at various points of the
division to receive further orders.

" The object of this is to ask of you, as commandant of this district,
how far your orders require interference with the militia of the Terri-
tory, and whether or not their being thus assembled to repel such in-
vasions is in violation of your instructions.

" I am, sir, your most obedient servant,

" WILLIAM P. RICHARDSON,
" Major-General First Division Kansas Militia.

"Brigadier-General Persifer F. Smith, Commanding, Leaven-worth,
K. T."

On the 25th of August, Acting Governor Woodson issued
this proclamation :

"Whereas, satisfactory evidence exists that the Territory of Kansas
is infested with large bodies of armed men, many of whom have just
arrived from the States, combined and confederated together, and amply
supplied with all the munitions of war, under the direction of a common
head, with a thorough military organization ; who have been and are
still engaged in murdering the law-abiding citizens of the Territory,

PROCLAMATION OF GOVERNOR WOODSON.

315

driving others from their homes and compelling them to flee to the
States for protection, capturing and holding others as prisoners of war,
plundering them of their property, and in some instances burning down
their houses, and robbing United States post-offices and the local militia
of the arms furnished them by the Government, in open defiance and
contempt of the laws of the Territory and of the Constitution and laws
of the United States, and of the civil and military authority thereof ; all
for the purpose of subverting by force and violence the government
established by law of Congress in the Territory :

" Now, therefore, I, Daniel Woodson, Acting Governor of the Terri-
tory of Kansas, do hereby issue my proclamation, declaring the said
Territory to be in a state of open insurrection and rebellion ; and I do
hereby call upon all law-abiding citizens of the Territory to rally to the
support of their country and its laws, and require and command all offi-
cers, civil and military, and all other citizens of the Territory, to aid and
assist by all means in their power in putting down the insurrectionists,
and bringing to condign punishment all persons engaged with them, to
the end of assuring immunity from violence and full protection to the
persons, property, and civil rights to all peaceable and law-abiding in-
habitants of the Territory.

" In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused to
be attached the seal of the Territory of Kansas. Done at the city of
Lecompton, this 2$th day of August, in the year of our Lord eighteen
hundred and fifty-six, and of the independence of the United States,
the eightieth.

[L.S.] " DANIEL WOODSON,

" Acting Governor Kansas Territory."

On the 1 8th of August the Argus, of Platte City, Missouri,
issued an extra with these head-lines :

"IMPORTANT FROM KANSAS. — CIVIL WAR AND REBEL-
LION.— WOMEN AND CHILDREN FLYING FROM THEIR
HOMES FOR THEIR LIVES ! "

After a greatly exaggerated description of disturbances in
Kansas, it closes as follows :

" Above, fellow-citizens, we have given you the facts, as far as we
have learned them, of this recent unprovoked, inhuman, and unparal-
leled attack upon the peaceable citizens of Kansas Territory by a band
of as arrant traitors as ever cursed the soil of any country ; an attack
premeditated and planned in the North to destroy your rights, or to
dissolve the Union. Even now, while we write, our beloved Union,

316 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

purchased by the blood of our ancestors, may be no more. Missouri-
ans ! the war rages upon your borders — at your very thresholds ! Your
brethren and friends in Kansas are this day being butchered and driven
from their homes, and they now call upon you for succor and protection.
The Constitution of your country, and the laws under which you have
so long lived, as well as your own rights, menaced by as reckless and
abandoned a foe as ever erected its bloody crest to disturb the repose of
society, demand that you should rise up as one man and put an instant
and effectual quietus to the hired tools of abolition, disunion, and ag-
gression, now roaming rampant over the plains of Kansas with firebrand
and sabre.

"Citizens of Platte County! the war is upon you, at your very
doors. Arouse yourselves to speedy vengeance, and rub out the bloody
traitors. Recollect that, although this unholy and unnatural war is car-
ried on in Kansas, it is against you and your institutions. By a prompt
and vigorous action you may put it down and save the Union ; but if
you lay supinely on your backs and allow the black treason to get a firm
hold in Kansas, you will find, when it is too late, that you have allowed
the golden moments to pass, and a long and bloody war, involving all
the States of the Union, will be inaugurated ; and then you will have
to fight, not for your rights, but for your very existence ; not for the
Union and Constitution — for they will have been destroyed in the onset
— but for some sort of an existence among the nations, either as slaves
or abject dependents of some power, perhaps, of Europe. While you
are inert, the powers of the Union, North and South, will be slowly
mustering for the mighty conflict that is to follow ; and all Europe will
look on with satisfaction at the termination of this Republic and the end
of Liberty. Rouse up, then, and strangle the demon of disunion and
destruction. Patriotism and the love of country, law, and liberty, de-
mand it at your hands.

"Still later. — A dispatch, extra, just received this morning from In-
dependence, signed A. G. Boone and others, corroborates the above
statements.

" Lecompton is burned down."

General Smith responded to Governor Shannon's request,
and prepared to send all his available force into the field,
but he wanted to be rid of his treason prisoners as badly as
Lane and Brown wanted to relieve him of their custody.
He wrote Shannon, on the i8th of August: "It will be
necessary that you should make some arrangement for the
custody of the prisoners that will take them out of the hands

JEFFERSON DAVIS CALLS FOR MILITIA.

317

of the troops. A small guard cannot be left with them
safely ; a large one cannot be spared, and they cannot be
marched with the troops, whose movements they will retard
and embarrass."

To this Acting Governor Woodson replied, August 2 6th,
as follows:

" LECOMPTON, KANSAS TERRITORY,

" EXECUTIVE OFFICE, August 26th.

" SIR: In reply to your letter to Governor Shannon, requesting him
to make some provision for keeping the prisoners now in charge of the
army near this place, I have to say that those prisoners are in the cus-
tody of the United States Marshal for the Territory, Colonel I. B.
Donelson, and that the Executive has no power to interfere with his
duties.

" Colonel Donelson is, I understand, at Leaven worth City at this
time.

" Very respectfully yours,

" DANIEL WOODSOX,
"Acting Governor Kansas Territory.
" Brigadier-General Smith, Commanding Army of the West."

Jefferson Davis, September 3d, made requisition upon the
Governors of Kentucky and Illinois for two regiments of in-
fantry from each State to put down rebellion in Kansas, and
also authorized General Smith to use the territorial militia.

General Smith, instead of driving out armed bodies of
men from Missouri, as did Colonel Sumner under Shannon's
proclamation, instructed that " it will not be within the prov-
ince of the troops to interfere with persons who may have
come from a distance to give protection to their friends or
others, and who may be behaving themselves in a peaceable
and lawful manner."

He also gave directions that no action by the troops must
be allowed against the territorial militia ; and all armed pro-
slavery men from Kansas or Missouri could be classed under
that head.

Thus the decks were cleared for another and final engage-
ment in this war. Guerrilla parties of pro-slavery men in-

318 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

fested the whole Territory as by magic. Intercourse with
Leavenworth and Kansas City was cut off, and the be-
leaguered town of Lawrence was nearly destitute of provi-
sions as well as ammunition. Men unarmed and defenseless
were shot down like dogs, and in one instance, at least,
scalped. All appeals to Woodson for protection were in
vain, and the end seemed fast approaching. The grand rally
was to be from the eastern border. All the great generals,
from Atchison, Reid, and others from Missouri, down to
the smaller fry of the Territory, were on hand. The first
demonstration was to be upon the reputed home of John
Brown. Professor Spring truthfully says, in his " Kansas,"
page 190: "To Dutch Henry's Crossing must be charged
much of the havoc and anarchy in which the Kansas of
1856 weltered. That affair was a festering, rankling, en-
venomed memory among pro-slavery men. It set afoot
retaliatory violences, which for a while were successfully
matched, and more than matched, by their opponents, but
finally issued in a total military collapse of the Free-State
cause."

On the 3<Dth of August, General Reid, with a detachment
from the main army, visited the hated town of Osawatomie.
On approaching it, Rev. Martin White, who had personal
reasons for remembering the Brown family, who attacked
his cabin and took his horses in April of that year, met
Frederick Brown, and exclaiming, " Why, I know you," shot
him dead. The town had about forty Free-State defenders,
and fell an easy prey to the enemy. A few shots were ex-
changed by the parties, W. W. Updegraff, John Brown, and
Captain Cline, in command of the citizens, who soon fled
across the creek out of harm's way. Six Free-State men
lost their lives, either at the fight or before and after the
encounter, and two pro-slavery men, according to Reid's
report. The town was laid in ashes, excepting only four
houses.

These bold movements of Atchison, which were counte-

FREE-STATE MEN AROUSED.

319

nanced by Woodson, once more aroused the Free-State men.
Lane had now returned from a two weeks' absence in " forti-
fying the Nebraska line," and with about three hundred and
fifty men marched towards the invading forces. On coming
within sight of the enemy, near Bull Creek, he ordered a
retreat eight miles, where he camped for the night, return-
ing the next morning to Lawrence without the loss of a man.
In the meantime the Governor's militia had not been idle
about Lecompton. Seven Free-State men had been burned
out of house and home, besides other outrages daily perpe-
trated in the vicinity. As some Free-State prisoners were
held at Lecompton by the militia, the men at Lawrence
concluded to visit the territorial capital in force. Colonel
P. St. George Cooke, September 5th, thus reports the affair:

" About a mile from town I joined the dismounted command, and,
rising the hill prairie above the town, came upon the flank of about
sixty mounted men in line, who remained motionless. Ordering the
dragoons to halt nearly in open column, I rode in front of the Lawrence
men, and accosted Captain Walker, who was in command, asking what
he came after. He answered, that they came to release prisoners and
have their rights. He said they had sent into town to treat with the
Governor. I asked him if that was all their men. He said, Oh, no,
there were seven hundred more close by. I told him it was a very un-
fortunate move on their part, that the prisoners had been ordered to be
released ; and, among other things, said if they attacked the town, I
should attack them. He asked me if I would go with him to the main
body. I consented, and sent an order to Colonel Johnston, then arriv-
ing on the hill, to remain there in command of the troops until I re-
turned ; and taking Lieutenant Riddick, acting Assistant Quartermas-
ter, an orderly, and bugler, rode with him towards the woods, near the
town. * * *

" I asked Mr. Walker to collect the officers in front of the line, and
some twenty or thirty approached me, mounted. At the moment there
was an altercation with Mr. Cramer, treasurer of the Territory, whom
they had just made prisoner, who appealed to me, stating that he was a
United States officer, and that he had been sent to me. I addressed
these principal men. I said : ' You have made a most unfortunate
move for yourselves ; the Missourians, you know, have gone, and the
militia here are nearly gone, having commenced crossing the river yes-
terday morning, to my knowledge. As to the prisoners, whilst I will

320 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

make no terms with you, I can inform you that they were promised to
be released yesterday morning; and the Governor this morning told me
he would order the release of all of them, and was to send me word at
what hour I should send a guard to escort them to camp ; that, there-
fore, I could assure their prompt return to their homes ; that every-
thing was going in their favor, and that it apparently would be so if
they would refrain entirely from reprisals or any outrages, return to
their occupations, and show moderation.' I required the release of the
prisoner, Mr. Cramer, and their return to Lawrence.

" I was asked if I could promise that affairs would be set right at
Leavenworth, and they have power to go and come? Mentioning
several cases of murders or killing, even this morning, I answered, ' I
could only answer for this vicinity ; that things could not be settled in
a moment ; that General Smith was close to Leavenworth, and that his
powers and views, I believed, were the same as mine.' I was then
asked the ever-recurring question, if I should attack them if they at-
tempted there to redress themselves or defend themselves? I replied,
' I give no pledge ; that my mission was to preserve the peace.'

" Great regret was expressed by them that they had not been in-
formed before of these events ; they said they had waited long ; that
their messengers were killed or made prisoners, and mentioned that a
regiment was then over the river, and apprehended it would lead to bad
results, and I was asked to send to them to go back to Lawrence. I
suggested that a written order should be sent, and one was afterwards
handed me ; they then released three prisoners, and marched off to
return, whilst I rode over to the town with the released prisoners. I
found one or two hundred militia, whom I had previously seen opposite,
among the walls of the new capitol, under General Marshall.

" I found the Governor, and informed him of my action and its
results. He said the prisoners had been released, but, in fact, the
order had not yet been executed."

Colonel Cooke said the Governor and others pretended
to desire the arrest of Lane, who did not make his appear-
ance in the consultation. In his letter dated September yth,
Colonel Cooke says :

' ' I sent down yesterday Mr. Hutchinson and friends. He promised
me that all prisoners should be released, and that the people would
return to their occupations.

" In town nine other prisoners, released by order of General Rich-
ardson, were delivered to me. Some had been taken, as teamsters, I
believe, near Leavenworth, ten or twelve days ago. I sent them with
a small escort to Lawrence. General Richardson went with them ; he

CHANGE OF BASE.

321

had intended to go without escort. The sergeant of escort reports that,
soon after his arrival, he rode out on the Franklin Road with General
Lane and Captain Walker, perhaps to insure his safety.

' ' A large number of militia went off undischarged for their homes ;
others, with some organization, pretending that they would resupply
themselves and return. A large company remains in town, which I
object to. General Marshall says they are a company from the Blue."

From this second letter it would seem that a deception
was being practised upon the army officers and the people.
While prisoners about Lecompton were discharged and mili-
tia companies were leaving ostensibly for their homes, these
companies were not mustered out, but some of them claimed
they would resupply themselves and return. Evidently they
simply went towards Missouri, but brought up in Atchison's
camp on the border. Also, the fact that General Richard-
son, on his way to join Atchison, could ride on friendly
terms with Lane, when only the day before they claimed to
want him arrested, is at least significant, and Lane's conduct
soon after adds to its significance.

Mrs. Robinson, in her "Kansas," page 337, says:

" The prisoners came over to the camp at evening (September 5th)
and, under military escort, went to Lawrence the next day. General
Richardson, of the ' Kansas militia,' made a visit in Lawrence. He
was received kindly by General Lane, who escorted him on his way to
Franklin. He stated ' he was on his way to disperse the Missourians,
who were coming into the Territory.' "

If he so stated, he made a false statement, as he did noth-
ing of the kind.

While war manifestations were lessening on the west of
Lawrence, they were assuming gigantic proportions east of
it. All the border counties of western Missouri were aroused
and apparently moving Kansas-ward. Steamboats coming
up the Missouri River were loaded with armed men and
munitions of war. Even the boat which brought the new
Governor, Geary, was no exception to the rule.

At Lecompton all prisoners, including the treason pris-

21

322 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

oners, were turned loose, the latter on the loth of Septem-
ber, just four months from the arrest of Robinson at Lexing-
ton. These prisoners were met by a long procession from
Lawrence, and, as other prisoners arrived in the town on
the same day, a general jubilee was held. But the rejoicing
came to a sudden close. Lane, while he met the prisoners
on arrival, left soon after, with a body-guard of about thirty
men, in the direction of Nebraska. As this army from Mis-
souri, said to be the most formidable ever seen in Kansas,
was moving towards Lawrence, and Lane was moving to-
wards Nebraska, an investigation of the situation was at
once made. While army officers had estimated the force at
Lawrence, at different times, from five hundred to eight
hundred strong, and Captain Walker told Colonel Cooke he
had seven hundred men with him on the south side of the
river, at Lecompton, and Colonel Harvey had one hundred
and fifty men on the north side, there could not be found in
Lawrence, when Lane left, over three hundred men with
arms of any kind, and of this number Lane sent a dispatch
for all the best arms and the cannon to go to him at Hickory
Point, in Jefferson County, where he had met some men who
had organized for mutual protection. Official and other
testimony is to the effect that these men were of both par-
ties, united for protection against the thieves and marauders
of all kinds. Colonel Harvey took one hundred men, with
Sharp's rifles and the cannon, and went to help Lane out of
the Territory, leaving only about fifty Sharp's rifles in town,
and two hundred men and no cannon.

Mrs. Robinson, in her " Kansas," page 330, says, under
date 24th of August : " It was estimated that in twelve
hours' time from fifteen hundred to two thousand men could
be rallied to defend Lawrence." This force was placed
under the command of Lane, and now, when an army of
two thousand eight hundred men was marching upon the
Free- State settlements — had already destroyed Osawatomie
— the towns were left utterly defenseless.

ARRIVAL OF GEARY.

323

The future historian will have several questions to solve
relative to the motive and purpose of Lane in this wonderful
generalship. Among the queries to be answered will be
these : Was he moved by fear, as when he left Kansas be-
tween the great battle with " live and straw " men at Fort
Saunders, and the battle at Fort Titus ? Did he think, as
the treason prisoners would be the first to " go up " should
the pro-slavery army enter Lawrence, he might thus get rid
of a claim dispute without having to kill his contestant —
Gaius Jenkins, a late treason prisoner — with his own hand ?
or did he think it a good time to give a final coup de grace to
the Free- State cause ?

Governor Geary arrived at Fort Leavenworth September
gth, and at Lawrence on the i2th. As he had known Rob-
inson by reputation in California, when the entire militia of
that embryo State was called out to put down fifteen men,
of whom he was one ; and as Robinson had known Geary
by reputation as Mayor of San Francisco in trying times,
they met and became at once frank and somewhat confi-
dential in their interview. Governor Geary assured Robin-
son that he was in earnest in putting an end to the troubles
in Kansas, as it was a political necessity for the Democratic
party. The whole North was a seething caldron of excite-
ment over Kansas affairs, and Buchanan's election was in
danger. He had issued a proclamation ordering all armed
bodies of men to disperse, which he brought to Lawrence.

Robinson questioned the propriety of enforcing this order
while the Missourians, under pretense of militia, were march-
ing upon the town. Governor Geary said they would be
under his control, and he would guarantee protection. Upon
being told by Robinson that he did not know his militia, that
they might or might not obey his orders, he consented that
the people of Lawrence might retain their military organiza-
tions till he should send the Missourians home. He went
again to Lecompton, promising to return in time to meet the
Missourians before they should reach Lawrence.

324 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

On the 1 4th of September, the enemy arrived at Franklin.
A messenger was dispatched with the information to Gov-
ernor Geary. In the afternoon a large party of horsemen
approached the town from the direction of Franklin. Im-
mediately all who were armed with Sharp's rifles started
upon the double-quick to intercept and repulse them. About
fifty men thus went out, formed a skirmish line, and drove
them back. As soon as this body of horsemen made its
appearance, other dispatches were sent to Geary at Lecomp-
ton, one by G. W. Brown, who had been introduced to him
by a letter of a mutual friend, and one by Robinson. Gov-
ernor Geary immediately applied to Colonel Cooke, who
started the troops at once for Lawrence, they arriving in the
night, their artillery on Oread Hill, and the dragoons in the
valley between Lawrence and Franklin. When this force
arrived Robinson became insane, and procured some wine
and carried to the officers who but recently had him in
charge as a treason prisoner, and treated them. This was
the first and last time in his life he was guilty of such an in-
discretion. Governor Geary and Colonel Cooke arrived
early in the morning, and met the Missourians as they were
moving towards Lawrence. He immediately held a con-
sultation with their officers, and the war, inaugurated May
24th on the Potawatomie by John Brown, ended then and
there.

As it is claimed by Mr. Sanborn, Redpath, and others
that John Brown saved Lawrence at this time, it may be
important to refer to the matter. While Robinson was pres-
ent and endeavored to watch the situation from first to last,
his testimony will not be given, as he may be thought to be
an interested witness by some. Major J. B. Abbott was
officer of the day, according to Colonel Walker, and wore
his sash as such, while Joseph Cracklin was ranking officer,
being appointed Lieutenant-Colonel by Lane a short time be-
fore. Colonel Cracklin was a member of the Boston party
that went to California in 1849, was an intimate associate

COLONEL CRACKLIN'S STATEMENT. 325

with Robinson, had been a sailor, and was well versed in all
matters of peace and war. He was a most valuable factor
from first to last, and was captain of the famous " Stubbs "
until promoted. From his account of the preparations and
proceedings of that time, as published in the Lawrence
Tribune, the following extracts are made :

"Editor Tribune:

" SIR: It was with much pleasure I read the very interesting article
of Governor Robinson, in your issue of the i6th instant. The perver-
sion of history referred to by the Governor, and the desire on the part
of the friends and worshippers of John Brown, intentionally or other-
wise, to give him credit where it was not due, is sincerely to be regret-
ted. As the Governor truly says : 'John Brown never had anything
whatever to do with erecting or commanding any fortification about
Lawrence, and never saved the town from attack, or did any more to-
wards it than the most obscure person in the town.' The Governor is
right. I was here and took an active part in all the troubles, as Cap-
tain of the ' Stubbs,' and certainly ought to know. * * * John
Brown had nothing to do with either building or commanding any fort
or breastwork about Lawrence, or with the defense of Lawrence against
any attack whatever. A day or two before the arrival of the ruffian two
thousand seven hundred, I met General Lane on the street. He took
me by the arm and requested me to accompany him to his office ; arriv-
ing there, he presented me with a lieutenant-colonel's commission.
At first I was disposed to reject it, not wishing to sever my connection
with the Stubbs ; but he urged me so strongly to accept that I finally
yielded, and sent my resignation as captain to Lieutenant Cutler. The
company immediately called a meeting and proceeded to fill the vacancy
by electing Cutler. Soon after, Lyman Allen informed me that Gov-
ernor Robinson wanted to see me at his office. I called on the Gov-
ernor, who congratulated me on my promotion, and said he had reliable
information that a large force were on their way to attack and destroy
Lawrence ; that our force in town was small, and would still be more
reduced by the absence of Colonel Harvey, who intended to start that
night on a private expedition. But the Stubbs were not to leave under
any consideration, without orders from headquarters. He also said he
wanted me to make the best disposition of the force we had, for the
defense of the town, in doing which I was to use my best judgment.
Accordingly, in compliance with his instructions, I had a strong guard
posted around the town that night, and the next morning proceeded to
station our men to the best advantage. One body of men was stationed
in the circular fort at the junction of Massachusetts and Henry streets,

326 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

one at the foundation of my house on Rhode Island street, under the
command of Jeff. Conway. I went for the Stubbs, but, to my sorrow,
I found they had disobeyed orders, and left town with Colonel Harvey.
I had notified Captain Cutler personally of the Governor's orders on
the evening before. I regretted their absence very much. I then
hunted up the Wabaunsee Rifles. I could find but ten ; these I posted
under Captain Lynde at the point where Roberts' box mill now stands,
with instructions to remain there until the enemy came within gunshot,
when they were to open fire, and if obliged to retreat, to fall back grad-
ually and orderly under cover of the buildings, keeping up a running
fire. I then left them to make further disposition. As I was return-
ing, I heard some one cry out, ' There they come.' I stopped, turned
my eyes in the direction of Franklin, and I saw a large force of horse-
men going towards Mr. Haskell's. I immediately started on a run for
the Wabaunsee boys, and told them to follow me, and started on a dog
trot towards the cabin of John Speer, and halted a short distance from
it on the top of a ridge. At the time I halted, the enemy had passed
into the timber beyond Haskell's. Supposing it was their intention to
pass into the bottom and approach the town in that direction, I con-
cluded to wait where I was until they showed themselves, feeling that,
with them in the bottom, I would have the advantage of position and
could attack them with a plunging fire. I was disappointed, however.
In a few minutes they made their appearance, coming out of the timber
and heading towards us. As soon as they got in range I ordered the
boys to open fire. We had not fired more than a dozen shots, when,
looking towards town, I saw quite a number of men on the run to our
assistance. In the meantime the enemy had disappeared in a hollow or
ravine.

"As fast as my friends arrived I placed them in line, deployed as
skirmishers at six paces intervals, until my force amounted to fifty-eight.
Not seeing anything of the enemy, I sent Ed. Bond, who was mounted,
to see what they were doing. We watched him until he arrived at the
entrance of the ravine, where the enemy were concealed, when he
stopped, levelled his rifle, and fired ; he then put spurs to his pony and
galloped back. He reported them in the ravine at a halt, and some dis-
mounted. I then ordered a forward movement, with my line extended
as skirmishers. We had a space of half or three-quarters of a mile to
cross before we would reach the ridge that separated us from the enemy.
On reaching it, we discovered them just going out of the upper end of
the ravine in the direction of Hanscom's farm. I ordered the boys to
open fire, to load and fire at will ; our whole line immediately com-
menced blazing away. They fired several shots in return, but they fell
short. One of their men was seen to fall near Hanscom's fence. They
put spurs to their horses and galloped away towards Franklin. * :

CREDIT DUE.

327

" The only fighting done on that day was done by the gallant little
force I had the honor to command, and John Brown had nothing to do
with it, either directly or indirectly, Redpath and other worshippers to
the contrary notwithstanding.

"J. CRACKLIN."

Captain Cutler, who succeeded Cracklin as Captain of the
Stubbs, gives as his reason for leaving Lawrence against
Cracklin's orders, that he was ordered to do so by Colonel
Harvey, who ranked Cracklin. Harvey received his orders
from Lane, and hence the desertion of the town by its best
men and arms in the face of an advancing enemy.

As much other work performed by the Stubbs and other
companies under command of Captains Cracklin, Walker,
Abbott, and others has been credited to John Brown, ex-
tracts are given from a letter of Captain Cracklin, published
in the Lawrence Tribune of April 19, 1881 :

" They had four camps at different points in the Territory, from
which they sallied for murder and robbery, viz. : Doniphan, Franklin,
Washington Creek, and one near Osawatomie had become such an un-
endurable pest in the neighborhood they infested that no traveller could
pass the roads in safety. Appeal was made to the United States for
protection, but in vain, when, at the instance of the Free-State settlers
in the immediate vicinity of this Georgia camp, an expedition was
planned at Lawrence and given in my charge. I selected the Stubbs,
Coal Creek, and Franklin companies, in all ninety-one men, and left
Lawrence in the early part of August, 1856, and on the second day
after, arrived at Osawatomie, where, after learning the position of the
camp and the strength of the enemy, I made preparation for an imme-
diate attack. Dividing my force in two divisions, about dark in the
evening we ascended the hill, upon which the enemy had erected a large
block-house, which served a double purpose, as a fort and residence.
Advancing in open order on two points, we were surprised on arriving
to find the fort abandoned. I immediately gave orders to remove every-
thing of value and set fire to the building. I would here state, that at
that time, John Brown was in Iowa, consequently he could have taken
no part in the expedition. Yet, notwithstanding, Redpath gives him the
credit of commanding the force that broke up this Georgia pest, that
had so long harassed the settlers in that neighborhood.

" This little affair was followed up by a series of attacks on all their
camps. Next was Franklin, where I led the attacking party, composed

328 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

of Stubbs, and a portion of the Coal Creek and Franklin companies,
with a few others, and after a sharp little fight of three hours, we routed
the enemy, took their camp, and captured one cannon and a large
quantity of small arms. (The cannon is now in our city, and known
as ' Old Sacramento.') In this engagement I had one man killed, and
four wounded — Arthur Gunther, wounded severely in the breast and
chin ; George Henry, slightly wounded in the breast ; John Crocker,
slightly wounded in the head; George W. Smith, Jr., slightly wounded
in the head and leg. George Sackett, a very estimable young man, was
killed, shot through the head.

" This was followed by the attacks on Washington Creek, Titus
Fort, and Hickory Point, in all of which the Stubbs took an active
part, until they were unfortunately captured, without resistance, by the
United States troops, disarmed, and kept several months in a loath-
some prison at Lecompton.

"JOSEPH CRACKLIN."

This capture of the Stubbs was occasioned by their
answering the call of Lane when he fled to Nebraska as the
2800 Missourians were marching upon Lawrence.

When Colonel Harvey with his men reached Hickory
Point, Lane had passed on with his body-guard in safety to
his destination, the States. Harvey opened fire upon the
cabin where the citizens and others had gathered for mutual
protection, and after a skirmish in which shots were given
and returned, a settlement was effected, all parties joining in
a treat. But as Governor Geary's proclamation had been
issued, the United States troops went for Harvey's men and
arrested them. Some escaped, but 101 were brought to
Lecompton, and were kept prisoners several months, all on
account of the generalship of Sanborn's " indispensable "
hero, Lane.

This is a very brief outline of the conflict of 1856. As it
has been claimed that two men, and not the policy and
members of the Free-State party, saved the cause of free
Kansas, care has been taken to give their course in full. As
has been seen, this policy of the Free-State men and party
had been to do no wrong, commit no crime, but to prevent
the establishment of slavery by the so-called territorial laws

CONDITION OF TERRITORY.

329

by making them a dead letter — by the baffling process which
Governor Shannon conceded would nullify them. As An-
dreas says, the policy of assassination, plunder, theft, rob-
bery, arson, and murder was inaugurated by John Brown,
and his followers practiced such outrages through the entire
season. This, of course, gave excuse for retaliation in kind,
which was most successfully practiced by the Slave-State
party until the Free-State men were virtually subdued and
driven from the field. Had there been no outside influences
to interfere, three days more would have sufficed to lay
waste every Free-State settlement in the Territory, including
Lawrence, Topeka, and Manhattan. Their fate would have
been that of Osawatomie. The territory outside of these
settlements was already a conquered province. Lawrence
was in a state of siege and nearly destitute of provisions,
under the exclusive generalship of Lane and Brown, while
the atmosphere was blackened with the smoke of burning
shanties and cabins of Free-State men.

Governor Geary gives a striking picture of the situation
as seen on his arrival, as follows :

" I reached Kansas and entered upon the discharge of my official
duties in the most gloomy hour of her history. Desolation and ruin
reigned on every hand ; homes and firesides were deserted ; the smoke
of burning dwellings darkened the atmosphere ; women and children,
driven from their habitations, wandered over the prairies and among
the woodlands, or sought refuge and protection even among the Indian
tribes. The highways were infested with numerous predatory bands,
and the towns were fortified and garrisoned by armies of conflicting
partisans, each excited almost to frenzy, and determined upon mutual
extermination. Such was, without exaggeration, the condition of the
Territory at the period of my arrival."

Redpath says that nearly all Free-State settlers had been
driven from Linn and Miami counties, the neighborhood of
Brown's Dutch Henry's massacre, and all north of the Kan-
sas River was completely subjugated ; so much so that Lane,
the commanding General of the Free-State forces, did not
dare attempt his escape through this region without a body-

33° THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

guard of nearly or quite thirty men. But, it will be asked,
did not these men, Brown and Lane, show remarkable traits
of generalship ? The only battles in which Brown was en-
gaged were at Black Jack and Osawatomie. At the first
Captain Shore had nineteen men and Brown nine. Shore
with his men attacked Pate from the open prairie and drove
him into the ravine, while Brown took to the ravine at once,
and was not in sight of the foe at all. Shore also went into
the ravine, and shots were exchanged for several hours, till
Captain J. B. Abbott appeared in sight of the enemy with
his company, when Pate surrendered. This is substantially
the part played in this battle by Brown.

At the other battle, the second raid upon Osawatomie, all
the Free-State men, under command of Captains Updegraff,
Brown, and Cline, immediately went to the timber of the
Marais des Cygnes, where a few shots were exchanged.
When pressed by the enemy, there was no orderly retreat,
as is usual on such occasions, but a general " skedaddle,"
every man for himself. John Brown disappeared with the
rest, and was not again seen till near night, when Captain J.
M. Anthony, brother of Susan B. Anthony, saw him. Cap-
tain Anthony, after caring for Dr. Updegraff and others,
says : " I went back to the Crane house, and began to think
about getting something to eat, as we had gone out without
breakfast, and had had nothing to eat all day. I went down
to the barn-yard to milk the cow, and while doing that saw
John Brown advancing up the ravine. When he got to
within about twenty feet of me, or just across the fence, he
stopped, and said, ' Hello, is that you ? ' I replied that it
was undoubtedly, and we talked for several minutes, he ask-
ing me all about the result of the day's engagement. He
seemed to be entirely ignorant of the result, and, like Dr.
Updegraff, and indeed everybody else, thought the whole
community had been killed." These are the only battles in
1856 where Brown had any men or exercised any authority,
notwithstanding, according to Redpath and company, it

LANE'S EXPLOITS. 331

would be inferred he was a prodigy of valor and generalship.
Lane's encounters have already been given. He marched
his " live and straw men," according to his special friend
and eulogizer, John Speer, to Washington Creek, and then
fled between two days to Nebraska, where he threw up
breastworks to fortify the line, whether to prevent ingress or
egress does not appear. He also, as Andreas says, "made
a faint feint " against Reid's forces near Bull Creek, after
the destruction of Osawatomie, at which " he was an adept,"
and his march with the command to Lecompton, led by
Colonel Samuel Walker. These are all of his exploits, except
stripping Lawrence of its arms and men to help him escape
from the 2800 Missourians in September. These particulars
are given simply because, on account of the scribblings of
hero-worshippers, these men have been made to appear as
the saviors of Kansas, when from the standpoint of the Free-
State policy, Kansas would have been saved with much less
suffering and bloodshed without than with them. Also it is
a great injustice to the really brave and fighting men, whose
courage, prudence, and firmness did save the cause, in spite
of the reckless course of Brown and the reckless advice of
Lane.

The men relied upon for fighting purposes were those
connected with the different military organizations, and
others ; while the policy was adopted by the rank and file
of the Free-State party, except the two heroes who would
have brought the party in conflict with Federal authority on
more than one occasion, had they not been prevented.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE CONDUCT OF THE ARMY IN KANSAS. AGITATION IN

THE EAST. THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. GOVERNOR

GEARY'S FAILURE.

THE question will be asked, if Kansas was powerless to
save itself, what agency or agencies did save it ? The im-
mediate and direct agency was Governor Geary with the
United States troops ; and President Pierce sent the Gov-
ernor to do the work ; but what induced the President to
take this action ? The answer is rather intricate. It will be
remembered that a messenger was sent East after the con-
sultation of Howard and Sherman, of the Congressional
Committee, with Reeder, Roberts, Mrs. Sherman, Mrs.
Robinson, and Robinson. This messenger visited, among
others, Amos A. Lawrence of Boston. Mr. Lawrence was
familiar with every movement that had been made in Kan-
sas affairs, and comprehended the situation at once. He
immediately set his machinery in motion. He caused peti-
tions to be circulated for assembling the Legislatures in the
Northern States, that steps might be taken to protect their
citizens in Kansas from Federal and border ruffian outrage.
Also a strong protest to the President against this oppression
was drawn up, to be signed by Northern governors, all to
induce him to call a halt if he would prevent civil war in
the country.

The Congressional Committee made a report which
shocked the nation from centre to circumference. All re-
ports of outrages sent from Kansas were more than con-
firmed by the sworn testimony taken by this committee.

OUTSIDE INFLUENCES.

333

Abolitionists, Free-soilers, Whigs, and Democrats stood
aghast at this revelation of infamy.

The blockade of the Missouri River by the land pirates
along its banks added fuel to the flames of indignation, and
armies began to collect and march through Iowa and Ne-
braska to engage in the civil strife.

The arrest and confinement of men guilty of no crime but
that of defending their homes from outrage, and the de-
struction of a hotel and printing presses by pretended law,
capped the climax.

A Presidential election was pending, and should the out-
rages and disturbances continue, no power on earth could
save the Democratic party from utter defeat.

Add to all this, the personal appeal of Mrs. Lawrence,
mother of Amos A., whose good opinion the President said
he preferred to that of all the politicians, and it is not diffi-
cult to discern some of the reasons why Geary was sent out
and Kansas relieved.

The appeal of Mrs. Lawrence to the President is thus
referred to in Professor Spring's " Kansas," on page 196 :

"It is said that a letter was received from a lady — the wife of one
of the prisoners, and probably Mrs. Robinson — which put the case in a
favorable light, and being read aloud by Mrs. Pierce to her husband, it
took hold of the feelings of both. These expectations were not disap-
pointed. 'I have given such orders concerning Dr. Robinson as will
please you,' President Pierce informed the Boston friends, and the
' Bastile-on-the-prairies ' was broken up. Mr. Lawrence's knowledge
of the letter, a not inconsiderable factor in effecting the modification of
Federal policy towards Kansas, which now took place, "and in hastening
the arrival of Woodson's successor in the Territory, was not so slender
as his language might seem to imply. He drafted the letter himself,
and sent it to Mrs. Robinson, who copied and forwarded it to Mrs.
Pierce."

A word about the officers and men of the United States
Army. It has been customary for letter- writers and stump
orators to denounce the army as the ally of the Slave-State
party, and as the enemy of freedom. This is a great mis-

334 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

take. The army was entirely independent of both parties,
and was always on the side of law, Federal law, and the
Constitution, with the one exception of dispersing the To-
peka Legislature, on the 4th of July, 1856. It is safe to
say that, had it not been for the officers of the United States
Army, the Free-State struggle would have ended in disaster
on more than one occasion. After the massacre on the
Potawatomie, all western Missouri was moving upon Kan-
sas to avenge this outrage upon unoffending pro-slavery
men. It is true, with the assistance of the Sharp's rifles in
the possession of Shore's and Abbott's companies, Pate had
been captured and was held prisoner by Brown, but two
armies were marching to rescue him, one under General
Whitfield and one under General Coffin.

Either of these forces would have annihilated Brown as
soon as found, and the appearance of Colonel Sumner, in
obedience to the proclamation of Governor Shannon, alone
saved him. Colonel Sumner sent all the Missouri invaders
home, as well as the Free-State military companies.

During the summer of 1856, had the troops been hostile
to the Free-State cause and acted as partisans, there were
several occasions when the Free-State men would have
suffered. One of these was when Titus's house was de-
stroyed and he taken prisoner ; another was when Lecomp-
ton was visited by a force of seven or eight hundred Free-
State men to procure the release of persons held as prisoners.

At another time Governor Woodson directed Colonel P.
St. George Cooke to visit Topeka, make a general attack
upon it, as in rebellion, and destroy its defenses. Colonel
Cooke promptly and emphatically refused to comply with
this order or demand. Here is the correspondence :

" EXECUTIVE OFFICE, LECOMPTON, K. T.,

" September i, 1856.

" SIR : The Marshal of the Territory having officially reported to me
that ' the ordinary course of judicial proceedings and the powers in-
vested in him as United States Marshal are wholly inadequate for the
suppression of the insurrectionary combinations known to exist through-

WOODSON AND COOKE.

335

out the whole extent of the Territory,' it becomes my duty, as the Act-
ing Executive, to make a requisition upon you for your entire command,
or such portion of it as may, in your judgment, be consistently detached
from their ordinary duty, to aid me in suppressing these insurrectionary
combinations and invasive aggressions against the organized government
of the Territory of Kansas.

" Your command, or such part of it as may be deemed necessary,
will therefore proceed at the earliest practicable moment to invest the
town of Topeka, and disarm all the insurrectionists or aggressive in-
vaders against the organized government of the Territory to be found
at or near that point, retaining them as prisoners, subject to the order
of the Marshal of the Territory.

' ' All their breastworks, forts, or fortifications should be levelled to
the ground.

" It is very desirable to intercept all aggressive invaders against the
Government on the road known as ' Lane's trail,' leading from the Ne-
braska line to Topeka. If, therefore, your command is sufficiently
large to admit of it, a detachment should be stationed on the road with
orders to intercept all such ' aggressive invaders ' as they may make
their appearance.

" Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

" DANIEL WOODSON,
" Acting Governor of Kansas Territory.

" Lieutenant-Colonel P. St. George Cooke, Commanding United States
Dragoons, near Lecompton. "

" HEADQUARTERS, CAMP NEAR LECOMPTON, K. T.,

" September 2, 1856 — 6 A.M.

" SIR: I received last night your letter of September ist, informing
me that the Marshal of the Territory had officially reported to you that
' the ordinary course of judicial proceedings and the powers vested in
him as United States Marshal are wholly inadequate for the suppression
of insurrectionary combinations known to exist throughout the whole
extent of the Territory,' and you therefore make requisition to aid you
' in suppressing these insurrectionary combinations and invasive aggres-
sions ' by marching to invest the town of Topeka, ' disarming all the in-
surrectionists or aggressive invaders, retaining them as prisoners, sub-
ject to the order of the Marshal,' and to level to the ground all breast-
works, etc.

" Since my instructions from the Secretary of War (February I5th),
I am instructed by a letter from the Adjutant-General to Colonel Sumner,
dated March 26, 1856, in relation to the course to be pursued towards
armed bodies coming into the Territory, that ' it is only when an armed
resistance is offered to the laws and against the peace and quiet of the

336 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

Territory, and when under such circumstances a requisition for a mili-
tary force is made upon the commanding officer by the authority speci-
fied in his instructions, that he is empowered to act.'

" I am further instructed by General Smith (August 28, 1856), that
if it should come to my knowledge ' that either side is moving upon the
other with a view of attack, it will become my duty to observe their
movements and prevent such hostile collision.' But it will not be
within the province of the troops to interfere with persons who may
have come from a distance to give protection to their friends, or others
who may be behaving themselves in a peaceable or lawful manner.
And, further, ' to make every exertion in my power with the force under
my orders to preserve the peace and prevent bloodshed.'

" It is evident, both under the laws and my instructions, that the last
resort — the effusion of the blood of the citizens by the military power —
must be induced by a special act of resistance to the civil officer in the
execution of his legal duty when assisted by that power. In no case
yet has the Marshal of the Territory, thus aided, been resisted. No
specification of resistance by the people of Topeka is made in your
requisition, nor is my aid asked to assist the Marshal in the execution
there of any law or the process of any court. It is simply a call upon
me to make war upon the town of Topeka, to ' invest ' it, ' make pris-
oners,' level defenses.

" Your request that I should station troops on ' Lane's trail' to 'in-
tercept aggressive invaders,' would be clearly inconsistent with my last
instructions ' not to interfere with persons who have come from a dis-
tance,' etc., as well as those of March 26th.

" In my best judgment, I cannot comply with your call. If the
army be useless in the present unhappy crisis, it is because in our con-
stitution and law civil war was not foreseen, nor the contingency of a
systematic resistance by the people to governments of their own crea-
tion, and which, at short intervals, they may either correct or change.

" Your letter will be forwarded by express to Major-General Smith,
for his consideration and action.

' ' With great respect, your obedient servant,

" P. St. GEORGE COOKE,
" Lieutenant-Colonel Second Dragoons.
" His Excellency Acting Governor Daniel Woodson, Lecompton, K. T."

In this Colonel Cooke was sustained by General Smith,
then in command at Fort Leavenworth. While the instruc-
tions of General Smith not to interfere with persons who
had come from a distance to protect their friends in Kan-
sas, so long as they behaved themselves and violated no

IMPORTANCE OF UNITED STATES ARMY. 337

law, seemed at first sight to be intended to aid the pro-
slavery party in protecting the people from Missouri when
they should come to protect their partisan friends from mid-
night assassinations, it is but just to say that he was impar-
tial in the application of such instructions, and Free-State
men from the North through Iowa and Nebraska were
treated with the same leniency as were the pro-slavery men
from Missouri and the South. The Free-State prisoners in
charge of the troops, as soon as Colonel Sumner visited their
camp, were treated with all the courtesy and kindness they
could claim under the circumstances, and without exception
the prisoners became ardent friends of their keepers.

At the close of the conflict of arms, on the arrival of
Governor Geary, the United States troops were indispen-
sable in bringing hostilities to an end. Had it not been
for the command of Colonel Cooke before Lawrence, the
igth of September, 1856, there is but little question that
Lawrence and Topeka would have shared the fate of
Osawatomie. Without the troops at his back, Governor
Geary would have been ignored till this had been accom-
plished.

Take it all in all, the conduct of the army during the Kan-
sas conflict, even though under the direction of Jefferson
Davis, Secretary of War, is worthy of all praise, with the
single exception of the dispersion of the Legislature, and
this was afterwards disapproved even by Secretary Davis
and the President. Army officers, as a rule, are above all
partisan bias, and are governed strictly by the Constitution,
law, and army regulations. No branch of the Government
is so free from partisan or personal influence, and no offi-
cials are governed by a sense of honor as are army officers.
The experience in the Kansas conflict has shown the value
of the regular army in all conflicts among the people. This
is the only force that can be relied upon to hold the scales
of justice even when " madness rules the hour."

Governor Geary having brought the olive branch to Kan-
22

338 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

sas, there was a general stampede of such leading Free-State
men as had remained through the season to the States where
the Presidential campaign was raging with great fury.
General Fremont was the nominee of the Republicans and
James Buchanan of the Democrats.- Fremont had warmly
espoused the cause of the Kansas settlers, and had many
elements of popularity. Had the unbiased sentiment of the
voters prevailed, he would have been elected, but money
was used to carry Pennsylvania in the October election for
the Democrats, and from that time there was no such thing
as stemming the tide that set Buchanan-ward. The October
vote of Pennsylvania was offered to the Republican Na-
tional Executive Committee for a consideration, but the
money was not forthcoming, and the transfer was made to
the other party. Here was the first object-lesson on a large
scale of machine politics the writer had ever witnessed.
From that time to the present he has had but little faith in
the triumph of principle, pure and simple, in national poli-
tics. The oppressed people may agitate, educate, and or-
ganize for relief, but when election-day arrives, the dema-
gogues who seize the reins of their party will sell out to the
highest bidder for cash or spoils. Such has been uniformly
the case in the past, and such it will probably continue to
be in all powerful governments, whatever the form.

The election of James Buchanan was notice to all Kan-
sans that their struggle was not ended. While the conflict
of arms might not be renewed, there was to be one of poli-
tics which would require all the skill of veterans to manage
successfully.

The agitation of the Presidential campaign and the ces-
sation of hostilities started the Free-State emigrants to Kansas
in great numbers, and there was to be no question as to major-
ities. No political action would be called for until 1857, and
the respective parties had plenty of time to lay their plans.
While there was an election in 1856 for one branch of the
Legislature, the Free-State men ignored it, as it would give

MURDER OF BUFFUM. 339

them but one House, even if successful. Besides, the Slave-
State party had the " returning boards," and there must be
some assurance that they would make honest counts and
honest returns. In the meantime Governor Geary was tak-
ing his first lesson with his own party. He had come to
Kansas with a purpose, namely, to quiet disturbances that
the election of Buchanan might be secured. This had been
accomplished, and he vainly imagined that he was a char-
acter of great importance, and that he could rule the destiny
of Kansas. But he was not long in discovering his error.
When he sent to their homes the 2800 men menacing Law-
rence, one party passed up the California road to Lecomp-
ton. A man of this party named Hays wantonly shot a
peaceable settler, a cripple, named Buffum, almost in the
presence of Geary, who took the poor man's hand in his own
as he was dying and pledged him that his murderer should
be brought to just punishment. At great expense the Gov-
ernor caused the arrest of Hays, when Judge Lecompte
issued his writ of habeas corpus, and discharged him on bail.
Then Governor Geary became indignant, and demanded of
the President the removal of Lecompte. But he soon dis-
covered that Lecompte was the favorite at Washington, and
not Geary, and that the effort to fasten slavery upon Kan-
sas had been by no means abandoned. Geary eventually
learned that he was mere surplusage, and only nominally
Governor of the Territory. Before this fact dawned upon
him, however, he conceived a plan of settling forever the
conflict in the Territory by securing admission to the Union
as a State under the Topeka Constitution. He sent for
Robinson, the Governor elect, for an interview at his office.
Governor Geary was confident that Buchanan would be
glad to be rid of the controversy in any feasible way, and
was quite sure, if the office of governor could be made va-
cant that some Democrat might fill the position, there would
be no question of the approval of the Administration at
Washington. It was evident that Governor Geary would

340 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

expect to be the successful candidate for State governor.
Robinson, who had staked his all upon the single issue of
a Free-State for Kansas, and would be glad of success at
whatever cost to himself, short of dishonor, at once agreed
to make a vacancy in the office of governor, and visit
Washington to advise with the Republicans in Congress;
while Geary was to reconcile the Administration, which he
had no doubt could be easily accomplished. Accordingly,
Robinson gave his resignation to Lieutenant- Governor
Roberts, and went to Washington. He was not long in
learning, however, that the Democrats had regard neither
for this plan nor for Governor Geary. It was evident that
Geary's plans and recommendations were at a great discount
at Washington. While Geary supposed his mission to Kan-
sas for quieting the Territory that Buchanan might be
elected meant also the abandonment of the Slave-State con-
test, the party manipulators meant no such thing. They
gladly used Geary, and suspended hostilities to tide over the
election, but the endeavor to subjugate Kansas to slavery
was by no means to be abandoned.

As soon as it became generally known that the State Gov-
ernor elect had left his resignation with Lieutenant-Governor
Roberts and gone to Washington, a howl went up from his
enemies, of which he always had an ample supply, accusing
him of desertion of the Free-State cause, and of all the polit-
ical crimes known to the calendar. Even the Herald of
Freedom joined the chorus. The Legislature was to meet
in January, but neither Robinson nor Roberts was present.
Instead of presenting the resignation of Robinson to the
Legislature as expected, Roberts was himself absent. The
indignation manifested was legitimate and the censure mer-
ited. However, at the convention held on March 10, 1857,
Robinson had returned and explained his course to the con-
vention, when a resolution was adopted expressing satisfac-
tion with the explanation and requesting a withdrawal of the
resignation. The resignation, which had never been pre-

GEARY NOT SUSTAINED. 341

sented to the Legislature, was revoked and peace once more
prevailed.

Instead of paving the way for admission to the Union by
his scheme, Governor Geary found he had merely involved
himself in trouble. The Territorial Legislature held a ses-
sion, and soon war raged with the Executive. Bills would
be vetoed only to be passed by a two-thirds vote as soon as
returned ; and had the Governor and Legislature belonged
to opposite political parties, the hostility could not have
been more bitter. At length matters reached a crisis, when
the Governor refused to appoint a Mr. Sherard to an office
he desired. Sherard grossly insulted the Governor, whose
friends called a mass meeting to denounce the insult. But
the insulter appeared, drew his revolver, and commenced
shooting at random, when Mr. Jones, a friend of the Gov-
ernor, shot him dead. From this time henceforth there was
no rest in Kansas for Governor Geary, and he took advan-
tage of the darkness and the services of Colonel Walker to
make his exit. His resignation took effect on the 4th of
March, the day the man he had been instrumental in elect-
ing President entered upon his office.

No Governor had a more difficult r61e to play than
Geary. If his course should please one party, it was sure
to offend the other. His first move of pacification, however,
was accepted by both parties — by the Free-State party be-
cause their constitutional rights were restored to them, and
by the pro-slavery party because of the political necessity.
Had Geary after the election ignored his pledges to the
people and joined in the effort to fasten slavery upon Kan-
sas by means of the Lecompton Constitution provided by
his Legislature, he might have retained his office, but at the
expense of his plighted word. He chose to remain true to
his pledges, and retain his honor and self-respect, and was
discarded by his party.

His plan for putting down the thieves and outlaws of both
parties was excellent. He had mustered into the service

342 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

two companies of the citizens, one under Colonel Titus and
one under Captain Walker. This worked to a charm. The
pro-slavery company would see that no depredations were
committed upon their friends, and the Free-State company
would attend to the others. At this time a large number of
"reprisal" men, professedly Free-State, were subsisting on
the people by robbery, and they had no idea of giving up
their occupation. Dr. Brown, in his " Reminiscences,"
page 4 1 , refers to some of them as follows :

"AN EXCITING INCIDENT.

" To illustrate the times and disturbed state of Kansas during this
interesting period in the history of the Territory, I give the following
facts :

"After our release from imprisonment; the arrival of Governor
Geary; the return of Generals Heiskell and Reid, with their invading
army of twenty-seven hundred to Missouri; the disappearance of Old
John Brown, his sons, and their families towards Iowa ; the arrest and
imprisonment of Colonel Harvey and his command of one hundred,
who had unwisely responded to an ' order ' of General Lane's, after
Governor Geary's proclamation of peace ; and while Governor Geary
and his escort were making a tour of southern Kansas to tranquillize
the agitation in that quarter, probably some time during the last days
of October, I was sitting at my table, in the sanctum of the Herald of
Freedom office building, preparing copy for the paper. A rap at the
inner door. I arose, opened it, and saw three men standing before me,
armed with revolvers and bowies, and I think Sharp's rifles. Speaking
to them, one introduced himself as Captain H. Shaking hands with
him, he then introduced the others, one as ' my First Lieutenant,' giv-
ing his name, which has escaped me ; the other as ' Second Lieutenant,'
whose name is also forgotten. I passed them chairs, and took a seat
myself at the table where I had been writing.

" Captain H. opened the conversation ; inquired how soon the Herald
of Freedom would again appear; congratulated me on my restoration to
liberty, and then said, with a hearty laugh, in which the whole trio
joined: 'Governor Geary is tranquillizing the Territory.' I replied
that he seemed to be doing much in that direction, and from the char-
acter of letters to me from personal friends in Pennsylvania, who knew
Governor Geary well, I had no doubt of his success, provided the au-
thorities at Washington would not interfere with his work.

" ' He can never do it,' replied Captain H. ' It is too late. The

REPRISAL" MEN. 343

ruffians have overrun Kansas, have had their day until the Free-State
men are thoroughly organized for revenge, and now they want to tran-
quillize us. Ha, ha, ha, they can't do it. Let me tell you, Mr.
Brown, my lieutenants here and myself have been following in the rear
of Governor Geary's pacific tour, and we have been trying to show that
the thing won't tranquillize.' He then proceeded to narrate various
crimes they had committed, entering into details, telling of murders,
arsons, rapes, horse-stealing, and other offenses of an aggravated char-
acter. * * *

" ' I think you mistake the true policy. Our ambition is to make
Kansas a free State. Our success is contingent upon the number of
actual settlers we have from the free North, who will co-operate with
us. To get these settlers it is our interest, as well as duty, to quiet
down the excitement, show up the beauty of the country, the healthful
climate, productive soil, and satisfy them that we have the ability to
make it free, and we will see such an emigration Kansas-ward next
spring as the world has never seen before. You must remember, Cap-
tain, that the great mass of us are here with our families, our property,
with all we have in the world. We came here to build up homes and
free institutions, and to be successful we must have peace and quiet.'

" ' You can't do it. You can't do it. It is too late. We have got
stirred up in the matter, and by G — we shall keep it stirred up. I have
told you what we have done. We shall continue in the rear of Gov-
ernor Geary's movements, and we shall continue to agitate,' replied the
Captain, the lieutenants with oaths endorsing his threats.

" ' Gentlemen, if this is the case, I shall feel in honor bound to re-
peat this conversation to Governor Geary, and, much as I despise the
bogus authorities, I shall hope to see you arrested and convicted for
your crimes.' * * *

' ' They retreated down-stairs ; and twenty-two years have passed
since then. Whether any of them are now living, I don't know, but
the facts are in every essential particular as I have narrated."

But Walker and Titus were too much for the thieves, and
some of them left the Territory and joined John Brown in
the States, and others went into southern Kansas, to appear
again later.

CHAPTER XIV.

STATE AND TERRITORIAL ELECTIONS IN 1857.

THE year 1857 was as noteworthy for its political conflicts
as was 1856 for its warlike demonstrations. The Legislature
of 1856 had provided for a State Constitution, the members
of the convention for which were to be elected June 15,
1857; the Topeka State government required an election
of State officers and a Legislature ; and the election of a
Territorial Legislature was to be held on the 5th and 6th
of October.

The first question to be met was, Shall the Free-State
party participate in the election of members of the Lecomp-
ton Constitutional Convention ? On examining the regula-
tions for the election as provided by the Territorial Legisla-
ture, it was found that no honest election was intended or
would be permitted. The Missouri Democrat, of March
1 3th, thus speaks:

" If ever means were taken to pack a convention, they have been
taken in this case. Nothing has been omitted — nothing left to chance.
The plan of packing is as elaborate and as perfect as the wit of man can
make it. The time, the mode, and the machinery have been selected
with Satanic skill. Every contingency is provided for in this compact
and complicated scheme. From the taking of the census by the county
sheriff to the organization of the convention, through the graded sur-
veillance of election judges, probate judges, etc., the felon Legislature
has provided as effectively for securing the desired result as Louis Na-
poleon did for getting himself elected emperor.

" The irresponsibility of the convention and the integrity of its pro-
duction from the subsequent action of the people, are also carefully
provided for. The ratifying voice of the people, contrary to usage, is
ignored. No freedom of election and no official fidelity can be expected.

WALKER AND STANTON. 345

Afraid of the spring immigration, the felon Legislature disfranchised
every one who should not be a resident on the I5th instant; and to
prevent the rejection of the constitution (adopted long since in the
caucuses of the Blue Lodge), no provisions were made for submitting
that radiant scroll to the people. The convention will be packed from
the foundation-stone to its eave-stone, and every honest man in Kansas
will therefore see the propriety of shunning it as he would Pandemo-
nium itself."

President Buchanan appointed Hon. Robert J. Walker
Governor, and Hon. F. P. Stanton Secretary of the Terri-
tory, to take the places of Governor Geary, resigned, and
of Secretary Woodson.

Secretary Stanton arrived in April, one month in advance
of Governor Walker, and on the 24th of that month visited
Lawrence, where he addressed the citizens. Like all other
officials, he promised to enforce the territorial laws even to
the extent of causing " war to the knife and knife to the
hilt." In all other respects his conduct was such as favor-
ably to impress the citizens. Mr. Stanton, his companion
McLean, and Horace White, of the Chicago Tribune, were
entertained by Robinson at tea, when a full and frank dis-
cussion of the questions at issue was had, particularly with
reference to voting for delegates to the Constitutional Con-
vention. A part of this interview, as reported by Horace
White for his paper, is given as follows:

" When the penumbra of the new Administration appeared in Law-
rence, accompanied by a border ruffian in steeple boots, the citizens
greeted him pleasantly and called him ' Governor.' They received a
pleasant greeting in return ; Governor Robinson made up a tea-party for
' Governor ' Stanton and his travelling companion, and it was an-
nounced that Mr. Stanton would address the citizens in the evening.

" My impression of Mr. Stanton, derived from some little intercourse
previous to his speech, was not unpleasant. The impression derived
from the speech itself was far from gratifying. I happened to be pres-
ent at the tea-party mentioned above, and as nothing confidential trans-
pired, and nothing but courtesy and good feeling manifested itself, I
shall take occasion to report some parts of the conversation to which I
was a listener. I do this more especially because it presents a brief
summing up of the positions of two parties in Kansas, and hints con-

346 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

earning a third. It will be seen that the discussion was mainly con-
ducted by Governor Robinson and Mr. Stanton's friend from Lecomp-
ton, one General McLean, who casually informed us that he led the
advance guard of the two thousand eight hundred braves who inarched
towards Lawrence some time last summer :

" McLean — Whenever the Free-State party in Kansas convince me
that they have an actual majority of the residents of the Territory over
the National Democracy, I and my friends will be found making prep-
arations to depart. If the National Democracy —

" Robinson — We won't dispute about titles, General, unless they
have an especial significance, but I would like to hear your definition
of a National Democrat.

" McLean — A National Democrat is any man from the North or
South, from the East or West, whose faith is clearly enunciated in the
Cincinnati platform.

" Robinson — But I happen to know several men in Kansas answer-
ing just that description, who declare themselves utterly hostile to
slavery. These men are mostly new-comers. They say they voted for
Buchanan for the purpose of making Kansas free, and now they are on
the ground to contribute still further to that enterprise. What is the
distinction between these and the Free-State party?

" Stanton — If you call one party Free-State, General, you must cer-
tainly call the other pro-slavery. I have found men claiming to be
Democrats, myself, who intend to vote for Free-State delegates to the
Constitutional Convention.

"McLean — That is all very well; but I prefer a name which ap-
plies equally to all sections of the country — something National ! By
the National Democracy of Kansas, I understand that party which pro-
poses no interference with the rights of the South.

" Robinson — But, my dear sir, I propose no interference with the
rights of the South, and yet I shall object to anybody fastening me to
the Cincinnati platform.

" McLean — I think the distinction is plain enough. The National
Democracy have invited the Free-State men to come to the polls on a
certain day and determine by vote which party has a majority of the
actual residents of Kansas. You Free-State men hold a convention and
resolve that you have four-fifths of the population, and that you won't
vote. Now, what sort of consistency is there in this?

" Robinson — The action of the Topeka Convention was predicated on
certain facts which have been well known to the ' National Democracy '
from the beginning. Firstly, the Free-State men of Kansas have never
recognized the ' Territorial Legislature,' as some people call it. Who-
ever else may recognize it or fail to recognize it, the Free-State men
deny its legal existence. They claim that it is not even a government

CONSTITUTIONAL ELECTION. 347

de facto. They do not appeal to its laws nor have dealings with its offi-
cers. N"o one pretends to execute these laws, and they exist merely for
the benefit of the public printer. Consequently, the Free-State men
see nothing in the proposed election but the old farce with new decora-
tions and scenery. No law requires them to vote. They will not in-
terfere with your voting. They have no objection to your doing all the
voting. In this way you will secure unanimity, and I see no reason
why the plan should give the ' National Democracy ' a moment's un-
easiness. Secondly, the law providing for this election takes all power
out of the hands of the people, after the delegates are elected. It
thrusts the Constitution into Congress as the work of the people, with-
out giving the people an opportunity to pronounce upon that work.
These delegates may frame a constitution infringing the liberty of speech
and the press. They may decree test oaths as a qualification for voting.
They may make murder a bailable offense. They may infringe the
right of the people to assemble together in a peaceable manner to con-
sult for their common good. They may establish negro slavery, or any
other kind of slavery, as a permanent institution of Kansas. They may
take away the right of amending this Constitution from the latest pos-
terity. We have had specimens of all these things in Kansas legisla-
tion, and we have no business to infer that the creatures of any legisla-
tive body will be better than the Legislature itself. The Free-State
men regard it as indispensable that the entire work of the Constitutional
Convention be submitted for the approval or disapproval of those whose
welfare it affects. Thirdly, the Free-State men consider that the whole
machinery of this election is thrown into the hands of their bitter ene-
mies, and that no safeguards are interposed for their protection, either
in the vote itself or the subsequent counting of votes. I need not
enumerate for this company the provisions of that law in this regard.
The experience of the Free-State men on former occasions has not been
such as to impress them favorably with the elective franchise as oper-
ated by the bogus Legislature. Men who have lived two years in Kan-
sas understand that the Free-State party have no rights on election day
which Missourians are bound to respect, and none- which the United
States Government takes the trouble to ' recognize.' The provision. of
your law concerning the registration of votes does not prevent the
registration of all the unemployed residents of western Missouri, nor
does it require that the actual residents of Kansas shall be registered.
Your registry being perfected, the result of the election is ascertained
before the voting commences. After the voting is finished, we have no
guarantee that the returns will correspond either with the ballots depos-
ited or the printed list of qualified voters. I am free to confess that I
doubt the integrity of three-fourths of the officers who will conduct»this
election. We are solicited, in the face of a two years' experience,

348 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

which requires no comment from me, to confide everything we hold
dear as American citizens to the keeping of our worst enemies, and go
away trusting to their honor, presuming that they have sufficient virtue
to register none but actual citizens of Kansas, to register all the citizens
of Kansas, to receive the votes of all the citizens who choose to vote,
to make the returns according to the votes, even in case such returns
ruin the business which has afforded them occupation for two years.
The Free-State men of Kansas are not such idiots. The evidence is
overwhelming that this election was not intended to ascertain the rela-
tive strength of parties in Kansas, but to entrap our party, defraud
them of all their rights, and make a slave State of Kansas. So much
for the Topeka Convention. How have subsequent events shown the
propriety of their action? Here are two thousand Missourians regis-
tered as voters in Douglas County — men whom no citizen of Kansas
ever heard of except as he met them on some foraging excursion. We
look over this list for the names of the oldest citizens of Lawrence, and
they are not to be found. In Quindaro, where I live, public opinion is
divided on the question whether the census-taker has been there or not.
Two or three men pretend to have seen him. I haven't, and I doubt
whether he has been there at all. If he has ever visited that place, it
was not for the purpose of completing the registry of Leavenworth
County. The list was published some weeks ago, and our town left
entirely out of the reckoning. Some of the neglected ones in the town
of Wyandotte have sent their names to the proper officer, with evidence
of their citizenship, and he has either refused or neglected to place them
on the list.

" At Osawatomie, I am informed, three-fourths of the list is made
up of citizens of the adjoining county in Missouri. At a place thirty or
forty miles southwest of here the citizens do not know, except by hear-
say, that there is to be any election. They have never known, from
the beginning, whether they were enjoying the blessing of a sheriff and
county judge or not. They don't know whe'ther they have a census-
taker among them or not, and I should judge they didn't care. These
are specimens of our territorial job work. To my mind they demon-
strate that the action of the Topeka Convention was entirely proper,
and if that Convention was to be held over again, my part in it would
simply be a repetition of my part in the other.

" Stanton — But you have an ample remedy for all this alleged fraud,
in the law creating these officers. Bring me one man who has taken
the proper steps to have his name registered and been refused, and then
see what becomes of the officer. Establish that the list of Douglas
County contains the name of one resident of Missouri, and see how
rapidly that list is expurgated of the falsehood. The trouble is, you
Free-State men are not willing to take any steps looking to the correc-

DISCUSSION CONTINUED. 349

tion of the evils you complain of. The Executive of this Territory is
here for the purpose of administering impartial justice, and when you
have been denied redress in that quarter, I will acknowledge for one
that there is something radically wrong in the government of Kansas.

" Robinson — Having determined to take no part in the election, we
are naturally not solicitous about the purity of the voting lists, or of the
voters themselves ; but you now offer us a practical impossibility. In
the first place, the citizens of Quindaro, Lawrence, and Osawatomie are
men of business. Their time is valuable to them and indispensable to
their families. They cannot leave their business and go hunting a
sheriff or a census-taker, particularly if he spends most of his time in
another State. The gentleman with the census roll was appointed to
visit them, not they the officer.

" I have no time to waste in that way, and I presume my neighbors
will say the same thing. The other proposition, that we show the lists
to be fraudulent in respect of the names of Missourians, is an utter im-
possibility. It is an attempt to establish a negative. Mr. Jones Jen-
kins may be a resident of Westport, Missouri. I may know it, and a
dozen others may know the same thing. We may establish that Mr.
Jones Jenkins does live in Westport, Missouri. We then visit twenty
of the oldest residents of Douglas County, and inquire whether Mr.
Jenkins has ever resided there. They have never heard of any such
man in that vicinity. Here we have established that one person bearing
this name lives in Missouri, and have shown that twenty citizens of
Douglas County never heard of him in Kansas. Is this legal demon-
stration? We have not shown that some man bearing this name posi-
tively does not live somewhere in the county. We have not shown that
he may not have lived here, and gone East for his family. We have
not and never can show that he was not here on the day prescribed by
the law, and that he did not answer every requirement of that law.
When we multiply this case by two thousand, we appreciate somewhat
the nature of the job we have undertaken.

" Stanton — I tiling, Doctor, you magnify all the difficulties which
stand in the way of a fair election. Concerning the submission of the
Constitution to a subsequent vote of the people, I would say that it is
proposed to make a provision of this sort, and, so far as my influence
extends, it shall be exerted to bring about a full expression of the popu-
lar will on the subject of the domestic institutions of the Territory, after
the work of the convention is complete.

" Robinson — We do not doubt your good intentions, Governor, in
this, as in other matters ; but we very gravely doubt the extent of your
power. Several governors of Kansas have been greatly surprised to
find how short a distance their influence extends. I believe that the
right of calling out the militia has been placed in the hands of county

350 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

sheriffs. You will doubtless regard this a very great infringement on
the privileges of the Executive.

" Stanton — Oh, you must be mistaken. No Legislature, no sheriff,
will undertake to call out the militia while I hold the office of Governor.
Ridiculous !

" McLean — But they will when the occasion comes. It was found
necessary on the part of the Legislature to reserve this right.

' ' Stanton — Reserve ! No such right ever belonged to any Legisla-
ture under the sun. Nonsense!

" McLean — Nonsense or not, we have the right of calling out mili-
tia, and intend to exercise it whenever we find it necessary; that's all!

" Stanton — Oh, you are altogether mistaken, etc.

" I need not follow this pleasant little expression of views any fur-
ther. Our party adjourned to the Cincinnati House and listened to
Mr. Stanton's speech. I have already made this letter longer than I
had intended. The conversation above reported is eminently suggestive,
and I think speaks for itself. If it should meet the eyes of any of the
participants, they will recognize its correctness in all essential particu-
lars ; and if I have set down aught in malice, I trust the Tribune will
be open for the amplest correction to the injured party. Messrs. Stan-
ton and McLean having expressed their views publicly and without re-
serve in the streets of Lawrence, both before and after this dialogue, it
will not be deemed any breach of confidence that some portion of those
views should take on the illumination of the types.

" OCCIDENT."

The next morning after Secretary Stanton's speech at
Lawrence, several citizens presented him with a written prop-
osition, providing, first, " that two persons shall be selected
in each township or district to correct the registry list, one
by the pro-slavery and one by the Free-State party, who
shall proceed in company to take the census and register all
legal voters, and the probate judges shall correct the first
lists, and the apportionment of delegates shall be made ac-
cording to the returns thus made.

" Second, four judges shall be selected for each voting pre-
cinct, two of the pro-slavery and two of the Free-State party,
and the names of three of said judges shall be required for
a valid certificate of election to a seat in the convention."
To this proposition Mr. Stanton made a lengthy reply, dis-
claiming any power over the probate judges and judges of

ARRIVAL OF GOVERNOR WALKER. 351

election. He, however, said, if left to him, he would ap-
point one Free-State National Democrat, one pro-slavery
National Democrat, and one Republican. This was fair
enough so far as judges were concerned, but even this
power he could not exercise, and hence the Free-State men
wholly ignored the election.

Governor Walker reached Kansas in May, stopping at
Leaven worth, where, instead of a speech, he had $250
worth of liquors distributed among the people in the street.
He visited Lawrence on the 26th, and attended a meeting
in company with Senator Henry Wilson, Rev. John Pierpont
and Dr. Samuel Howe of Massachusetts. He pledged the
enforcement of the territorial laws, but said the Lecompton
Constitution when framed should be submitted to a fair vote
of the people for adoption or rejection. The meeting was
held in the Unitarian church, and continued till a late hour,
Judge Conway presiding. Besides the Governor, Henry
Wilson, Dr. Pierpont, Daniel Foster, Conway, Phillips, and
Robinson were called out. The provisions for the election
for the delegates to the Lecompton Constitutional Conven-
tion were dwelt upon at length, and Governor Walker had
an opportunity to learn something of that matter, as well as
of the spirit of the people.

Governor Walker issued a lengthy address to the people,
which, as usual with such documents in Kansas, gave satis-
faction to neither party. The Free- State men were disgusted
with his threats to enforce the territorial usurpation, and he
gave too many promises of fairness to the " rebels " to suit
the Slave-State party. The Richmond South is a sample of
Southern criticism. It says :

" We intend no imputation upon the Democracy when we affirm
that, with individual exceptions, all parties in the North desire the ad-
mission of Kansas as a free State. It is morally impossible to hope for
any other result.

" But we do reproach and denounce the Hon. Robert J. Walker,
for that, being the chief Executive Magistrate in the Territory, and
bound by every consideration of honor and duty to observe a strict

352 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

neutrality between the contending interests, he openly allies himself
with the anti-slavery faction, and employs all the influence of his posi-
tion to deliver Kansas into the power of the Free-State party.

" Do we accuse him unjustly? Not unless it be impossible to con-
vict him of the charge on the evidence of his own official declarations.
No candid person can read his inaugural address and resist the conclu-
sion that he goes out- to Kansas with the deliberate design of wresting
the Territory from the power of the South. It is idle to answer that
his policy is opposed by the Black Republican party. The struggle
between Walker and Robinson is not upon the issue of slavery or no
slavery ; it is a competition for the glory of converting Kansas into a
free State. Of course the Black Republicans will fight any plan which
threatens to rob them of the conquest.

" Under any circumstances, the loss of Kansas would be a grievous
calamity for the South ; but to have it snatched from our grasp by the
stealthy manipulation of a politician who affects a frank and honest pur-
pose is an insult and a wrong which we cannot bear with patience."

The State Legislature met on the gih of June, in accord-
ance with the adjournment from its regular session in Janu-
ary, and with the Legislature came a mass meeting of the
citizens. As the Government would expire with this Legis-
lature unless an election law should be enacted and an elec-
tion held for State officers and members of a new Legis-
lature, unusual efforts were made to induce the members to
attend the session. A circular letter, signed by many lead-
ing citizens, was sent to all the members of the Senate and
House, urging them to be present. But when the day ar-
rived no quorum appeared. It required much skill to get a
quorum, and no legal quorum could be secured by any de-
vice known to parliamentary proceedings. Members were
sent for in hot haste, but still no quorum. As Governor
Walker was watching with eagle eye, and ardently praying
for the Topeka Government to fail, it was deemed important
that the real condition should be kept from his knowledge.
It was thought that if Governor Walker could be made to
believe that the Topeka Government was in a condition to
become a live Government, should he fail to give the people
a fair election, either for or against the Lecompton Consti-

STATE LEGISLATURE. 353

tution, or for a Territorial Legislature, he would be more
likely to do his duty regarding those elections. Enough had
been learned of the Governor to know that he feared nothing
so much as this Topeka State Government. Hence he must
be kept in ignorance of the strait to which it was reduced.
Among the devices resorted to in order to procure a quorum,
was providing impromptu elections. William A. Phillips
was thus elected to the House to fill a vacancy. William
Hutchinson was sent to Douglas County to secure the at-
tendance of Senator B. W. Miller. When he found the
senator had just died, he called an election immediately,
returned to Topeka the next day, and was duly sworn in as
senator. In this way, and by declaring several vacancies,
a nominal quorum was secured. Steps were taken to com-
plete the organization of the Government, by providing for
taking the census, making an apportionment, and for an
election of State officers and a Legislature, to be held on
the first Monday in August.

The promises of Walker and Stanton that the territorial
ballot-boxes should be restored to the people had produced
a marked effect upon the Free-State men ; and being tired
of living without law, and having but little hope of relief
through admission to the Union under the Topeka Constitu-
tion, many were ready to make an effort to get possession
of the Territorial Legislature at the election to be held in
October, and were accordingly indifferent to the fate of the
State Government. Senator Douglas had exposed the ma-
nipulations of Lane to such an extent, convicting him of
lying and forgery with reference to the Topeka Constitution,
that even Republican senators would have nothing to do
with that document ; and Free-State men well posted had
no hope of admission to the Union under it, although it had
passed the House of Representatives. Notwithstanding all
this, some men were loud in their demands that this Govern-
ment should be set in motion at all hazards. Perhaps the
most bitter enemies Robinson ever had he made by de-

23

354 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

claring such a move to be, under the circumstances, in-
sane.

The taking of the census had a double purpose : one was
to answer the demand of the Constitution that an apportion-
ment for members of the Legislature might be made, and
another that proof might be furnished of illegal voting at the
territorial election, which was to be held without an accu-
rate census. Senator Wilson appreciated the importance of
this census, and promised Robinson that he would send a
man with sufficient funds to defray the expenses. Accord-
ingly Hon. T. J. Marsh, ex-Treasurer of the State of Massa-
chusetts, appeared in due time and paid all the census bills,
as audited and approved by the State Governor.

At the mass convention, held at the time of the meet-
ing of the Legislature, resolutions were adopted repeating
the former denunciations of the territorial usurpation and
strongly adhering to the Topeka Constitution.

Judge Conway dissented from the report of the committee
on resolutions, and offered as a substitute one proposing,
while professedly not intending to resort to force, that the
people should " universally accept the State Government as
their only rightful government." That they "should look
to it exclusively to extend protection to individual rights and
regulate the relations of society * * * to the end that
the aforesaid government shall become the living govern-
ment of the community." Also, his resolutions contemplated
the enactment of laws sufficient to meet the wants of the
people in every department of life. This substitute was sup-
ported by Conway, W. A. Phillips, C. F. W. Leonhardt, and
W. F. M. Arney.

It was not adopted by the convention. The people had
adopted the Topeka Constitution because they had been de-
prived of the territorial law-making power by invasion and
fraud, not because it was intrinsically better for them than
that form of government ; and now, as there was a prospect
of recovering what had been stolen, they were disposed to

FREE-STATE CONVENTIONS. 355

await the result of the territorial election so soon to be
held. In fact, there was no alternative, as it was impossible
to procure a legal quorum of the Legislature or pass a legal
enactment of any kind. All did not know this, but the State
Governor knew it, and his aim was to impress upon the ter-
ritorial Governor the importance of securing to the people
an honest election. If he should do that he would have
nothing to fear from the State Government, otherwise there
might be serious trouble. Robinson had satisfied himself,
by frequent interviews and otherwise, that Walker and Stan-
ton intended to act in good faith towards the people, and he
was disposed to throw no obstacle in their way, but, on the
contrary, give them what aid he could in carrying out their
pledges.

Another convention was held at Topeka, July 1 5th and
1 6th, of which General Lane was chairman. This conven-
tion adopted substantially the same resolutions as the pre-
vious one, except the following :

" Whereas, Governor Walker, in his speech at Topeka, as reported
in the Kansas Statesman of June gth, holds the following language :
' In October next, not under the act of the late Territorial Legislature,
but under the laws of Congress, you, the whole people of Kansas,
have a right to elect a delegate to Congress, and to elect a Territorial
Legislature ; ' and

" Whereas, Governor Walker has, on various occasions, used simi-
lar language ; and

" Whereas, Under the above decision ' the whole people of Kansas '
may participate in an election for delegate for Congress and for mem-
bers of the Territorial Legislature, without recognizing the validity of
a bogus Legislature, imposed upon them by fraud and by force ; there-
fore,

' ' Resolved, That we recommend to the people of Kansas that they
assemble in mass convention at Grasshopper Falls on the last Wednes-
day in August, to take such action as may be necessary with regard to
that election."

At this convention M. J. Parrott was nominated for rep-
resentative to Congress.

Judge Conway offered this resolution, which was adopted :

356 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

' ' Whereas, we have reliable information that preparations are being
made in some parts of the State of Missouri to control the result of the
coming elections in Kansas ; therefore be it

" Resolved, That General James H. Lane be appointed by this con-
vention, and authorized to organize the people in the several districts,
to protect the ballot-boxes at the approaching elections in Kansas."

Of course there was no " reliable " information of pro-
posed interference with any election favored by Judge Con-
way or Lane, as both these gentlemen opposed taking part
in the territorial election of a Legislature, and no Missou-
rian would interfere with the election under the State
auspices. But it served to give employment to Lane and
furnish an excuse to send East for money, which was
promptly done, two messengers being sent for that purpose.
Had both Conway and Lane favored the territorial election,
they well knew that no Kansas troops outside of regular mili-
tia would be needed, as Governor Walker had taken upon
himself the responsibility for that election, and had plenty of
United States troops to protect the polls. These he did
station at some places, although unnecessary, as no invasion
was longer needed. The pro-slavery men had the " return-
ing boards," and voters from Missouri or elsewhere were
unnecessary, as was proven when the returns were sent in to
the Governor.

The time intervening between this convention of the isth
of July and the Grasshopper Falls Convention, the last
Wednesday in August, was improved by Lane and Conway
in opposing the territorial election, but without avail. When
that convention met it was nearly a unit for voting, although
Conway made a speech against it. Lane, seeing the senti-
ment, changed front and favored the election, although op-
posing it in committee.

W. A. Phillips offered the following resolution, which was
referred to the committee, but never acted upon by the con-
vention :

" Resolved, That should any power, legislative or otherwise, be
obtained by any force of Free-State men, or Free-State votes, at the

GRASSHOPPER FALLS CONVENTION. 357

proceeding called an election in October next, this convention resolves
that such power shall be used only for the destruction of usurpation,
that a territorial Government shall not be perpetuated, but that the
Government under the Topeka Constitution is the only legitimate Gov-
ernment."

Andreas, in his "History," page 126, says:

" Colonel Lane, who at the Topeka Convention held in May had
declared his radical opposition to any participation in the election, had
gradually grown reticent and considerate, and now came fully over to
the other side."

He did not come over, however, till he reached the con-
vention, as, on his way there, he predicted that all who
favored voting, referring to Smith, Robinson, and others,
would be buried so deep the resurrection would fail to reach
them.

Andreas further says, same page :

" Governor Robinson denned his position, which had doubtless come
to be that of a large majority of the Free-State party. In his speech
favoring the resolutions, he said : ' We started out on the Topeka Con-
stitution, and I shall work under it ; but here is a battery all the time
at Lecompton playing upon us. Let us take the battery and use it for
our own benefit, without defining the use we shall put it to, and thus
avoid side issues in every county in the Territory. If we get the bat-
tery and spike it so it cannot be used against us, we shall have accom-
plished a purpose. I do not feel that there will be any backing down
in doing so. I am more hopeful than some, and not quite so hopeful
as others ; but I have no doubt we shall be triumphant. From the
census returns I am satisfied there is not a district in the Territory in
which we have not a large majority of voters. If we are defeated by
fraud, we shall be in a position to show up the fraud. It has been said
that I was always opposed to this movement. Such is not the case. I
have always been in favor of voting with the least show of success in
our favor."

Parrott was nominated for territorial delegate to Con-
gress, and comparative harmony in the ranks was secured.

Lane's military exploits during the summer were only
eclipsed by Governor Walker's when he came against Law-
rence with his United States troops. He made a great

358 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

flourish of trumpets and assumed airs of as much importance
as he would if the destiny of nations depended upon his
action. As this was to be a war without an enemy, there
would be no danger to life or limb, neither would "breast-
works " have to be erected on the Nebraska line to cause
frequent visits from the General-in-Chief. E. B. Whitman
and J. B. Abbott went East for the sinews of war, but from
all accounts had poor success. Unfortunately for the suc-
cess of this begging expedition, Senator Wilson, Horace
WThite, and others had recently visited Kansas, and knew
very well that there was no more occasion for this military
demonstration than there would be at an election in Massa-
chusetts.

In Redpath's " Life of Brown," he quotes one of Brown's
sons as saying, September 30, 1857, that " efforts were made
to raise a fund to send cannon and arms to Lane ; " and
adds that they "proved a failure." Mr. Whitman reported
poor success in his efforts. But the most farcical of all is
the great apparent effort to get John Brown with his two
hundred Sharp's carbines from Tabor, Iowa, into Kansas.
As is now well known, John Brown was already preparing
for his Virginia raid ; had ordered his pikes, sent for his men,
and had a drill-master already at work. In A. Wattles' testi-
mony before the Senate Harper's Ferry Investigating Com-
mittee, on page 221, is a letter from Brown to Wattles, dated
June 3, 1857, in which he says:

" There are some half dozen men I want a visit from at Tabor, Iowa,
to come off in the most quiet way, viz. : Daniel Foster, late of Boston,
Massachusetts ; Holmes, Frazer, a Mr. Hill, and William David, on
Little Ottawa Creek; a Mr. Cochran, on Potawatomie Creek; or I
would like equally well to see Dr. Updegraff and S. H. Wright of
Osawatomie ; or William Phillips, or Conway, or your honor. I have
some very important matters to confer with some of you about. Let
there be no words about it."

Colonel Hugh Forbes was engaged by Brown in March
or April, 1857, to drill men for the work in hand, and, ac-

JOHN BROWN AND TERRITORIAL ELECTION. 359

cording to Redpath's " Life of Brown," this work was to be
in Virginia or Maryland. Besides, in a letter to Wattles,
dated April 8, 1857, Brown writes, "I bless God that He
has not left the Free-State men of Kansas to pollute them-
selves by the foul and loathsome embrace of the old rotten

." This old monster was the territorial Government.

Was it likely a man with such sentiments would aid in an
election under such a Government! In a letter to E. B.
Whitman, dated October 5, 1857, he calls this election, that
Lane was proposing to protect, "bogus." How much sin-
cerity was there in this war movement ?

Richard Realf, the Secretary of State of John Brown's
new Republic, set up in Canada, and moved over to Harper's
Ferry, wrote January 30, 1860, as follows about Brown's
position :

" Nor was Brown himself, nor any of his coadjutors, committed to
the Republican creed. Henry Wilson, in 1857, advised that party to
secure the Legislature by voting under the laws of the Territorial Legis-
lature. Not one of Brown's original party voted. Some of us were
at the time correspondents of the Eastern press, and in the interim be-
tween the Grasshopper Falls convention, at which it was decided to
vote, and the day of election, we opposed the action of the party in
every possible way, by letters, speeches, and in every available manner,
for which we were denounced as abolitionists by the leading Republican
journal of the Territory."

It is evident from the correspondence between these great
" Generals," Lane and Brown, that Lane wanted to get the
arms in Brown's possession at Tabor, Iowa; and Brown
wanted to get all the money he could out of Whitman and
others for his work in Virginia. It will be seen by the let-
ters which follow that the territorial election was a mere pre-
text, as Lane was as desirous of getting the munitions of
war after that election as before. The pretense that Brown
wanted very much to get to Kansas is in keeping with his
whole career while preparing for his Virginia raid. He al-
ways begged for money and supplies on a pretense of want-
ing them for Kansas, while he intended to use them else-

360 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

where. The following letters were exchanged by the par-
ties.

From J. H. Lane, Lawrence, September 7, 1857, as fol-
lows:

' ' SIR : We are earnestly engaged in perfecting an organization for
the protection of the ballot-box at the October election (first Monday).
Whitman and Abbott have been East after money and arms for a month
past. They write encouragingly, and will be back in a few days. We
want all the materials you have. I see no objection to your coming to
Kansas publicly. I can furnish you just such a force as you may deem
necessary for your protection here, and after your arrival. I went up
to see you, but failed.

" Now what is wanted is this — write me concisely what transporta-
tion you require, how much money, and the number of men to escort
you into the Territory safely, and if you desire it I would come up with
them.

" Yours respectfully,

"J. H. LANE.

"To Captain John Brown, Tabor, Iowa."

"TABOR, FREMONT COUNTY, IOWA, September 16, 1857.
" General J. H. Lane:

" MY DEAR SIR: Your favor of the 7th instant is received. I had
previously written to you expressive of my strong desire to see you. I
suppose you have my letter before this. As to the job of work you in-
quire about, I suppose that three good teams, with well-covered wagons,
and ten really ingenious, industrious men (not gassy), with about $150
in cash, could bring it about in the course of eight or ten days.

' ' Very respectfully, your friend,

"JOHN BROWN."

" FALLS CITY, NEBRASKA, September 29, 1857.
"DEAR GENERAL: I send you Mr. Jamison, Quartermaster-Gen-
eral, Second Division, to assist you in getting your articles into Kansas
in time. Mr. Whitman wrote us he would be at Wyandotte yesterday,
one week ago — that he was supplied with the things — but he had not
arrived when I left. It is all important to Kansas that your things
should be in at the earliest possible moment — that you should be much
nearer at hand than you are. I send you all the money I have, $50,
and General Jamison has some more. We want every gun, and all the
ammunition. I do not know that we will have to use them, but I do

CORRESPONDENCE OF LANE AND BROWN. 361

know we should be prepared. I send you ten true men. You can rely

upon General . What he tells you comes from me.

" Yours ever,

"J. H. LANE.
"To General John Brown, Tabor, Iowa."

" TABOR, FREMONT COUNTY, IOWA, September 30, 1857.
" General James H. Lane:

" MY DEAR SIR: Your favor from Falls City by Mr. Jamison is
just received, also $50 sent by him, which I also return by same hand,
as I find it will be next to impossible in my poor state of health to go
through on such short notice, four days only remaining to get ready,
load up, and go through. I think, considering all the uncertainties of
the case, want of teams, etc., that I should do wrong to set out. I am
disappointed in the extreme.

" Very respectfully, your friend,

" JOHN BROWN."

"TABOR, IOWA, October 5, 1857.

" MY DEAR SIR: Please send me, by Mr. Charles P. Tidd, what
money you have for me, not paper. He is the second man I have sent
in order to get the means of taking me through. General Lane sent a
man who got here without any team, with but fifty dollars of Lane's
money, as he said, which I returned to him, and wanted me to start
right off, with only four days' time to load up and drive through before
this bogus election day, which my state of health and the very wet
weather rendered it impossible to do in time, and I did not think it
right to start from here under such circumstances. Do try to make me
up the money all in good shape before Mr. Tidd returns, and also write
me everything you know about the aspect of things in Kansas. Please
furnish Mr. Tidd with a horse to take him to Osawatomie, and greatly
oblige me. The fifty dollars Lane sent was only about enough to pay
up my board bill here, with all I had on hand. I need not say my dis-
appointments have been extreme. Your friend,

" JOHN BROWN.

"To E. B. Whitman."

" P.S. — Before any teams are now sent I want to hear further from
Kansas. Yours respectfully,

" JOHN BROWN."

From E. B. Whitman, dated Lawrence, October 24, 1857,
and indorsed as having been received at Tabor, November
ist, as follows:

362 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

" MY DEAR FRIEND : Your two first messengers are sick at Tecum-
seh. I helped them to start back, with the information that you should
soon hear from me, but they were taken sick on their way. Mr. Tidd
has been waiting some time for me to receive remittances from the East,
but as the crisis approaches I feel in a hurry to get him off. You are
wanted here a week from Tuesday. I will wait no longer, but have
raised on my personal responsibility $150. General Lane will send
teams from Falls City, so that you may get your guns all in. Leave
none behind if you can help it. Come direct to this place. See me be-
fore you make any disposition of your plunder, except to keep it safe.
Make the Tabor people wait for what you owe them. They must.
Make the money I send answer to get here, and I hope by that time to
have more for you. Mr. Tidd will explain all.

" Very truly yours,

" E. B. WHITMAN."

From J. H. Lane, Falls City, October 30, 1857, as follows :

" DEAR SIR: By great sacrifice we have raised and send you by Dr.
Tidd $150. I trust this money will be used to get the guns to Kansas,
or as near as possible. If you will get them to this point, we will try
to get them on in some way. The probability is Kansas will never
need the guns. One thing is certain, if they are to do her any good, it
will be in the next few days. Let nothing interfere in bringing them
on. Yours,

"J. H. LANE."

The last letters of Lane and Whitman were after the elec-
tion, and yet they are as urgent for the arms as any before
that event.

It will be seen that Lane was at Falls City, Nebraska, on
September 2gth, six days before the election, and must have
taken a deep interest in that event. Also he was in Ne-
braska October 30th. Whether the fortifications he threw
up along the territorial line in 1856 needed repairing, or
new ones had to be made, does not appear.

While this correspondence was in progress between " Gen-
eral " Lane and " General " Brown, the election of the Terri-
torial Legislature came off. There was no invasion or illegal
voting of consequence, but illegal returns were made. The
small village of Kickapoo sent in 500 votes ; McGee County,

OXFORD FRAUD. 363

where there were no legal voters, returned over 1200 votes;
and Oxford, a hamlet of six houses on the east line of the
Territory, sent up 1628 votes. These fictitious returns would,
if counted, give the Legislature to the pro-slavery party.
What would be done ? All parties had accepted the pledge
of Governor Walker that no fraud should be tolerated, and
now all parties demanded the fulfilment of his pledges.
That he would be inclined to favor his own party and re-
cover the confidence of the South which his inaugural had
lost him seemed likely. Besides, he had become exceedingly
bitter on account of the opposition and ridicule of Free-
State orators and papers. There was apparent hesitation as
to his course, and he was waited upon by all parties with
demands for prompt and decisive action. The conserva-
tives, especially, would brook no shortcoming. G W.
Brown, editor of the Herald of Freedom, had defended the
Governor in his paper till now, and he waited upon Gov-
ernor Walker in his office and warned him that if he faltered
in his duty now his paper would henceforth join the cry
against him.

The Governor of the State organization, who had relied upon
personal as well as public pledges, and had discouraged radi-
cal measures on account of these pledges, gave notice that
should the territorial Governor fail to do his whole duty there
would henceforth be no conservative party in Kansas, and
the machinery of the State Government might be put in
order at once. Governor Walker was so afraid this would
be done during the summer that he had brought the United
States troops to Lawrence because that town had organized
for mutual assistance in preserving order, abating nuisances,
and the like. His excuse was, that should all the towns of
the Territory thus organize independently of the territorial
Government, it would become supplanted entirely, and the
State Government would be established instead. All this
had been argued at the convention in June at Topeka by
Conway, Phillips, Arney, and others. In fact it was a most

364 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

simple process, that all could understand, and it was held in
abeyance solely for the purpose of avoiding friction, and be-
cause Governor Walker had assured the people they should
have their rights through this territorial election.

Governor Walker and Secretary Stanton — although they
found sufficient cause for rejecting the returns from Oxford
on their face, as there was no evidence the judges of elec-
tion took the prescribed oath, or that the paper was one of
the two poll-lists required by law — chose to visit Oxford
that they might learn from personal inspection the number
of actual voters in the neighborhood or county. They be-
came satisfied the returns were simulated and fictitious, and
like honorable men refused to count the Oxford vote. This
was one of the most important acts in the whole struggle.
Had this Oxford vote been counted, the Legislature would
have been given to the Slave-State men, and no power on
earth could have quieted the people. They had submitted
to the invasion of the 3oth of March, 1855, simply because
they were few in number, unarmed and unorganized. Be-
sides, the Free-State majority at that time was small ; but
now that majority was as twenty to one, as estimated by the
Herald of Freedom, after taking the State census, and the
people were comparatively well armed. While the Federal
Government might, and probably would, have broken down
a formal State Government, the people could and would
have made it impossible for any usurpation to occupy the
soil of Kansas. The result might have been no active gov-
ernment from any source, but the Free-State men could
afford to occupy that position as long as the Federal Ad-
ministration could afford to have them.

Should a President of the United States be elected by the
people and have but one majority, every member of his
party would claim that the election was due to his vote,
and the spoils would be demanded accordingly. So in this
case, every Free-State man in Kansas was loud in his de-
mands for an honest count, and there were dire threatenings

WHY OXFORD WAS REJECTED. 365

from every quarter ; and many are the persons who claim
to have influenced the Governor to do his duty. The
friends of Lane claim that, while he did not go near the
Governor, it was his pawing the earth, beating the air and
bellowing, as usual, like a bull of Bashan, that frightened the
Governor. Prominent men like Colonel Eldridge, Deitzler,
Allen, Duncans, and other conservative men, were active
and influential; G. W. Brown, also, was in a position to
bring a stronger influence than any other single man ; and
the radicals who were clamorous for setting the State Gov-
ernment in operation regardless of consequences had their
influence. But, giving full credit to all parties, individually
and collectively, the " old blood-stained banner," the Topeka
Government, was indispensable. As has been said, the Ad-
ministration hated this movement with a perfect hatred, as
any settlement of the difficulties through this instrumentality
would be a political defeat and humiliation of the Demo-
cratic party. Any other way out might be tolerated, but
this never. Governor Walker saw clearly that there were
men enough, and brains enough, in the State movement to
" thwart, baffle, and circumvent " till the Democratic party
should be utterly ruined, if he did not redeem his pledges
relative to this territorial election. That it was the State
movement he feared is evident from his proclamation throw-
ing out the Oxford votes. After giving his argument against
the votes he says :

' ' In view of the condition of affairs in Kansas for several years past,
of the efforts so long made to put in operation here a revolutionary
government, and of the facts that this effort was suspended under the
belief that the political difficulties of this Territory might at length be
fairly adjusted at the polls ; if that adjustment should now be defeated
and the people deprived of their rightful power under the laws of Con-
gress by fictitious returns of votes never given, it is our solemn con-
viction that the pacification of Kansas through the exercise of the
elective franchise would become impracticable, and that civil war would
immediately be recommenced in this Territory, extending, we fear, to
adjacent States and subjecting the Government of the Union to immi-
nent peril."

366 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

At an Old Settler's meeting at Bismarck Grove, Septem-
ber 2, 1884, Hon. F. P. Stanton in his speech said :

' ' Very soon after he came to the Territory, Governor Walker went
out among the people and made addresses in several places, in which
he urged the abandonment of the Topeka movement, and earnestly solic-
ited them to go to the polls in the October elections and assert their
supremacy in the State Constitution. President Buchanan was pledged
to the policy of submitting the Constitution to the vote of the people for
ratification or rejection. Governor Walker did not hesitate to promise
all his influence in favor of the same policy, and solemnly pledged him-
self to oppose any constitution not so submitted. At the Free-State
Convention at Topeka, on the gth of June, 1857, being called out by
the people at his lodgings there, he gave these assurances in the most
solemn and explicit manner, at the same time repeating his declaration
that the territorial Government, with the aid of the army of the United
States, if necessary, would maintain peace at the polls, secure a full op-
portunity for every citizen to vote, and prevent and repudiate every fraud
or wrong which it was possible to resist or remedy by the executive
authority.

" I was not in the counsels of the Free-State party, and knew their
designs only through their public avowals. It was well understood, I
believe, that they were divided in opinion. One party in the conven-
tion, under the lead of General J. H. Lane, was in favor of extreme and
violent measures, and proposed to put the Topeka Government into im-
mediate operation ; the other was understood to be headed by Governor
Charles Robinson, and to advise a more moderate and rational line of
policy, being willing so far to confide in our pledges as to try their
strength at the polls in the October elections. There was a bitter con-
test between these two sections of the Free-State party, and, according
to our information, there was imminent danger that the Lane party
would prevail. Such at least were the intimations given out to the
public, and I had no doubt at the time that they were substantially
true ; but if they were not, then it remains for those who were inside
the Free-State movement to show that these public outgivings were not
sincere, and to explain the real intentions of the parties concerned.

" But, at any rate, eventually the counsels of the moderate men pre-
vailed. The extremists were withheld from the execution of their dan-
gerous designs, and the masses of the Free-State party were induced to
participate in the October elections, and thus to get legal control of the
territorial Government, instead of embarking in a rebellion against the
United States. What was the result of this policy of wisdom and mod-
eration, I have already shown. By the rejection of the Oxford frauds
the majority of the people were installed in their rightful supremacy in

HON. F. P. STANTON'S STATEMENT. 367

the Territory. By the election of the 4th of January, authorized by the
law passed at the extra session of the Legislature, you demonstrated
that the Lecompton Constitution was not the creation of the people.
You passed laws to punish frauds and false returns at the elections, and
thereby drove from the Territory John Calhoun and his dishonest coad-
jutors, who had sought to pollute the sources of political power and to
maintain the usurpations of a corrupt minority. You placed Mr.
Buchanan and his Administration, and all those Democrats who sup-
ported them, in the wrong. And thus placing them in the wrong be-
fore the eyes of the whole world, you were enabled to defeat them and
break them up. And finally, you had the great triumph of establishing
your own Topeka Constitution, substantially, according to your own will.

" Now, suppose that different counsels had prevailed at Topeka in
the summer of 1857 — suppose the extreme men had succeeded in per-
suading the majority to set up the Topeka State Government in rebellion
against the Government of the United States. Instead of placing Mr.
Buchanan in the wrong, you would have been in the wrong yourselves.
Instead of dividing the Democratic party on the Lecompton question
and finally breaking them to pieces, you would have consolidated them
on the question of sustaining the Federal Government, in support of
the laws, against its rebellious citizens. In the midst of conflict and
civil war, there would probably have been no frauds at Oxford and no
exposure of the methods adopted by your opponents, because violence
would have taken the place of fraud, and that violence justified by your
own fatal example. It is impossible to conjecture exactly what would
have been the course of events. But the whole history of the Territory
would have been altered and its destiny materially modified. The Le-
compton Constitution would probably have been adopted, and Mr.
Buchanan succeeded by another Democratic President. In the course
of time you would, no doubt, have moulded the Constitution to the will
of the majority; but the obstacles would have been great and your
progress would have been slow and with feeble paces compared to those
rapid strides by which you have reached your present magnificent posi-
tion. I do not for a moment suppose that slavery could have been very
long continued under any circumstances ; but the process of destroying
it might have been much more prolonged and difficult, and your impli-
cation in it might have been much more disastrous and destructive to
all your interests.

"Allow me to say here, that, in my judgment, Governor Walker has
never received the full measure of applause which he deserved for his
efforts to conciliate the people, and his success in bringing them to a
trial of their strength in the territorial elections. This was the true
exodus out of the wilderness of your troubles. It was the policy of
true wisdom and exalted patriotism. You met him half way, and not-

368 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

withstanding his forced resignation as Governor, this policy which he
had inaugurated was carried out successfully, and triumphed in the end.

" Mr. Elaine, in his recent history of ' Twenty Years in Congress,'
sums up the result of Governor Walker's administration in Kansas with
the simple but emphatic declaration that he 'failed.' But, I must insist,
it was no failure. Mr. Buchanan deserted him, and left him the alter-
native of coming back here to be dismissed, as I was, or of resigning
the position which he could no longer hold with honor. But, in spite
of all this, by your co-operation and the wise course of moderation
which you pursued, he had prepared the way for that result which
brought merited rebuke to Mr. Buchanan and defeat to the bad schemes
he sought to promote. The failure was Buchanan's, and not Walker's.
The triumph was yours ; but you will not fail to do liberal justice to the
memory of the .man who was the author of the policy which finally pre-
vailed, but who was not permitted to enjoy the fruits of his patriotic
exertions. It was his fortune, as it was mine, to stand on the eminence
of truth and right from which he could see the promised land ; but that
was all.

" You alone, ye men of iron, worthy fathers of this great State,
pioneers and heroes in the times that tried men's souls, you alone had
the privilege of crossing the Jordan that intervened, and entering this
goodly land of liberty. May it continue forever to blossom like the
rose, and may it never cease to flow with milk and honey."

CHAPTER XV.

LECOMPTON CONSTITUTION. LEAVENWORTH CONSTITUTION.

ULTRA RADICALS.

WHEN the Territorial Legislature was secured, the prin-
cipal battery of the enemy had been captured and they had
but one hope left, namely, to get admitted to the Union
under the Lecompton Constitution. How should that hope
be frustrated f The convention for drafting their constitu-
tion had adjourned from September yth till October igth.
One party, the voting party, said, let the convention meet,
as it had a right to do, and adopt a constitution, and then
vote the constitution down. If, as was feared, no fair op-
portunity were given for such vote by the convention, then
let the Legislature provide the opportunity, which it would
have the power and disposition to do, either at a called ses-
sion by the acting governor or at the regular session on the
4th of January, 1858. Another party, headed by Lane,
said make war upon the convention and prevent the making
of the constitution. Possibly this was in contemplation by
Conway when he presented his resolution to the convention
in July. And this may also explain the urgent request to
" General " John Brown at Tabor before and after the ter-
ritorial election. Be this as it may, as the time approached
for the meeting of the convention, Lane took the war-path
and gathered his forces. This was done under cover, and
probably in the main through the secret order of Danites, as
but few, if any, knew of his movements outside of the order
till he was ready to strike his blow. As Robinson was ab-
sent from Lawrence when this blow was to be struck, a state-
24

370 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

ment made by Dr. G. W. Brown, who was then editor of
the Herald of Freedom, the first Free-State paper published
in Kansas, is quoted from his " Reminiscences of Governor
Walker," as follows :

" It is remembered that, on the i6th of July, General Lane was in-
structed to organize the military forces in Kansas ' for the protection
of the ballot-box.' But this was not the source of his authority. A
secret order was instituted by Lane, ostensibly to oppose the aggres-
sions of the slave power in Kansas. This organization was under the
management of those who opposed the voting policy. They were al-
ways talking about fighting the Government if it stood in their way.
Their leaders fled the Territory on the first approach of danger, to re-
turn when all was over, and renew the agitation which cooler heads had
allayed during their absence.

" William A. Phillips, the special Kansas correspondent of the New
York Tribune, wrote his journal, dated June i7th, 1857:

" ' Mark my words! Nothing but a sufficient force of the United
States army will be able to keep that Constitutional Convention in Kan-
sas.'

" At Osawkee, in July, while the Delaware Trust Lands were being
sold, speaking of his military organization, General Lane said : ' They
will assemble at Lecompton on the day the Constitutional Convention
assembles, for review.'

"I think it was near noon of Saturday, the I7th of October, 1857,
Augustus Wattles, at that time our associate editor, entered the sanctum
of the Herald of Freedom office in an excited manner, very unusual to
him, and said hurriedly :

' ' ' Why, Brown, we are on the eve of a revolution ! General Lane
has ordered the organized Free-State forces of the Territory to assemble
on Monday next, with arms and three days' supply of provisions, the
purpose of which is to march on Lecompton and kill every member of
the Constitutional Convention. It is also his purpose to wipe out the
Territorial Government, and set up the Topeka Government. The
United States troops are en route for Utah, and now is thought a good
time to strike. Unless headed off in his insane movement, notwith-
standing our recent success at the polls, all is lost ; for the country will
never endorse this scheme of wholesale murder ! '

" I questioned him sufficiently to know that he was making a state-
ment on positive knowledge. Catching my hat, I rushed to the differ-
ent business houses, and made them acquainted with the information
Mr. Wattles had imparted. G. W. Collamore, G. W. Smith, Wesley
and Charles Duncan (both now living at Lawrence), George Ford,

CONTEMPLATED MASSACRE. 371

Columbus Hornsby, and, indeed, all the substantial men whom I met,
were invited to assemble immediately in a vacant room over the store
of Messrs. Duncan for consultation. In a very short time they were in
session, probably from fifty to one hundred. We organized, with Judge
Smith as chairman. The object of the meeting was briefly stated,
when, on motion of Mr. Collamore, a committee of three was appointed
to invite General Lane to attend the meeting.

" The committee soon returned, accompanied by the General. The
chairman stated to him what the people had casually learned in regard
to his proposed descent on Lecompton, and the assassination of the
members of the Constitutional Convention, and inquired of him if they
were correctly informed.

" The General at first seemed to evade a direct answer. He en-
tered into a disquisition on the wrongs the people of Kansas had
sustained from the pro-slavery party, and was really eloquent, in his
way, as he recounted our grievances. While he was speaking in this
strain, avoiding an answer to Judge Smith's interrogatory, a crowd of
young men, ' boys, ' as Lane always called them, came pouring in at the
lower end of the room, and, as was their habit, when Lane pointed his
long, bony finger and said ' Great God ! ' in his peculiar way, they cheered
heartily. Seeing that his backers were with him, he became more
bold and defiant. I was without writing material, but with pencil, old
envelopes, backs of letters, and on finger-nails, wrote down the sub-
stance of Lane's wildest utterances. * * *

" It was apparent by the vociferous cheering, long before he con-
cluded, that then and there was not the time or place to vote on the
question, so an adjournment was had until evening, in front of the
Morrow House.

' ' During the afternoon the whole town was advised of the character
of the evening meeting, and the attendance was very large. Judge
Smith called the meeting to order. General Lane desired a further
hearing, and was given the temporary stand. He came prepared for
the occasion, and his backers were with him. They cheered him to the
echo. Mr. Collamore and myself moved among the crowd, and both
despaired of the result.

" Some other person followed Lane. I think it was Judge Schuy-
ler, who, in a mild and pacificatory speech, deprecated such a condition
of the country, and expressed his opinion that the occasion did not de-
mand such extreme measures as were proposed.

" As the second speaker retired, Joel K. Goodin mounted the ros-
trum. Mr. Collamore and myself expressed surprise to see him take
the stand. He commenced by saying he had received an order from
his superior officer to report at Lawrence, armed and equipped for effi-
cient military duty, and to bring provisions and camp-equipage for three

372 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

days' service ; that, ' In obedience to that order, I am here to-night with
my command, having made the journey all the way from Centropolis
especially to obey it. (Cheers.) I feel that the occasion is one which
demands great sacrifices. (Cheers.) We have worked all summer in
a quiet way to regain the rights wrested from us by the invasion of the
3<Dth of March, '55, and in spite of fraud and artifice we have triumphed!
We have seen this Territory torn and disturbed by hostile parties ; men
murdered in cold blood ; our homes burned, and our families scattered ;
and we, at times, compelled to seek personal safety in flight. Governor
Geary came here and restored order ; and Governor Walker has bent
all his energies in the same direction. Under his wise administration,
we saw in imagination a brilliant future before us. But here is that
Lecompton Constitutional Convention threatening us with new danger,
when we supposed our dangers were all passed. General Lane tells us
that further peaceful measures are out of the question ; that our only
remedy for this new trouble is by shedding blood. I fully agree with
him! (Boisterous cheers.) Nothing but blood will quiet this agitation,
and restore tranquillity to Kansas. Nothing but blood will make Kan-
sas a free State. (Cheers.) I came here expressly to spill blood, and
I propose to do it before I return home. (Protracted cheering.) It is
not just that the whole country shall be convulsed; that disorder and
violence shall be continued ; that the perpetuity of the Government shall
be endangered by a revolution, when a little waste of worthless blood
will restore order and tranquillity again! (Cheers on cheers.) But I
may differ with some of you as to the proper place to begin this blood-
spilling business. (Hear! hear!) No person has occasioned more
strife, or been the more fruitful cause of our disturbances than — James
H. Lane! He demands blood! We all want it; but it is his blood
that is demanded at this time ; and if he presses on his assassination
project, I propose he shall be the first person to contribute in that
direction.' (The wildest cheering possible, greatly prolonged, fol-
lowed.)

" General Lane seemed perfectly confounded. The whole throng
were taken by surprise, and the business portion of it were delighted
beyond expression that some person had the ability and sufficient force
of character to meet a bold, bad man, and throttle his murderous plans
at their inception."

As to the truthfulness of this report, Dr. Brown has kindly
permitted the use of the following letters of endorsement.
It is unnecessary to say to such as know the gentlemen
writing these letters that no persons stand higher for integ-
rity and veracity than they :

LETTERS OF DUNCAN AND GOODIN. 373

" LAWRENCE, KANSAS, May 8, 1881.

" DOCTOR BROWN : With regard to your ' Reminiscences of General
Walker,' I am glad to say, after a careful perusal of the work, it em-
bodies the exact facts in every essential particular as they came under
my personal observation. In reading I could not but feel grateful that
one of the 'old guard' remained who could so truthfully and minutely
record every important event occurring during the period of which
you write. I assure you, friend Brown, that your work is highly prized,
and shall be carefully preserved.

" Yours respectfully,

" C. S. DUNCAN."

" OTTAWA, KANSAS, November 30, 1881.

" MY OLD FRIEND : I received yesterday the galley proof of your
' Blood and Thunder ' article, Chapter 16, in your ' Reminiscences of
Governor Walker,' and have carefully read it. It freshly brought to
mind many past scenes and incidents. My little ' blood speech ' is cor-
rectly reported as near as I can remember it — at least you have given its
import. We were being called from our homes every few days to satisfy
the ambition and caprice of the uneasy and tireless Lane, and were be-
coming not only disgusted but mad, and proposed to have it ' dried up.'
A most fearful and wanton system of ravaging and assassination was
being planned by Lane, which the Free-State party were intended to
be held responsible for, not only to our own Government, but to the
world. For one, I was unwilling to take any such responsibility.
Those I had with me felt the same way, and urged that I give public
expression to their views. This I did fearlessly and plainly, and was
most happy then, as I am now, that I contributed something towards
turning the tide of proposed outlawry and bloodshed into channels of
peace.

" In the early days we always had a bad element at Lawrence. I
refer to the young, undisciplined bloods, who were without reputable
means of support, always ready and anxious to take part in any hellish
scheme set on foot to stir up strife. This element was largely con-
trolled by, or rather was ready to effervesce at, the dictum of Lane.
Their time was nothing, while we in the country had to undergo many
severe privations in running after Lane's orders, messages, and com-
mands as self-imposed military dictator. No wonder we tired and felt
in a degree revengeful. For years I could not agree with him, and was
constantly in his way in the ' Executive Committee,' thwarting his ridic-
ulously impracticable, reckless, extravagant, and sometimes atrocious
plans and suggestions. Usually I had Judge Smith, yourself, and
Holliday, when present, with me, which gave us the majority. He
would curse and fume, but we were firm and inflexible, so he would

374 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

soon drop his crazy project, to immediately concoct another equally ob-
jectionable. I feel that we did our duty well, and am content to abide
the decision of the future historian who shall review our actions.

' ' Truly yours,

"J. K. GOODIN."

On motion of Dr. Brown the meeting voted to hold a
mass convention at Lecompton when the Constitutional Con-
vention should meet, and fire off some resolutions and
speeches instead of Sharp's rifles. General Lane was pres-
ent at that convention and relieved himself by making a
characteristic speech, and the war cloud passed off.

When the convention completed its labors, it submitted a
slavery provision only to be voted upon, and this was am-
biguous. The votes were to be " for the constitution with
slavery" or "for the constitution with no slavery." The
constitution with no slavery made that institution perpetual
as to slaves then in the Territory and their offspring.

The constitution declared that slaves were property and
that

" The right of property in slaves now in the Territory shall
in no manner be interfered with.

" No alteration shall be made to affect the right of prop-
erty in the ownership of slaves."

This election was ignored by the Free-State men. It was
held on the 2ist of December, and 6266 votes were cast for
the constitution with slavery, and 569 votes for the constitu-
tion with no slavery. A large part of these votes, as esti-
mated, were fraudulent.

The Free-State men petitioned Governor Stanton — Gov-
ernor Walker having gone to Washington never to return —
to convene the Legislature, now Free-State, that provision
might be made for submitting the constitution as a whole to
a vote of the people. Accordingly, the Legislature was
convened on the 7th day of December, and the constitution
was submitted as desired. At this election the vote for the
constitution with slavery was 1 38 ; for the constitution with

FREE-STATE CONVENTION. 375

no slavery, 23 ; while against the constitution the vote was
10,226.

This was a severe blow and should have been fatal in any
" well-regulated community," but political parties sometimes
become desperate and slavery propagandists were always so.
It was feared the Administration had votes enough in Con-
gress to admit the fraud even against this overwhelming vote
of the people, and the President recommended that it should
be done, hence one more " job " remained for the Free-State
men, namely, to elect the State officers and Legislature
under this constitution, that it might be speedily changed if
admitted. Upon this question they were divided. A con-
vention was held at Lawrence, lasting two days, to consider
the matter. Those in favor of voting regarded the question
as most vital and were intensely interested, while some who
were opposed to voting pleaded inconsistency and a backing
down from the high position previously occupied ; and
another class preferred anarchy to law, confusion to peace ;
and these two classes when united out-voted the conserva-
tives by getting their friends recognized as delegates in differ-
ent parts of the Territory not fully represented, and by vot-
ing by districts. A majority of the members present were
in favor of voting, but when the vote was taken by districts
the proposition failed. As this was the rule of the conven-
tion the conservatives were beaten. Lane was not in the
convention, but was a party to a characteristic trick thus
described in G. W. Brown's " Reminiscences of Governor
Walker: "

" And this result was reached by an artful ruse of General Lane and
his backers, which is worthy of note in this connection : Just as the
vote was being taken, General E. B. Whitman appeared on the scene
and asked to be heard. He represented that he had left the camp of
General Lane, near Sugar Mound, in south-eastern Kansas, on Tues-
day night at nine o'clock; that he had ridden continually, changing
horses four times, having been twenty hours in the saddle ; that he had
travelled one hundred miles, stopping to eat only one meal on the whole
route, to bring the convention the intelligence. He said General Lane

376 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

had about two hundred men under his command ; that he held a strong
position ; was well supplied with provisions, and was expecting an attack
the next day from a company of one hundred United States troops and
a large force of Missourians. He further stated that General Lane had
issued a proclamation stating that war had been made upon the peaceful,
unoffending inhabitants, and that he had consented to take command of
the people, at their urgent solicitation, to resist aggression ; that all
persons taken in arms from Missouri who were arrayed against the
people of Kansas would be put to death ; that he is only acting on the
defensive, and when the attempt at subjugation shall be abandoned, his
command will return to their ordinary avocations.

" General Whitman went on to say that persons were marching for-
ward from all parts of the Territory to the scene of excitement, to stand
or fall with General Lane and his brave command. He represented the
danger as imminent, and the probability is that the contest will become
general. After this statement he proceeded to harangue the convention,
charging them with wasting their time over a question of no importance
whatever, while the real battle was being fought between freedom and
slavery in southern Kansas. ' This is no time for hair-splitting ques-
tions,' he said, ' but it is the moment for brave and vigorous action.'

" Whitman's wild manner and excitement was extended to the
audience. Hinton, falsely representing Breckenridge County, being a
resident of Lawrence, sprang upon a seat and called for three cheers for
General Lane. The vote was taken immediately following this episode,
with the results stated.

" After packing the convention on Wednesday, it was very apparent
the result reached would be attained. On that evening about thirty
members of the convention held a meeting at the Herald of Freedom
office, where the situation was discussed, and the fact was shown that
the convention was controlled by a secret organization, at the head of
which was General Lane, Whitman being understood as second in rank.
This fact was demonstrated a day or two after Whitman's crazy speech,
by the redoubtable General, who was ' on the eve of fighting the United
States troops, ' appearing on the streets of Lawrence congratulating his
friends on the result of the convention."

But the feeling was so intense on the part of the conserva-
tives that a mass meeting was immediately held in the base-
ment of *he Herald of Freedom office and a ticket nominated,
headed by G. W. Smith for Governor.

The men most active and efficient in this bolt were G. W.
Brown, Thomas Ewing, Jr., and S. N. Wood. To these

LECOMPTON STATE ELECTION. 377

men is due a large share of the credit for the vigorous cam-
paign that followed. Ewing furnished the sinews of war,
probably not less than one thousand dollars.

When Lane appeared in Lawrence after his ruse, he was
very smiling and complaisant, thinking he had obtained a
great victory ; but he soon found that the bolters' ticket was
being endorsed by all the influential citizens and that it
would be elected, even with his opposition, and he joined
the procession. As he had no use for a minority party,
whenever he found his malcontents and " Danites " were to
be beaten he would join the conservatives. Being destitute
of principles or convictions of any kind, and of moral or
physical courage, and being consumed by an inordinate am-
bition, he was an unsatisfactory and untrustworthy leader of
his faction.

The election came off on the 4th of January, 1858, and
the Free-State ticket was successful. It was true General
Calhoun, the president of the convention, with the president
of the council and speaker of the house, was to count the
votes, and he withheld certificates and hid the returns under
a wood pile in a candle box at Lecompton ; but Colonel
Walker found the box, the Legislature passed a stringent law
against frauds in elections, and Calhoun left Kansas. Now
there was but slight motive on the part of the Democrats to
admit Lecompton, and the famous English Bill was passed
permitting another vote on the fraud.

This vote was taken August 2, 1858, with 1788 for and
11,300 against Lecompton in its new garb. This ended the
struggle so far as a Slave-State constitution was concerned.
Governor Stanton is entitled to great credit for his course
throughout in the matter, and especially for convening the
Legislature for the purpose of submitting Lecompton to a fair
vote of the people. By this act he lost his official head, but he
gained the lasting gratitude of the people, and a most enviable
place in history as a patriot who held country higher than
party, and personal honor higher than political preferment.

378 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

General J. W. Denver, Commissioner of Indian Affairs,
was on a visit to the Indian tribes in Kansas when the action
of Stanton in convening the Legislature was reported to
Washington, and he was immediately appointed Secretary
and acting Governor in Stanton's place. The first informa-
tion of this action that reached Kansas was in the St. Louis
Democrat. As Robinson was on his way to Lecompton, he
called upon Governor Stanton at the old " Clark cabin "
with this paper, and there found General Denver as his
guest. It was evident that Stanton had been removed be-
cause of his action towards Lecompton, and Robinson de-
clared that if Stanton's work was to be undone and the peo-
ple subjected to further outrage, all conservative counsels
would end at once. General Denver, who had remained
silent for some time, at length said the matter was new to
him and entirely unexpected, but of one thing all might rest
assured : if he should act in place of Stanton, he should fin-
ish the work already begun and should do everything in his
power to preserve the peace of the Territory under the con-
trol of the majority of the citizens. On this assurance Rob-
inson pledged earnest support, and never had occasion to
withdraw or regret his pledge.

The Territorial Legislature met January 4, 1858, in regu-
lar session, and enacted a large volume of new statutes.
Among others a law of the called session was perfected, at
the instance of Lane, creating a " Military Board," consist-
ing of several generals, with Lane general-in-chief. As this
was an attempt to override the authority of the Governor
as commander-in-chief of the militia, it was most impolitic,
as it was not only in violation of the Organic Act and
would necessarily arouse antagonism where there should be
co-operation and harmony, but, worst of all, it gave the
semblance of authority to the leader of the lawless bands
that infested the Territory, whose only business was plunder
and pillage, and whose only aspirations were for disorder
and revolution. Not long after the Military Board was or-

GENERAL MASSACRE PLANNED. 379

ganized Lane became thirsty for blood and proposed a gen-
eral massacre of pro-slavery men.

Robinson was in Lawrence at this time, and he was in-
vited to join a secret order, which invitation was accepted.
After the initiation ceremonies Lane arose with great dignity
and said he had ordered General to strike at Leaven-
worth, General to strike at Atchison, General to

strike at Kickapoo, and other places were to be struck by
other generals, closing his solemn announcement by saying,
" It now remains for Lawrence to say what shall be done
with Lecompton." After this revelation silence reigned for
the space of several minutes, when from different parts of
the room Robinson was called for. He responded to the
call, and said he had heard a very remarkable statement and
he would like to know by whose authority this general mas-
sacre was to be made. Lane replied, " By the authority of
the Military Board." Robinson said that neither the Mili-
tary nor any other board had any such authority, and he
gave notice that whoever attempted to execute any such
orders would have him to fight.

One of these remarkable orders has been preserved, which
reads as follows :

" DONIPHAN, KANSAS TERRITORY.
" Brigadier-General J. G. Losee:

"GENERAL: The bearers of this, Colonel Leinhart and his friend
Dickinson, have some idea of colonizing Kickapoo. If you could fur-
nish them forty or fifty hardy pioneers who could bear the exposure of
such a settlement, I am clear that it would be attended with good results
to Kansas and the cause of freedom. Leinhart and Dickinson are the
men to put through without flinching anything they may undertake. I
trust you will give this matter your earnest and immediate attention, as
Kickapoo should be colonized at an early day.

"Yours truly, ' J. H. LANE."

It is unnecessary to say that as soon as Lane's insane
projects came to the surface they were squelched by the
people, but how much private assassination and infamy was
practised the Judgment Day alone can reveal.

380 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

That both Lane and Brown, were monomaniacs there is
but little question — one, like all timid men with arbitrary
power, cruel and bloodthirsty ; and the other believed he
was commissioned by God to free the slave and exterminate
the slave-holders. But the friends of these men will not
permit the plea of insanity, and hence the other alternative
must be accepted — if not monomaniacs, they were demo-
niacs.

Whether the secret order in which. Robinson was initiated
was the " Danite " order, so called, or some o'ther, he does
not know, as he was never notified of another meeting ; but
that it could, be used to aid unprincipled men in a career of
crime was self-evident. The only revelation of the " Dan-
ites " that was published by one of its own members was by
James Redpath, in his paper called the Crusader of Freedom.
He called its name " Danite," and as it engaged in the same
work proposed by Lane in the order at Lawrence, it was
probably the same association. That its character and the
character of its leader may be understood, Redpath is quoted
as follows:

" We are ready to swear in any court of justice, or to make solemn
affidavit of the fact, that General Lane intimated to us that if Governor
Denver challenged him, he would have him put out of the way by the
' secret order known as the Danites.'

"We thought he could not be in earnest, but circumstances subse-
quently ascertained convinced us of our error. It was the corroboration
of this intention that determined us, at whatever cost, to throw the
human viper off. It will cost us everything we possess in Kansas —
press, landed property, and business prospects ; but we prefer to be
free and poor, rather than remain in the power of an assassin.

" As, a few weeks before, he had tried to make me the agent for as-
sassinating Robert S. Kelly ; as he was pursuing Mr. Shepherd, with
whom he quarrelled when he could not make him a tool — with a malig-
nity it would be euphony to characterize as infernal. I peremptorily
refused.

" Lane organized a club of Danites in Doniphan County. I became
a member of it. Although he could have attended it, and was expected
to attend it, he attempted, on the second night of its meeting, to make
me the agent to induce the club to kill Bob Kelly. * * * I never

DANITES NEW CONSTITUTION. 381

hated Lane till he asked me to do this deed. I did indeed despise him
from the bottom of my soul, but did not believe him capable of a scheme
as diabolical as to involve a young man, without any cause, in a criminal
act of private revenge. It was so cowardly, contemptible, and hellish
that I left him without saying a word.

" I am not the only young man whom he has tried to use for his
cowardly schemes of secret and criminal revenge, and he may find, too,
that he has reckoned without his host in more cases than in mine.

" But beware, Lane, beware! for I have not told all that I know."

From the time of the election of State officers and Legis-
lature under the Lecompton Constitution, on the 4th of Janu-
ary, till the submission under the English Bill in August,
1858, there was a state of suspense and uncertainty. No
one could predict the fate of Lecompton in Congress, and
much discussion was had by the Free-State men. Some
advocated another constitutional convention to be called by
the Legislature that it might have the same authority in this
respect as Lecompton. This method was at length adopted,
all parties acquiescing. A bill was passed by the Legisla-
ture just before adjournment, and sent to the Governor, but
as he thought Kansas had constitutions enough already, and
as it did not reach him till within three days of the expira-
tion of the session, he pocketed it. Here was a dilemma.
If he would veto the bill and return it, there would be no
difficulty in passing it over his veto ; but how could it be
reached under the circumstances ?

Governor Denver, at the Old Settlers' meeting in Bis-
marck Grove, September, 1884, had this to say of this con-
stitution :

' ' Well, I concluded that I would not approve that bill for calling a
convention to frame a new constitution. Several committees were ap-
pointed by the Legislature to call upon me, begging me, if I would not
approve it, to return it to them that they might act upon it. I told
them no, that I had made up my mind, and that I was not to be moved ;
that I thought we had constitutions enough, and that I had an absolute
veto in that case, and I proposed to exercise it, which I did.

" The next night, after twelve o'clock, a bill was brought to me pur-
porting to be a bill calling a convention for a new constitution, and en-

382 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

dorsed on it that it had been returned by the Governor and passed by a
two-thirds vote, notwithstanding these objections. That was signed by
the four officers — the presiding officer of each house, the Secretary of
the Council, and the Clerk of the Assembly. I immediately sent for
them, and told them that while that act of theirs, if I was disposed to
act upon it, gave me power to do something much to their disadvantage,
I did not desire to do it, because I did not want any trouble or disturb-
ance in the Territory ; that that act was all wrong on their part ; that
they certified to that which was not true ; that that paper had never been
before the Governor ; that the bill sent to him never had been out of
his possession, and he had not returned it to the Legislature with his
objections, and consequently the whole statement was false.

" Mr. Currier had the bill in his hands. He asked me what I
wanted them to do. I told them I wished them to do one of two
things : to give me a certificate of the fact that that had never been acted
upon by the Legislature at all, or else to destroy it there, in my pres-
ence. They said that that would be pretty rough. Currier said that
he would not put his name to any such paper as that, and said he :
' What shall we do with it? ' Deitzler said: ' Destroy it.' He said:
' All right,' and tore it up and stuck it in the stove. That was the last
of that bill.

" Now, a resolution was passed after the term had closed, after
twelve o'clock at night, and the legal term of the Legislature had abso-
lutely closed — a resolution was passed, declaring that that bill had been
properly passed by the Legislature, and they resolved that they would
go on and hold the convention. Notwithstanding all that had occurred,
and the failure of the bill to become a law, they decided to hold the con-
vention."

This failure to give legality to the convention left it on a
par with the Topeka Constitution, and it failed to receive the
endorsement or support of many Free-State men. However,
such men as Conway, Phillips, Ritchey, Lane, and others,
who wanted some person at the head of the State Govern-
ment who could be used to set the Government in motion
against the territorial authority, besides many conservative
men, attended the election for members of the convention
and the convention itself. The members first met at Min-
neola, the new capital of the Territory, but after organizing
adjourned to Leavenworth; hence this constitution bears
the name of that town. The location of the capital at Min-

LEAVENWORTH CONSTITUTION. 383

neola, on an open prairie, with plenty of shares of stock in
and around the Legislature, shows that the Free-State men
were human, as much so in some respects as the border
ruffians. Of course Governor Denver paid no attention to
the new seat of government, and the archives remained at
Lecompton. Attorney-General Black gave his opinion that
the bill calling the Leavenworth constitutional convention
did not become a law, and so indifferent did the people be-
come to this instrument that it received only about 3000
votes in a voting population of about 14,000 or 15,000 in
the Territory.

Notwithstanding the want of faith in the constitution, all
parties rallied to the nominating convention for state officers,
April 28-29, to see tnat proper men should be selected.
The ticket, headed by H. J. Adams for Governor, was satis-
factory to the conservatives, as it had upon it the names of
some of the safest men in the Territory.

Lane and the extreme radicals were disappointed, as they
failed to get what they had labored for. Some of these men
favored setting the Government in operation even against
the territorial Government, whether Lecompton should be
admitted or not, but they could not control the convention
nor get such men nominated for State officers. Even Lane,
who went to the convention declaring he would have a nom-
ination for United States senator, utterly failed to get an en-
dorsement for that position.

As in 1856 there were men desirous of coming in conflict
with Federal authority without rhyme or reason, so now, in
1857-58, the most ultra and wild schemes were advanced.
The Free-State men, thanks to the men of political sagacity
like Thomas Ewing, G. W. Smith, W. Y. Roberts, G. W.
Brown, S. N. Wood, and those who secured the election of
State officers and Legislature under the Lecompton constitu-
tion, now had possession of every Government in the Terri-
tory— the Territorial Legislature, the Topeka State Govern-
ment, the Lecompton State Government, and would have

384 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

the Leavenworth State government — and yet some of the
"ultra-radical" men were almost dying for some scheme
that would result in a conflict. They were very bellicose
because when the Territorial and State Legislatures met in
January, both at Lawrence, the State Governor and Legis-
lature did not at once proceed to make war upon the Terri-
torial Legislature, although both were equally Free-State,
and one had not a dollar in money and could not get a dol-
lar except by taxing an impoverished people, while all the
expenses of the other would be paid by the Federal Govern-
ment. The Free-State men of both governments reviewed
the situation in a most amicable manner, and decided upon
the course adopted without bitterness or friction of any
kind ; yet some men had grown very wise, in their own esti-
mation, and belabored the stupid and cowardly office-holders
with a political cat-and-nine-tails. Most officious in this
work was Mr. E. B. Whitman, formerly of Massachusetts.
He never seemed pleased that the ruse which he played in
the convention in December, when he made a sensational
speech about Lane's great exploits in the southern part of
the Territory, should come to naught. The election of the
State officers and Legislature, after such an effort to defeat
it, was more than a common Christian could bear, especially
a Unitarian Christian. Hence he and Conway wrote most
remarkable letters to George L. Stearns, of Massachusetts,
for money to enable them to procure the election of the
right kind of men for the State officers under the Leaven-
worth constitution. As Mr. Whitman's letter gives the
" ultra-radical " view, and as it, with Conway's, was pub-
lished in circular form and distributed broadcast in the East,
it is here given :

"LAWRENCE, April 13, 1858.
' ' George L. Stearns, Esq.

" MY DEAR SIR: Yours of March i8th and 3Oth are both before
me. Politically, I can answer both in the same terms. A brief review
of the course which events have taken here for the last six months will
enable you to understand our position and appreciate our necessities.

WHITMAN TO STEARNS. 385

While Kansas is blessed with many of the truest men of the age, men
who are fully up to the emergency, she is also cursed with some of the
most unprincipled demagogues that ever afflicted any country. Prin-
ciples are of use to them only to subserve personal or party ends ; and
what makes the matter worse is, that some of them are among those
who have heretofore been looked up to as leaders.

" In January last a large number of the people were induced, by the
grossest deception, to go into an election for State officers under the
Lecompton Constitution. The distinct declaration was made that the
aim, in this move, was to fill the offices to the exclusion of others, slavery
men, and then to refrain from touching the unclean thing, and allow the
people to set up their own government, either the Topeka or some
other, to be inaugurated by the Legislature about to assemble. No
sooner were they elected than some of the more bold and incautious
began to avow their intention to put the Government in operation, and
make it the parent of the future government. In January the two
Legislatures met — the Territorial Legislature of Free-State men, and the
Topeka State Government Legislature. It very soon became evident
to the most casual observer that there was very little unity of purpose,
and in fact a real antagonism of principle. Long before the Territorial
Legislature adjourned, it was pretty well understood that designing men
were making tools and fools of the Topeka Legislature, to subserve un-
worthy ends ; to keep the people quiet while they matured their plans
for its overthrow. Nothing, however, was said openly, but everybody
was suspicious of his neighbor. The bill for a new Constitutional Con-
vention was evidently postponed with a design to defeat it, and yet it
was held up as the compromise ground on which both extremes were to
meet. On Saturday the Territorial Legislature adjourned, and in the
afternoon a mass meeting was held to consider of the public welfare.
The Topeka Legislature had not adjourned, but was anxiously inquiring
what to do. In order, if possible, to draw out an open declaration of
secretly cherished purposes, and to compel men to show their real
colors, I introduced a resolution to the effect ' that in case the Le-
compton Constitution should be adopted by Congress, and a government
inaugurated under it, before the Constitutional Convention just created
should have time to complete its work, then it would be the duty of
every Free-State man to fall back upon the so-called Topeka Govern-
ment, and rally under it to the last.' This called forth one of the
warmest and the ablest debates that has ever taken place in Kansas,
which was continued until one o'clock Sunday morning. It compelled
a full declaration of opinion and of purpose. Governor Robinson de-
clared ' that the Topeka Government was dead, and had been since last
June.' Other prominent men declared — some, that the Free-State offi-
cers and Legislature under the Lecompton Constitution, if recognized,
25

386 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

would assemble, organize, and take the oath of allegiance, choose tv)o
United States senators, provide for a new Constitutional Convention,
and then adjourn. Others, that ' they would organize, and call the
Convention, but not choose senators ;' and still others that 'they should
hold together, and pass such laws as the occasion required, be they more
or less. How the vote upon the resolution would have stood, I know
not ; but having accomplished my purpose of drawing out an open
declaration of purpose, I withdrew the resolution, and the meeting ad-
journed. On Monday the Topeka Government formally broke up,
killed by its professed friends, deserted by those who had created it.
But the members -went home, and the people went to work in their own
way, with a full knowledge of the issue, as made up, to choose delegates
to the Constitutional Convention. This Convention met, and when I
say they elected M. F. Con way president, it indicates their complexion.
The instrument you have, ere this, seen; and it will speak for itself. In
the test votes on citizenship, etc., the Lecompton faction showed stead-
ily nineteen votes only, out of a convention of eighty, and many of
those had succeeded by political manceuvering in obtaining seats.

"In the course of the debates, which took somewhat of a wide
range, a severe blow was given to the purpose of those who- had proposed
to make any use whatever of the Lecompton Constitution, if accepted.
The Lecompton Free-State men, mortified and discomfited, have re-
turned home, determined, if possible, to secure the offices also under
this Constitution, and then let this one die. The doctrine of the people
is for the Free-State officers under the Lecompton Constitution to take
no oath, to refrain from all action under it, but letting it quietly fall and
die, to give place to the people's government just now formed. It held
that under such circumstances the Federal Government could have no
show of right to interfere, and all would end well. If the Lecompton
Constitution is adopted, and pro-slavery men receive their certificates,

or enough of them to secure their ends, the boys . If

the Free-State men get their certificates, or if the Constitution is re-
jected, then everything will depend upon the character of the men elected
under the new Constitution. If the right men are put in power under
it, then they -will make it the living Government of the State, and no
power on earth can withstand it. They made it to stand by it, and
for no boys' game. But the Lecomptonists, or, in other words, the
Hunker Conservative Democratic Free-State men, if they can possess its
offices, will quietly let it die. They are strict legitimists, and have all
at once a holy horror of anything not having the forms of law, though
it be ever so bogus — and a moral dread of the Federal displeasure.
They are seeking, if possible, to save a corrupt Administration from
the just retribution for its sins.

" You will easily understand, from this brief expose", how important

"ULTRA-RADICAL" POSITION. 387

•we ultra-radical men deem it to have true men to fill the offices. The
people are right, but the leaders, or the would-bes, are wrong ; but you
know how muck tact, money, and "wire-pulling can do to outwit and defeat
the will of the people.

" The Administration, with Denver as its agent, will spare no efforts
to defeat this movement, and to clear the track of this people's measure,
as they did of the former one. They have means at command, and will
lose no time in working their cards. Our people are generally poor,
except in principles, and are illy prepared to go into the canvass. If
we had only the money which I solicited at Worcester, for a purpose
for which it never was used, to aid now in the election, it might change
the result entirely.

" If anything can be done for us in that way, no time is to be lost.
The State Convention meets on the 28th to nominate State officers, and
on the third Tuesday of May they are to be voted for. If wrong men
should secure the nomination, the field should be contested at the polls,
by "volunteer candidates, and they would need money. As the tragedy
draws to a close, we all find our feelings more deeply enlisted. We
feel grateful for your sympathy; for force, we shall have no occasion,
I hope, and if so, a small domestic one will do the work effectually.
But if you can furnish some funds, it will be a God-send to us in the
present crisis. Send none to those but whom you know to be politically
sound. If anything is done, telegraph to Simmons & Leadbeater, or
to S. C. Davis & Co., to draw upon Boston for it, and forward by
express without delay.

" If the people's government is put in operation, and the Federal
power attempts to interfere, there will be a desperate struggle. We
shall do our best to maintain our honor and the right. The free States
must call their Legislatures at once together, remonstrate with the gen-
eral Government, raise money, raise troops, and by a loud demonstration
cause the President to pause in his career. But will they do that? I
fear not. I do, however, believe that many a Spartan ' three hundred '
can be found here to fill the pass, and who would infinitely prefer to
fall, with arms in hand, to a shameful and ignominious existence, after
having betrayed the interests of humanity so basely here in Kansas.
Pardon the haste and imperfections of this ; you can doubtless decipher
it ; the midnight hour must be the excuse.

" Very truly your friend, E. B. WHITMAN."

The effect of such a letter may be seen by the following,
sent to Robinson from one of the most devoted friends of
Kansas. Although marked private, as it refers only to mat-
ters of public interest it may not be improper to insert it :

388 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

" BOSTON, May 6, '58.

" DEAR SIR : The inclosed paper (Whitman and Conway's circular)
was handed me by Mr. Stearns yesterday, and has enlightened me as
to the use of the fund which has been raised here. This fund was to
be placed in the liands of Mr. Conway and Mr. Whitman to defeat the
adoption of the Lecompton Constitution under the English Bill. * * *
On reading the Kansas newspapers and this circular, I see how matters
are going, and have written a note to Dr. Howe requesting that my
small portion of the money shall not be used for advancing the interest
of the Lane, Phillips, and Conway party.

" The world is made up of all sorts of men, but Kansas seems to
have more than its share of the weaker brethren and rogues.

" Yours truly,

"AMOS A. LAWRENCE."

The nominating convention was held before the fate of
Lecompton in Congress had been decided, and it resolved
that, should Lecompton be admitted without a provision for
voting upon its adoption by the people, the Leavenworth
Government should become the de facto Government of Kan-
sas. But this resolution was chiefly to operate upon Con-
gress. Had Lecompton been admitted, as the Government
under it was Free- State there would have been no more
friction than between the Topeka State Government and the
Territorial Legislature, unless the Leavenworth Government
should be officered by the " ultra -radicals," like Lane, Whit-
man, and company.

The State officers under the Lecompton Constitution were
G. W. Smith, Governor ; W. Y. Roberts, Lieutenant Gov-
ernor; P. C. Schuyler, Secretary of State; A. J. Mead,
Treasurer ; Joel K. Goodin, Auditor.

The State officers under Leavenworth were: Governor,
Henry J. Adams; Lieutenant Governor, Cyrus K. Holli-
day ; Secretary of State, E. P. Bancroft ; Treasurer, J. B.
Wheeler; Auditor, George S. Hillyer.

These officers were all conservative and reasonable men,
not one of whom could be induced by Lane or any one else
to jeopardize the peace of the Territory over a technicality,

CONSERVATIVE POLICY TRIUMPHANT. 389

abstraction, or mere matter of form. It is safe to say that,
with such men representing the respective organizations,
there would have been no occasion for Whitman's contem-
plated war, whatever action Congress might take. As has
been stated, the English Bill was overwhelmingly voted down
when submitted, and the political war came to an end with
victory on the side of the conservative Free-State men.
What the result would have been had the policy of the
"ultra-radicals" prevailed is mere conjecture, as in no case
was it adopted, but it certainly was most hazardous. Here
was a great national party in full control of the Federal and
territorial Governments, and the policy adopted from the Or-
ganic Act down was the policy of this party, backed by the
entire slave interest of the country, which had controlled the
Government for many years. For a handful of men to act
offensively against this power would have been as suicidal
as the assault upon Harper's Ferry proved. But to have
acquiesced in the result of the invasion of the 3oth of March,
1855, would have yielded the question at issue, as, had the
laws been recognized and acquiesced in till the next general
election, in 1857, slavery would have been as firmly estab-
lished as in South Carolina, and the power of the usurpation
through "returning boards" or otherwise would have been
perpetual. There remained but one way of escape, and that
was the method adopted by the Free-State party, namely,
to act strictly on the defensive as to the Federal authority,
but to thwart and baffle the usurpation till the Federal au-
thority itself should be compelled by the popular outcry to
yield a fair election to the bonafide settlers. This was the
course recommended and adopted by the conservative Free-
State men, although opposed at every step by Lane, Brown,
and other " ultra-radicals."

Had the policy of Whitman's letter to Stearns been
adopted, and had it resulted, as he contemplated, in a war,
the free States could not have been relied upon in such an
issue. Instead of defending constitutional rights, such as the

390 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

possession of arms or meeting for consultation, as on the 4th
of July at Topeka, the issue would have been forcible resist-
ance to Federal officers in maintaining the authority of the
Federal Government, which all parties would recognize as
legitimate, Republican and Democratic alike — Sumner and
Seward equally with Davis and Pierce or Buchanan.

In such a war Thayer, Lawrence, Stearns, Howe, and all
Massachusetts would have enlisted on the side of Pierce,
Davis, Atchison, and South Carolina, leaving the "ultra-
radicals " alone in their glory, hiding their diminished heads
behind Lane's " breastworks " on the Nebraska line, which
he so often visited during the defensive operations of the
Free-State party in 1856.

CHAPTER XVI.

DIFFICULTIES IN SOUTHERN KANSAS. MONTGOMERY AND

BROWN. MARAIS DES CYGNES MASSACRE. BROWN'S

PARALLELS. ARTS OF PEACE.

, AFTER the defeat of the English Bill the political crises
were well-nigh passed, and no danger was to be feared from
radicals or conservatives, as neither could prevent the ad-
mission of Kansas into the Union as a free State by the
adoption of any policy however reckless, the enemy having
abandoned the field. In fact, after the arrival of Geary the
struggle was between factions of Free-State men rather than
with Slave-State men. It was well known that the latter
could win only by fraud and sharp practice, rather than by
votes ; and their only hope was to take advantage of any
political mistake the Free-State men might make.

Politics subsiding, attention was called to disturbances in
southern Kansas. This part of the Territory had been more
or less disturbed since the Potawatomie massacre, but poli-
tics and State-making after the arrival of Geary had so ab-
sorbed the interest of the people that but little attention
had been given to it. George W. Clark, the former Indian
agent, who killed Barber at the time of the Wakarusa war,
had changed his residence from Douglas to Bourbon County,
where he was connected with the Land Office.

This man Clark was as extreme and reckless against
abolitionists, or Free-State men, as Brown and Montgomery?.
were against Slave-State men. Land claims were often the,
pretext for the disturbances, but undoubtedly the slavery
question had much influence with the respective parties;

392 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

while the hordes of thieves and plunderers cared for nothing
but deviltry and spoils. The policy of Brown and Mont-
gomery was not always in harmony. Montgomery professed
to desire to protect the Free-State settlers in their claims,
from which some of them had been driven, while Brown
wanted war and revolution pure and simple. As early as
the fall of 1856 Clark marched some men, said to be from
Missouri, into Kansas, and Montgomery returned the com-
pliment by visiting' Missouri for reprisals. From that time
there was no settled peace till after the Marais des Cygnes
massacre, by Captain C. A. Hamilton, on the igth of May,
1858. This massacre had but one parallel, the Potawato-
mie, on May 24, 1856, and shocked the nation with its
atrocity. Patrick Ross, B. L. Reed, William A. Stillwell,
Asa and William Hairgrove, Austin and Amos Hall, William
Colpetzer, M. Robinson, Asa Snyder, and John F. Camp-
bell, peaceable and most worthy citizens, were arrested while
about their business, marched into a ravine, drawn up in
line, and deliberately shot down like so many criminals.
Five of them were killed, five wounded, and one unharmed,
although falling with the others and feigning death. The
killed were John F. Campbell, William Colpetzer, Patrick
Ross, William A. Stillwell, and M. Robinson.

It had been reported that Hamilton had made out a list
of Free-State men intended for slaughter, and Montgomery,
says Andreas, " had determined to kill Hamilton at the first
opportunity. To this end, about the ist of May, he ap-
proached Hamilton's house, a log one, with a party of men,
for the purpose of capturing him ; but finding he could effect
nothing in the way of an attack with rifles alone, he sent a
squad of men to bring the howitzer. But before it arrived
a body of United States troops, on their way to Leaven-
worth, were called to Hamilton's relief, and Montgomery
was obliged to disperse his men. Montgomery then went
to the sheriff of Linn County, acquainted him with Hamil-
ton's designs, showed him the list of the proscribed Free-

BROWN'S PARALLELS. 393

State men, and received assurances from that official that
the men so proscribed should be protected from all harm.
The descent when made was made unexpectedly. Mont-
gomery was away in Johnson County. He returned the
evening of the day of the massacre." A company of about
two hundred men was immediately organized and went in
pursuit, but Hamilton was never disturbed. One of his
men, William Griffith, was afterwards arrested, tried, con-
victed, and hanged, Asa Hairgrove, one of the wounded
men, acting as hangman.

This massacre was made the text for "John Brown's
Parallels," dated at the Trading Post, January 3, 1859. He
had made his raid into Missouri ; one old man was killed
by one of his parties, and eleven slaves, with horses and
other personal property, carried or driven away. His paral-
lel is as follows :

" TRADING POST, KANSAS, January, 1859.

" GENTLEMEN : You will greatly oblige a humble friend by allowing
the use of your columns while I briefly state two parallels, in my poor
way.

" Not one year ago, eleven quiet citizens of this neighborhood, viz.,
William Robertson, William Colpetzer, Amos Hall, Austin Hall, John
Campbell, Asa Snyder, William A. Stillwell, William Hairgrove, Asa
Hairgrove, Patrick Ross, and B. L. Reed, were gathered up from their
work and their homes by an armed force under one Hamilton, and with-
out trial or opportunity to speak in their own defense, were formed into
line, and all but one shot — five killed and five wounded. One fell un-
harmed, pretending to be dead. All were left for dead. The only
crime charged against them was that of being Free-State men. Now,
I inquire, what action has ever, since the occurrence in May last, been
taken by either the President of the United States, the Governor of
Missouri, the Governor of Kansas, or any of their tools, or by any pro-
slavery or Administration man, to ferret out and punish the perpetrators
of this crime?

" Now for the other parallel. On Sunday, December 19, a negro
man called Jim came over to the Osage settlement from Missouri, and
stated that he, together with his wife, two children, and another negro
man, was to be sold within a day or two, and begged for help to get
away. On Monday (the following) night, two small companies were
made up to go to Missouri and forcibly liberate the five slaves, together

394 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

with other slaves. One of these companies I assumed to direct. We
proceeded to the place, surrounded the buildings, liberated the slaves,
and also took certain property supposed to belong to the estate.

' ' We, however, learned before leaving that a portion of the articles
we had taken belonged to a man living on the plantation as a tenant,
and who was supposed to have no interest in the estate. We promptly
returned to him all we had taken. We then went to another plantation,
where we found five more slaves, took some property and two white
men. We moved all slowly away into the Territory for some distance,
and then sent the white men back, telling them to follow us as soon as
they chose to do so. The other company freed one female slave, took
some property, and, as I am informed, killed one white man (the mas-
ter), who fought against the liberation.

" Now for a comparison. Eleven persons are forcibly restored to
their natural and inalienable rights, with but one man killed, and all
' hell is stirred from beneath.' It is currently reported that the Gov-
ernor of Missouri has made requisition upon the Governor of Kansas
for the delivery of all such as were concerned in the last-named ' dread-
ful outrage.' The Marshal of Kansas is said to be collecting a posse
of Missouri (not Kansas) men at West Point in Missouri, a little town
about ten miles distant, to ' enforce the laws.' All pro-slavery, con-
servative Free-State, and doughface men, and Administration tools, are
filled with holy horror.

' ' Consider the two cases, and the action of the Administration party.

" Respectfully yours,

"JOHN BROWN."

Had John Brown compared the Potawatomie and Marais
des Cygnes massacres, the parallel would have been more
perfect. In the latter, as has been stated, men were taken
without previous warning, simply because they were Free-
State men, drawn up in line and shot down like dogs. In
the first, the Potawatomie, men were also taken without
warning, because they were pro-slavery men, and cut to
pieces with cleavers or short swords.

The Hamilton massacre is thus described by Andreas :

" Returning to the main body, Hamilton ordered a forward march,
and the prisoners were led down to a canon or gulch by a by-path be-
tween rocks, single file, when the commands were given, ' Halt,' ' Front
face,' ' Close up,' to the prisoners; and his own men were formed in
line in front of them on a shelf or rock about as wide as a good wagon

HAMILTON'S MASSACRE.

395

road, and somewhat higher than the prisoners' heads. Deliberately the
orders were given by Captain Hamilton, 'Make ready,' 'Take aim,'
but before the order ' Fire ' could be uttered, one of the worst of the
border ruffians, Brockett by name, turned his horse away, whereupon

Hamilton said to him, ' Brockett, G d d n you, why don't you

wheel into line? ' Brockett said, ' I'll be d d if I will have anything

to do with such a G d d d piece of business as this. If it was

in a fight I would fire.' At this, Hamilton took out his revolver and
fired at the prisoners, giving the order to his men to fire at the same
time. Alvin Hamilton's gun, which was aimed at B. L. Reed, missed
fire the first time ; Reed not being hit, turned partly round to see his
companions fall, and, Hamilton's gun being immediately re-cocked and
fired, received the ball on one of his ribs and fell. Thus all these in-
nocent, brave men were brought down. On their part there was no
flinching or begging for quarter. Mr. Hairgrove, just before the order
to fire was given, said, ' Gentlemen, if you are going to shoot us, take
good aim.' After waiting a few minutes, Hamilton gave the order to
his men to go down and see who were dead, and to shoot those who
were not. Two of the ruffians went down among the fallen and fired
three shots at different ones who gave signs of life. Amos Hall was
shot through the mouth. One said, 'Old Reed ain't dead.' 'Which
is him? ' was asked. ' Why, there the old devil is looking at you.' But
Pat Ross got the balls and he was killed. Another ruffian said, ' See
that man humped up, he ain't dead.' The man 'humped up' was
Austin Hall, and his body was perfectly rigid. One of those finishing
the butchery kicked Mr. Hall, rolled him over, and remarked, ' He's as
dead as the devil,' and so let him alone. Mr. Hall was the only man
not hit."

Here is Hamilton's massacre. Can it be paralleled? It
would seem impossible, yet Brown's massacre of May 24,
1856, was the object lesson which Hamilton was imitating.
Some testimony concerning that massacre reads as follows :

" On Saturday night about eleven o'clock on the 24th day of May
last (1856), a party of men came to our house ; we had all retired ; they
roused us up, and told us that if we would surrender they would not hurt
us. They said they were from the army ; they were armed with pistols
and knives ; they took off my father and two of my brothers, William
and Drury. We were all alarmed. They made inquiries about Mr.
Wilkinson, and about his horses. The next morning was Sunday, the
25th of May, 1856. I went in search of my father and two brothers.
I found my father and one brother, William, lying dead in the road,

39^ THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

about two hundred yards from the house ; I saw my other brother lying
dead on the ground, about one hundred and fifty yards from the house,
in the grass, near a ravine ; his fingers were cut off ; his head was cut
open ; there was a hole in his breast. William's head was cut open,
and a hole was also in his side. My father was shot in the forehead
and stabbed in the breast. * * *

"JOHN DOYLE."

" That on Saturday, the 24th day of May, A.D. 1856, about eleven
o'clock at night, after we had all retired, my husband, James P. Doyle,
myself, and five children, four boys and one girl, * * * we heard
some persons come into the yard and rap at the door and call for
Mr. Doyle, my husband. This was about eleven o'clock on Satur-
day night of the 24th of May last. My husband got up and went
to the door. Those outside inquired for Mr. Wilkinson and where he
lived. My husband told them that he would tell them. Mr. Doyle,
my husband, opened the door, and several came into the house,
and said they were from the army. My husband was a pro-slavery
man. They told my husband that he and the boys must surrender,
they were their prisoners. These men were armed with pistols and
large knives. They first took my husband out of the house, then they
took two of my sons — the two oldest ones, William and Drury — out,
and then took my husband and these two boys, William and Drury,
away. My son John was spared, because I asked them in tears to
spare him. In a short time afterwards I heard the report of pistols. I
heard two reports, after which I heard moaning, as if a person was dy-
ing; then I heard a wild whoop. They had asked before they went
away for our horses. We told them that the horses were out on the
prairie. My husband and two boys, my sons, did not come back any
more. I went out next morning in search of them, and found my hus-
band and William, my son, lying dead in the road near together, about
two hundred yards from the house. My other son I did not see any
more until the day he was buried. I was so much overcome that I
went to the house. They were buried the next day. On the day of
the burying I saw the dead body of Drury. Fear of myself and the
remaining children induced me to leave the home where we had been
living. We had improved our claim a little. I left all and went to the
State of Missouri. ^

" MAHALA X DOYLE."

mark.

" On the 25th of May last, somewhere between the hours of mid-
night and daybreak, cannot say exactly at what hour, after all had re-
tired to bed, we were disturbed by barking of the dog. I was sick with

BROWN'S MASSACRE. 397

the measles, and woke up Mr. Wilkinson, and asked if he ' heard the
noise, and what it meant?' He said it was only some one passing
about, and soon after was again asleep. It was not long before the dog
raged and barked furiously, awakening me once more ; pretty soon I
heard footsteps as of men approaching; saw one pass by the window,
and some one knocked at the door. I asked, ' Who is that? ' No one
answered. I woke my husband, who asked, 'Who is that?' Some
one replied, ' I want you to tell me the way to Dutch Henry's.' He
commenced to tell them, and they said to him, ' Come out and show us.'
He wanted to go, but I would not let him ; he then told them it was diffi-
cult to find his clothes, and could tell them as well without going out of
doors. The men out of doors, after that, stepped back, and I thought
I could hear them whispering ; but they immediately returned, and, as
they approached, one of them asked my husband, 'Are you a Northern
armist? ' He said, 'I am.' I understood the answer to mean that my
husband was opposed to the Northern or free-soil party. I cannot say
that I understood the question. My husband was a pro-slavery man,
and was a member of the Territorial Legislature held at Shawnee Mis-
sion.

" When my husband said, ' I am,' one of them said, ' You are our
prisoner. Do you surrender?' He said, 'Gentlemen, I do.' They
said, ' Open the door.' Mr. Wilkinson told them to wait till he made
a light ; and they replied, ' If you don't open it, we will open it for you.'
He opened the door against my wishes, and four men came in, and my
husband was told to put on his clothes, and they asked him if there was
not more men about ; they searched for arms, and took a gun and pow-
der-flask, all the weapon that was about the house.

" I begged them to let Mr. Wilkinson stay with me, saying that I
was sick and helpless, and could not stay by myself. My husband also
asked them to let him stay with me until he could get some one to wait
on me ; told them that he would not run off, but would be there the
next day, or whenever called for. The old man, who seemed to be in
command, looked at me and then around at the children, and replied,
' You have neighbors.' I said, ' So I have, but they are not here, and
I cannot go for them. ' The old man replied, ' It matters not, ' and told
him to get ready. My husband wanted to put on his boots and get
ready, so as to be protected from the damp and night air, but they
wouldn't let him. They then took my husband away. One of them
came back and took two saddles ; I asked him what they were going to
do with him, and he said, ' Take him a prisoner to the camp.' I wanted
one of them to stay with me. He said he would, but ' they would not
let him. ' After they were gone, I thought I heard my husband's voice,
in complaint, but do not know ; went to the door, and all was still.
Next morning Mr. Wilkinson was found about one hundred and fifty

398 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

yards from the house, in some dead brush. A lady who saw my hus-
band's body said there was a gash in his head and in his side ; others
said that he was cut in the throat twice. * * *

" My husband was a poor man. I am now on my way to Tennessee
to see my father, William Ball, who lives in Haywood County. I am
enabled to go by the kindness of friends in this part of Missouri.

" Some of the men who took my husband away that night were
armed with pistols and knives. I do not recollect whether all I saw
were armed. They asked Mr. W. if McMinn did not live near. My
husband was a quiet man, and was not engaged in arresting or disturb-
ing anybody. He took no active part in the pro-slavery cause so as to
aggravate the abolitionists ; but he was a pro-slavery man. Mr. Mc-
Minn mentioned above is a pro-slavery man ; so also is the said Dutch

HemT- "LOUISE JANE WILKINSON."

" Old John Brown drew his revolver and shot the old man Doyle in
the forehead, and Brown's two youngest sons immediately fell upon the
younger Doyles with their two-edged swords.

" One of the young Doyles was stricken down in an instant, but the
other attempted to escape, and was pursued a short distance by his as-
sailant and cut down. The company then proceeded down Mosquito
Creek to the house of Allen Wilkinson. Here the old man Brown,
three of his sons, and son-in-law, as at the Doyle residence, went to
the door and ordered Wilkinson to come out, leaving Frederick Brown,
Winer, and myself standing in the road, east of the house. Wilkinson
was taken and marched some distance south of his house and slain in
the road, with a short sword, by one of the younger Browns. After he
was killed his body was dragged out to one side and left.

" We then crossed the Potawatomie and came to the house of Henry
Sherman, generally known as Dutch Henry. Here John Brown and
the party, excepting Frederick Brown, Winer, and myself, who were
left outside a short distance from the door, went into the house and
brought out one or two persons, talked with them some, and then took
them in again. They afterwards brought out William Sherman, Dutch
Henry's brother, marched him down into the Potawatomie Creek, where
he was slain with swords by Brown's two youngest sons, and left lying
in the creek. * * * "JAMES TOWXSLEY."

The number killed in each case was the same, five ; and
in neither case was the leader arrested or punished, while in
one case one of the perpetrators was hanged, William
Griffith ; and in the other, one was shot, Frederick Brown.
Griffith had the rope placed about his neck by Hairgrove,

MRS. DOYLE'S LETTER. 399

one of his victims ; while Frederick Brown was shot, Au-
gust, 1856, by Martin White, whose house was fired into
and whose horses were stolen by the Browns in April of the
same year. The atrocity of these massacres was such that
it was but human for Mrs. Doyle, when John Brown was to
be hanged for removing his Republic, formed in Canada, to
Harper's Ferry, without first obtaining leave from Federal
authority, to write this man as follows :

" CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE, November 20, 1859.
' ' John Brown :

" SIR: Although vengeance is not mine, I confess that I do feel
gratified to hear that you were stopped in your fiendish career at Har-
per's Ferry, with the loss of your two sons. You can now appreciate
my distress in Kansas, when you then and there entered my house at
midnight and arrested my husband and two boys, and took them out in
the yard, and in cold blood shot them dead in my hearing. You can't
say you did it to free our slaves ; we had none, and never expected to
own one ; but it only made me a poor disconsolate widow, with helpless
children. While I feel for your folly, I do hope and trust you will
meet with your just reward. Oh, how it pained my heart to hear the
dying groans of my husband and children. If this scrawl gives you any
satisfaction, you are welcome to it. „ MAHALA DoYLE.»

" N.B. — My son, John Doyle, whose life I begged of you, is now
grown up, and is very desirous to be at Charlestown on the day of your
execution ; would certainly be there if his means would permit it, that
he might adjust the rope around your neck, if Governor Wise would
permit. " M. D."

It was not easy to form a correct view of the responsibil-
ity for the outrages of the spring of 1858. Persons and
newspapers took sides, and apparently could see nothing but
good in one party and nothing but evil in the other. While
Hamilton was killing Free-State men in Linn County, May
19, 1858, the Herald of Freedom of May 22d gives the fol-
lowing account of Montgomery and his followers :

" ROBBERS.

" On the nth inst., about four o'clock P.M., a party of twenty men,
all on horseback, and well armed, commanded by Captain Montgomery,

400 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

from Sugar Mound, rode up to the store of James M. Wells, at Willow
Springs, in this county, dismounted, hitched their horses, and entered
the store. A lady, apprehensive of the character of the movement,
attempted to cut the horses loose. While doing so, one of the party
came out with a revolver, and guarded the door. The nineteen persons
in the inside proceeded to rifle the drawers of their contents, divested
themselves of their worn-out or soiled clothing, and put on such as they
could find to supply their place ; robbed Mr. Wells of his pocket-book,
and searched him for his arms ; then calicoes and all sorts of fabrics
were tied up in buffalo robes, handkerchiefs, etc. ; and packages thus
made up, with boots, shoes, and numberless other articles, to the
amount of between three and four hundred dollars, were added to the
plunder, and thus loaded they rode away.

" The same party visited Mr. McKinney that night, plundered the
house of all the money they could find, set it on fire, stole a mule and
horse, and then rode off. The fire was extinguished, hence the house
was not destroyed.

" On Sunday, the same party were seen prowling about Minneola,
and a descent was contemplated upon some pro-slavery men in that
neighborhood. The policy seems to be to rob, pillage, and drive out
every pro-slavery man in Kansas, and Montgomery and his banditti are
the instrumentalities employed for that purpose.

" They have visited Olathe, robbing a store there. From thence
they proceeded to Gardner and McCammish, committing depredations
at each of those places.

" These same men have been prowling about the Territory for
months, committing all sorts of depredations, and keeping the country
in a constant ferment. They are, to a great extent, responsible for the
troubles around Fort Scott. We have heard of them repeatedly, and
been told of their visiting private residences, compelling families to rise
at midnight and cook meals for them, and then renewing their journey
and visiting some new place, where the same excesses are repeated.
Horses, guns, revolvers, etc., are almost invariably taken wherever
found ; and in some instances drafts have been drawn upon Government
officials to pay for articles thus taken. Several stores have been pil-
laged, and the money or proceeds have gone to enrich these freebooters.

' ' In the letter of Mr. Whitman, which we publish this week, this
band of land pirates are thus undoubtedly alluded to :

' ' ' We feel grateful for your sympathy ; and for force we shall have
no occasion, I hope ; but if so, a small domestic one will do the work
effectually!'

" We have said, time and time again, that the policy of Lane, Con-
way and company was to embroil this Territory in civil strife. Here
is the proof. Here are the overt acts of a set of scoundrels who are

MONTGOMERY'S RAID.

4OI

plundering stores and dwellings in open day, and committing violence
upon the inhabitants. An individual is marked by them for destruction,
the fiat goes forth, and he disappears — where, no one can tell. His
property is confiscated, and thus one after another of our population
is wiped out.

" We are frank to confess that we have no love for these things.
They must be stopped, and immediately, else civil war must follow.
Life nor property is safe! The horrors of 1856 are being inaugurated.
A guerrilla party, in the time of profound peace — their object, plunder
— is among us. What shall be done? Should not the people meet for
advisement, and pledge themselves to each other to stop this high-
handed procedure at once, and declare all persons outlaws who are
known to be engaged with such parties? * * *

" Can't something be done to stop this robbing of men in various
parts of the Territory? If there is no other way, a company of reliable
men should be organized, whose province it should be to ferret them
out and shoot them down like dogs. These men constitute a regular
banditti, organized to rob and plunder, and they deserve any punish-
ment which an outraged public are disposed to bestow upon them.
The people of the various towns should hold meetings, and band to-
gether to put an end to this."

By comparing dates it will be seen that it was while
Montgomery was thus engaged in Johnson and Douglas
Counties the Hamilton massacre occurred.

To show the partisan spirit of the times, the following
quotations are made from the Herald of Freedom and Law-
rence Republican. The editors of these papers were among
the ablest ever in Kansas, and were doubtless sincere and
meant to be truthful, but viewed matters from different
standpoints and received their information from opposing
factions :

" But those men who desired revolution, who had been sojourning
for a whole year in Kansas, and living upon funds sent here by the
benevolent in the East to relieve the wants of the destitute — they suddenly
appeared upon the southern border, and upon the most flimsy pretext
plunged the country again in blood. The fiery eloquence of some of
the leaders of that warlike expedition has been previously detailed, when
the convention of the 22d and 23d of December, 1857, was in session !
Our readers too well remember the destruction of the ballot-box by
Montgomery at Sugar Mound, and the drawing of knives and revolvers
26

402 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

at Clinton on those who wished to vote for officers under the Lecomp-
ton Constitution to defeat its action, and all the various expedients then
resorted to to kindle a flame in southern Kansas ; how party after party
left Lawrence, taking with them our brass howitzer, and subsisting by
pillage, and returning in due time with stolen horses. These expedi-
tions were all sustained by Redpath and his associates, and the Law-
rence Republican, Leavenworth Times and Crusader of Freedom were
the organs of those forays. * * *

" But it is denied that the objects of Redpath, Lane, Thacher,
Vaughan, Conway, et omne genus, were revolutionary, and when we
make these charges against them they only resist by pronouncing them
false. We assert before Heaven, that the plan of a servile negro in-
surrection on the border of Missouri was divulged to us by a leading
Free-State man while a prisoner near Lecompton, in the summer of
1856 ; and that it was designed to be participated in by Free-State men
in Kansas, who were to furnish arms and counsel ; and that it was de-
signed to extend until the whole Union should become involved in it,
and a dissolution should follow, and American slavery be wiped out in
blood. We assert, further, that we resolved to stem this tide, though
it should cost us our life ; and when the Herald of Freedom was revived
in the fall of that year, we several times showed what our position would
be in a contest of this character. The whole movement on our southern
border has been a carrying out of the programme of the revolutionists,
and our hostility to it is but in furtherance of the position taken in '56.
The evidence is indubitable that Captain Brown came on from the East,
endorsed by prominent disunionists, to head a revolutionary movement,
and he only left the Territory, as Redpath had done before him, when
all hopes of success had failed.

" We are conscious that our positions are bold and startling to many,
and perhaps will be believed by but few ; yet we have evidence which
will be satisfactory to any one, and would establish the fact before any
intelligent jury.

"It is well established that Thacher, Vaughan, Conway, Phillips,
Hinton, Redpath, old Brown, Montgomery, Lane, etc., all co-operated
in their views, and all worked together in advocacy of the various posi-
tions which have come before the country since 1856; and all have been
opposing a peaceful solution of the Kansas problem. * * *

"It is but the work of a moment to connect the persons whose
names are given above in a common enterprise, and that to prolong our
Kansas troubles to the latest possible period. True, Lane and Redpath
fell out, still it was not because they did not agree in ' the great crusade
for freedom,' as they called it, but, as Redpath claimed, because he
could not enter, heart and soul, into Lane's plans of private assassina-
tion.

"HERALD OF FREEDOM" AND "REPUBLICAN." 403

" Redpath has just published a book entitled ' The Roving Editor,
or Talks with Slaves in the Southern States,' published by A. B. Bur-
dick, New York. The work is dedicated to ' Old John Brown.' Turn-
ing to page 300, we find the following paragraph, which we copy ver-
batim and entire :

" ' I believed that a civil war between the North and South would
ultimate in insurrection, and that the Kansas troubles would probably
create a military conflict of the sections. Hence, I left the South, and
went to Kansas ; and endeavored, personally and by my pen, to precipi-
tate a revolution. That we failed, for I was not alone in this desire, was
owing to the influence of prominent Republican statesmen, whose un-
fortunate conservative character of counsel, which it was impossible
openly to resist, effectually baffled all our hopes — hopes which Demo-
cratic action was auspiciously promoting.' " — Herald of Freedom.

"HOW STANDS THE RECORD?

' ' After an excited and heated contest, with the clearing away of the
smoke and the cessation of the din of strife, men naturally wish to know
whether they have made a drawn battle or proved triumphant. With
no feeling of exultation or overbearing triumph, we desire to review the
position which the Republican took with regard to the Southern
troubles, and know whether we were justly subjected to the railing and
offensive accusations of the Lecompton Democrat and kindred journals,
both in this place and elsewhere in the Territory.

" After Denver had visited southern Kansas, we understood from a
hundred different sources that the basis of the settlement of the troubles
there was the blotting out of the past, the opening of new books, and a
clean page to start anew with. The people there, we know, understood
the settlement that way. In the popular language of Linn and Bourbon
counties, we believed ' by-gones were to be by-gones.' We honestly
understood the settlement in this way ; and when hostilities broke out
there, we frankly stated it to be the result of the infringement of the
Denver treaty. At this statement a great howl was raised by the pro-
slavery organs, charging us with being supporters of 'jay-hawkers,'
'murderers,' 'outlaws,' and Heaven knows what all. Well, we pa-
tiently endured abuses, and, though traduced, answered not.

" A copy of the treaty was flung in our face, and we were told,
' Read that and be abashed!' Well, it was a staggering document, and
we could only reply, ' The people in Linn and Bourbon counties un-
derstood the treaty as we have given it.'

" At last, Truth, slower of foot by one-half than Error, makes her
appearance. It seems there was a treaty, the treaty, which distinctly
gave the people there to understand that the past should be buried —

404 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

that all things should be made new. This was what the people under-
stood. Then there was the written treaty, which we published some
weeks ago. It, of course, contained no clause blotting out the past,
since Governor Denver would hardly dare to go so far as that ; for al-
though the only way to secure peace, yet to the uninitiated, to the out-
siders, it would have borne a bad look. But that he assured the people
that they should not be harassed by the past, we are assured by the
most undoubted testimony.

" When this agreement was violated, we protested against it. For
the sake of peace, we insisted upon the religious observance of the
Denver compact. Our voice was not heeded. The past was harrowed
up ; old offenders and outlaws were invited to come back ; peaceful
settlers were harassed with the fear of indictments and prosecutions.
The country was alive with excitement. Our readers know what fol-
lowed. Troops marched and remarched; Missourians enlisted into
posses ; men were hunted down like wolves or rabid dogs, and houses
were rifled in the name of peace. And now comes the close.

" The Legislature step in and authoritatively declare, as Denver and
the people had declared nine months before, ' By-gones shall be by-
gones.' They who had clamored loudest for vengeance upon Mont-
gomery and the people were the most earnest in procuring the passage
of the 'Amnesty Act.'

" With this review we close, sincerely hoping this is the last article
we shall ever be called upon to pen respecting troubles in southern
Kansas." — Lawrence Repiiblican.

After the massacre by Hamilton both parties were struck
with terror, and the people, irrespective of party, cried for a
cessation of this mode of warfare. Governor Denver, early
in June, visited southern Kansas, arriving at Fort Scott on
the 1 3th. He had invited Judge J. W. Wright and Robin-
son to accompany him. A mass meeting was held on the
1 4th, which was attended by both parties. After speeches
by Governor Denver, Wright, Ransom, and Robinson, a
settlement was effected. The old county officers were asked
to resign and new ones were selected by a vote of the people
present, and Governor Denver appointed them. It was
recommended that old scores should be forgotten, although
the written agreement left all criminal matters to the grand
jury. Montgomery did not meet Governor Denver, although
he talked with Wright and Robinson and expressed himself

BROWN'S RETURN TO KANSAS. 405

as much pleased with the settlement. A military company,
commanded by Captain Weaver, was furnished to keep the
peace, and for several months quiet reigned. At length
some men procured the indictment of a Free-State man
named Rice for an old offense and had him arrested.
Montgomery claimed that this was in violation of the under-
standing, and gathered his forces again. By this time John
Brown had returned to southern Kansas, because of an ex-
posure to Senator Wilson and others of his plans to attack
Virginia, by his drill-master, Hugh Forbes.

In Cook's confession another reason is given for Brown's
visit to Kansas in 1858. Cook says:

" In his [Brown's] trip East he did not realize the amount of money
that he expected. The money had been promised bona fide, but owing
to the tightness of the money market they failed to comply with his de-
mands. The funds were necessary to the accomplishment of his plans.
I afterwards learned that there was a lack of confidence in his scheme.
It was therefore necessary that a movement should be made in an-
other direction, to demonstrate the practicability of his plan. This he
made about a year ago, by his invasion of Missouri, and the taking of
about a dozen slaves, together with horses, cattle, etc., into Kansas,
in defiance of the United States marshal and his posse. From Kansas
he took them to Canada via Iowa City and Cleveland. At the latter
place he remained some days, and, I think, disposed of his horses there.
It seems that the United States marshal was afraid to arrest him, and
this was all that was wanting to give confidence to the wavering in the
practicability of his plan and its ultimate success."

His men were on hand, including Kagi, his secretary of
war. Montgomery kept Brown in the background, as, he
said, if he should have command there would not be left
one stone upon another of Fort Scott. The town was en-
tered, Rice rescued, and Mr. Little killed, and his store
robbed of $7000 worth of goods. From this time until the
passage of the amnesty law by the Legislature anarchy
reigned supreme, and thieves, robbers, and murderers plied
their calling with great success. John Brown and his party
were in their glory. In December he made his trip to Mis-

406 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

souri and brought back with him eleven slaves, some horses,
oxen, and other property, one man being killed.

George A. Crawford, a Free-State Democrat of Fort Scott,
had an interview with Brown about this raid, and wrote the
following to Eli Thayer :

"As to the raid into Missouri, it was made on the 2Oth December,
1858, four days after the raid into Fort Scott. It was led by Captain
Brown in person. Captain Montgomery refused to go along — pro-
tested, as I have understood, against it — but came to the aid of the
Kansas settlers when retaliatory raids were afterwards expected. The
Captain's company marched down the Little Osage River, in the north
part of this county, and about twelve miles from here, and proceeded
into Vernon County, Missouri, a distance of three or four miles.

" The Missouri Democrat of December 30, 1858, gave the Missouri
statement of the losses. I presume it is correct. Files of other papers
of the period would show. It states that they ' murdered ' David Crews
(or Cruise), ' kidnapped a negro woman,' took wagon, horses, etc.,
and robbed Mr. Martin and family of a fine mule ; took from the estate
of James Lawrence, in possession of his son-in-law, Henry Hicklin,
five negroes, two horses, one yoke of cattle, an ox-wagon, a double-
barrel shot-gun, saddle, and clothing. From Isaac B. LaRue, five
negroes, six horses, one yoke of cattle, clothing, and took prisoners
whom they released.

" In the conversation to which I have alluded, Captain Brown said
he had sent the slaves on to their freedom; that they had earned the
property of their masters ; and that his young men were entitled to for-
age to the extent of their subsistence. He denied the current rumor
that the slaves had been taken away by violence and against their will.

"As to the killing of Cruise, he said that he had given strict orders
for the careful use of the guns ; and that there should be no firing un-
less resistance was offered. He had divided his men into two squads,
one on each side of the stream. In the house of Cruise one of his
quick-blooded young men, supposing that Cruise was about to draw a
weapon, had fired, killing him instantly. I inferred that the Captain
was not present. He claimed to have reprimanded the young man for
his haste.

"Cruise was a good citizen — a plain, unoffending farmer. It was
reported that he had no weapons on his person. The killing of him
was an unjustifiable outrage, and it subjected our settlements to great
danger from retaliatory measures.

" I protested to the Captain against this violence. We were settlers,
he was not. He could strike a blow and leave. The retaliatory blow

CRAWFORD TO THAYER. 407

would fall on us. Being a Free-State man, I myself was held person-
ally responsible by pro-slavery ruffians in Fort Scott for the acts of
Captain Brown.

' ' One of these ruffians, Brockett, when they gave me notice to leave
the town, said : ' When a snake bites me, I don't go hunting for that
particular snake. I kill the first snake I come to.'

" I called Captain Brown's attention to the facts that we were at
peace with Missouri; that our Legislature was then in the hands of
Free-State men to make the laws ; that even in our disturbed counties
of Bourbon and Linn we were in a majority, and had elected the offi-
cers both to make and execute the laws ; that without peace we could
have no immigration ; that no Southern immigration was coming ; that
agitation such as his was only keeping our Northern friends away,
etc.

" The old man replied that it was no pleasure to him, an old man,
to be living in the saddle, away from home and family, and exposing
his life ; and if the Free-State men of Kansas felt they no longer needed
him, he would be glad to go.

" He seemed very erratic — at war with all our accustomed ideas on
the slavery question — but very earnest.

" I think the conversation made an impression on him, for he soon
after went to his self-sacrifice at Harper's Ferry.

" Yours,

" GEORGE A. CRAWFORD."

The nature of the difficulties in southern Kansas is thus
set forth by two correspondents in the Herald of Freedom of
January 8, 1859:

"THE DIFFICULTIES SOUTH.

" A friend writes us from Mound City, Linn County, on the 26th
nit., in which he says :

' ' I regret to observe that there are newspapers in Kansas, whose
editors profess to be governed by principle, which continue to uphold
the crimes daily perpetrated, by sustaining highway robbery, murder,
and the expulsion of our population from Kansas, because of a mere
difference of opinion. These journals have done more to prolong our
troubles than all other causes. If such editors have no sense of moral
justice, and cannot be influenced otherwise, the indignation of the whole
country should be roused against them.

' ' I have lived in Linn County since October, 1855, and have seen
enough of crimes of every grade, perpetrated both by night and day, to
satisfy any man not steeped in crime. Little did I think, in '56, that

408 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

professedly Free-State men would be guilty of the same crimes for
which we denounced the pro-slavery men of that year, and which raised
such a storm throughout the nation.

" ' Men of sense ought to know that the daily repetition of crime
will never restore peace. They ought to know that outrage begets out-
rage, and the longer it is continued the farther we are from an honorable
and peaceful adjustment of our difficulties.

" ' Your comments on the late Convention here were very just.
Though it was agreed that the troubles should cease, and all parties
should lay down their arms, yet the Montgomery faction, in the face of
that compromise, raised a body of men, marched to Fort Scott, liberated
a prisoner there under indictment by a Free-State grand jury for murder,
robbed a store of some five thousand dollars' worth of goods, rifled
trunks of their contents, and shot down one of the citizens of the town,
and held others prisoners as long as it suited their caprice. I confess
I cannot see the difference between those crimes committed by these
Free-State men, and the burning of hotels and dwellings, the destroy-
ing of printing-offices, and the outrages in Lawrence in May of '56.
It only proves that human nature, under the influence of a bad heart, is
about the same everywhere.

" ' The ordering off of citizens, the stealing of horses, mules, and
cattle, the plundering of houses, and the stealing of negroes still goes
on, and will, until the strong arm of the law is made effective against
crime and violence.'

" Another gentleman, a clergyman, writing us from the vicinity of
Moneka, says :

" ' I have watched the progress of these troubles here until I am
sick, heart-sick with humanity. Here are men claiming to be Chris-
tians, and even ministers of the Gospel, who profess to be guided in
their actions by the teaching of the Prince of Peace, who have organ-
ized a body of murderers, robbers, gamblers, and horse-thieves, and
subsisting by plunder, they are riding over the country and committing
the basest of crimes. If this is Christianity, anything would be prefer-
able to it; but it is not! Christ taught no such sentiments, but the
reverse !

' ' ' The strangest of all is to see peace men, those in the States who
were members of peace societies, and who were sending delegates to
peace congresses, laboring to inaugurate civil war, with the expressed
object of working a revolution throughout the nation, ultimating in a
dissolution of the Union ; and all to procure the emancipation of the
slave. Simple men! They should learn that revolutions involving
such grave consequences are not usually set on foot by murderers and
thieves. Though Brutus triumphed over the dead corpse of Cassar, yet
it is not believed that in this age of enlightenment a few ignoramuses

SHERIFF WALKER'S REPORT. 409

and desperadoes of the character of those in this county can succeed in
crushing out slavery, and with it American freedom.

" ' We thank you most heartily for the manly and independent
course of the Herald of Freedom throughout this protracted contest. It
has been a terror to those wretches who have been involved in those
crimes, and has been the only restraint which has been exerted over
them. Had other journalists showed the same spirit and devotion to
the right, our troubles would have ended a year ago ; but while Mont-
gomery and his followers are backed up by the hireling press, so long
will he continue to ride rough-shod over the country, setting the laws
at defiance, and stamping his iron heel into the breasts of his victims ;
so long will all right be disregarded, and our beautiful country, the
loveliest heaven has ever smiled upon, will be the home of an organized
banditti as desolating in its consequences as were those of Spain or
Italy in the darkest period of the world's history.' "

The Herald of Freedom of January i, 1859, makes this
comment upon Colonel Samuel Walker's report of his trip :

"FROM THE SOUTH.

" Captain Samuel Walker, the present sheriff of Douglas County, a
gentleman whose word was never contradicted by any party, has just
returned from a visit to Linn and Bourbon counties, where he has been
on a commission from the Governor, inquiring into the truth of the
difficulties in that quarter. His recital of outrages practiced by the
Montgomery faction upon persons there is enough to draw tears from
the eyes of any one not hardened in crime. Outrages, he states, have
been committed by those desperadoes equalling in atrocity those of the
vilest border ruffians in the campaign of 1856. Captain Walker states
that there has been a great revulsion in public sentiment there within
the last few weeks. Everywhere he met men who had sustained Mont-
gomery in the past, who now say they can do it no longer. He has
gathered about him all the desperadoes of the Free-State party, and
they live by plunder and crime. No man is safe among them. At
Fort Scott the Captain found the whole country gathering in there with
their property, to protect themselves from these freebooters. The pro-
fessed object of this banditti is to inaugurate a civil war and bring on a
dissolution of the Union, and to that end all their exertions are directed.

" We hear from other sources that Captain Brown is a compeer of
Montgomery, and that only a few days ago he made a marauding ex-
pedition into Missouri, and after committing various ' excesses,' armed
a party of slaves, mounted them on horses, and marched them over into
Kansas. Thus outrage after outrage is committed, and newspapers

410 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

professing respectability endorse them, and urge on their perpetrators to
the commission of greater crimes."

January 15, 1859, the Herald of Freedom gives what it
calls " a review " of the troubles, as follows :

"A REVIEW.

' ' The fire-eating portion of the Territorial Legislature, and the ex-
treme radicals in general, who are sustaining Montgomery in his mur-
derous movements in the southern part of the Territory, are now rejoic-
ing over the fact that the quasi-general Lane has written a letter to
Governor Medary, informing that gentleman that if the Governor will
invest him with authority for that purpose, he will go South, take
Montgomery and Brown, or any of their command, and bring them to
Lawrence, or wherever the Governor may direct, and that without the
aid of a posse, or any assistance whatever. How this may appear to
others, we cannot say, but to us it is conclusive evidence of the com-
plicity of Lane in those disturbances. He commissioned Montgomery
upwards of a year ago, and set him to work in southern Kansas to fight
pro-slavery men. Lane visited that quarter in person, and pretended
to be the ' commander- in-chief of the military forces of Kansas.' There
is not a doubt but that he directed the original movements in that quar-
ter. Many of our readers will remember his celebrated coup </' etat on
the evening of the 22d of December, 1857, at the territorial convention
then in session in Lawrence, when an express from Lane's army en-
tered that convention, and announced, almost breathless, that ' war has
actually begun.' ' Why will you stand here,' he said, ' and talk about
voting for officers under the Lecompton Constitution, thinking thereby
to defeat it, when your brethren in the southern part of the Territory
are already in arms? It is the duty of every man here to rush at once
to the scene of the contest, and shoulder to shoulder with General Lane
and his able associates, Captain Montgomery and others, drive back the
invaders of our Territory to the State from which they came.' And
with a peroration worthy of Patrick Henry in the most trying hour of
our revolutionary history, his arm extended to heaven, his voice gently
raised, and every gesture adapted to the sublime occasion, he declared,
' I would sooner cut off my right arm than cast a vote for any officer
under that constitution.'

" It was then, when the excitement was at its height, and 'Inton
stood on tiptoe, swinging his hat, and hallooing with all his might, and
the lesser lights, such as Thacher, Phillips and Company, were echoing
the shout, that S. N. Wood stepped forward, his patriotism appar-
ently swelled to the sticking-point, and called for volunteers to start the

"HERALD OF FREEDOM'S" REVIEW. 411

next morning towards Fort Scott, to stand by General Lane and his
brave comrades, in their extremity. The messenger reported the men
suffering for the necessaries of life! They needed guns, and munitions
of war of all descriptions, and at that hour mostly provisions. Said he :
' I divided my last biscuit with some of these men this morning, and
have ridden eighty miles without hardly getting out of my saddle, to bring
you this startling intelligence.' Mr. Wood was more enthusiastic in
calling for volunteers than usual. He recapitulated what the messenger
had said. That whole convention, consisting of what purported to be
delegates from every part of the Territory, called together at an inclem-
ent season to consult upon the destinies of the Territory, with free-
dom or slavery before it, was suspended in its action while these war
incidents were being enacted, but Mr. Wood could get ' nary ' volunteer.
Dr. Robinson, who was chairman of the convention, for merely sug-
gesting that the whole thing was a ruse gotten up to affect the action of
the convention, became seriously involved with some of the 'Inton fac-
tion, and for a time it seemed probable we might have a fight in the
Kansas valley.

"The convention finally decided not to participate in the election,
and the next day after, Lane appeared in our streets, and his friends
laughed at the successful stratagem employed to bring about the result.

" From that day the excitement South has gone on. In February
or March, Lane issued his memorable letter to Montgomery ordering
him to disband ; but Montgomery has stated, to gentlemen whose verac-
ity cannot be questioned, that while he was in receipt of these letters
for the public eye, he was in receipt of private letters from that same
General Lane, applauding him for his acts and advising him to push
matters to even greater extremes than he felt justified in doing. We
have not the most remote doubt that every important movement of Mont-
gomery's, from the destruction of the ballot-box at Mound City on the
4th of January, a year ago, down to the release of Rice at Fort Scott,
who was indicted for murder by a Free-State grand jury, was advised
and directed by Lane ; and his letter to Governor Medary is all the proof
needed to establish that he is a particeps criminis in all that has been
done thus far!

"The rebuke which Governor Medary has given Lane was well
merited. Had the Governor added that he did not feel justified in em-
ploying those whose hands were yet wet with innocent blood to arrest
other men guilty of similar crimes, the reproof would have been none
too severe."

Some of the turbulent men in southern Kansas were very
reluctant to abandon their unlawful career. As late as the

412 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

fall of 1860 they were on the war-path. Notwithstanding
the Free-State men were in full control of the machinery for
punishing criminals, excepting only the district judges, in
November of that year, Samuel Scott, a well-to-do pro-
slavery man, and Russell Hinds were hung by Jennison's
men, one of them on a charge of returning a fugitive slave
to his master. The law for this hanging was found in Ex-
odus, 2ist chapter and i6th verse : " And he that stealeth a
man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall
surely be put to death." Montgomery endorsed this hang-
ing in a note to Judge Hanway as follows :

" Russ. Hinds, hung on the I2th day of November, 1860, for man-
stealing. He was a drunken border ruffian, worth a great deal to hang,
but good for nothing else. He had caught a fugitive slave, and carried
him back to Missouri for the sake of a reward. He was condemned by
a jury of twelve men, the law being found in the i6th verse of Exodus
xxi."

Had it not been for the revulsion of feeling such proceed-
ings caused in the Territory, these men would indefinitely
have prosecuted their nefarious business in the name of God.
No man is so unreasonable, arbitrary, and cruel as he who
imagines he is commissioned by God, as was Joshua, to in-
flict punishment upon His enemies. The laws of mind and
matter are ignored for the simple " Thus saith the Lord,"
which comes to his inner consciousness ; and that command
will invariably be in harmony with his wishes, or righteous (?)
indignation or depraved nature or instincts. Whether such
kill a President, as did Guiteau ; a daughter, as did Free-
man ; pro-slavery men, as did Brown, Montgomery, and
Jennison ; or a Free-State or any other man who might cross
his path, as did Lane — such men are more dangerous than
ten times their number who acknowledge accountability to
the immutable laws of cause and effect, and the rights of
their fellow-men.

By this time Free-State men were becoming sick of
such performances, and were outspoken in their condemna-

BROWN LEAVES KANSAS. 413

tion. A. Wattles, with whom Brown often made his home,
in his testimony before the Senate Harper's Ferry Commit-
tee, on page 223 of the report, says:

" He called in to see me * * * in going out of the Territory, and I
censured him for going into Missouri contrary to our agreement, and
getting those slaves. He said, ' I considered the matter well ; you will
have no more attacks from Missouri ; I shall now leave Kansas ; prob-
ably you will never see me again ; I consider it my duty to draw the
scene of the excitement to some other part of the country.' "

Here is more evidence that his mission was to cause dis-
turbance and not quiet ; war and not peace.

He told the writer substantially the same. He said,
" From the standpoint of a free State the party have acted
wisely and have succeeded ; but from my standpoint they
have failed. Nothing but war can extinguish slavery, and
the sooner war is inaugurated the better." Had he lived
through the Rebellion, he would have learned that the North
had all it could do to save the nation and abolish slavery
when it had possession of the Government; and had the
war commenced while the Government was in the posses-
sion of the South, it would have ended, as it commenced,
with slavery intact. At least, so reasoned some of the Free-
State men. Their policy was to have all the Territories
enter the Union as free States and abolish slavery in them
by the votes of the inhabitants. After Kansas was secure,
Thayer commenced the colonization of Virginia and Ten-
nessee, and had not the South rebelled, slavery would have
been peaceably voted out of existence in a few years, with-
out the killing of one million of men and the expending and
destruction of billions of wealth. The men and treasure
sacrificed were of tenfold more value than all the slaves in
the nation, if not in the world. All this would have been
saved had not the Southern States repeated Brown's mistake
of making war upon the Federal Government.

The amnesty bill was passed by the Legislature in Feb-
ruary, 1859, with the concurrence of all parties, and the war

414 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

was at an end ; and as Brown " drew the scene of the ex-
citement " to Harper's Ferry, peace was permanent.

The historian of the future will note these facts, among
others, relative to the disturbances in Kansas during 1857
and 1858:

First, after the arrival of Geary there was no longer need
of solicitude for the peace of the Territory as there had been
before that time, as the Federal Government had abandoned
the attempt to establish slavery in Kansas by force. This
became still more evident on the arrival of Stanton and
Walker. As early as July, 1857, all indications pointed to
the taking possession of the Territorial Legislature in Octo-
ber by the Free- State men, and after the Grasshopper Falls
convention there was no doubt of it. At length the Territo-
rial Legislature was secured, under Walker and Stanton as
executive officers, who were as favorable to an honorable
administration of the Government as would have been
Sevvard, Chase, or Sumner.

Second, notwithstanding this condition of affairs, a certain
class of men, notably Lane, Brown, and Montgomery, and
their followers, were more active in warlike demonstrations
than ever before. Messengers were sent East for the sinews
of war ; " Generals " Lane and Brown were in vigorous cor-
respondence on war movements during the summer and fall
of 1857 — as earnestly after securing the Legislature as be-
fore ; a scheme was concocted by Lane to assassinate the
members of the Lecompton Constitutional Convention,
which, had it been carried out, could have but resulted in
open war; an illegal enactment was procured creating a
" Military Board," with Lane at its head ; as general-in-chief
of this " Board " he proposed a general massacre of pro-
slavery men in the various towns of the Territory ; and when
all these movements were defeated by their own party in
central and northern Kansas, the whole crowd, under Lane,
Brown, and Montgomery, set up business in southern Kan-
sas, and did everything in their power to inaugurate civil

ARTS OF PEACE. 415

war ; and but for the interference of conservative Free-State
men they would have succeeded. When the Free-State men
secured the Territorial Legislature, the local officers and ju-
ries, they were responsible for the peace of the Territory, and
had ample remedy through the courts for all grievances ; but
it was just at that juncture when these men became the most
belligerent, and murder, robbery, and outrage were most
rampant in southern Kansas. It is not easy to decide which
the Free-State cause had more to fear, the pro-slavery party,
sustained by the Administration, Congress, and the South, or
these thieves, marauders, and revolutionists. It was almost
a miracle that the first were " thwarted, baffled, and circum-
vented," and it is a double miracle that the second did not
wreck the cause and involve the nation in civil war. Had
these men been permitted to have their way, Brown would
have been hanged in Kansas instead of Virginia, and
two of his companions would have been Lane and Mont-
gomery. There is little doubt that such will be the verdict
of history.

Thus far attention has been chiefly directed to civil and
political conflicts in the early days, but these were not all of
Kansas. It is true that the pioneers kept their armor in
readiness, whether for war or politics, but all except profes-
sional politicians engaged in the various industries which
thrive in times of peace. Agriculture, manufactures, house
and town building, engaged the attention of most of the
settlers, while speculation in town lots and shares was by no
means overlooked. The towns most prominent during the
political and civil strife of 1854-58 were Leavenworth, the
home of wealth and conservatism ; Atchison, the home of
the Stringfellows and the Squatter Sovereign; Fort Scott,
the seat of the Land Office ; Topeka, the State capital city,
founded in December, 1854, by Eastern men, with the best
town builder in the West, Colonel C. K. Holliday, as gen-
eral manager ; Manhattan, founded by such men as I. T.
Goodnow, Dr. Dennison, Mead, and Hunting ; Osawatomie,

416 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

under the chief management of O. C. Brown ; Lecompton,
the territorial capital ; Burlington, Burlingame, Council
Grove, Emporia, Wabaunsee, and Lawrence. All these
towns still have a name to live, while many others might be
named which promised great things, but have lost their im-
portance, such as Kickapoo, Douglas, Tecumseh, Calhoun,
Pawnee, Oxford, Council City, Delaware Crossing, Hamp-
den, Franklin, and others.

While most of the interior towns were Free-State, the
Missouri River towns, until after the arrival of Governor
Geary, were more or less under the control of Slave-State
men. At Kansas City, Missouri, Governor Reeder was in
danger of assassination, and remained concealed nearly two
weeks before escaping in disguise; at Leavenworth Free-
State men and women were driven out by the hundred ;
while at Atchison, Pardee Butler, and Kelly could be
mobbed with impunity.

After the return of the campaigners for Fremont, it was
considered important to have a town on the Missouri River
where Free-State men could be secure from insult or moles-
tation of any kind. Accordingly, the site, for a time known
as Quindaro, was purchased and platted by some Free-State
men in the fall of 1856. This place was advertised as the
only landing on the river where Free-State men had control,
and in the spring of 1857 nearly all the immigrants from the
North seemed bound for Kansas by way of Quindaro. The
effect upon other localities was miraculous. Wyandotte was
organized under Free-State auspices, with Lieutenant Gov-
ernor W. Y. Roberts as figure-head ; Leavenworth elected
Free-State officers ; Atchison reorganized with General S.
C. Pomeroy in the lead ; Doniphan sent for Lane for an
advertising card, while Sumner could boast an Ingalls ;
Delaware had a town company hailing from Lawrence ;
Elwood could show more Free-State young men of promise
than all the others combined ; while White Cloud had Sol.
Miller, and the White Cloud Chief, the premium newspaper

REVOLUTION IN KANSAS TOWNS. 417

of Kansas. The effect of this revolution in the old towns,
and the starting of so many new ones, was to distribute the
transportation and other business where the best accommo-
dations could be furnished, and many of the mushroom
towns collapsed, among them the one that had started the
Free-State town boom. As Kansas City, Missouri, was the
natural gateway to all the country west of it, and as Colonel
Kersey Coates, the brainiest man and shrewdest manager in
Kansas, settled there, this place soon took the lead of all
others, and has retained it ever since. Even the overflow
from this city has made the metropolis of the State of Kan-
sas, called Kansas City, Kansas.

But something more was needed than a landing on the
Missouri River. Kansas was being rapidly settled through-
out its eastern portion for more than one hundred miles
from water transportation, and some means must be devised
for transporting farm products, or they would be worthless
except for home consumption. As Robinson had resigned
his agency of the Aid Company while a prisoner, and was
free to enlist in any business that might need his services,
when the" slavery conflict subsided he gave his attention to
the transportation question. He abandoned politics, as by
nature he was unfitted to run with a political machine. He
could agitate, but could not wear a muzzle, and hence would
be an unavailable candidate and an unsuitable officer for
any party. He always preferred the unwritten laws of
the universe to State statutes, Church creeds, or Madam
Grundy's edicts, and so was necessarily a poor politician.
Being solicited to engage in party politics, he wrote a
letter to the Herald of Freedom of May 7, 1859. As it
gives his views of the situation at that time, extracts are
here given :

" LAWRENCE, April 30, 1859.
" Editor Herald of Freedom :

" DEAR SIR: * * * As you have called me out, I will give a few
reasons why I shall attend no political convention, either mass, dele-
27

41 8 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

gate, or constitutional. As these reasons apply to no one else, they
will be personal, and perhaps egotistical.

" In the first place, I am not a politician, never was, and so long as
I have my reason never mean to be. It is true I voted for Harrison
for President, because I thought the Whigs honest and the Democrats
corrupt. Since that time I could see but little difference between them,
and have voted for no presidential candidate, but have occasionally
joined in popular movements against both Whigs and Democrats.

" In California I joined a popular movement to secure the legal
rights of the citizens against unscrupulous speculators and sharpers, and
was thrown into prison by one party and into the Legislature by the
other, but it was not a political contest.

" In Kansas, not only the political, but the civil, legal, and natural
rights of the people were being struck down, and I did what I could to
protect them. At the urgent solicitation of friends I was' induced to
occupy a somewhat prominent position in the contest. Until the defeat
of the Lecompton Constitution I regarded it as a duty to labor with my
fellow-citizens to free them from the tyranny that threatened to over-
whelm and crush out all their constitutional rights. Up to the vote on
the English Bill, during the whole struggle it was my good fortune to
approve cordially of the policy of the people of Kansas. It is true, I
did not agree with the policy adopted at an adjourned delegate conven-
tion, neither did the people, as was demonstrated at the polls. The de-
feat of the English Bill was regarded as a complete victory over all out-
side enemies ; was, accordingly, the signal for the politicians to enter
the ring, and for all others to retire. From that time I have avoided
all political gatherings, and turned my attention more particularly to the
development of the material interests of the Territory. Kansas, al-
though more beautiful and desirable on some accounts, has probably
less commercial advantages than any State in the Union. Her lands,
so rich and beautiful, must lie unimproved and comparatively valueless
without the means of getting their products to market. Owing to the
emigration to the gold mines, corn sells at Leavenworth and Kansas
City for sixty cents per bushel, but it costs fifty cents per hundred, or
thirty cents a bushel, to carry it from Lawrence to the Missouri River,
making it worth at this place about thirty cents per bushel, and thirty
miles southwest of here it is worth nothing for export. In ordinary
seasons, when corn is worth but twenty-five cents per bushel on the
river, it will not sell for enough to pay for hauling to market. Should
things remain as they are, and no railroads be built, the land in Mis-
souri River counties will increase in value, while the lands of the inte-
rior cannot rise above the price of grazing lands, or from one to five
dollars an acre. So with the towns. The river towns will increase in
importance, as all articles of export must be carried to them by the

IMPORTANCE OF TRANSPORTATION. 419

farmer, while the interior towns will lose even their present trade.
Believing that without the early construction of a system of railroads
Kansas would experience a stagnation of business that would be ruinous
alike to all departments of industry, I felt it to be of the highest im-
portance to seize the first opportunity to procure grants of lands from
Congress for railroad purposes.

' ' Having been placed in a position by the people of Kansas during
our early struggle that was likely to carry with it some influence, I felt
it a duty to use that influence for their benefit. Accordingly, I declined
to be a member of the Leavenworth Constitutional Convention, and
avoided political controversies, with a view to secure a grant of lands
while there was land to grant, and when it could be of service to the
people. I visited three successive sessions of Congress, chiefly for this
object. Last winter a large and respectable delegation from Kansas
agreed upon a system of roads, and a grant would probably have been
made had not the political demagogues interfered. That system would
have given five, if not six, roads to Lawrence, and would have increased
the value of every lot in town tenfold, every farm in the county fourfold,
and every acre of land east of Fort Riley, on an average, twofold. The
grant was to have been made to the Legislature, and no man at Wash-
ington would have had the least advantage over any other citizen of the
Territory. * * *

" C. ROBINSON."

Failing to get action by Congress, R. S. Stevens, S. N.
Simpson, and Robinson procured the assent of the leading
men of the Delaware tribe of Indians to make a treaty by
which their land should be sold in the interest of a railroad
up the Kansas valley. But when the council was held, the
agent, being a pro-slavery man, and not liking such men as
had worked up the treaty, inserted the name of a road run-
ning from Leavenworth instead of the mouth of the Kansas
River. When this action became known the Indians signed
a protest which resulted in a compromise, and the two roads
were provided for, one from Leavenworth and one from
Wyandotte. Stevens, Simpson, and Robinson became di-
rectors and stockholders, and all went smoothly till Lane
was elected to the United States Senate, when, as he was
hostile to Stevens and Robinson, the latter sold out his inter-
est and Lane was conciliated. The road was, after long

420 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

delays, constructed, and became the Union Pacific, with a
large endowment in lands and bonds. This was the begin-
ning of roads in Kansas, but not the end, as the State is
gridironed with them from end to end, no State of the same
age equalling it in railroad mileage.

CHAPTER XVII.

THE KILLING OF JENKINS. — THE SERVICES OF LANE AND
BROWN. ADMISSION OF KANSAS TO THE UNION. SECES-
SION.— THE GOVERNOR'S FIRST MESSAGE.

THE year 1858 was noteworthy as completing the conflict
against Lecompton and territorial usurpation. It was note-
worthy, also, for the murder of Gaius Jenkins by Colonel
Lane, over a pretended claim quarrel. As Jenkins was one
of the treason prisoners confined during the summer of 1856
with the United States troops, and as this claim question
may have been one reason why Lane proposed their rescue
by force, and why he left Lawrence defenseless when the
two thousand eight hundred Missourians were marching
against it, a brief statement is made of the character of the
claim dispute and the killing.

General James Blood, one of the first and most trust-
worthy settlers of Kansas, made a statement in 1884, in
which occurs the following :

" The claim was located by Gaius Jenkins in the fall of 1854, in my
presence. The first log-house was built by Jenkins, he furnishing all
the means and material, and paying Chapman in full for all the work
done on it by him. Stillman Andrews, with others, dug the well at the
first log-house built as above stated, and was paid for it by Jenkins.
The frame house was put up on the claim by Jenkins in September or
October of 1855. Jenkins had a well dug by the frame house in the
fall of 1855, sixty odd feet deep, and found no water. Aaron Perry
and Samuel Fry dug this well. The double log-house was bought by
Jenkins of Lane, about the last of December, 1855, according to the
statement of both Jenkins and Lane to me at that time."

422 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

S. C. Russell, Esq., who had charge of the Jenkins estate,
including the claim contest, says :

"In 1857 Lane had a pre-emption claim in Doniphan County,
which I proved by the most reputable citizens in Doniphan and Troy,
in the summer of 1860, Lane in person acting for himself; and I can go
there now and make the same proof. * * * Lane either built a saw-
mill on or contracted for one to be built on this Doniphan claim, and
afterwards sold it out to other parties. * * *

" Jenkins's hired men had for some time prior to the shooting com-
plained to Jenkins that Lane had nailed up the gate leading to the well,
and had threatened to shoot them. Jenkins said he would have to go
and see if he could get some water. The day he went over there were
with him his hired man, Ray Green, and two nephews — young boys.
Jenkins had a pail and an axe, the axe to open the gate, which had been
spiked and securely fastened up with additional plank and the well
locked up. * * * The only shots fired were the first one by Lane,
that killed Jenkins instantly, and the second one by Ray Green, with a
four-inch Colt's revolver ; he was quite a distance in the rear of Jenkins,
and must have made a good shot if he hit Lane, which has been doubted
— the truth of which I know nothing, only by report. * * *

"Lane said to Judge G. W. Smith, in Smith's office, more than a
month before he shot Jenkins, that he would shoot him. He said to

Charles H. Branscomb, ' I will have the blood out of his G d

d d black heart.' "

Henry W. Petriken wrote, February 19, 1884:

" MONTOURSVILLE, PA., February 19, 1884.
" S. C. Russell, Esq. :

" DEAR SIR: I remember you very well as the attorney of Jenkins
— the victim of Lane's murderous villainy — in the case of Jenkins vs.
Lane before the Local Land Office at Lecompton.

" I acted as clerk for the greater part of the time, and perhaps the
whole of it, after the case was reopened in the taking the testimony in
the case. I do not know what became of the book of testimony in this
case, unless General Brindle knows something of it. It was probably
destroyed as waste lumber, or perhaps turned over to General Brindle's
successor.

" Soon after the taking of the testimony was finished, Lane seems to
have thought his case a hopeless, or at least a very doubtful one, as he
requested me to be at my office on a certain evening alone and to have
the book of testimony with me, as he wished to look over it. Lane
came to my office after I had waited until near midnight, and was dis-
appointed and disgusted when he found I had not the book with me.

PETRIKEN, BRINDLE, AND MOORE. 423

The case was decided most unequivocally in favor of Jenkins by the
Local Office. Soon after the Local Office acted on the case Lane re-
quested another interview, which I granted, and though this talk lasted
nearly all night, I can sum it all up by saying that the whole object of
it was to induce me to show General Brindle good and sufficient reasons
for changing his decision in this case before it was sent to the General
Land Office. Lane's first inducement was an offer to guarantee to
Brindle and myself twenty, and afterwards forty, acres of the disputed
land. After finally convincing Lane that it would be a dangerous ex-
periment to intimate anything of the kind to General Brindle, he left.
I did not mention the matter to Brindle then, and indeed I am not
sure that I ever have since. There are two prominent gentlemen now
living in Kansas — one a prominent ex-county office-holder at Topeka,
and the other in the banking business at Emporia — who, I have no doubt,
will remember this last interview, as at my request they were -within
calling distance, they being at the time in the place of business of the
former gentleman, one or two doors above my office.

" Heartily sympathizing in your every effort to protect the memory
of the murdered Jenkins, I remain,

" Your well wisher and friend,

" HENRY W. PETRIKEN."

Extract from General William Brindle's letter of February

7, 1884:

" We had decided that Jenkins was entitled to his claim before he
was killed ; at the time of his death we were hearing the case again (it
had been sent back to enable Lane to put in additional testimony, which
we received, but which did not show him to have been the prior settler).

"WILLIAM BRINDLE."

Eli Moore, son of the register of the Land Office at Le-
compton, writes this letter to Robinson :

" Hon. Charles Robinson :

" MY DEAR SIR: In answer to your question as to whether or not
the Land Office at Lecompton had decided in the land case between
Jenkins and Lane at the time of Jenkins's death, and as to my knowledge
as to the case itself, will state : That the case had been decided by the
register and receiver of the Pawnee Land District, then located at Le-
compton, in favor of Gaius Jenkins and adverse to James H. Lane.
This decision had been given several weeks before the shooting of Jen-
kins. Lane was apprised of this decision by the register and receiver,
and by his attorney in the case, Wilson Shannon. I took all the evi-

424 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

dence in the case, was and am familiar with the facts in the litigation.
The Secretary of the Interior had also confirmed the decision of the
Land Office at Lecompton. All of these facts were in the possession of
Lane at the time of and before the killing of Jenkins.

" After Lane was elected United States senator he had the case re-
opened, and the Secretary of the Interior reversed the decision of the
Land Office and of the former Secretary of the Interior.

' ' Respectfully,
" January 8, 1884." " ELI MOORE.

Governor J. W. Denver, who accepted the office of Secre-
tary of the Territory December 21, 1857, and of Governor
May 12, 1858, resigned his office October 10, 1858, and
was succeeded by Samuel Medary. It is due to Governor
Denver to say that he was a man of the highest honor, in-
tegrity, and patriotism. His position was no sinecure, but
he discharged the duties of his office with impartiality and
great ability. He had lived in the West, knew Western
people, and they knew him. He was not a man to be trifled
with — even Lane knew this, as, according to Redpath, he
proposed to have him assassinated by the Danites, should
he notice his gross insults — and all parties respected him.
As he was about to leave the Territory, a banquet was given
him at Leavenworth by men of all parties and factions,
where the utmost good feeling was manifested.

As soon as he learned the situation in Kansas relative to
the Lecompton Constitution, he sent Judge Elmore to Presi-
dent Buchanan to urge him to recommend its rejection by
Congress.

But the President had already committed himself, and
was unwilling to change his position. Governor Denver
thus refers to this action in his Bismarck speech, September,

" I sent for him [Judge Elmore] to come down and see me at Law-
rence. He did so. We talked the matter over, and I presented to him my
views in reference to the Lecompton Constitution. He agreed with me.
" ' Then,' says I, ' Judge, I want you to go to Washington city and
see the President on this subject.'

GOVERNOR DENVER. 425

"He says, 'When?'

" I said, ' To-morrow morning.'

" ' Why,' says he, ' I have got nothing — I have no clothing with
me.' Says I, ' You don't need anything; all you will want will be a
shirt, and that you can buy anywhere as you go along; start in the
morning.' That night I wrote a long letter to the President, in which
I summed up the condition of affairs here in the Territory, as I then
understood them, and I urged him not to present the Lecompton Con-
stitution to Congress at all, but to ask Congress to pass an enabling act
to let the people of the Territory hold a convention and adopt a consti-
tution, and to wipe out all of those unauthorized constitutions that were
presented.

" Judge Elmore went on to Washington city and presented my letter
to the President, and had a long conversation with him, and also with
his own brother-in-law, Senator Fitzpatrick, and other Southern gentle-
men whom he knew there ; and they all agreed to my advice.

" Mr. Buchanan said he was very strongly impressed with it, and that
he was very sorry he had not had the information earlier, because he
had prepared his message in relation to the Lecompton Constitution,
and he had shown it to several senators, and could not withdraw it.
It went in. You know the result."

All constitutional rubbish having been virtually cleared
away, the Topeka and Leavenworth Constitutions being with-
out legal recognition, and Lecompton having been defeated
under the form of the English Bill, a move was made in the
winter of 1859 for a fourth Constitution.

In his address at the Quarter Centennial, at Topeka, Jan-
uary 29, 1886, Hon. B. F. Simpson thus alludes to the move-
ment:

" Time aided the persistence and patience of the Free-State settlers ;
immigration was coming in from the North ; the Legislature and local
offices were now controlled by the bona fide residents, and the friends
of Kansas were about to control the lower House of Congress, and were
gaining in the Senate. Encouraged by these good indications, the
Legislature of 1859, on the nth day of February, passed an act author-
izing a vote of the people to be taken on the question of the formation
of a Constitution and State Government. The vote was taken on the
28th day of March, and resulted four to one in its favor. An election
for delegates was then ordered on the 4th day of June. At that election
there were more than fourteen thousand votes cast. The convention
met on the 5th day of July. * * *

426 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

" On the 4th day of October the work of the convention was ratified
by the people. There were about sixteen thousand votes polled at the
election, and more than two-thirds of them were for the Constitution.
On the 6th day of December an election for State officers, a member of
Congress, and members of the Legislature was held. On the I4th day
of February, 1860, it was presented to the Senate of the United States.
* * * On the 2 ist day of January, 1861, the bill for the admission of
Kansas passed the Senate by a vote of thirty-six for and sixteen against.
On the 2gth President Buchanan signed the bill, Kansas became a State,
the struggle was over, the battle won ; and the good people of Kansas
are to-day enjoying the fruits of the victory."

Judge Simpson, in his address, gives this account of the
reception of the news of the admission to the Union during
the session of the Territorial Legislature at Lawrence :

" I remember the earlier part of the night of the 2gth day of January,
1861, very distinctly. I was at the Eldridge House, in Lawrence, a
member of the last Territorial Legislature, that was then holding its
session in that dearly beloved Free-State city. There were from three
to four inches of snow on the ground (an unusual sight in Kansas in
those days), and the night was windy and cold. It must have been as
late as nine o'clock when D. R. Anthony, the same Anthony who is
now president of our Historical Society, came into the hotel with sturdy
stride and flashing eyes, and told us that the President of the United
States had that day signed and approved the bill admitting Kansas into
the Union. He brought with him and scattered around extras issued
by a newspaper published at Leavenworth, called the Conservative, an-
nouncing the joyful tidings in flaring headlines. * * * There was a
' sound of revelry ' that night in Lawrence, for the news ran through
the town like wildfire. Houses were lighted, doors were thrown open
(and some were broken open), the people gathered in public places.
' Old Sacramento ' was taken from his resting-place, and emphasized
with hoarse throat the good tidings ; toasts were drunk ; songs were
sung ; speeches were made, and — well, the truth is, that my recollection
is not good after midnight. You must recollect that the main question
then was admission, not prohibition."

The New York Tribune of January 29, 1861, thus refers
to this event :

" The House yesterday passed the Senate bill for the admission of
Kansas, which thus becomes the thirty-fourth State of the Union, and
the nineteenth free State. This act not only opportunely adds to the

END OF THE CONFLICT. 427

Confederation a sound and loyal member, untainted by the pestiferous
blight of slavery, but does rightful though tardy justice to a State which
has suffered for five years greater wrongs and outrages from Federal
authority than all the slave States together have endured since the be-
ginning of the Government, even if their own clamor about imaginary
oppression be admitted as well founded.

" The present generation is too near to these events to see them in
their true proportions, but in the future, in impartial history, the at-
tempt to force slavery upon Kansas, and the violations of law, of order,
and of personal and political rights, that were perpetrated in that at-
tempt, will rank among the most outrageous and flagrant acts of tyranny
in the annals of mankind."

The admission of Kansas into the Union was the end of
the conflict against slavery in Kansas ; and the " beginning
of the end " of the conflict against slavery in the nation.
The importance of the Kansas struggle cannot be overesti-
mated. It settled the destiny of slavery, not only in Kansas
and the nation, but, eventually, in the world. When Robin-
son gave J. B. Abbott a letter to Eli Thayer for more Sharp's
rifles, subscribing it, " In haste, yours for freedom for a
world," he truthfully represented the extent of the battle-
field. Such being the importance of the struggle, the men
who were victorious are entitled to great credit. Who were
they ? The writer believes they belong to the rank and file
of the Free-State party ; that it was the policy adopted by
that party that saved Kansas to freedom. Others claim that
two or three men whose policy was diametrically opposed to
that adopted by the party saved the cause. F. B. Sanborn
calls John Brown the " Liberator " of Kansas, and T. W.
Higginson, in the Boston Advertiser of September 15, 1879,
says, " The leaderships of Brown, Lane, and Montgomery
were what finally saved Kansas to freedom." To say the
least, if their leadership saved Kansas, it is remarkable that
their policy was never adopted, but uniformly opposed and
defeated. But it is not the purpose to settle such questions
by argument or discussion of the merits or demerits of indi-
viduals or parties. It is sufficient to furnish what are be-

428 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

lieved to be facts, and all can draw their own conclusions.
It is evident a most important and difficult work was ac-
complished, and if a movement with results as beneficial,
and with as little bloodshed and violence — barring the mas-
sacres, robberies, and outrages by individuals — has been
recorded in ancient or modern history, it has escaped obser-
vation.

As a few individuals have seen fit to publish their views
of the conflict in Kansas, and singled out their heroes, and
made all movements revolve about them, a few opinions of
some of the actors in the tragedy are here given by way of
contrast.

S. N. Wood,* one of the Branson rescuers, and a man
who has no superior in a mental or physical encounter, thus
writes, in 1884, of John Brown:

" I now give it as my deliberate judgment that John Brown never
did any good in Kansas, that we would have been better off if he had
never come to the State. His object was war, not peace. It was his
constant aim to produce a collision between the Free-State men and the
Government, which would have wiped us out in Kansas as effectually
as he and his little band were wiped out in Virginia. The truth is,
Brown never had the confidence of the Free-State men of Kansas, and
no sensible man dared follow his lead. * * *

" By this wanton murder on the Potawatomie the Free-State men of
Kansas suffered terribly.

' ' There cannot be any question to a man who knew Brown as I did
that he was crazy, or, rather, had that religious delusion that he was an-
other Gideon, or rather a chosen instrument in the hands of God to ac-
complish a great work. ' He died as the fool dieth,' and for one I was
willing to let his ' soul go marching on.' But to have him thrust down
this generation as ever being of any benefit to Kansas is an insult to
the men who made Kansas free.

" Yours truly,

" S. N. WOOD."

Another Branson rescuer, the secretary of the Leaven-
worth Constitutional Convention, and correspondent of the

* S. N. Wood has been brutally assassinated, in the presence of his wife,
since the above was written.

ADMISSION TO THE UNION. 429

Eastern press, S. C. Smith, has this to say in a letter dated
April 1 8, 1880:

" I believe Kansas was saved to freedom through the influence of
those who so conducted themselves within it as to merit the approval
and support of the friends of freedom throughout the North. * * * It
seems to me that all the Free-State party could do, in the early struggle,
from 1854 to 1857, was, if possible, to ' hold the fort,' and wait for the
triumph of the Republican party to secure their own complete victory.
This in fact was what they did do.

" Brown, Lane, and Montgomery would have plunged us into all
sorts of excesses, put our friends in the East on the defensive, rallied
the Democratic party under the banner of the ' Constitution and the
Union,' as against civil war and incendiary abolitionists, and Kansas
would have been lost by the folly and insanity of its leaders in doing
those acts which the sentiment of the North could in no wise sustain."

Solomon Miller, of the Kansas Chief, thus refers to Mr.
Rastall :

"John E. Rastall, of the Burlingame Chronicle, protests against the
publication of letters by the State Historical Society, in which General
Lane is criticised unfavorably. He thinks Lane's services to Kansas
should at least secure silence. That may be just as one looks at it.
History is history, and let the truth be told, hit where it may. Lane
did Kansas some service, but his services were greatly overestimated.
He also did a great deal of bad. He was the originator of the corrup-
tion in politics that Kansas is credited with. His forte was bulldozing
and deceit. Many good men and tried friends of Kansas were kept
under through his influence, and many scoundrels placed on top. He
killed himself, because he undertook to sell Kansas out, but found he
couldn't deliver the goods. Let the truth be published, whether it be
for or against him."

The State was admitted into the Union on the 2gth of
January, 1861, and the first Legislature convened the last of
March. At that date seven States had already seceded from
the Union, and eight others were threatening to follow should
coercion be resorted to by the Federal Government. Al-
though without secession Kansas might not have entered the
sisterhood of States, at least at the date named, she was loyal
to the Federal Government, as she had been in her territorial
days, and her first message gave no uncertain sound. Her

43° THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

people were ready to join issue at once on the slavery ques-
tion, which was the real and only issue. Had Kansas con-
trolled the Federal Executive, the announcement would have
been made immediately after the attack upon Fort Sumter,
that, unless rebellious States should return to their allegiance
by a day named in the proclamation, slavery would be abol-
ished. Such a proclamation might have been premature
and a mistake, but, if left to Kansas, it would have been
made. A few sentences from the first State message are
given, as follows :

" When Kansas applied for admission into the Union, it was sup-
posed there was a Federal Government that would endure until the
present generation, at least, should pass away. Recent developments,
however, have given rise to serious doubts as to its existence. Theo-
retically, such a government is extended over thirty-four States, but
practically it does not exist in some. In seven States the laws are
openly repudiated, the forts are seized, the revenue stolen, the Federal
officers defied, and the flag of the nation insulted with impunity ; and
eight others threaten to do likewise if the Government attempts to as-
sert its authority by force in any rebellious State. Such is the condition
of affairs as bequeathed by the late Administration to the present.

"The future none can predict. Should matters progress as fora
few months past, and coercion be decried as at present, not a prominent
seaboard State will remain in the Union, and not a law of the United
States will be enforced anywhere. Our Government, once regarded as
a power on earth, will become a hissing and a byword among the na-
tions— a stench in the nostrils of all men. This nation occupies a very
remarkable position before the civilized world. It has heretofore been
prompt and efficient in putting down treason and rebellion, and the
whole force of the army and navy has been called into requisition at
once whenever danger threatened. The whiskey insurrection, South
Carolina nullification, and the John Brown raid were all summarily dis-
posed of with no cry of ' coercion.' Now, when certain persons in the
South have seized upon the revenues, forts, ships, post-offices, mints,
arms, and army and navy stores, waged war upon the United States
troops, set up an independent government, and bid defiance to all law,
the position of the authorities has been simply that of non-resistance.
Two independent and hostile governments cannot long exist at the
same time over the same territory without conflict, and either the Con-
federated States of the South or the Federal Government must succumb,
or civil war is inevitable.

SENATORIAL ELECTION. 431

" A demand is made by certain States that new concessions and
guarantees be given to slavery, or the Union must be destroyed. The
present Constitution, however faithfully adhered to, is declared to be
incompatible with the existence of slavery ; its change is demanded, or
the government under it must be overthrown. If it is true that the
continued existence of slavery requires the destruction of the Union, it
is time to ask if the existence of the Union does not require the de-
struction of slavery. If such an issue be forced upon the nation, it must
be met, and met promptly. The people of Kansas, while they are will-
ing to fulfil their constitutional obligations towards their brethren in the
sister States to the letter, even to the yielding of the ' pound of flesh,'
cannot look upon the destruction of the fairest and most prosperous
government on earth with indifference. If the issue is presented to
them, the overthrow of the Union or the destruction of slavery, they
will not long hesitate as to their choice. But it is to be hoped that this
issue will be withdrawn, and the nation advance in its career of prosper-
ity and power, the just pride of every citizen and the envy of the world.

" The position of the Federal Executive is a trying one. The Gov-
ernment, when assumed by him, was rent in twain ; the cry against
coercion was heard in every quarter ; his hands were tied, and he had
neither men nor money, nor the authority to use either. While it is the
duty of each loyal State to see that equal and exact justice is done to
the citizens of every other State, it is equally its duty to sustain the
Chief Executive of the nation in defending the Government from foes,
whether from within or without — and Kansas, though last and least of
the States in the Union, will ever be ready to answer the call of her
country.

" C. ROBINSON."

At the first session of the Legislature two United States
senators were elected. The principal candidates were S. C.
Pomeroy, J. H. Lane, M. J. Parrott, and F. P. Stanton.
Neither had a majority of friends in the Legislature, and
some sharp practice was resorted to. Lane was equal to the
occasion. Although his supporters were largely in the mi-
nority, they were, as a rule, so positive and firm in their at-
tachment that they would trade with any other candidate to
secure votes for their favorite. But no other candidate had
trading friends enough to elect Lane, and hence he must get
the trading votes of at least two. Both Pomeroy and Par-
rott were ready to give Lane votes for an equivalent, while

432 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

Stanton's friends could not be traded to Lane for any con-
sideration. The same was true of some of the supporters of
Pomeroy and Parrott. Both Pomeroy and Parrott knew
that Lane was promising the same men to each in exchange
for votes for himself, and did not dare trust his election
alone and first, and Lane would not trust them. Accord-
ingly both senators were to be elected at one roll-call. As
the roll was called, some of the men promised by Lane to
Parrott voted for Pomeroy, and vice versd. Then began
changes of votes which continued for hours, until all persons
who kept the tallies were completely confused. Finally
voting ceased, and the clerks agreed to announce Pomeroy
and Lane as elected, although many believed they were not.
At this election every appliance was used ever brought into
requisition in the older States, such as bribery with money
and bribery with promise of office, flattery, threats, and every
weapon that promised to procure a vote.

Before the close of the session of the Legislature, Sumter
was fired upon by the Rebels, and war was inevitable. A
militia law was passed, also authority was given to the Gov-
ernor, Secretary of State, and Auditor, or a majority of
them, to issue $150,000 of seven per cent, bonds, to be sold
at a minimum of seventy per cent. ; and the treasurer was
authorized to sell ten per cent, war bonds for $20,000, to be
sold by him price unlimited.

The sum of $12,000 was realized from the latter in the
market, but the other bonds had no market value. The
Governor wrote and telegraphed to Eastern brokers, but
could get no offers. The claim was that Kansas might be
compelled to go with Missouri into the Confederacy, and
nobody wanted her bonds. Even Minnesota, Wisconsin,
and Iowa could realize but little for their bonds, some of
them selling as low as forty per cent. While the Gov-
ernor abandoned all efforts to sell Kansas bonds in the
market, the Secretary and Auditor went to Washington, and
with the assistance of Pomeroy, Lane, and Conway, sold

SALE OF STATE BONDS. 433

some of them to the Secretary of the Interior for Indian
money, realizing to the State sixty per cent. Colonel R. S.
Stevens was employed by the Secretary and Auditor, who
made the negotiations. The Department paid eighty-five
per cent., but the State officers could get but sixty per cent.
Where the difference between the price paid and received
went, except $500 to Lane's private secretary, never ap-
peared, but at the trial for impeachment it was shown that
neither of the State officers who were parties to the transac-
tion received any of it. It was well understood at the time
that the negotiations could be made on no other terms, and
it was also understood that the agent for the Secretary and
Auditor received no more than the usual rate for his ser-
vices. Perhaps persons familiar with such matters at the
Departments in war times can understand it. That the Sec-
retary and Auditor tried hard to get all the money paid for
the bonds, except a reasonable fee to their agent, and that
they for a time refused to take less than seventy per cent.,
was evident. The question for them to decide was whether
to take sixty per cent, for the State or nothing, and as the
State had no money, they took what they could get, believ-
ing they were thus doing the State a great favor. Although
at the instigation of Lane they were afterwards impeached,
no taint of corruption or dishonor attached to either. They
were proceeded against simply because Lane wanted the
Governor out of his way, and supposed he could either con-
nect him with the sale of bonds, or at least put him under
a cloud until the State Senate should try the impeachment.
But he failed to do more than connect his name with the
others in the House finding, while he procured the convic-
tion of two of his political friends, and caused them to die

of broken hearts.
28

CHAPTER XVIII.

TROOPS CALLED. LANE'S BRIGADE AND JAY-HAWKING. —

LANE'S INFLUENCE AT WASHINGTON.

No sooner were laws passed "by the new State Legislature
than there was occasion for their use. The first call of the
President for troops to put down the rebellion was issued
April 15, 1 86 1, for seventy-five thousand men, and although
none were allotted to Kansas, she furnished six hundred and
fifty. The Governor, from his knowledge of the enemy and his
experience, believed that the war would be a long and bitter
one, and at once organized the State militia, hoping to have
every able-bodied man enlisted. J. C. Stone of Leaven-
worth was appointed Major- General of the Northern Divi-
sion, and James Blood of the Southern. In a short time
over two hundred companies were duly organized. But
soon came calls for volunteers for three years or during the
war, and every one of these calls was responded to by twice
as many men as called for. During the term of the first
Governor calls were made upon Kansas for 5006 men, and
10,639 were furnished. The people of no State in the
Union understood this war better than those of Kansas, and
no people could have been more ready to enlist. But while
the State was thus patriotic and loyal, the tocsin of war was
the signal for the resurrection of all the thieves, plunderers,
and murderers of the territorial days. Montgomery and Jen-
nison, it is true, called upon the Governor after admission to
the Union, and pledged loyalty to the State Government ;
and the first was appointed colonel, and the second given a

JAY-HAWKERS. 435

letter to General Fremont. It was believed that if they were
in the United States service their warlike propensities would
be gratified in a legitimate manner. No complaints were
made of Montgomery on the score of irregular warfare, but
Jennison acquired a bad name before the war was ended.
Montgomery later went South and took command of a
negro regiment. T. W. Higginson, who also had command
of a like regiment in the same locality, is reported as saying
in a speech at Topeka that Montgomery had the " egotism
of a fanatic, a superficial fanaticism in which self came up-
permost. * * * While he was pronounced utterly inca-
pable of any large command, hating all drill and all fixed
routine, he would shoot his own soldiers without trial, and
claim that he had the direct command of God."

Montgomery and Brown were alike in capacity. Neither
could command successfully more than a score of men, and
each was adapted for such exploits as killing, plundering,
and bushwhacking on the borders of Kansas and Missouri.
But the thieves and plunderers did not lack leaders, even
though Montgomery, Jennison, and Brown were otherwise
occupied. They organized in bands and conducted their
operations with as much order as the regular army. At first
they claimed to be Free-State and hailed from Kansas, and
pretended to plunder and kill only pro-slavery men ; but
this left some good horses and other desirable property be-
yond their reach, as it belonged to men of their own party.
However, they were equal to the occasion, and soon, like
bodies of thieves, were in the field, claiming to be pro-slavery,
and these hailed from Missouri, and plundered Free-State
men. Thus the people of the border counties were menaced
by these outlaws, whatever their political views. The
authorities in both States were desirous of protecting their
citizens from spoliation, and for a time partially succeeded,
the Governor of Kansas returning the spoils taken from
Missouri, and authorities in Missouri reciprocating the favor
to citizens of Kansas.

436 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

But now James H. Lane reappears upon the stage. Al-
though before his election to the Senate he was always in a
minority, after that election he became omnipotent. Kan-
sas had just passed through a severe drought, and all the
people were poor and needy and desirous of securing the
means of subsistence for themselves and families. As noth-
ing promised to relieve them so satisfactorily as Government
pap, and as Lane was chief dispenser of Federal patron-
age, he at once became a political autocrat. He evidently
formed a compact with the President and Secretary of War,
and was not only to be senator with Federal patronage, but
to be assisted to get control of the State of Kansas so far as
military affairs were concerned. Accordingly, although the
Governor had doubled the quota of all calls upon Kansas,
Lane was given authority to raise and officer two regiments,
the 4th and 5th, and to have command of a brigade. Un-
der such auspices there was an end to discipline and order,
and the whole border was despoiled.

A faint picture of the situation may be had by reference
to official correspondence of the officers of the United States
army.

The condition of Lane's brigade on the arrival of General
Hunter to take command at Fort Leavenworth is thus de-
scribed by Hunter's Adjutant-General, Charles G. Halpine,
March 14, 1862, on page 615, eighth volume of the "War
of the Rebellion," as follows :

" Nothing could exceed the demoralized condition in which General
Hunter found the Third and Fourth Kansas Infantry and Fifth and
Sixth Kansas Cavalry, formerly known as " Lane's Brigade," on his
arrival in this department. The regimental and company commanders
knew nothing of their duties, and apparently had never made returns
or reports of any kind. The regiments appeared in worse condition
than they could possibly have been in during the first week of their en-
listment, their camps being little better than vast pig-pens, officers and
men sleeping and messing together ; furloughs in immense numbers be-
ing granted, or, where not granted, taken ; drill having been abandoned
almost wholly; and the men constituting a mere ragged, half-armed,

LANE'S BRIGADE. 437

diseased, and mutinous rabble, taking votes as to whether any trouble-
some or distasteful order should be obeyed or defied.

' ' Vast amounts of public property had been taken from the depot at
Fort Scott and Fort Lincoln without requisition or any form of respon-
sibility, and horses in great quantities and at extravagant prices had
been purchased under irregular orders and paid for by the United
States ; these horses being then turned over to men and officers who
were then drawing forty cents extra per day for them as private property.

' ' Without troops from other States or of a better kind to hold the
mutinous in subjection, General Hunter had a difficult and most labo-
rious task in the administration of the department. The few officers
willing to do right, if they knew how, had to be instructed in nearly
every branch of their duties, and this was the more difficult, as for the
first two months the department was almost entirely destitute of blanks,
and has never had a proper supply.

" To remedy these things, mustering officers were sent to remuster
the regiments of Lane's Brigade and consolidate the companies to the
minimum standing, mustering out the surplus officers and all who could
prove they had been enlisted as Home Guards under General Lyon's
call. These mustering officers found that the companies ranged from
twenty-five to sixty men each, but the average about fifty, each having
a captain and two lieutenants, and in some instances more ; and had the
department, as previously, been without troops from other States, there
is every probability that a general mutiny of the regiments named
would have taken place, instead of the partial mutinies which have been
suppressed."

The conduct and influence of Lane and his brigade is
thus referred to by General Halleck in a letter to General
McClellan, dated December 19, 1861 :

" The conduct of the forces under Lane and Jennison has done more
for the enemy in this State than could have been accomplished by
twenty thousand of his own army. I receive almost daily complaints
of outrages committed by these men in the name of the United States,
and the evidence is so conclusive as to leave no doubt of their correct-
ness. It is rumored that Lane has been made a brigadier-general. I
cannot conceive of a more injudicious appointment. It will take twenty
thousand men to counteract its effect in this State, and, moreover, it is
offering a premium for rascality and robbing generally."

General McClellan writes to the Secretary of War, Feb-
ruary n, 1862, as follows:

43$ THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

" HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,

"WASHINGTON, February n, 1862.
" Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War :

"SlR: I would respectfully submit to you the following extracts
taken from the report of Major A. Baird, Assistant Inspector-General,
United States Army, on the inspection of the Kansas troops, viz. :

" If the practice of seizing and confiscating the private property of
rebels, which is now extensively carried on by the troops known as
Lane's Brigade, is to be continued, how may it be managed so as to
prevent the troops being demoralized and the Government defrauded?

" The practice has become so fixed and general that I am convinced
that orders arresting it would not be obeyed, and that the only way of
putting a stop to it would be to remove the Kansas troops to some other
field of action.

" The fact that the property of citizens has been seized and confis-
cated by the troops engaged in the service of the United States is sub-
stantiated by both official and reliable private evidence, and from the
frequent repetition of these acts the commanding officers in Kansas ap-
pear to have assumed its legality. The authority under which it is
done is unknown to me, further than such destruction of private
property as is unavoidable from a state of war conducted according to
the established usages of civilized nations. I would therefore request
the policy of the Government for my guidance in dealing with questions
of this nature.

" To what extent can the right of confiscation legally be carried, and
by what tribunal, civil or military, are the questions that will naturally
arise to be decided that the innocent will not suffer while punishing the
guilty, and that the dignity and justice of the Government may not be
at the mercy of individuals governed by cupidity or revenge? This
question has assumed such proportions that it will require vigorous
means and well-defined authority to suppress or direct its application.

" I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
" GEO. B. MCCLELLAN,

" Major-General Commanding."

General Halleck writes to Secretary Stanton, March 25,
1862:

" SIR : Your letter of the igth instant in relation to military outrages
in Jackson County, Missouri, is just received. I have had two regi-
ments stationed or moving in Jackson County for some time past, in
order to put a stop to these depredations. This is as much as I can do,
for many other counties in this State are equally urgent in their calls
for protection, and to gratify them all would require an army of fifty

HALLECK TO STANTON. 439

thousand men to be distributed through Missouri in addition to the
militia.

" That many and in some cases horrible outrages have been com-
mitted in this State, I do not doubt. They have been committed by three
classes of persons :

" 1st. The enemy's guerrilla bands. Since the expulsion of Price
they are rapidly diminishing. Nevertheless it will require some severe
examples to be made in order to suppress them.

" 2d. The Kansas jay -hawkers, or robbers, who were organized
under the auspices of Senator Lane. They wear the uniform of, and it
is believed receive pay from, the United States. Their principal occu-
pation for the last six months seems to have been the stealing of ne-
groes, the robbing of houses, and the burning of barns, grain, and for-
age. The evidence of their crimes is unquestionable. They have not
heretofore been under my orders. I will now keep them out of Mis-
souri or have them shot."

Confederate General Benjamin McCullough writes to the
Confederate Secretary of War, J. P. Benjamin, November
19, 1 86 1, as follows:

" SIR: I shall return to Arkansas, put my troops in winter quarters
soon, and ask permission to come immediately to Richmond, so as to
give to the Administration correct information regarding affairs in this
region before it acts on matters here. The Federals left eight days
since with their thousand (?) men, quarreling among themselves, and
greatly injured their cause by taking negroes belonging to Union men.
General Lane went to Kansas, General Hunter to Sedalia, and General
Sigel to Rolla."

General Halleck to General McClellan, December 10,
1 86 1, writes:

" I am satisfied that the authorities at Washington do not understand
the present condition of affairs in Missouri. The conduct of our troops
during Fremont's campaign, and especially the course pursued by those
under Lane and Jennison, has turned against us many thousands who
were formerly Union men. A few more such raids, in connection with
the ultra speeches made by leading men in Congress, will make this
State as unanimous against us as is Eastern Virginia.

" It may be supposed by some that the number of organized Mis-
souri regiments in this department indicates a different feeling. It
should, however, be remembered that nearly all of these so-called Mis-
souri regiments are composed of foreigners or men from other States.

440 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

From a dispassionate examination of this matter in all its bearings, and
after conversing with leading men from all parts of this country, I am
satisfied that the mass of the people here are against us, and that a
single false step or defeat will ruin our cause.

" Can't we get some arms soon? I cannot move without them.
Winter is already upon us, and I fear much longer delay will render it
exceedingly difficult to operate, and yet a winter campaign seems abso-
lutely necessary to restore our lost ascendancy and the quiet of the State.
" Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

" H. W. HALLECK, Major-General."

Notwithstanding this and more official evidence of the
demoralization and crime that occurred under Lane's verbal
commission to roam at will with a brigade at his heels, he
was not satisfied, and wanted the President to give him a
written commission for a campaign into New Mexico with
an army under his control. The correspondence of the
President, Secretary of War, and others concerning this
movement reveals conduct scarcely worthy of a petty prov-
ince of Mexico, or of the Sandwich Islands. After this ex-
pedition was well under way — on paper — General Hunter
wrote the following letter:

" HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF KANSAS,

" FORT LEAVENWORTH, KANSAS, February 8, 1862.
" Major-General H. IV. Halleck, Commanding Department of Missouri,
St. Louis, Mo. :

" GENERAL: Believing that the public interests maybe promoted by
an interchange of views between us, and a knowledge with each (in
some general sort) of what the other intends, I venture on intruding
some outlines of the condition of affairs in this department on your at-
tention.

" It seems, from all the evidence before me, that Senator J. H. Lane
has been trading at Washington on a capital made up partly of his own
senatorial position and partly of such scraps of influence as I may have
possessed in the confidence or esteem of the President, said scraps hav-
ing been ' jay -hawked ' by the Kansas senator without due consent of
the proper owner.

" In other words, I find that ' Lane's great Southern expedition ' was
entertained and sanctioned by the President under misrepresentations
made by somebody to the effect that said ' expedition ' was the joint
design and wish of Senator Lane and myself. Mr. Lincoln doubtless

HUNTER TO HALLECK. 441

thought he was obliging me, and aimed to oblige me in the matter, but
so little was I personally consulted, that to this hour I am in ignorance
of what were the terms or striking points of Senator Lane's programme.
Never, to this hour, has Senator Lane consulted me on the subject,
directly or indirectly, while the authorities at Washington have preserved
a similar indiscreet reticence, thinking, no doubt (as General Thomas
intimates in a recent letter), that as the plan was of my own concoction
in joint committee of two with Senator Lane, there could be no use, but
rather an impertinence, in any third parties trying to explain the general
drift and details to one of the original patentees.

" Thus I am left in ignorance, but it is more than probable that you
have been more favored.

" Your co-operation certainly would be necessary to make effective
any such expedition as that talked of, and as you have never been sus-
pected of enjoying Senator Lane's confidence and sharing his counsels,
I think it more than probable that the veil of mystery must have been
lifted in your particular case. If so, let me know, for otherwise I must
lower myself in the estimation of the authorities at Washington by con-
fessing that I have never at any time, directly or indirectly, consulted
with or been consulted by the Kansas senator in reference to this or
any other military operation whatever, and that as to any brotherly con-
fidence between us, there is just about as much now as there ever was.

' ' You can hardly conceive to what an extent the authorities at Wash-
ington have carried their faith in the representations of Mr. Lane and
their belief in a sort of Damon and Pythias affection between that gen-
tleman and myself. Regiments have been sent here with orders to
' report for duty with the forces under General J. H. Lane ; ' blanks
telegraphed for by me have been shipped to ' Brigadier-General Lane,
Fort Leaven worth, ' and have never reached these headquarters. In
fact, I may say that, so far as Washington was concerned, the Kansas
senator would seem to have effectually ' jay-hawked ' out of the minds of
the War Department any knowledge or remembrance of the general
commanding this department.

" And now we have reached an aspect of the case which would be
intensely ridiculous, if it were not so fraught with humiliation to offi-
cials and detriment to the public service. I am daily receiving letters
from majors, colonels, and lieutenant-colonels, announcing that they
have been appointed additional aides-de-camp on the staff of General
McClellan, with orders to report to me in person, that I may again
order them to report on the staff of ' Brigadier-General J. H. Lane.'

" The trouble is, that I know of no such brigadier-general, Senator
Lane having told me expressly and in terms, at the only interview we
have had since his return to Kansas, that he had not accepted his com-
mission, and was only my visitor ' as senator and member of the Mili-

442 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

tary Committee of the Senate of the United States.' I may add that in
the opinion of those who know him best it is not his intention to accept
the brigadiership, his hue and cry for that position having only been
raised at a time when he thought it probable that Stanton (or whoso-
ever was Governor Robinson's nominee) might oust him from the Sen-
ate. They say that he will never resign his seat in the Senate unless
he can have supreme control of this department, with liberty to appoint
his personal adherents and the legion of army contractors who follow in
his wake in charge of the quartermaster's and subsistence departments
of the public service in Kansas. This statement I believe.

"As to the vote obtained by him in the Kansas Legislature, asking
that he be appointed major-general, etc., I have heard from men thor-
oughly informed that it was also ' jay -hawked ' from the reluctant lips
of an overwhelming opposition majority by Lane's positive promise to
resign his senatorship forthwith in case it was passed. This made all
Lane's legislative enemies his most active friends, on the principle of
' anything to get rid of him, ' and all the aspirants for his seat at once im-
pressed their friends into voting anything that would create a vacancy.

" Now what is to be done with this erractic senator, or how are the
authorities at Washington to be convinced that it is neither wise nor
quite decorous to act in matters vitally affecting a department without
the knowledge or sanction of the department commander? On these
points I have to ask light from you, my ' confidential ' relations being
apparently confined to Senator Lane, while you, and very deservedly,
I confess, are believed to receive beams from the light of ' the inner
sanctuary. '

" Disappointed himself, Lane is now bent on making trouble and
obstructing the expedition which he finds he cannot control. He is be-
stirring himself in a thousand little irritating processes, trying to make
a quarrel or ' disagreement ' with me his pretext for backing out of an
employment which he never intended to accept. As a specimen of the
work he is at, and the friends he is working with, I send you this copy
of a telegram sent to him a few days since, a copy having been sent to
me by a friend at Washington :

tt< r IT z? * T /* "'WASHINGTON.

General Lane, fort Leaven-worth :

" ' I have been with the man you name. Hunter will not get the
money or men he requires. His command cannot go forward. Hold
on. Don't resign your seat. " < JOHN COVODE.'

" And now, having given you a pretty thorough insight of the shape
of matters here, and reserving a statement of my own plans and the
military condition of the department for another letter, I am, General,
very truly and obediently yours, „ D HuNTER>»

HALLECK TO HUNTER. 443

This was answered as follows :

" ST. Louis, February 13, 1862.

" Major-General D. Hunter, Commanding Department of Kansas, Fort
Leavenivorth, Kansas;

"GENERAL: Your very kind letter of the 8th is this moment re-
ceived. I must write you a very hasty answer to-day. You are entirely
mistaken about my having received any information, official or unofficial,
from Washington about the ' great jay-hawking expedition.' Not a
word or hint has been communicated to me. Orders were sent by Gen-
eral Thomas direct to various regiments in this department to immedi-
ately repair to Fort Leaven worth and report to General Hunter as a
part of General Lane's expedition. No notice of such orders was given
to me. To put a stop to these irregularities I issued General Orders,
No. 8, and protested both to General Thomas and General McClellan
against such an irregular and unmilitary proceeding. No reply. I
stopped some of the troops on their way, and reported that they could
not move till some order was sent to me. No reply.

" I am satisfied that there have been many of such orders issued di-
rectly by the President and Secretary Cameron without consulting Gen-
eral McClellan, and for that reason no reply could be given without ex-
posing the plans of the great jay-hawker and the imposition of himself
and Cameron on the President. Perhaps this is the key to the silence
of the authorities at Washington. I know nothing on the subject ex-
cept what I see in the newspapers.

" In regard to my own plans, they are very simple. I have sent
some sixteen thousand or seventeen thousand men, under General Cur-
tis, against Price at Springfield. He has been reinforced by Mclntosh,
and it is said that Van Dorn and Frost are also marching to his relief.
If it would be possible for you to move a cavalry force rapidly by Fort
Scott to threaten Price's right flank, it would have a most excellent
effect. This possibly was the original intention of Lane's expedition,
but I protested to Washington against any of his jay-hawkers coming
into this department, saying positively that I would arrest and disarm
every one I could catch.

' ' The remainder of all my available force will be sent to the lines of
the Cumberland and Tennessee. Who will take the immediate com-
mand there is not yet determined.

" Yours in haste,

" H. W. HALLECK."

When the Governor of Kansas had learned from what
appeared to be reliable authority that the President had ap-
pointed Senator Lane brigadier-general he gave Frederick

444 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

P. Stanton a commission as United States senator for Lane's
seat. About this time Lane skulked back to his seat in the
Senate, and the President and Secretary of War said no
general's appointment had ever been made.

Although Hunter had been given a hint that if he desired
a leave of absence for about twenty days he could probably
have it, while Lane should take his army to New Mexico,
he concluded to continue in the field and go in person to
attend to the foraging and other matters. He accordingly
issued an order as follows :

" HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF KANSAS,

" FORT LEAVENWORTH, KANSAS, January 27, 1862.

" I. In the expedition about to go South from this department, called
in the newspapers General Lane's expedition, it is the intention of the
major-general commanding the department to command in person, un-
less otherwise expressly ordered by the Government.

" 2. Transportation not having been supplied, we must go without it.
All tents, trunks, chests, chairs, tables, campstools, etc., must be at
once stored or abandoned. The general commanding takes in his valise
one shirt, one pair of drawers, one pair of socks, and one handkerchief,
and no officer or soldier will carry more. The surplus room in the
knapsack must be reserved for ammunition and provisions. Every offi-
cer and soldier will carry his own clothing and bedding.

" 3. The general commanding has applied to the Government for six
brigadier-generals, that his command may be properly organized. Un-
til their arrival, it is necessary that he should appoint acting brigadier-
generals from the senior colonels. To enable him to do this, in accord-
ance with the order on the subject, each colonel will immediately report
the day on which he was mustered into the service of the United States.

" D. HUNTER,
" Major-General Commanding."

This order, with the commission to Stanton as senator,
" broke the camel's back," and Senator- General- Governor
Lane wrote to his friend, John Covode, January 27, 1862,
as follows:

"See the President, Secretary of War, and General McClellan —
answer what I shall do. ,, y TT T ANE »

It is unnecessary to say that here ended the great Lane

MARTIAL LAW. 445

expedition, and the following order, declaring martial law,
ended the jay-hawkers while Hunter remained in command.

" GENERAL ORDERS, No. 17,

" HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF KANSAS,

" FORT LEAVENWORTH, KANSAS, February 8, 1862.

" I. The civil authorities of Kansas being manifestly unable to pre-
serve the peace and give due security to life and property, and having
in various instances notified the general commanding of their inability
to uphold the laws unassisted by the military arm, and the crime of
armed depredations or jay-hawking having reached a height dangerous
to the peace and property of the whole State and seriously compromis-
ing the Union cause in the border counties of Missouri : Now, there-
fore, martial law is declared throughout the State of Kansas, and will
be enforced with vigor.

" II. It is not intended by this declaration to interfere with or super-
sede the action of the civil authorities in cases of the ordinary nature
with which said civil authorities may be competent to deal, but it is the
resolve of the general commanding that the crime of jay-hawking shall
be put down with a strong hand and by summary process, and for this
purpose the trial of all prisoners charged with armed depredations
against property or assaults upon life will be conducted before the mili-
tary commissions provided for in General Orders, No. 12, of this de-
partment, current series, and the interference of the civil authorities in
such cases is prohibited.

"III. A suitable provost-marshal, with the necessary officers and
force, will immediately be appointed to carry out the terms of this order.

" By order of Major-General Hunter.

" CHAS. G. HALPIXE,
" Major and Assistant Adjutant-General."

General Hunter was succeeded by General Denver, in
spite of the strong objections of Lane. Denver had been
Governor in Kansas, and Lane could not use or frighten
him. It would seem that Secretary Stanton at this time for
some reason could not be used by Lane as aforetime. E.
A. Hitchcock, aid-de-camp to the Secretary, writes to Gen-
eral Halleck from Washington, March 22, 1862, in part as
follows :

" General H. W. Halleck, etc., St. Louis:

" MY DEAR GENERAL: I have just left the Secretary (late in the
evening). When about to bid him good-evening he conversationally

446 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

told me that Jim Lane had been to him to-day with an order from the
President for you not to put Denver in command in Kansas, but that
Davies (a recent appointment from New York) was to be assigned to
that command.

" He told me that his answer to Lane was a positive refusal to at-
tend to any such order, and if its enforcement should be attempted he
would leave the office. "

Probably this man Davies was the same man that report
said President Johnson afterwards promised to appoint Col-
lector of New York if Lane would defeat the Civil-tenure-
of-office Bill. He was said to be a relative of Lane.

When January, 1863, arrived, the first State Governor
gladly delivered up the executive chair to his successor, Gov-
ernor Thomas Carney. Enough had been seen and experi-
enced of the management of the war in the West, permitting
the most brutal and inhuman outrages, all to gratify personal
greed, malice, or ambition, to disgust any person not entirely
given over to subsisting upon human misery. Governor
Carney, being a friend of Lane, issued commissions at first
to Lane's appointees in the army whom Robinson refused to
commission, but he soon tired of the business of being sim-
ply an automaton, and proposed to be Governor in fact as
well as in name. This, of course, made trouble, and the
President was visited and finally concluded to recognize
Kansas as a loyal State entitled to some consideration by
the Federal Government.

Under Governor Carney's administration the retaliatory
raids, which Robinson had feared and guarded against as
best he could, occurred, including the massacre of one hun-
dred and eighty-three of the people of Lawrence by Quan-
trell, August 21, 1863. The border was now under control
of volunteer generals and other officers, with Lane as master
of ceremonies, although without a commission. It was no
secret that an expedition in the border counties of Missouri
was preparing to enter Kansas in retaliation for the outrages
of Lane and his thieves, yet it was permitted by a Union
force of one hundred men to march forty miles to Lawrence,

QUANTRELL'S RAID. 447

kill nearly two hundred people and burn the town, spending
three or four hours at the work of destruction before Federal
officers could straighten out their red tape and join in pur-
suit. However, after leaving what was left of Lawrence,
about three hundred citizens and Federal troops were rallied
under Lane and Colonel Plumb, who did escort duty to the
one hundred and seventy-five men under Quantrell. They
escorted them over the line into Missouri with due consider-
ation, not a gun being fired or a man injured. It should
not be inferred, however, that Lane was afraid of blood or
opposed to killing people, as afterwards, when Quantrell
was not near, he marched through some of the counties of
Missouri and made a clean sweep of all men found, whether
Union or dis-Union. Quantrell was more considerate than
Lane had been, as he told one of his prisoners, taken at the
Eldridge House, that he should spare the women from out-
rage, which Lane in his raids in Missouri did not do. He
also said, as Robinson, while Governor, did what he could
to preserve peace on the border, he should not molest him
or his property. Of this intention Robinson had no knowl-
edge, but both his person and property were spared, al-
though the raiders were within a short distance of him, and
in full view, and could have destroyed him and his property
without trouble. Had the raid not been for retaliation for
similar raids in Missouri, there is no reason why Robinson's
property should not have shared the fate of Lane's, nor why
he should not have been killed as were others when com-
pletely in the power of the raiders.

So great was the shock to the country of this Quantrell
retribution that it was necessary something should be done to
obscure the delinquencies of the officials, and " General Or-
der No. 1 1 " was issued, depopulating some of the border
counties of Missouri. Loyal and disloyal citizens alike had
to vacate and leave their homes to the tender mercies of the
thieves and despoilers, who left nothing but chimney-stacks
as monuments of the desolation in their wake. This order

448 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

was a most humiliating confession of the utter failure of the
war of rapine permitted, if not encouraged, by the officials at
Washington under Lane and his red-leg thieves, whether
within or without the ranks of the army. Had the President
favored the policy of protecting non-combatants, as the offi-
cials of the State of Missouri and Kansas desired, " Order
No. 1 1 " would have never been needed, and QuantrelPs
raid at Lawrence would never have occurred.

It must be borne in mind that the Kansas troops referred
to by the general officers and by the writer comprise only a
small portion under the control or influence of Lane and his
partisans. The large majority of Kansas troops were under
control of honorable officers, who despised such conduct and
would have no share in it. The bulk of Kansas troops made
an honorable record, and no State could excel Kansas in the
proportion furnished to the army, or show a greater per-
centage lost in battle. Kansas may be justly proud of her
war record, with these exceptions, and will not fail to confer
the highest honors upon her brave warriors.

One other raid, called the " Price raid," menaced Kansas,
but General Pleasanton was close in Price's rear, while Gen-
eral Deitzler, in command of about ten thousand of the
State militia, Curtis, Blair, Moonlight, and others met him
on the State line. He beat a hasty retreat towards Arkan-
sas, and the war clouds on the border were dissipated. It
has been unfashionable and unpopular to breathe the least
criticism of the conduct of the late war, and of its officers,
from the President down, but the time has passed when it
will be deemed honorable warfare to kill and outrage women
and children, flocks, herds, and " all that breathe," of the
enemy. Non-combatants, whether friends or foes, are en-
titled to be recognized as human beings ; and that officer,
whatever his rank, who will use his soldiers to persecute and
despoil innocent people is a cowardly brute, and should be
held up to the scorn and contempt of civilized people. It
is remarkable that the two men who were conspicuous for

SOL. MILLER ON THE WAR. 449

permitting or practicing inhuman atrocities are said to have
committed suicide to be rid of their own society. As time
goes on, the facts of the late war will come to the surface,
men will dare to publish them, and then will be a "revalua-
tion " of Stanton and Lane as there has been of John Brown.
While the latter lived, he and all his friends denied some of
his most important acts, and manufactured a condition of
affairs that had no foundation in fact that they might have a
consistent hero ; but some men have dared to look beneath
the surface and have discovered that the beautiful struct-
ure of which is made a hero rests upon " falsework " only
and as soon as this shall be removed down comes the hero.
So in regard to Stanton and Lane, some are already daring
to speak out gently and tell some truths, and it is to be
hoped it will not be long "before the whole truth can be told.
Hon. Sol. Miller, a most determined Republican, and the
most popular as well as the best-informed editor in Kansas,
referring to the writer's address before the Loyal Legion, has
this to say of Lincoln and Stanton :

" All the statements made by the Governor were facts. The treat-
ment of the loyal Governor of Kansas by President Lincoln and Secre-
tary Stanton, at the instance of Lane, was most shameful. The Gov-
ernor of no other loyal State was so treated. It was and still is unac-
countable how a man like Lincoln could do such a thing. It has left a
stain upon his Administration that even his martyrdom cannot efface.
It may have been through the malign influence of Stanton, who is
known in history as the ' Great War Secretary,' but who did many
things that would not do honor to his memory if daylight were let in
upon them. There is no doubt that his arbitrary and even tyrannical
rule caused many disasters to the Union armies, and sent many a gen-
eral into disgrace, who, if let alone, might have won honorable fame.
The stipulation demanded by General Grant before he would consent to
take command of the Army of the Potomac, that his command must
be absolute, without any interference whatever from the Secretary of
War, shows that Stanton was known and dreaded by the officers ; and
Grant's success where all others had failed leaves a dark suspicion of
the calamities that Stanton's influence brought about. We do not
doubt that his influence was responsible for much of the trouble in
Kansas."
29

45° THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

Mr. Miller refers to the situation in Kansas during the
war in his paper of February, 1891, in answer to a letter of
inquiry, as follows :

" Have you ever heard of a man by the name of Jim Lane? Well,
he wanted to be all of Kansas. He was elected to the United States
Senate at the beginning of the war. Even his enemies gracefully ac-
quiesced, and were willing to sustain him in his position. But he was
not satisfied with that. He not only determined to have all his op-
ponents under his feet, but to have full control of the State Government.
Where his partisans were not in positions, he undertook to put them
there, by means apparently regular, or by foul means, as the case de-
manded. Not only did he determine to be her senator, but Governor
of the State also, and a department commander in the army, and to dic-
tate all the army appointments of the State, rightfully belonging to the
Governor ; and he actually did usurp this power, by permission of the
President and the Secretary of War — an outrage committed upon no
other loyal State in the Union. This was not all : a system of terrorism
was practiced upon loyal citizens who were not in the army, by means
of deputy marshals, so-called detectives, and desperate, irresponsible
men under other guises, to keep them in subjection to the wishes of
Lane. And yet this was not all : gangs of reckless armed men infested
every community in the State near the eastern border, who were known
by the name of ' jay -hawkers,' every one a hot partisan of Lane, and
who would resent an affront to him quicker than a disloyal act to the
Government. These men, of course, were intensely loyal ; but if the
Rebel side had been on top, they (or the most of them) would have
been just as intensely the other way. They were active, able-bodied,
fine-looking men, as a rule, just such as would have been of valuable
service in the army ; but they were not in the army, but devoting them-
selves to pillage and robbing. They first despoiled men of known dis-
loyal sentiments on the Missouri side of the river. When that field was
worked out, they paid their respects to men on this side who were
known to be sympathizers with the South. When that harvest was ex-
hausted, they began to make disloyal men — that is, they would trump
up charges of disloyalty against citizens, and proceed to steal their
horses. Men who would not worship Lane, or men against whom local
jay-hawkers had a grudge, were spotted as disloyal, and their horses
were stolen. Many of the best citizens were opposed to this business
from the start ; but when it got down to this indiscriminate robbery of
peaceable, loyal citizens by a gang of desperadoes who should have been
in the army, they organized against them, and soon their graves began
to dot the prairies of Kansas. Several of them were killed in Troy ;
one of the leaders at Geary City ; and Cleveland, the chief of all, down

SOL. MILLER JAMES CHRISTIAN. 451

on the border below Kansas City. The survivors were finally driven
into the army.

" The foregoing state of affairs existed in the year 1862. In the Re-
publican State Convention of that year commissions were almost openly
auctioned off to influence delegates. Lane had got the right to appoint
the officers of three regiments then being organized, and he used them
to run the State Convention. We saw one man in the Convention, the
most blatant Lane man, who less than two years before had had his
head broken in attempting to drive Republicans from the polls, and
who, at the beginning of the war, called a meeting in this county for
the purpose of taking action looking to uniting Kansas with the South-
ern Confederacy. He had a quartermaster's commission in his pocket.
Another noisy delegate had a similar commission. One of the Doniphan
County delegates, upon reaching Atchison, was feeling unwell. A
physician in the party told him he was taking typhoid fever, and ought
to get home as soon as possible. Thus frightened, he gave his proxy
to the doctor, who did Lane's work in the Convention, and came out
with a lieutenant-colonel's commission. One prominent anti-Lane man,
who suddenly flopped before the Convention assembled, got a revenue
appointment. It seemed as if fully one-half of the delegates in the
Convention went away with commissions in their pockets. A most ex-
cellent ticket was nominated, but it was by such scandalous means. It
was intended that they should be tools of Lane ; but they disappointed
his expectations, and made good officers. But this was not the object
in their nomination, and was not foreseen at the time. The means em-
ployed to nominate them was what hurt, and it caused a big kick."

Captain James Christian, Lane's law partner, a man uni-
versally esteemed, has this to say ;

"ARKANSAS CITY, KANSAS, January 21, 1889.
" Governor Charles Robinson, Lawrence, Kansas :

" DEAR SIR : I have read with much interest your paper read before
the Loyal Legion at Leavenworth, January 3, 1889, and from my stand-
point— and few men in Kansas had a better opportunity of knowing
the true inwardness and the facts as they occurred during that period of
Kansas history, as I was intimately acquainted with all the leading
characters that figured in that period of Kansas and Missouri history,
including yourself — I must confess that you under rather than overstate
the character of that terrible period. Hell in its fury could not match
the malignity and depravity of the acts that were committed on the bor-
der of Kansas and Missouri during 1861, 1862 and 1863. I have a
personal knowledge of some of the facts you mention, and know them to
be strictly true, and from the source of knowledge I had at that time I

452 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

have no doubt of some of the facts that you state of a personal character
being also true. I was stationed on the border at Paola some seven
months as quartermaster, ordnance officer, and commissioner of sub-
sistence, U. S. A., as brigade officer of the Twelfth Kansas, Colonel
Charles W. Adams, and the First Colored, Colonel J. M. Williams,
from the fall of 1862 to June, 1863. When I was first appointed I was
ordered to report to General James H. Lane. This brought me in con-
flict with Major Easton at Fort Leavenworth, who would not recognize
General Lane as an officer of the United States army, and refused to
supply me with quartermaster stores. But when seeing my appoint-
ment from the War Department, he relented and filled my requisition.
From that on I had no trouble. * * *

" In his brigadier-generalship he was notoriously aided by Stanton,
Secretary of War, and poor President Lincoln was but a man, subject
to like passions as the rest of us, subject to flattery and coercion. I
was in Washington when Fred. P. Stanton appeared as senator in Lane's
place, and there was terrible squirming and consulting at headquarters
to smother the papers and expunge from the records certain papers and
documents — but it was all fixed up by the whole-souled Christian states-
man Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. But the fact was, Governor,
men of your way of thinking at that time were in a hopeless minority.
Patriotism was not near so great an object as plunder and popularity.
It was too much a political war — at least in Kansas. * * *

" Yours truly,

"JAMES CHRISTIAN."

The following, believed to be written by one of the best
and most useful men Kansas ever had, who was promoted
to a general in the army, is quoted, as it gives a correct
picture of the times :

" BARNUM'S HOTEL, ST. Louis, MISSOURI, August 30, 1862.
"Editor Missouri Republican :

' ' I noticed in your paper three or four days ago, your Memphis cor-
respondent quotes a letter from John Lockhart, Captain, etc., wherein
John complains that ' General Curtis's army does not forage off the
enemy, are guarding Rebel property, etc.,' and speaks of the infamous
conduct of General Curtis and other generals, and says soldiers ought
to desert unless his views are adopted. John is a Kansas man, and
evidently don't like the way this war is being carried on. Some others
of us don't like it either, but for quite different reasons from his. John
was not with Curtis's army in its march through Arkansas, was not
with it when it arrived at Helena; hence was too late to get his share
and evidently feels mad about it, and must vent his spite on somebody.

GENERAL DEITZLER. 453

Now, John, hold on a minute. You say, ' On every road leading
from Helena, for ten miles, soldiers are at every house guarding Rebel
property.' How indignant the whole country must feel on reading
that.

" Now hear me. I was with Curtis on his march through Arkansas,
was with the army when it arrived at Helena ; and I now tell John
Lockhart and the country that on the Arkansas side of the river, out-
side of Helena, there is not a house for ten miles from Helena but -what
has been pillaged from cellar to garret by our troops. Trunks broken
open, bureaus opened and sacked — in fact, every drawer, cupboard,
trunk, chest, sacked and pillaged ; ladies' dresses, earrings, finger rings,
breast-pins, in fact everything movable possessing value stolen. That
is not all. On the road travelled by the army the same system of pillage
has been carried on. If a dollar's worth of movable property has been
left, it was because the soldier's knapsack would hold no more, or
wagons could not be pressed to haul it. If guards are now placed at
the houses, it is a laudable effort to try to repair the outrages of the
past, or perchance to protect the ' colored ladies ' from exhibitions of
love manifested by some of the followers of Jim Lane, in imitation of
the chivalry of the South.

"John is opposed to guarding Rebel property, and would forage off
the enemy. So am I, for any love I have for the enemy. I believe in
so subsisting our army off of the enemy whenever it is possible ; that
their property should be taken by quartermasters, accounted for, and
that much saved to the Government. But this is not what some mean
by their great cry about ' guarding Rebel property ' and living off the
enemy. They favor a promiscuous and indiscriminate system of steal-
ing and plunder, where the best fellow gets the most, and which would
never benefit the Government a dollar. I undertake to say it is the
duty of a general to take care of his army, and, if necessary, to put out
guards to keep soldiers from pilfering or plundering. He should do
so, and stop it at once, and at all hazards. Unless this is done, the
army is demoralized, and becomes worthless for fighting. I have heani
it said at Helena that Curtis has regiments that could steal Vicksburg,
or even Richmond, in a week, without a fight. John is a Kansas man,
a disciple of Jim Lane, and, I suppose, would carry the war on on
Lane's principles, or rather, Lane's want of principle. We all recollect
Lane's marches in Missouri last year, when he was playing brigadier-
general, and was so patriotic that he charged the Government ' nary a
cent ' for it. We know that millions of dollars' worth of cattle, horses,
and mules were driven off, but no one will pretend to say that one dol-
lar went to Government. The Osceola bank lost $8000; scores of
ladies lost silk dresses : Lane sent his wife, just afterwards, $1000 in
gold, a lot of silk dresses, and other women fixings, with a letter cau-

454 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

tioning her to be careful about using the money and articles, and not
attract too much notice ; afterwards returned to Leavenworth, paid his
debts, walked the streets with his hands full of gold, but Government
did not get a dollar. How is it in Kansas now? You pay six cents
per pound net for all the beef used in the Department, yet whoever
heard of a Missouri or a Cherokee farmer getting pay for his cattle?
A citizen of Kansas, slightly intoxicated, got into my room at midnight
a few nights since, at Leavenworth, Kansas, and was boasting of clear-
ing sixteen hundred and fifty dollars on beef that day. * * *

" Lane's brigade, organized last year by authority of the Presi-
dent, without commissions from the Governor, became an irresponsible,
unorganized mob, until the Governor reorganized them and brought
system out of chaos. Six hundred thousand troops are again called for,
yet the State of Kansas has not been called upon for a man. The Gov-
ernor, whose loyalty no one will dispute, has offered time after time, in
his official capacity, to raise troops, yet his letters are unanswered.

" But this same Jim Lane is commissioned to go to Kansas and take
the exclusive charge of recruiting in that State. The people of Kansas
are heartily sick of this. They have a State Government as loyal as
any in the Union, and why it should be ignored by the President and
Secretary of War is more than they can comprehend. But more anon.

"TRUTH TELLER."

The Kansas City Star gives this version :

"THE REVOLT AGAINST LANE IN 1862.

" What engendered the antagonism in the Republican party of Kan-
sas?

" Mr. Willis J. Abbott, author of the 'Blue-jacket' books, is pre-
paring ' The Story of Kansas ' for Lothrop's ' Stories of the States '
series. A Star reporter asked him this morning the cause of the Re-
publican revolt against Senator Lane in 1862, which brought Mr. In-
galls and others under the lash of the regular Republican newspapers.

" ' Briefly stated,' said Mr. Abbott, ' Senator Lane's quarrel with the
authorities of Kansas was based upon his pretensions to the military
control of the State. Robinson and Carney, who filled the gubernato-
rial chair of the State during the Civil War period, bitterly contested
these pretensions, but Lane's influence with Lincoln and Stanton en-
abled him to maintain his supremacy until 1864, when Governor Carney
went to Washington, and by personal interviews with the President and
the Secretary of War secured for himself the recognition that was given
the Governor of every other State. At the opening of the war the State
authorities raised volunteer troops in the usual manner, and after this
work was done Lane appeared, clothed with vague military powers, and

W. J. ABBOTT " RECORD." 455

taking command of the State forces began making predatory raids into
Missouri. His course was deprecated by the Kansas authorities as well
as by the officers of the regular army, on the ground that he was stirring
up useless strife. While there was some secession sentiment in Mis-
souri, there had been no evert acts of war, and it seems probable that
much of the border warfare was due wholly to Lane's ill-advised zeal.
When fully in control of the military forces of Kansas, Lane persuaded
the War Department to authorize a military invasion of the southwest,
representing that General Hunter joined with him in advising it.
Hunter afterwards wrote the military authorities, disclaiming any knowl-
edge of Lane's scheme, and refused to co-operate with him, thus break-
ing up the project.

" ' In 1862 Lane was appointed " commissioner for recruiting in the
department of Kansas." He organized regiments and distributed mili-
tary offices, but was checkmated by the refusal of Governor Robinson
to issue the commissions. The first regiment of colored troops was
formed by Lane.

" ' In 1864 Lane's pretensions became so unbearable to the Kansas
authorities that Carney went to WTashington to protest. After an inter-
view with Lincoln he went to Secretary Stanton, bearing a letter from
the President suggesting that the Governor of Kansas should be treated
like other governors. Stanton tore the letter up, saying angrily :

" ' " Tell the President that I am Secretary of War."

' ' ' Carney turned away, but before he left the building the Secretary
sent after him, and a long interview ended in the extinction of Lane's
extraordinary powers.

" ' Lane's suicide was in no way due to his political quarrels. He
had become reconciled to Carney, and his public position seemed secure,
when certain dishonorable proceedings on his part in connection with
Indian traders became known. After failing to exculpate himself, and
trying in vain to secure a foreign appointment from the President, he
put a pistol in his mouth, and discharged it. Though the wound would
have killed an ordinary man immediately, he lived ten days, dying July
10, 1866.'"

A recent number of the Westport Record has this :

" Governor Charles Robinson, the ' War Governor' of Kansas, has
set the Kansas press on fire by speaking out on James H. Lane's
methods during the war. We are glad there is one man in Kansas who
dares to speak the truth in vindication of history. The Kansas-Mis-
souri border war was a disgrace even to barbarism. Westport was a
central point thereof. We have no excuses to offer, therefore, but re-
taliation. Could Governor Robinson have controlled his Kansas cut-
throats and robbers, his policy would have saved bloodshed and fire at

456 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

least. Missouri law turned over to Kansas authorities the first company
of thieving excursionists, with their plunder, that visited Kansas. An
unwritten treaty existed between the State Government of Kansas and
western Missouri counties early in the war, which both sides endeavored
to sustain. Lane, Jennison, and their cut-throat followers, unrestricted
by patriotism, friends, or law, by murder, rapine, and plunder aroused
the western counties and drew over the line the worst and most lawless
elements of our citizenship. Quantrell and his bloodthirsty gang went
to Lawrence after Lane in vengeance for burning Sibley, plundered
Westport, and pillaged Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Bates counties. Bad
feeling is now over, and we only hail Governor Robinson's letter with
joy as being vindicatory of history and as being from the man whose
policy so thoroughly foiled all our well-laid plans for making Kansas a
pro-slavery State."

Professor L. W. Spring, a writer on Kansas who dared to
tell the truth as he found it, has this to say, beginning on
page 273 of his " Kansas " :

" Lane's singular influence over Mr. Lincoln and the Secretary of
War, Mr. Stanton, is one of the most inexplicable and disastrous facts
that concerned Kansas in 1861-65. It was the source of the heaviest
calamities that visited the commonwealth during that period, because it
put him in a position to gratify mischievous ambitions, to pursue per-
sonal feuds, to assume duties that belonged to others, to popularize the
corruptest political methods, and to organize semi-predatory military
expeditions. His conduct not only embarrassed the State executive and
threw State affairs into confusion, but provoked sanguinary reprisals
from Missouri. In 1864 Mr. Lincoln, remarking upon Lane's extraor-
dinary career in Washington to Governor Carney, offered no better ex-
planation of it than this : ' He knocks at my door every morning.
You know he is a very persistent fellow, and hard to put off. I don't
see you very often, and have to pay attention to him.'

" Lane's intrigues in Washington against the State administration
prospered. Though recruiting was energetically pushed by the local
authorities, and three regiments were already in the field — the first and
second obtaining honorable recognition for gallant conduct at the battle
of Wilson's Creek, Missouri — yet in August, Lane, technically a civil-
ian, appeared in Kansas clothed with vague but usurping military
powers. He reached Leavenworth on the I5th, and announced in a
public address the extinction of all his personal and political enmities —
a costly sacrifice laid on the altar of his country. Two days after-
wards he set out for Fort Scott, where the Kansas Brigade, comprising

PROFESSOR SPRING. 457

the Third and Fourth Infantry together with the Fifth and Sixth Cav-
alry regiments, was concentrating to repel attacks upon the southeast.
He began his brief military career in this region by constructing several
useless fortifications, among which the most considerable affair was
Fort Lincoln, on the Little Osage River, twelve miles north of Fort
Scott. September 2d there was a skirmish at Dry Wood Creek, Mis-
souri, between a reconnoitering party and a force under the Confed-
erate General Rains, which was not wholly favorable to the Kansans,
and caused a panic at Fort Scott. Leaving a body of cavalry with
orders to defend the town as long as possible, and then fire it, Lane
retired to his earthworks on the Little Osage. ' I am compelled to make
a stand here,' he reported September 2d, after getting inside Fort
Lincoln, ' or give up Kansas to disgrace and destruction. If you do
not hear from me again, you can understand that I am surrounded by a
superior force.' The Confederates did not follow up their advantage,
but retreated leisurely towards Independence, Missouri. Encouraged
by their withdrawal, Lane took the field on the roth 'with a smart little
army of about fifteen hundred men, ' reached Westport, Missouri, four
days later, where he reported, ' Yesterday I cleaned out Butler and Park-
ville with my cavalry.' September 22d he sacked and burned Osceola,
Missouri — an enterprise in which large amounts of property and a score
of inhabitants were sacrificed. He broke camp on the 27th, and in two
days reached Kansas City. The brigade converted the Missouri border
through which the march lay into a wilderness, and reached its destina-
tion heavily encumbered with plunder. 'Everything disloyal,' said
Lane, ' * * * must be cleaned out ; ' and never were orders more lit-
erally or cheerfully obeyed. Even the chaplain succumbed to the ram-
pant spirit of thievery, and plundered Confederate altars in the interest
of his unfinished church at home. Among the spoils that fell to Lane
personally there was a fine carriage, which he brought to Lawrence for
the use of his household."

But enough of such wholesale crimes to gratify the crav-
ings of a bloodthirsty maniac clothed with authority from
Washington. Various reasons have been given for his final
taking off, but it was a clear case of simple retribution for
crimes that no human tribunal was adequate to punish.
Retribution came in a most simple and natural way, as it
always does under the immutable law of action and reaction.
This man not only despoiled the inhabitants of Missouri and
Kansas, but he joined a partnership concerned with Indian
and army contracts. Not content with that, he is said to

458 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

have formed a partnership with President Johnson to defeat
a Republican measure in the Senate, the Civil-tenure-of-office
Bill, in consideration of having a relative appointed Collector
of New York. As he failed, however, to defeat the bill, he
failed of the reward for his treachery to his party, but he
secured the ill-will and contempt of his colleagues in the
Senate. This opened the way for the exposure of his In-
dian partnership, which, if proven, would expel him from
his senatorial seat. The man who possessed the proof of the
partnership had been prepared for his part in the drama by
Lane when first elected senator. This man's name was G.
W. Deitzier, Colonel of the First Regiment of Kansas Vol-
unteers, who by gallant conduct at Wilson's Creek and else-
where had earned and received the appointment of brigadier-
general. Before senators had been elected in 1861 in
Kansas, Deitzier was appointed Indian agent, but his ap-
pointment had not been acted upon by the Senate when
Lane took his seat in that body. Lane at once opposed
Deitzler's confirmation, charging some improper conduct on
his part, and his name was withdrawn by the President.
Deitzier became permanently disabled from service in the
army by sickness, and resigned as brigadier-general. He
afterwards became a member of the firm of which Lane was
private partner. By this means he acquired the information
that would have been fatal to Lane had it been given to the
Senate. Some of Lane's former friends who became ene-
mies because of his course on the Civil-tenure Bill, or for
some other reason, started the ball by damaging correspond-
ence to leading newspapers. Lane referred to this in his
place in the Senate, promising to give the reports due atten-
tion at another time. He started at once for Kansas to
shut the mouth of Deitzier, but this was impossible. All
manner of appliances were used without avail. General
Deitzier refers to the efforts of Lane's friends in a letter to
Robinson dated San Francisco, California, November 16,
1879, as follows:

CAUSE OF LANE'S SUICIDE. 459

" If it will answer your purpose, I will give you the solid facts re-
specting the Fuller and McDonald Indian and Army contracts, and
Lane's interest therein, and his disgraceful conduct when he was ex-
posed, and finally, of his death when he discovered that I could not be
moved by blandishment nor threats to give up the testimony which a
kind Providence had placed in my hands, and which, if submitted to
the United States Senate, would certainly have resulted in his expulsion
from that body, which facts you might place in the hands of General J.
L. McDowell, to be incorporated in the letters which he proposes to
write on such subjects. * * * If the facts which I have proposed to
furnish for General McDowell should be called in question by the cham-
pions of Lane, I would be willing to swear to them and to produce such
further evidence as would convince all of their truth. * * *
" Truly your friend,

" GEORGE W. DEITZLER."

On January 31, 1884, Deitzler wrote from Oro Blanco,
Arizona Territory, in part as follows :

' ' Now the cause which led to the grim chieftain's flirtation with his
little pistol would form an interesting chapter in his infamous career,
and I am perhaps better posted on that subject than any other person ;
and while the task is very distasteful to me, I am almost persuaded to
regard it as a duty, and furnish the groundwork for you to dress it up
when you shall have reached that point in your recollections of those
times. I will do it, upon the following conditions : First, it must not
go in as coming from me, and secondly, before it goes in you must get
General McDowell's endorsement so far as he is cognizant of the facts
in the case. General McDowell was postmaster at Leavenworth at the
time, by the grace of Lane, and he came to my house and labored with
me several days to let the old man down easily, as others had done.
McDowell was my friend, and at heart despised Lane as much as I did ;
but he really worked hard to induce me to let up and to surrender certain
official and partnership documents in my possession, which documents,
supplemented by testimony, would have hoisted the old sinner disgrace-
fully from his seat in the United States Senate. General McDowell's
conduct was gentlemanly and proper in every sense, and he offered me
no bribe, as Fuller, Dewolf, and others did. All he said was that Lane
would secure me any appointment I might desire, while his more inti-
mate friends and strikers offered appointments, money, land, etc., and
finally threats. But Lane had not been good to me, and besides, I
knew him to be a very bad man, and so on general principles I felt it
my duty to do what I could to deprive him of his power. When he

460 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

found that ' blandishments would not fascinate me nor threats of the
halter intimidate me,' his courage failed him. You know the rest."

Before General Deitzler had time to write out his facts he
was accidentally killed, and they may never be given to the
public.

Senator Lane, failing to get what he wanted from General
Deitzler, started for Washington, but on reaching St. Louis,
and hearing of new scandals at Washington, he concluded
to return to Kansas, and soon after put a pistol in his mouth
and sent a ball through his brain. Thus ended the career
of a man without principles or convictions of any kind, who
was comparatively weak and harmless when alone, but with
the support of the Administration at Washington, with un-
limited patronage and irresponsible power, was an instrument
of untold evil.

At the time of the Wakarusa war, in the fall of 1855,
Thomas Barber was wantonly murdered by the Governor's
militia, and at his funeral this language was used: "Was
Thomas Barber murdered f Then are the men who killed
him, and the officials by whose authority they acted, his mur-
derers. And if the laws are to be enforced, then will the
Indian agent, the Governor, and the President be convicted
of and punished for murder." Was this position right in
that case ? If so, here is another case, which was multiplied
probably by hundreds, if not by thousands. At a meeting at
Leavenworth, Lane is reported in Lippincott 's Magazine as
saying: "When I was marching through there [Missouri]
the other day, I happened to inquire for the best Union
man in the county. They told me Hook, and I went out
of my way to visit him. I asked him in the presence of my
men if he was for the Union. He said, ' Yes, for the Union
as it was.' I then inquired if he harbored Rebels in his
house. He answered, ' No, but he had heard them at his
corn-crib sometimes at night.' I turned and rode away."

A voice in the crowd : " Where's Hook now ? " " In !

I left him in the hands of the executioner."

RESPONSIBILITY FOR MURDERS. 461

Was this murder? If so, then are those who killed the
man " and those by whose authority they acted his murder-
ers," not excepting the men who gave Lane his roving com-
mission. It is claimed that such conduct was in retaliation
for the Quantrell raid, but unfortunately the Quantrell raid
was itself a retaliation for similar raids into Missouri pre-
viously made by Lane.

Of this supplementary raid this writer in Lippincott truly
says: "The victims of his [QuantrelPs] massacre have been
counted, but those whom Lane and Jennison left in the
hands of their executioners, who will chronicle them ? They
are unnumbered as the murders of Attila."

Several lessons may be learned from the conflict in Kan-
sas, and the conduct of the War of the Rebellion in the West,
that may be of service to the oppressed, to philanthropists
and statesmen.

It will be seen that the remedy for oppression in a Re-
publican government is not the overthrow of that govern-
ment, but resistance of oppression within it. If a people
with votes in their hands, with power to replace every offi-
cial, from President to constable, cannot exercise that power
for their relief from oppression, a forcible overthrow of the
government would leave them at the mercy of designing
men who would as readily control the new government as
the one destroyed. A Republican government is what the
people make it, and if not what it should be, they only are
to blame. The safety of such a government depends upon
the education of the voters ; and the remedy for injustice in
any direction is exposure of the wrong and agitation for the
right. Defensive opposition to wrong and oppression with
prudence will succeed, while offensive opposition to the
government itself will fail. Amos A. Lawrence once said,
" The Government may have many faults, but let it be as-
sailed from any quarter and the whole people will rally for
its defense." In resisting oppression no wrong or outrage
must be committed by the oppressed. They depend for

462 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

relief upon the sympathy or sense of justice of the people
not directly interested; and so long as oppression only is
resisted, this sympathy will be with the oppressed, but so
soon as the oppressed or wronged turn oppressors and wrong
innocent parties, all sympathy ceases. The Free-State party
of Kansas retained the sympathy of the North because it did
nothing that could be called wrong in itself to any man, but
acted strictly on the defensive. And when Brown's massa-
cre occurred, Redpath, knowing the effect of wrong-doing
upon the .country at large, painted the men killed in the
blackest colors imaginable, making their taking off an act of
self-defense on the part of the Free-State men. Had the
facts been generally known at that time as they are known
now, that these men killed were no more guilty of crime than
were the men killed by Hamilton at the Marais des Cygnes,
a terrible revulsion would have occurred throughout the land.
But the Slave-State men knew the facts, and the retaliation
commenced immediately and lasted all summer. As fast as
Free-State men learned the facts and became undeceived,
apologies gave way to censure. So in the war of the rebel-
lion : had Lane and his red-legs, regular or irregular, con-
fined their operations to hostile armies protecting non-com-
batants of all parties from molestation, comparative peace
would have reigned on the borders of the two States, Missouri
and Kansas, and all parties would have remained at home
except such as chose to enlist in the regular service ; but the
system of brigandage adopted by Lane and his partisans
drove nearly the entire State of Missouri into rebellion, and
all able-bodied men into the rebel army, besides causing
retaliatory raids upon Kansas like that of Quantrell upon
Lawrence in 1863.

Here was a most lamentable example of the abuse of
Federal patronage. The President, that he might insure his
re-election, or for other cause, placed the army at the dis-
posal of a man so constituted that a little power over the
lives of other men would intoxicate him, and permitted him

LESSONS TAUGHT. 463

to devastate, plunder, and kill at pleasure, restrained by no
authority, human or divine.

But the lesson will not be forgotten by the ambitious.
One of these men, not receiving the punishment due for his
crimes in Kansas, sought to inaugurate a servile war, the
most revolting of all wars, and suffered the penalty prescribed
by law. Another was overtaken in his crimes, and executed
himself ; while the third, although glorified for his proclama-
tion freeing the slaves of the South, has the luster of his
fame and name terribly tarnished by his conduct of the war
in the West, if not in the East.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE GROWTH OF KANSAS. HER INSTITUTIONS. TEMPER-
ANCE. PROHIBITION. IMPORTANCE OF THE KANSAS

CONFLICT.

THE close of the war found Kansas with a population but
little in excess of the population when admitted into the
Union. In 1861 her population was 107,206, while in 1865
it was 140,179, the increase being chiefly after the close of
the war in 1864.

After 1865 the prosperity of Kansas was unparalleled in
population, wealth, production, internal improvements, edu-
cational facilities, charitable institutions, and religion.

The national census of 1890 shows a population for Kan-
sas of 1,423,000; while the school population between the
ages of five and twenty years, 1888, was 532,010. The to-
tal population for that year, 1888, estimated by Governor
Martin, was 1,651,000.

The assessed valuation of all property in Kansas in 1860
was $22,518,232 ; while in 1888 it was $353,248,332. The
number of school-houses in the State in 1888 was 8196,
valued at $8,608,202 ; while the receipts from taxation and
other sources for school purposes were $5,333,200.

Of the higher educational institutions, Governor John A.
Martin, in his message, January, 1889, thus speaks:

"The State University now comprises six departments — Science,
Literature and Arts, Law, Music, Pharmacy, Art and Medicine. The
Preparatory Department has been recently discontinued, as the Normal
Department was a few years ago, and advanced tests for admission have
been established, so that the institution may be devoted to legitimate
university work, leaving secondary education with the high-schools and

EDUCATIONAL SUSTITUTIONS. 465

academies of the State. These changes have largely reduced the num.
ber of students qualified for admission, but notwithstanding this fact
the number in attendance shows a steady and gratifying increase. On
the ist of January, 1885, the students enrolled numbered four hundred
and nineteen ; and twenty-four professors, assistants, and instructors
were employed. On the ist of January last four hundred and eighty-
three students were enrolled, and the corps of professors, assistants, and
instructors numbered thirty. * * *

" The State Agricultural College has at present three hundred and
fifty-nine students enrolled, an increase of twenty-one since the close of
the fall term of 1884. Its instructors in all departments number twenty-
five, an increase of four during the past four years. The improvements
in buildings and fixtures since January i, 1885, have aggregated in
value $27,000, and the increase in the value of the farm, furniture,
stock, and apparatus is over $70,000.

" The State Normal School has four hundred and forty students en-
rolled on the ist of January, 1885, and six hundred and sixty are now
enrolled. Fourteen instructors are now employed, an increase of three
in four years. The expenditures during that period include $26,200 for
buildings, $4800 for museum and apparatus, and $5000 for furniture
and miscellaneous improvements.

" The buildings of all these institutions are commodious, handsome,
substantially built, and admirably adapted for their purposes ; and it can
be fairly said that the reputation of the University, the College, and
the Normal School, for thorough and exact work in their several de-
partments, has more than kept pace with their improved facilities and
attendance."

The subject of a college or university was considered
early in the territorial period. Amos A. Lawrence, after
whom the town of Lawrence was named, gave to S. C.
Pomeroy and C. Robinson as trustees two notes, of $5000
each, with accruing interest, to endow a college or university
at Lawrence in 1855. This endowment, amounting in 1863
to over $14,000, secured the location of the State University
at that town.

The charitable institutions are on a most liberal scale.

The insane asylums in 1888 accommodated over sixteen
hundred patients ; the Institution for the Blind had eighty-
six pupils ; for Deaf and Dumb, three hundred and twenty-
one pupils; State Reform School, two hundred and eight
30

466 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

pupils; Soldiers' Orphans' Home, one hundred and nine
children ; Asylum for Idiotic and Imbecile Youth, one hun-
dred children. The churches of the various denominations
were early in the field, Rev. S. Y. Lum, Congregationalist,
and Rev. T. Ferrill, Methodist, arriving in Kansas in 1854,
and Rev. E. Nute, Unitarian, in 1855. But as population
increased denominations multiplied, furnishing every town
and hamlet with as many religious societies as the people
were able to support.

Internal improvements, especially transportation, have
kept pace with the population. As Kansas is essentially an
agricultural State, adapted to wheat, corn, and stock-raising,
railroads were a necessity and, although expensive, no local-
ity would part with them for twice their cost to the people.
No new State has been so favored in this respect, the track
laid reaching nearly nine thousand miles. While all power
is apt to be arbitrary and oppressive, the vast corporations
controlling the transportation lines in Kansas have been as
reasonable in their charges and mindful of the interests of
their patrons, the people, as could be hoped for under the
circumstances. While some roads more than pay expenses,
as through lines, their branches and feeders which accommo-
date sparsely settled communities fall behind. As business
increases it cari be done at lower rates, and with an ever-
watchful Legislature justice will doubtless be done to all
parties interested.

While some of the most reckless, unscrupulous, and aban-
doned men have found their way to Kansas, as a whole no
State can show a better class of citizens. Nearly all the
active Free-State men were strictly temperate in their habits,
many of them never using intoxicants as a beverage. The
Territorial Legislature passed stringent local option laws,
and they were well enforced. The State Legislatures also
have always kept abreast of the temperance movement in
the country, and no State could show as few drinking-places
in proportion to the population as Kansas. In 1880 there

TEMPERANCE PROHIBITION. 467

were less than a dozen towns in the State that did not have
local option prohibition, and even where license prevailed
the restrictions in most places were enforced and drunken-
ness was rarely seen upon the streets. So strong was the
feeling against the liquor traffic .that at that date an amend-
ment to the constitution was adopted forbidding the sale of
intoxicants for all purposes except medical, mechanical, and
scientific. Should the amendment and laws passed under it
be strictly enforced, no intoxicants could be procured for
purposes of drink by purchase or manufacture within the
State. The purpose of the amendment is thus set forth by
the attorney-general in his report for the years 1889-1890.

" The prohibitory law of Kansas forbids the manufacture and sale
of intoxicating liquor, except for medical, scientific, and mechanical
purposes. Thus far in Kansas no attempt has been made to regulate
by legislation the use of intoxicating liquors. Every person who can
lawfully acquire and come into possession of any intoxicating liquor has
been at perfect liberty to use the same in any manner he sees fit, and
for any purpose, excepting that of sale to others. The only object of
forbidding the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors, except for
medical, scientific, and mechanical uses, must necessarily have been to
diminish the use of said liquors except for such purposes. The object
sought was the prevention of the use of intoxicating liquors as a bever-
age. The method employed was the indirect one of forbidding the
manufacture or sale of intoxicating liquor except for these purposes.
In order to justify the prohibitory law, it must be conceded that the use
of intoxicating liquors for other than the excepted purposes is dangerous
to the community, and is wrong to the people of the State. The ad-
mitted evils of intemperance are occasioned by the use of intoxicating
liquors as a beverage.

"If it be true that a State by prohibiting the manufacture and sale
of intoxicating liquors for other than the excepted purposes intends
thereby to diminish the use of intoxicating liquors except for those pur-
poses, why may not the State, as a police regulation in aid of accom-
plishing what the law seeks to accomplish, regulate the use of intoxi-
cating liquor as well as its sale? "

According to this statement, the purpose is to deprive the
citizen of the power of choice, or free agency, in regard to
personal habits such as drinking, and place him under the

468 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

guardianship of the Legislature. One class of citizens takes
this view of the prerogative of the Legislature and laws,
while another class believes that the citizen should be left a
free moral agent in personal matters such as eating, drinking,
and believing. What will be the final result is unknown.
Good men differ as widely upon this question as th-^y did
upon the questions of policy to be adopted in making a free
State of Kansas. The advocates of the different methods,
local option and constitutional prohibition, are very positive
they are right, and each school is thoroughly armed and
equipped with opinions, arguments, and facts to establish the
views they hold.

A few samples follow. Governor John A. Martin, one of
the best and most honored citizens Kansas ever had, in his
retiring message to the Legislature, January, 1889, said:

" There is no longer any issue or controversy in Kansas concerning
the results and benefits of our temperance laws. Except in a few of the
larger cities, all hostility to them has disappeared. For six years, at
four exciting general elections, the questions involved in the abolition
of the saloon were disturbing and prominent issues, but at the election
held November last this subject was rarely mentioned by partisan speak-
ers or newspapers. Public opinion, it is plainly apparent, has under-
gone a marked change, and there are now very few citizens of Kansas
who would be willing to return to the old order of things.

' ' The change of sentiment on this question is well grounded and
natural. No observing and intelligent citizen has failed to note the
beneficent results already attained. Fully nine-tenths of the drinking
and drunkenness prevalent in Kansas eight years ago have been abol-
ished; and I affirm, with earnestness and emphasis, that this State is
to-day the most temperate, orderly, sober community of people in the
civilized world. The abolition of the saloon has not only promoted the
personal happiness and general prosperity of our citizens, but it has
enormously diminished crime ; has filled thousands of homes where vice
and want and wretchedness once prevailed with peace, plenty, and con-
tentment ; and has materially increased the trade and business of those
engaged in the sale of useful and wholesome articles of merchandise.
Notwithstanding the fact that the population of the State is steadily in-
creasing, the number of criminals confined in our penitentiary is steadily
decreasing. Many of our jails are empty, and all show a marked falling
off in the number of prisoners confined. The dockets of our courts are

MARTIN HUMPHREY KELLOGG. 469

no longer burdened with long lists of criminal cases. Jn the capital
district, containing a population of nearly sixty thousand, not a single
criminal case was on the docket when the present term began. The
business of the police courts of our larger cities has dwindled to one-
fourth of its former proportions, while in cities of the second and third
class the occupation of police authorities is practically gone. These
suggestive and convincing facts appeal alike to the reason and the con-
science of the people. They have reconciled those who doubted the
success and silenced those who opposed the policy of prohibiting the
liquor traffic.

"The laws now on our statute books touching this question need
tew if any amendments. Fairly and honestly enforced, they make it
practically impossible for any person to sell intoxicating liquors as a
beverage in any Kansas town or city. What is needed, therefore, is
not more rigorous laws, but a systematic and sincere enforcement of the
laws we have."

The incoming Governor, Hon. L. U. Humphrey, on the
same occasion delivered his message, and said, on page 28
of same volume, as follows :

" The growth of public sentiment in support of constitutional prohibi-
tion in Kansas is steady, healthy, and unmistakable. In the last cam-
paign no political party had the temerity to demand a resubmission of
the question to the people, in the face of a popular verdict that has been
repeated and emphasized every time the popular sense has been taken.
As an issue in Kansas politics, resubmission is as dead as slavery. The
saloon as a factor in politics, as a moral iniquity, has been outlawed and
made a ' fugitive and a vagabond on the face of the earth,' or that part
of it within the territorial limits of Kansas."

The attorney-general reports the same year as follows :

" The administration of the law is growing more popular. The
masses demand it, and scheming individuals are slow to oppose the will
of the masses. Where there is a popular uprising against what the
people have declared to be a common nuisance, dangerous to society,
morals, and health, and conducive to crime and pauperism, the end is
certain. The fight for supremacy has been tedious. The lawless ele-
ments of society are always arrayed against the law. Dens of infamy
and hotbeds of crime are always found clustered around the saloon. Re-
move the saloon, and the threshold of the penitentiary is farther away
from the rising generation. The saloon has been banished from Kansas
soil, and already the result can be appreciated."

470 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

Ex-Senator Ingalls claims that the saloon-keeper and
drunkard have joined the Troubadours and the Mound
Builders, there being neither found in Kansas.

So much for one side. A word from the other. A com-
mittee of the lower house of the Legislature, appointed to
investigate the workings of the metropolitan police, reported
to the late session, 1891, in part as follows:

" Mr. Banning, a member of the board of police commissioners of
the city of Atchison, testified that tippling-shops, gambling-dens, and
the keepers of houses of prostitution were regularly fined. His testi-
mony was confirmed by a number of respectable citizens and the records
of the board. Evidence explanatory was given by Republicans, pro-
hibitionists, and Democrats. They all expressed their belief that the
prohibitory law could not be enforced in Atchison, and that it was in
the interest of society and the treasury of the city to have the laws exe-
cuted to regulate and not to suppress the sale of intoxicating liquors.
A joint-keeper testified that he and others were ordered by the police to
close their doors during the visit of the Legislative committee.

' ' Major B. P. Waggener's letter :

" ' ATCHISON, KANSAS, February 19, 1890.
" 'Hon. Lyman U. Humphrey, Governor of Kansas, Topeka, Kansas :

" ' MY DEAR SIR : I am in receipt of your favor of the 7th, in which
you advised me that you have had a conference with Mr. C. W. Ben-
ning, who stated that the board of police commissioners of Atchison
were desirous that I should formulate and present to them any charges
that I might desire to make touching the official conduct of the marshal
or chief of police, and to submit the same with whatever testimony I
desired in support thereof, and that the same should have prompt, fair,
and vigorous attention on their part.

" ' I beg to advise you that on the i6th day of December, 1889, 1 ad-
dressed a communication to the Hon. W. L. Johnson, secretary of the
board of police commissioners, a copy of which I herewith enclose, and
up to the present time the receipt thereof has not been acknowledged,
or any notice whatever taken of it. I am therefore fully satisfied that
any complaint that I might make to the board of police commissioners
of this city would be treated in the same manner.

" ' During the month of December, 1889, I addressed you a letter,
accompanied with affidavits which clearly established the following facts,
namely :

" ' i. That since the appointment of the board of police commission-

LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE. 471

ers in 1889, there has been in operation in this city an average of about
forty ' joints,' or places where intoxicating liquors were sold in violation
of the law.

" ' 2. That during all of that time the present chief of police had sys-
tematically collected money from the proprietors of these ' joints ' as a
license for the privilege of selling liquors in violation of law, and to se-
cure immunity from arrest.

" ' 3. That a large amount of money was collected by the chief of
police without any arrests having been made, and which was paid for
the express purpose, by parties who were selling liquors in violation of
the law, to avoid arrest. * * * '

" John L. Stewart, of Fort Scott, testifies that the metropolitan police
force is detrimental to any city where they exist ; that prohibition was
not now nor never had been enforced since the appointment of said
board ; that there was a scare over the appointment of your committee,
but he positively knew of three saloons, running wide open, selling in-
toxicants over the counter, and that there were probably fifty joints in
the city, and numerous poker-rooms.

" W. A. Simpson, president of the metropolitan police board of Kan-
sas City, Kansas, presented a statement showing the aggregate collec-
tions from April i, 1889, to April I, 1890, to have been $32,625.47, and
from April I, 1890, to January I, 1891, from all sources, $26,925.20.
When asked to explain the large increase over former years, he testified
that it was partly owing to the increase in population and more com-
plete set of ordinances and their more general application. There were
also exhibited papers, certified to by the clerk of Kansas City as being
a partial copy of the records of the police judge, which showed that the
revenue from tippling-shops from April I, 1890, to February i, 1891,
inclusive, had been from $1750 to $4500 per month, and gambling
from $277 to $1158 per month, aggregating in ten months $28,977.
He testified that there were a few places where intoxicating liquors had
been sold by the same person for the past four years, and that the only
convictions that had been made were by the sheriff of the county in the
district court.

' ' Your committee believe there is collected under the ordinance fifty
dollars as a cash forfeiture in most cases, and that there is no further
punishment.

" The Leaven worth board is at present composed of three aged men ;
the president, William Fairchild, is over eighty years old. They were
said to have been selected because of their recognized belief in prohibi-
tion and prohibitory laws. Prior to this appointment, there have been
changes made in the board a number of times. The president's testi-
mony, which was confirmed by the secretary of the board, was to the
effect that they had tried to enforce the law and ordinance governing

472 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

the city, but had failed to suppress the ' joints,' and were not now try-
ing to abolish houses of prostitution ; that there was little gambling
known to them or the force in said city. They testified further that
there were many places where intoxicants were sold, and that they were
now permitting forfeitures of cash bonds in the interests of a depleted
treasury. They stated their belief that corrupt methods had been re-
sorted to by certain ones of their employees, who collected money from
jointists, and did not turn the same into the public treasury. * * *

" City Attorney S. B. Isenhart, being sworn, gave it as his opinion
that the metropolitan system had not been a success in the city of To-
peka, and not independent of politics, as supposed they would be. They
do not feel under obligations to take advice of the city authorities, as
they owe allegiance only to the Governor. They do not care to econ-
omize when there is no money to pay, and operate in opposition to the
city government. They are inefficient in sanitary work and the collec-
tion of licenses imposed by the ordinances, which result in a loss to the
city of $5000 per annum, not considering the increased expense of the
system to the city. I think the system is against the best interests of
the community. I have not been in any joints myself, but I am just as
well satisfied that we have an unlimited number of them, and I think
there is just as much drunkenness here now as there was under the old
system. I am satisfied that the records^of the district court show an
increase of crime. At one time, about two years ago, there was an
agitation about a decrease of crime by certain parties who seemed to
want it to appear that way, and it is a fact that, in some mysterious
way, one term of court there were no criminal cases on the docket ; and
I know that the same belief is entertained by other attorneys, for the
next term of court was largely taken up in trying these criminal cases ;
and when it used to take, some years ago, two weeks to finish the
criminal docket, it now takes one month to a month and a half to dis-
pose of the docket each term of court.

" E. T. Allen, who was chairman of the police commission of
Wichita from July 24, 1889, until January 6, 1891, having been duly
sworn, said that the only time he had ever known the saloons to be
closed in that city was when he had been given authority of the board,
and had signed an order and given it to the marshal. He thought that
condition continued about two weeks, when the board was changed, by
the removal of the two men who had voted to close them. * * *

" The saloons are now open, and I believe with a cognizance of the
officials of the city. In fact, they are running every day, and money
put up for bonds of fifty dollars each, which are forfeited, and the joint-
ists submitted to no other punishment.

" Your committee requested one of their own members (Mr. Kenton)
to go to Wichita and investigate the condition of the police government,

COMMITTEE — CONTINUED. 473

who visited numerous saloons having regular bars in the rear of the
buildings, or upstairs, as a general rule; that in some of them there
were a great number of boys from sixteen to twenty years of age. He
visited one gambling-house that contained various gambling devices and
a bar from which drinks were served, and which was thronged with men
engaged in gambling.

" The mayor exhibited a report that showed that fines had been col-
lected from some time in the autumn to the present, aggregating over
$10,000.

" Your committee have heard no testimony that induces them to be-
lieve that the prohibitory law has been enforced in any city of the State
through the agency of the metropolitan police or any other machinery
of the law. In all of the six cities, fines, or forfeited recognizances
called fines, are imposed. There is usually no further punishment in-
flicted. The statute, which imposes a fine of one hundred dollars and
imprisonment for the offense of selling intoxicating liquors, is abrogated
by ordinances that impose fifty or a hundred dollars only, without im-
prisonment, by recognizance being forfeited ; the offense itself is thereby
compromised in a manner which, if done by any other official action,
would be a barbarous crime. The more vigorous the effort made to
enforce prohibition in the cities, the more irresponsible and debased are
the men who are engaged in the traffic, the more deceptive their devices
and secluded their places of business.

" The authorities of Topeka have made a more determined effort to
enforce prohibitory laws than any city of its class, as has been already
shown. They are expending $15,000 per annum of the tax-payers'
money in excess of all the revenue of the police department of the city,
and yet the joints, drunkenness, and crime have not been banished. In
the other five cities the system has been merely self-sustaining ; but it
is clearly made so through the encouragement it gives to crimes and mis-
demeanors ; through fines imposed, which are given the semi-recogni-
tion of a license, and when the fines are not collected for the public
treasury the temptation to bribe the police is increased, and the illegiti-
mate joint remains through that influence.

" The system is so absolutely divorced from all responsibilities to
the people that the officers exercise an independence in the interest of
crime by not informing themselves of the character of the city ordi-
nances, and when they do, neglect or refuse to enforce them. Your
committee conclude that it is a mistake to establish dual governments in
small cities, but as the Senate has refused to repeal the law authorizing
the appointment of commissioners, we can only condemn the general
administration of the metropolitan police law of the State, and petition
the Governor. Your committee therefore recommends that the governor
be memorialized, in the exercise of the discretion placed in him which is

474 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

by the statutes, to withdraw the application of the metropolitan police
law from the cities of Kansas and leave those cities to the enforcement
of their own police regulations.

" All of which is respectfully submitted.

" LEVI DUMBAULD,
" S. F. NEELEY,

" B. F. FORTNEY,

" W. M. KENTON,
"E. D. YORK."

This legislative committee was composed of members of
all political parties, and the report was unanimous.

The editor of the Lawrence Record, an ardent prohibition-
ist, has an editorial, July 7, 1891, as follows:

"PUT UP OR SHUT UP.

"Let us understand this matter fully. If the Republican party of
Kansas is unwilling to uphold prohibition longer, let the statement be
honestly made to that effect. This farce is played out. When Leaven-
worth alone sustains one hundred and seventy joints, when Atchison is
full of liquor-houses, while Wichita has practically never closed its
saloons, it is time for Prohibition (?) Kansas to take down the sign.
The State is a by-word and a hissing everywhere. Countless thousands
paid out yearly to Missouri and other States for liquor. If we are to
have unrestrained sale in the large cities, why not in the small ones?
If we must have beer and whiskey, why not make it at home, and save
the money to the State, thus creating a home market also for the grains
to be brewed and distilled?

' ' This is the devil's own logic. But it will be the rallying cry of
the thousands of Republicans in the next election, unless some change
is made in the present situation. We said some time ago that the pur-
pose was rapidly forming to abandon prohibition by the Republican
leaders. Every day makes more apparent the truthfulness of our in-
formation. We repeat the statement of that article, that prohibition was
never in greater danger than now. There is not a Republican politician
in the State who would not gladly trade all his stock in prohibition for
an American-made tin pan. Protection to Eastern manufactories granted
galore unasked, but protection to the home from the vile saloon is to be
determined by its effects upon voters. And the purpose is resolved
upon by these pirates who have scuttled the fair ship already, to abandon
her to drift as a derelict over the political sea.

" It is time to know where we are and what we intend to do. It is
time for prohibition Republicans to decide whether they endorse the

A PROHIBITIONIST'S TESTIMONY. 475

damnable policy of this State administration in maintaining under the
eyes of its special officials cities full of saloons. It has come to be the
case that municipalities which desire to obtain money from the sale of
liquors ask for the metropolitan police system, sure of their revenue if
they obtain it.

" Away with the lying story that Kansas is a prohibition State! Let
us tell the truth! The only party which advocated it is about to abandon
it, and the organs of the party are silent witnesses of the crime. Unless
public opinion is soon awake, the deed of treason will be done, and the
best opportunities for a generation to clear Kansas from the curse of
the saloon will be lost.

" There is more liquor sold and drunk to-day in Kansas than at
any time since the passage of the amendment! Deny it, whoever
dare!"

It may be proper to state that the Republican party was
the only party that endorsed prohibition in its platform, and
although having at the previous election over 80,000 plural-
ity, at the last election it was put in the minority of 40,000,
while the prohibition attorney-general who was so sanguine
in his report in 1888 was defeated by a Democrat and Peo-
ple's-party man by about 40,000 votes. Here is a statement
giving both sides of prohibition, and the reader can take his
choice.

But whatever may be the present or future of Kansas, she
has done a work for the cause of freedom that is her crown-
ing glory. She had an opportunity denied every other Ter-
ritory and State, and well did she improve it. The results
of the territorial conflict are the inheritance of the State and
the Union, and the handful of pioneers who turned back the
dark waves of tyranny from Kansas and sent back slavery
reeling in despair " to die amid its worshippers," can well
afford to rest from their labors, trusting to the present genera-
tion to see that no harm shall come to the heritage pur-
chased by their labor and sufferings.

The importance of these labors were briefly given in an
address at the Quarter Centennial of Kansas, by the writer,
which is here quoted as a fitting close to the foregoing rem-
iniscences:

476 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

" Mr. President and Fellow-Citizens :

" We have assembled to celebrate the twenty-fifth birthday of the
State of Kansas. On such an occasion, a review of her wonderful
growth and achievements is eminently proper, and in these no State can
excel our own ; but I have been notified that I am expected to speak of
sas in her antenatal days, and relate something of her struggles in
embryo. While the territorial period was full of incident and worthy
achievement, the field has been so often plowed and cross-plowed, har-
rowed and raked, as with a fine-tooth comb, for items to add to the
fame or infamy of the contestants, that nothing fresh or interesting re-
mains to be said appropriate to the occasion. Some of the results,
however, of the terr^toj-iaLjsJjuggle have been inherited by the State,
and constitute its chief glory. Of these I will briefly speak. To be-
gin at the beginning, I will say that the difficulty which culminated in
Kansas had its origin in the Garden of Eden. According to report, the
first law ever given to the race was a prohibitory law, with death as the
penalty for disobedience. This law, of course, was violated by the oc-
cupants of the Garden, and should the threatened penalty be inflicted,
the Law-Giver would have no subjects, as the violators included the
whole human family. Accordingly, the penalty was modified to suit the
emergency — a precedent still followed by political parties when the en-
forcement of their laws will leave their party without a quorum in the
Legislature, or in a minority at the polls. The amended penalty reads
as follows : ' In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread till thou
return unto the ground. ' The penalty attached not only to the law-
breaker, but to all his posterity, and from that day to this the chief con-
cern of mankind has been to escape this penalty. Every person seems
desirous of making some one else do the sweating while he eats his
bread. Every device has been resorted to. Sometimes a man escapes
the penalty by withholding the earnings of his employees, in whole or
in part ; but a favorite method has been to capture, steal, or purchase a
man, and to compel him to do the sweating both for himself and his
master. This practice has been handed down from generation to gen-
eration, till the date of the opening of Kansas to settlement, and it was
proposed to introduce it on Kansas soil. Hence the conflict. Many
people had come to look upon this business not only as avoiding the
penalty for eating the prohibited fruit,' but as a great wrong to such as
were compelled to suffer the double infliction. Some thought it was the
' sum of all villainies,' and others ' trembled when they remembered
that God was just.' Many years of agitation had preceded the settle-
ment of Kansas, both among the people and in Congress. Various
compromises and provisos had been agreed to, but all such were as
ropes of sand before the demands of the slave power. One of these
barriers to the exlension_of player y went down in the enactment of the

IMPORTANCE OF CONFLICT. 477

Kansas-Nebraska bill. The opponents to the extension of slavery were
beaten — hopelessly beaten — in Congress ; the agitators of the North
and East were powerless, and could anything be done to stay the
progress of this institution? A writer in the Charleston (S. C.) Mer-
cury states the case as follows :

" ' First, by consent of parties the present contest in Kansas is
the turning-point in the destinies of slavery and abolitionism. If the
South triumphs, abolitionism will be defeated and shorn of its power
for all time. If she is defeated, abolitionism will grow more insolent
and aggressive, until the utter ruin of the South is consummated. Sec-
ond, if the South secures Kansas, she will extend slavery into all ter-
ritory south of the fortieth parallel of north latitude to the Rio Grande,
and this, of course, will secure for her pent-up institution of slavery an
ample outlet and restore her power in Congress. If the North secure
Kansas, the power of the South in Congress will gradually be dimin-
ished ; the States of Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, and
Texas, together with the adjacent Territories, will gradually become
abolitionized, and the slave population, confined to the States east of
the Mississippi, will become valueless. All depends upon the action
of the present moment.'

"This is an exact statement of the situation as it then appeared,
and the prediction only failed of realization in consequence of the sui-
cide of slavery by the Rebellion, which could not then be known. Here7
then, was the stake — not the extension of slavery to Kansas merely,
but its extension indefinitely, or its final extinction. Who could be
found to enter the lists? Slavery had all the advantages. On its side
were billions of dollars and the domestic relations of eight million peo-
ple involved. Congress was in favor of slavery extension, or it would
not have removed the barriers from the west line of the State of Mis-
souri. The Judiciary was on the side of slavery extension, or it would
never have made the Dred Scott decision. The Executive Department
of the Government favored slavery extension, or it could not have been
elected, and would not have had Jefferson Davis for Secretary of War.
Besides, Kansas had a slave State extending across its entire eastern
border, whose inhabitants were alive to the situation, bold, reckless,
and defiant, while the opponents of slavery were to be found chiefly at
a distance of hundreds of miles from the field of conflict. Congressmen
from the North had been beaten and cowed ; the old Anti-Slavery So-
ciety had no faith in success, or in the value of victory if achieved, and
the Liberty and Free-soil parties had no machinery that could be useful
in such an encounter. Who, under these disadvantages, would enter
the contest for this prize with the slave power of the nation that had
never known defeat? Individuals and individual effort could do some-
thing, as was shown in the person of him who will speak this evening

THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

for the pioneers of Kansas. But the whole North must be aroused and
organization effected, to stimulate and aid emigration. A theretofore
comparatively obscure man, a member of a State Legislature, was
seized with inspiration, and he stepped forth in the winter of 1854,
when it became evident that the Kansas-Nebraska bill would become a
law, and organized emigration and preached the crusade till victory was
secured. So obnoxious did this man become to the slave power that a
price was set upon his head, dead or alive, even before the lands of Kan-*
sas were open to settlement. But emigration, while indispensable, was
not all that was requisite. A State had to be organized, and this work
must be done on the soil of Kansas. This was the work in hand, and
the ej^c^ion^f_a_^e£r^tc^a^ legislature was the first step to be taken.
The party that should secure this would secure a great, if not decisive,
victory. As is well known, this victory perched upon the banners of
the South. iVas there, then, hope left ,for_JlJree_State?__AlLlhe_jria-|'
chinery for making a State was now in possession of the enemy. This)
was in 1855, and there would be no new Legislature elected before 1857. |
In the meantime ' returning boards ' could be provided and a constitu-
tion inaugurated, which might settle the question in issue irrevocably.
Could any power or any agency wrest victory from such a defeat, and
under such circumstances? Every statesman, every politician, every
student of history, and every person of ordinary information of affairs
of government, would have answered, and did answer, this question in
the negative, but the Free-State party of Kansas answered it in the
affirmative, and made good their answer, as history has recorded. How
this victory was achieved — by what measures or policy — belongs to tlie
.history of the territorial period, and not the State ; but as its results
must have been inherited by the State, some of them may properly be
named here.

* " First. The victory of the Free-State party made Kansas a free in-
stead of a slave State.

/ " Second. According to the Charleston Mercury, it put an end to
the extension of slavery in every direction, and secured freedom to all
other Territories.

" Third. It made the Republican party of the nation. The ' Cyclo-
pedia of Political Science ' says truly : ' The predominance of a moral
question in politics, always a portentous phenomenon under a constitu-
tional government, was made unmistakable by the Kansas struggle, and
its first perceptible result was the disappearance, in effect, of all the
old forms of opposition to the Democratic party, and the first national
convention of the new Republican party, June 17, 1856.'

" Eli Thayer says that ' the Kansas fight made the Republican party.'
Also he adds that it was ' a necessary training of the Northern States
for subduing the Rebellion."

RESULTS OF CONFLICT. 479

" Fourth. This being conceded, Kansas made the election of Abra-
ham Lincoln possible.

' ' Fifth. Securing a free State in Kansas and the election of Lincoln
brought on the Rebellion, which —

" Sixth. Was the suicide and the end of slavery, in this nation and
prospectively in all nations.

" All these results the State of Kansas inherits from the territorial
struggle, as can be abundantly shown. I am aware that an attempt has
been made to rob Kansas of some of these laurels, but the attempt will
fail. One writer would make it appear that the raid at Harper's Ferry,
to which he was a party, destroyed slavery, and not the work in Kansas.
What are the facts ? Were I to quote all the declarations of Southern
politicians during the pending of the elections of 1856 and 1860, saying
that should the Republican candidate for President be elected they would
go out of the Union, my time and your patience would be exhausted.
I will therefore refer to but two or three statements : Jefferson Davis,
in his message to the Confederate Congress, does not mention Har-
per's Ferry, but gave this as a reason for withdrawing from the Union :

" ' A great party was organized for the purpose of obtaining the ad-
ministration of the Government, with the avowed object of using its
power for the total exclusion of the slave States from all participation in
the benefits of the public domain acquired by all the States in common,
whether by conquest or purchase, surrounding them entirely by States
in which slavery should be prohibited, thus rendering the property in
slaves so insecure as to be comparatively worthless, and thereby annihi-
lating, in effect, property worth thousands of millions of dollars. This
party, thus organized, succeeded in the month of November last in the
election of its candidate for the President of the United States.'

" I will next quote from a letter attributed to Judah P. Benjamin,
senator from Louisiana, to the British Consul in New York, dated Au-
gust II, 1860, as follows:

' ' ' The doctrines maintained by the great leaders of the Republican
party are so unsuited to the whole South that the election of their can-
didate (which is almost certain) amounts to a total destruction of all
plantation interests, which the South, as sure as there is a God in heaven,
will not submit to. Sooner than yield to the arbitrary dictates of trai-
torous allies and false friends who have proven recreant to the solemn
obligations of the old Constitution, we will either secede from the Union
and form a separate government, or upon certain conditions at once
return to the allegiance of Great Britain, our mother country.'

" Here again is no allusion to Harper's Ferry, but he proposes to
secede because of the success of the Republican party, which was
' made ' by the Kansas struggle.

"The ' Political Cyclopedia' says that ' Kansas, it might be said,

480 THE KANSAS CONFLICT.

cleared the stage for the last act of the drama, the Rebellion ; ' that the
Kansas struggle was the ' prelude to the War of the Rebellion.' One
more question remains to be considered: If the success of the Repub-
lican party, made by the Kansas struggle, was the immediate cause of
secession, war, and consequent emancipation, did the Harper's Ferry
raid contribute to that success? This question must be answered most
decidedly in the negative. This same Cyclopedia says that 'the North
almost unianmously condemned the whole insurrection,' while it is well
known that from every stump during the Lincoln campaign it was most
vehemently denounced. The Republican party, that there might be no
mistaking its position, adopted this resolution in its national platform :
' ' Resolved, That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States,
and especially the right of each State to order and control its own do-
mestic institutions according to its judgment exclusively, is essential to
the balance of power on which the perfection and endurance of our po-
litical fabric depends, and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed
force of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter under what pre-
text, as among the gravest crimes.'

"After the election, President Lincoln, in his inaugural address,
quoted this resolution, and added : ' I now reiterate these sentiments,
and, in doing so, I only press upon the public attention the most con-
clusive evidence of which the case is susceptible, that the prosperity,
peace, and security of no section are to be in anywise endangered by
the new incoming Administration.'

" Can it be possible that the effect of such a raid as that at Harper's
Ferry, almost ' unanimously denounced by the whole North,' especially
denounced in the platform of the party, and the denunciations reiterated
by its candidate, could be to aid in the election of Mr. Lincoln? To
ask such a question is to answer it. Not only did the raid not help the
Republicans, but as soon as the facts were developed it did not frighten
the South. The pro-slavery members of the Senate Investigating Com-
mittee, Mason, Davis, Fitch, say that not a single slave could be induced
to voluntarily join the raiders, and when arms were put in their hands
they refused to use them, and escaped from their captors as soon as they
could do so with safety.

' ' The Republican members of this committee, Collamer and Doo-
little, said that ' the lessons which it teaches furnish many considera-
tions of security against its repetition. The fatal termination of the
enterprise in the death and execution of so large a part of the number
engaged ; the dispersion of the small remainder as fugitives in the land ;
the entire disinclination of the slaves to insurrection, or to receive aid
for that purpose, which was there exhibited ; the very limited number
and peculiar character of the conspirators — all combine to furnish as-
surance against the most distant probability of its repetition.' It is evi-

BENEFITS TO THE SOUTH. 481

dent, from all the facts in the case, that this raid not only did not help,
but hindered the Republican cause, and that it did not have a feather's
weight in causing the Rebellion or the destruction of slavery in conse-
quence of it.

" Let us reverse the picture for a moment. Suppose, instead of a
free State, a slave State had been secured in Kansas, with the power to
extend the institution at will, into all the Territories. Suppose, as a
consequence, the Kansas struggle had not ' made ' a victorious Repub-
lican party in 1860, but had secured the election of Breckenridge, the
Southern candidate for President. Would the South have then seceded,
and would slavery have been abolished? And would either event have
transpired in consequence of the Harper's Ferry raid, or five hundred
such raids? Cook had been at Harper's Ferry some twelve months,
and Brown and his followers four or five months, and yet not a slave
had been enlisted for the crusade by either. How much effect would
such a raid have to produce secession or the abolition of slavery, with
Kansas and the Federal Government in the secure possession of the
South?

" No, no ; the flood-tide of slavery extension received its first perma-
nent check in Kansas, and it was the refluent wave from her borders
that carried Abraham Lincoln into the White House, drove the South
into rebellion, and buried slavery so deep that for it there can be no
resurrection. Not only is the State of Kansas thus indebted to the Ter-
ritory, but the late slave States that contended so earnestly to extend
their peculiar institution are doubly indebted. These States have not
only been redeemed from a blighting curse, but have been prospered in
every way as never before in their history. So general and widespread
is their prosperity, that so far as known not a citizen can be found in
the entire South who would re-establish slavery if he could. But the
blessings resulting from the territorial struggle do not stop here, for
the nation itself has been born again, with that birth which brings with
it ' peace on earth, and good-will to men.' The old contentions, bitter-
ness, and irrepressible conflict between the North and South have given
place to mutual respect, love, and good-will. The United States now
constitute a Union in reality as well as in name, with like institutions,
like aspirations, and a common destiny. Our Union, thus cemented,
has become the envy of all nations, and a terror to all enemies. The
freest, happiest, and most prosperous people on the globe, we have be-
come a place of refuge for the oppressed of all nations. Such being the
result of the territorial conflict, well may the contestants embrace each
other on the twenty-fifth birthday of this wonderful State, and hence-
forth dwell together in unity, under a Government that knows no
North, no South, no East, no West, but that is ' one and inseparable,
now and forever.' '*
31

APPENDIX.

CORRESPONDENCE ABOUT JOHN BROWN.

SANBORN TO LAWRENCE.

CONCORD, MASSACHUSETTS, January 26, 1885.
Amos A. Lawrence, Esq., Brookline :

MY DEAR SIR : In your attack on John Brown at the Historical
Society, May 8, 1884, you contrasted him very unfavorably with Charles
Robinson, who, you said, " was in every respect worthy of the confi-
dence reposed in him by the settlers (of Kansas), and by the Emigrant
Society." If you still think so highly of him, you will doubtless take
pleasure in submitting to the Historical Society the following letter from
Robinson to Judge Hanway, of Lane, Kansas, which he wrote about
six years ago, and before he found it expedient to disown all his former
opinions concerning Brown. I copy from a copy sent me by a member
of the Kansas Historical Society, on whose files the original letter of
Robinson now stands :

(Copy.)

" LAWRENCE, February 5, 1878.
"Hon. James Hanway :

" DEAR SIR : Your favor of 3oth ult. is received. I am also in receipt
of a letter on the same subject from Mr. Adams. I never had much
doubt that Captain Brown was the author of the blow at Potawatomie,
for the reason that he was the only man who comprehended the situa-
tion and saw the absolute necessity of some such blow, and had the
nerve to strike it. I will improve my first leisure to put on paper my
views of the situation at that time, and forward them to Mr. Adams.

" Very truly,
(Signed) " C. ROBINSON."

The Mr. Adams here mentioned is F. G. Adams, the secretary of the
State Historical Society, whom you perhaps know, as I do. On the
20th of August, 1878, Mr. Adams (who had doubtless heard from
Charles Robinson in the six months since the date of his letter above
cited) wrote to me as follows :

" Governor Robinson has expressed the opinion that it will be some

APPENDIX. 483

time proven that Captain Brown was present at the affair (of Potawa-
tomie). He thinks the act was a justifiable and necessary one : that
the act did in fact have the effect to check the career of wholesale mur-
der, which the pro-slavery men had entered upon and intended to kill or
to drive from Kansas every out-spoken Free-State man in the Territory."

The original letter of Mr. Adams lies before me as I write. What
he thus quotes as Robinson's opinion of Brown's act is the same to
which Robinson gave utterance at Osawatomie in the summer of 1877,
in a public speech, which has been reported to me by two Kansas gen-
tlemen who heard it. It is also the same that Robinson expressed in
a public speech at Lawrence in the winter of 1859-60, a printed report
of which is also on file in the Kansas Historical rooms, Topeka. I
printed in the Transcript of December 4, 1884 (which I sent you), Rob-
inson's letter of September 14, 1856, commending Brown in the highest
terms. These letters and speeches show that from 1856 to 1878 Charles
Robinson took the same view of Brown's action on the Potawatomie
that I now take, and by no means your views.

May I rely on your candor to state this to the Historical Society?

Yours truly,

F. B. SANBORN.

ROBINSON TO LAWRENCE.

LAWRENCE, February 6, 1885.
Hon. A. A. Lawrence :

DEAR SIR: Your favor enclosing a letter from F. B. Sanborn is
received.

If Mr. Sanborn had read my letters published in the Boston Trans-
cript of June 12 and August 15, 1884, he would have been saved the
trouble of writing his letter of the 26th ult. In the Transcript of June
12 I say :

" Until the testimony of Mr. Townsley appeared, many Free-State
men apologized for the massacre on the ground that the men killed were
worthy of death for their crimes. With these apologies I sympathized,
supposing what Redpath and others said was true. This was the testi-
mony on which the case chiefly rested till Townsley's was given. Had
Redpath's statements proved true as to the character and conduct of the
men killed, I should have continued to apologize for the men who com-
mitted the deed, although it never could be justified. But I have now
become satisfied that Redpath's account is all fiction, except the state-
ment that the men were killed. I believe these men had committed no
crime, and had threatened to commit none. Townsley's statement that
Brown wanted him to go up the creek five or six miles and point out
the cabins of all the pro-slavery men that they might make a clean

484 APPENDIX.

sweep as they came down, shows conclusively that he was ready to kill
any pro-slavery man, guilty or not guilty, and hence shows that his pur-
pose was to inaugurate war, and not to make a free State."

Also in that paper of August 15 I wrote as follows :

" For Mr. Sanborn's information, I will say that I entertain no
malice towards his hero, have apologized for him probably a thousand
times, and never lifted a finger to oppose any honors to his memory by
the State or nation. While I believed the men butchered were bad men,
belligerents as described by Redpath and others, I excused the killing
as best I could, and contemplated writing out a statement to be filed
with our Historical Society, setting forth the outrages committed by
these and similar men. But before I found the time to write this state-
ment I became satisfied from new and conclusive evidence that these
men were innocent of all crime or threatened crime, and that their tak-
ing off was not intended for the protection of Free-State men from their
outrages and such as theirs, but was intended by Brown as an act of
offensive war. When I became satisfied on these points, I abandoned
the work and ceased apologies for Brown."

In your remarks before the Historical Society you say John Brown
" deceived everybody," and also that when the truth with all the proofs
should be published, as they soon would be, " there can be no such
statements made as have deceived nearly a whole generation."

It is a sufficient answer to Sanborn that I with others was deceived

until after the time referred to by him. When this massacre occurred

I had been absent from the Territory and a prisoner some two weeks,

and knew nothing whatever of the situation in the Potawatomie region.

fj-was told that the pro-slavery men there had inaugurated a war of

\4jxtermination of the Free-State settlers, and that this massacre had

. put a stop to it. This was uncontradicted, and I had every reason to

Suppose there was some foundation in fact for such statements as were

made.

The quotation from Mr. Adams by Sanborn in his letter showed
conclusively that when I wrote to Mr. Adams I had not been unde-
ceived. He reports me as thinking " that the act (at Potawatomie) did
in fact have the effect to check the career of wholesale murder which
the pro-slavery men had entered upon, intending to kill or drive from
Kansas every out-spoken Free-State man in the Territory."

In the Hanway letter I say, " I will improve my first leisure to put
on paper my views of the situation at the time." What were my views
of the situation? Adams's letter says that I thought a " career of
wholesale murder had been entered upon, intending to kill or drive from
Kansas every out-spoken man in the Territory."

Had that view proved correct, my apologies for Brown would have
continued, but unfortunately it has no foundation in fact, and the con-

APPENDIX. 485

elusion is inevitable that John Brown by that act intended to ' ' involve
the sections in war " and not to protect Free-State men.

My view now is, after investigation, that not a man had been killed
south of Douglas County up to that date ; that the men killed by Brown
had committed no crime, and threatened to commit none ; and that
Brown was ready to kill any pro-slavery man he could find simply be-
cause he was pro-slavery. It is unnecessary to say that this change of
view of the situation has completely changed my view of Brown and
the Potawatomie " affair."

Until after the date of the Hanway letter I had made no investiga-
tion into the matter, and apologized for the massacre as best I could.
But as soon as an honest and impartial investigation was made the case
was wholly changed. Instead of these men being criminals they had
not even threatened to commit a crime, and as there was no war of ex-
termination contemplated by them, no such war had been stopped by
their massacre. These are the facts, as I have no doubt, and facts
brought out by non-partisan and disinterested investigators, and I am
obliged, if honest, to accept them, whatever may have been my previous
opinion. The speech he refers to as made at Osawatomie was made at
Paola the evening after the meeting at Osawatomie, and was simply an
apology based upon a state of facts which I supposed existed, but which
now I am satisfied did not. I made such apologies all through the
Fremont campaign in answer to Democratic criticism, and made them
honestly, as honestly as I now retract them. The letter of the i4th of
September, 1856, if genuine, was called out by Brown's action in de-
fending Osawatomie, as Sanborn has already stated, and could have had
no reference to the Potawatomie massacre, as up to that time everybody
denied Brown's connection with it. By the way, if Sanborn thinks it a
disgrace to admit a mistake on discovery of new facts, what does he
think of himself? Until long after Brown's death, Sanborn and all
Brown's family and partisans denied that he was connected with or re-
sponsible for the Potawatomie massacre. Sanborn in his magazine ar-
ticle says, " that he was actually present, he (Brown) always denied to
me, and I shall believe him until some eye-witness proves the contrary."
R. J. Hinton, in the Boston Traveller, December 3, 1859, says:
' ' Brown told me he was not a participator in the Potawatomie homicide.
John Brown was incapable of uttering a falsehood."

John Brown's brother, J. R. Brown, in the Cleveland Plaindealer
of November 22, 1859, says : " My brother, at the time William Doyle
and others were killed, was not present, did not consent to the act, nor
had any knowledge of it, and was eighteen miles distant at the time of
the occurrence. I have this account from my brother and his two sons ;
also from a sister and brother-in-law, now living in Kansas, who had
personal knowledge of this transaction."

486 APPENDIX.

John Brown, while in prison, awaiting execution, told M. B. Lowry
that " G. W. Brown lies when he represents me as connected with those
murders."

John Brown, while in prison, told the Valandingham party that called
upon him: "I killed no man (in Kansas) except in fair fight. I
fought at Black Jack Point and Osawatomie, and if I killed anybody it
was at these places."

Thomas Drew, in his compilation of 1860, says: " His (Brown's)
participation in the affair is denied, not only by himself, but by many
witnesses who lived in the Territory at that time and had the best means
of knowing who were the real perpetrators of the Potawatomie murders."

Redpath, in his " Life of John Brown," 1860, says, page 119 : " John
Brown did not know that these men were killed until the following
day ; for, with one of his sons, he was twenty-five miles distant at the
time. He was at Middle Creek. This fact can be proved by living
witnesses."

Also in his letter to the New York Tribune, November 5, 1859, he
says: " I assert solemnly and with a knowledge of the fact, that old
John Brown was more than sixteen miles distant when Doyle and his
fellow-ruffians were justly killed. A man who participated in the kill-
ing of these murderers confessed the particulars of the transaction to me."

A correspondent in the New York Tribune of March 20, 1860, re-
ports as follows: "John Brown, Jr., in a lecture at Gustavus, Trum-
bull County, Ohio, March I, 1860, denied that his father was present at
the killing of the Doyles, etc., or had any knowledge of it until the deed
was done. He said that his father went down to the grave with the
odium of the act because, as the old man said, for him to deny it pub-
licly would seem to cast an imputation on the men who did kill the ruf-
fians."

But enough ; I might add indefinitely statements of similar purport
from Brown and his relatives and friends. That they all denied in the
most direct and positive terms his participation in and responsibility for
that massacre no person will question, yet Mr. Townsley, an eye-wit-
ness, whose testimony is unimpeached and unimpeachable, says: "Af-
ter my team was fed and the party had taken supper, John Brown told
me for the first time what he proposed to do. He said he wanted me
to pilot the company up the forks of the creek, some five or six miles
above, into the neighborhood where I lived, and show them where all
the pro-slavery men resided ; that he proposed to sweep the creek as he
came down of all the pro-slavery men living on it. I positively refused
to do it. * * * The old man Doyle and two sons were called out
and marched some distance from the house towards Dutch Henry's in
the road, where a halt was made. Old John Brown drew his revolver
and shot the old man Doyle in the forehead, and Brown's two youngest

APPENDIX. 487

sons immediately fell upon the younger Doyles with their short, two-
edged swords." After this testimony of Townsley's was published,
and after consultation with John Brown, Jr., and Owen Brown, Mr.
Sanborn wrote to John Hutchings, of Lawrence, as follows :

" PUT-IN-BAY, OHIO, August 29, 1882.
" John Hutchings, Esq. :

" I have talked v/ith the Browns about Townsley's statement. In
the main it is true.

" F. B. SANBORN."

If history furnishes a parallel to the cold-blooded, unblushing, persist-
ent, and unscrupulous lying of John Brown, his family, and friends, I
have not discovered it ; yet it is of such men some people make heroes.

And why not? Sanborn himself belongs to the same school. In a
letter to the Boston Transcript recently, he said Colonel Sam Walker
told him that " shortly before the Potawatomie affair he was taken aside
by Governor Robinson and General Lane, and it was proposed to him
to go down in the Potawatomie country and secretly kill the border ruf-
fians there."

Colonel Walker has written me that he " did not say so." Neither
does he say that I ever had any such conversation with him. Really, if
a person who can make a hero of a man who went to the gallows with a
lie upon his lips, and glorify a family who persisted in lying for nearly
thirty years, and who can himself manufacture lies to order out of whole
cloth on occasion — if such a man is shocked at a person who changes
his views only when a new discovery of facts warrants the change, he
must be peculiarly sensitive. It is to be hoped that but few such
characters are to be found outside of the Concord School of Philosophy.

It is announced that Mr. Sanborn is about to publish a book on John
Brown, and he will doubtless publish these letters. Can we rely on his
candor to publish this statement of mine with them? We shall see.

Very truly,

C. ROBINSON.

424

PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY