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THE 
 
 ENGLISHMAN II KANSAS: 
 
 ^qeittr f ift ani §orbtr Marfare. 
 
 T. H. GLADSTONE, ESQ., 
 
 AUTHOR OF THE LETTKR3 FROM KANSAS IX THE " LONDOX TIMES. 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION, 
 
 IJY 
 
 FRED. LAW OLMSTED, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "a JOURNEY IN THE SEADOARD SLAVE STATES," 
 " A JOURNEY THROUGH TEXAS," ETC. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 MILLER & COMPANY, 321 BROADWAY, 
 Late Dix, Edwards & Co. 
 
 1857. 
 

 Entered, according to act of Congress, in the year 1857, by 
 
 FRED. LAW OLMSTED, 
 
 In the Clerks Office of the District Court of the United States for 
 the Southern District of New York. 
 
 Miller & Company, 
 Printers and Publishers, N. Y. 
 
AMERICAN EDITOR'S 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Having been requested to edit and intro- 
 duce an American edition of this English book, 
 I have thought I could best serve a public pur- 
 pose by examining and setting forth its value 
 and purport as evidence and intelligent Euro- 
 pean commentary upon the present exciting 
 questions of our politics. 
 
 Mr. Gladstone, a kinsman of the distin- 
 guished ex-chancellor of the Exchequer of 
 England, visited Kansas, at a moment of inter- 
 est in its history, and in the history of our 
 country. Ilis opportunities of obtaining trust- 
 worthy information were good, and he appears 
 to have used them calmly and diligently. As 
 a foreigner, with claims of friendship, or even 
 
iV AMERICAN EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION. 
 
 acquaintance, upon no one in the temtory, 
 except Colonel Sumner, who, as the military 
 representative of the federal authority, was 
 respected by both parties, he occupied a neu- 
 tral position in their warfiire. 
 
 Going back of these circumstances, I find 
 that Mr. Gladstone arrived in New York near 
 the beginning of the year 1850, with the ordi- 
 nary motives of an English traveler of his class. 
 From all I can learn of those who knew him 
 here, his testimony on any subject should be re- 
 ceived with particular respect. He is thought 
 to observe closely and accurately, to study 
 carefully, and to be slow in expressing the 
 conclusions of his judgment, lie is not known 
 to have had, at this time, more knowledge of, or 
 interest in, American politics, than is common 
 among English conservative gentlemen — about 
 as much, that is to say, as is common among 
 us with regard to the affairs of Sweden or 
 Brazil. 
 
 He proceeded, very soon after his arrival, to 
 Washington, and thence further south, and, 
 during the winter, enjoyed the hospitality of 
 South Carolina and Mississippi. In the spring 
 
he continued his journey through Missouri, and 
 so, finally, to Kansas, arriving at Leavenworth 
 city on the 21st of May. 
 
 Our whole country was then hotly engaged 
 in the presidential canvass. So great was the 
 tumult in Kansas, and such was the temptation 
 upon our editors and newsmongers to disallow 
 or exaggerate the conflicting reports of its con- 
 dition, according as their influence was likely 
 to be favorable, or otherwise, to the success 
 of one or another candidate, that it became, 
 and has continued to be, very difticult for a 
 cautious mind, not possessing private means 
 of information, to form a confident judgment, 
 first, as to the reality or extent of the alleired 
 calamity of Kansas, and second, as to the abso- 
 lute or rehitive culpability of either of the con- 
 tending parties. 
 
 Readers, who have been accustomed to hear 
 the *' disturbances" in Kansas spoken of only 
 as such as are " incidental to all new settle- 
 ments," will, perhaps, be inclined to set down 
 this calmly observant traveler as an impostor, 
 or a romancer, when they find him describing 
 the condition of the territory, upon his arrival, as 
 
Vi AMERICAN EDITOR'S IXTRODUCTION. 
 
 " a holiday of anarchy and bloodshed." Read- 
 ers at the South, who have been accustomed to 
 rely for contemporary history on Southern 
 newspapers, or on those of the North in which 
 information is given in a form adapted to 
 the Southern market, may question if he were 
 in his right mind when they find him testify- 
 ing that : " among all the scenes of violence I 
 witnessed, the offending parties were invariably 
 on the pro-slavery side." Those who have 
 seen nothing inconsistent with the official 
 assurances of our late president, in the rapid 
 humiliation of his three successively appointed 
 governors, will hardly believe that the sympa- 
 thies of an impartial, dispassionate, but justice- 
 loving Englishman, could have been so immedi- 
 ately engaged, on his arrival in the territory, for 
 the Free-state party, as is implied by this narra- 
 tive, unless his mind had been previously 
 prejudiced against their opponents. 
 
 He had been in intercourse, almost from the 
 moment of his landing in America, chiefly with 
 Southern minds. He came to Kansas fresh 
 charged from Southern social influence. And 
 yet, before he had met a single avowed free-soiler 
 
AMERICAN EDITOR S INTRODUCTION. Vll 
 
 in the territory, be evidently had a most pain- 
 ful impression of the injustice, tyranny, and 
 persecution to which the majority of the actual 
 settlers were subjected, and was well convinced 
 that the pro-slavery party, and the influence of 
 the South, acting through the federal govern- 
 ment, was wholly to blame for this. 
 
 " But, surely," some indignant " democrat" 
 will ask, "he would not have us suppose 
 that the truth about Kansas has been mo- 
 nopolized all along by one party ; that the 
 black republican newspapers have been all 
 right, and the rest all wrong?" This may 
 have been the case without any advantage 
 in veracity of character to those wlio told the 
 truth. It may have happened that nothing 
 could have served their purpose better than the 
 truth. Certainly, if that purpose was to be 
 served by proving a desperate determination 
 on the part of the administration to establish 
 slavery in Kansas, if necessary, at any cost 
 of justice and humanity, and of our reputation 
 with the world as a civilized people, nothing 
 could have answered it better than what Mr. 
 Gladstone, carefully studying the facts upon 
 
Vlll 
 
 the ground, was led to consider the truth. He 
 attributes the most honorable conduct, in all 
 respects, as good citizens, to the Free-state 
 party in the territory, while it would be diffi- 
 cult to describe a people more unfit to exercise 
 the rightful privileges of citizenship than those 
 whom he represents to be engaged, under the 
 patronage of the federal authorities, in perse- 
 cuting that party. 
 
 Such a contrast between the character of the 
 emigrants from the Slave States and of those 
 from the Free — both being, not many genera- 
 tions back, of the same origin and blood — would, 
 indeed, be incredible, if there were not anterior 
 reason to expect in the former a special prone- 
 ness to violence, and a distrust, or habitual 
 forgetfulness of law and civilized customs under 
 exciting circumstances. 
 
 Such a dangerous quality — gravely danger- 
 ous, wherever this policy of so-called squatter 
 sovereignty, involving, as it does, squatter war- 
 fare, shall be tried ; and ten-fold grave to us 
 of the North, since the recent decision of the 
 Supreme Court, — such a dangerous quality is 
 inbred and with every generation growing more 
 
AMERICAN EDITOR S INTRODUCTION. IX 
 
 established in the character of the citizens of 
 the South. It is so from the inexorable force 
 of circumstances — thus : 
 
 The title to property in slaves is derived 
 at no remote period, from certain vindictive 
 and lawless barbarians, who, having over- 
 powered an enemy, considered his life as 
 forfeited, and if they spared it, did so from 
 no regard to the abstract right or sacredness 
 of life, or any motive of humanity, but simply 
 for the purpose of enjoying the profits of his 
 labor. His labor and abject submission to all 
 tiieir demands upon him was the price of his 
 life, and with this understanding he was trans- 
 ferred to America. At first the only persons 
 so held were " Black-a-moors," and all Black- 
 a-moors in the country were so held and consid- 
 ered, and only by terror of death, legalized and 
 insured by legislation and military force, contin- 
 ued to be held in the requisite habit of subordin^ 
 ation for profitable labor, by their purchasers and 
 inheritors. Hence, exceptional Laws, exceptional 
 customs, and hence, irresistibly, a defection from 
 the usual sentiment of the sacredness of human 
 life, as far as the negro was concerned. But as 
 
X AMEKICAX KDITOR's INTRODTJCTION. 
 
 the negro is, after all, really a human being, 
 whatever affects him, inevitably affects all human 
 beings associated with him. Thus arises a pecu- 
 liar influence which must produce and reproduce 
 peculiar qualities among people nurtured in a 
 slaveholding community. 
 
 Hence, however our Southern fellow-citizens 
 may continue to talk, and sentimentalize, and 
 clothe themselves under ordinary circumstances 
 in accordance with the customs, literature, laws 
 and religious maxims of the rest of the civilized 
 world, it is an inevitable effect of their peculiar 
 institution to diminish in them that constitu- 
 tional and instinctive regard for the sanctity of 
 human life, the growth of which distinguishes 
 every other really advancing people just in 
 proportion to their progress in the scale of 
 Christian civilization. Mr. Gladstone is not the 
 first traveler whose studies among them have 
 taught us this ; nor is it necessary to assume 
 the truth of his testimony to prove that there 
 is this essential difference between the people 
 of the Free and the Slave states. In what 
 community, uninfluenced by slavery, could 
 such a record be made, of recklessness unre- 
 
AMERICAN editor's IXTRODUCTION. xi 
 
 strained in regard to the life of its citizens, as 
 the following, which is taken from the Lotas- 
 ville Journal (June, 1854), and was suggested by 
 the *• Mat Ward case," in which case, again, 
 the alleged murderer was presently allow^ed to 
 go free. 
 
 ** There have been scores of notorious cases 
 of murder and acquittal in this city. There 
 was the case of Kunz who killed SchafFer. 
 Kunz, hearing that Schaffer had spoken lightly 
 of a member of his family, went to his coffee- 
 house and cursed him. Schaffer picked up a 
 small stick and went around the counter as if 
 to strike Kunz, whereupon the latter thrust a 
 deadly weapon into his breast and killed him. 
 He luas trial and discharged without imnislimcnt. 
 There was the case of Delph who killed his 
 uncle, Reuben Liter. Delph armed himself 
 deliberately, and went to the upper market- 
 house to meet Liter. He met him, sought a 
 quarrel with him, and shot him dead on the 
 spot. The quarrel was about a prostitute. 
 Delyh was tried and acquitted hij a jury. There 
 was the case of Croxton who killed Hawthorn. 
 Ha\vthorn was in a coffee-house, sitting in a 
 
Xll AMERICAN EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION. 
 
 chair, drunk and asleep. Croxton struck bim on 
 the head in that condition with a brick-bat, 
 and killed him. He teas acquitted by a jury. 
 There was the case of Peters who killed Baker. 
 In Natchez, a long time before. Baker, in a fight, 
 had wounded Peters, and made him a cripple. 
 Peters being thus disabled. Baker supported 
 him. The latter, after about a year, became 
 very poor, and discontinued his bounty. There- 
 upon, Peters pursued him to this city, rode in 
 the night in a hack to his house, sent the hack- 
 man to inform him that a gentleman and friend 
 wished to see him on business, and when Baker 
 came out and stood at the window of the hack, 
 shot him dead instantly. Peters was acquitted by 
 the jury and lived here for some years afterwards 
 — long enough indeed to murder or try to murder 
 a prostitute, upon whose bounty he subsisted. 
 There was the case of the Pendegrasts, who killed 
 Buchanan, a schoolmaster. The elder Pende- 
 grast, wdth two of his sons and a negro, went 
 to Buchanan's school-house with loaded guns 
 and killed him, without giving him a chance 
 for his life. The jury gave a verdict of acquittal. 
 There was the case of Shelby who killed Horine 
 
AMERICAN EDITOR S INTRODUCTION. Xlll 
 
 in Lexington. The two dined at the same 
 public table, and, upon Horine's going into the 
 street, Shelby demanded of him why he had 
 looked at him in such a manner at the table. 
 Horine answered that he was not aware of 
 having looked at him in any unusual manner. 
 Shelby said — 'You did, and if you ever do it 
 again, I will blow your brains out. I don't 
 know who you are.' Ilorine responded — 'I 
 know you, and suppose a man may look at you, 
 if your name is Shelby.' At that, Shelby 
 struck him with his fist, and without any 
 return of the blow, and without any display 
 of a weapon by Horine, for he was unarmed, 
 Shelby shot him dead. Shelby was indicted, 
 but the jiirtj found no verdict against him. There 
 was the case of Ilarr}^ Daniel, of jMount Ster- 
 ling, who killed Clifton Thompson. Daniel 
 and Thompson were lawyers, and brothers-in- 
 law. Thompson made some imputation upon 
 Daniel in open court. Daniel drew a pistol and 
 shot him dead in the presence of judge and jury. 
 Thompson had a pistol in his pocket but did not 
 draw it. Daniel was acquitted hj a jury ^ 
 
 Similar cases might be cited by the volume 
 
XIV 
 
 in which public sentiment, finding its expression 
 in the action of a jury, is proved to be constantly 
 triumphant over all laws and ecclesiastical form- 
 ulas in justifying homicide when it results from 
 the quick and vehement anger of an undisciplin- 
 ed intellect. This is the natural consequence 
 of the lurking danger everywhere present at the 
 South, by which its citizens are compelled to 
 hold themselves always in readiness to chastise, 
 to strike down, to sla}^, upon what they shall 
 individually judge to be sufficient provocation 
 or exhibition of insubordination. 
 
 Southerners themselves may, perhaps, affirm 
 that they are unconscious of this sense of 
 insecurity, and this habit of preparation. But 
 every habit breeds unconsciousness of its exist- 
 ence in the mind of the man whom it controls, 
 and this is more true of habits which involve 
 our safety than of any others. The weary 
 sailor aloft, on the lookout, may fall asleep ; 
 not the less, in the lurch of the ship, will his 
 hands clench the swaying cordage, but only the 
 more firmly that they act in the method of 
 instinct. A hard-hunted fugitive may nod in 
 his saddle, but his knees will not unloose their 
 
XV 
 
 hold upon his horse. Men who live in powder- 
 mills are said to lose all conscious feeling of 
 habitual insecurity ; but visitors perceive that 
 they have acquired softness of manner and of 
 voice. 
 
 If a laborer on a plantation should contradict 
 his master, it may often appear to be no more 
 than a reasonable precaution for his master to 
 kill him on the spot ; for, when a slave has 
 acquired such boldness, it may be evident tliat 
 not merely is his value as property seriously 
 diminished, but the attempt to make further 
 use of him at all, as property, involves in danger 
 the whole white community. " If I let this man 
 live, and permit him the necessary degree of 
 freedom, to be further useful to me, he will 
 infect, with his audacity, all my negro property, 
 which will be correspondingly more difficult to 
 control, and correspondingly reduced in value. 
 If he treats me with so little respect now, what 
 have I to anticipate when he has found other 
 equally independent spirits among the slaves ? 
 They will not alone make themselves free, but 
 will avenge upon me, and my wife, and my 
 daughters, and upon all our community, tlic 
 
Xvi AMERICAN EDlTOIl's INTRODUCTION. 
 
 injustice which they will think has been done 
 them, and their w^omen, and children." Thus 
 would he reason, and shudder to think what 
 might follow if he yielded to an impulse of 
 mercy. 
 
 To suppose, however, that the master will 
 pause while he thus weighs the danger exactly, 
 and then deliberately act as, upon reflection, he 
 considers the necessities of the case demand, is 
 absurd. The mere circumstance of his doing 
 so would nourish a hopeful spirit in the slave, 
 and stimulate him to consider how he could 
 best avoid all punishment. 
 
 But how is it in a similar case at the North ? 
 I have seen it. "I am sorry," says the farmer ; 
 *'I am sorry you have such a bad temper, 
 John. I can't afford to have you live with 
 me, if you have not more respect for yourself 
 and for me, than to play the blackguard. I 
 will pay you what I owe you, and then w^e w^ill 
 part — part friends, if you please, for I bear no 
 malice." And John goes, ashamed of himself, 
 and with a sensible ^resolution to acquire a 
 better self-government. The man who would 
 knock John down, under these circumstances, 
 
AMERICAN EDITOR S IXTRODUCTIOX. XVU 
 
 especially if John were the weaker man, or 
 taken at disadvantage, from behind, or with a 
 weapon, would live without the respect, the 
 confidence, or the affection of his neighbors. 
 He would be called a vindictive, irritable, mis- 
 erable old fool. 
 
 Mark the difference at the South. The same 
 man would be called, and, perhaps, rightly, a 
 brave, generous, high-toned, and chivalric gen- 
 tleman. And, perhaps rightly, I say, for the 
 impulses which would lead him, in the instant, 
 and without reflection, to act decisively, that is, 
 perhaps, to kill, and, at all events, to ver}' 
 cruelly hurt his fellow-being, and that without 
 the smallest regard to fairness, it is not impos- 
 sible mii2rht have been based on a c^eiierous sense 
 of his duty to the public, and a superiority 
 to merely selfish considerations. Thus slavery 
 educates gentlemen in habits which, at the 
 North, belong only to bullies and ruflians. 
 
 But, " planters sleep unguarded, and with 
 their bedroom doors 0[)en." »So, as it was 
 boasted, did the Emperor at Biarritz, last sum- 
 mer, and with greater bravery, because the 
 assassin of Napoleon would be more sure, in 
 
XVIU AMERICAN EDITOR S INTRODUCTION. 
 
 dispatching him, that there would be no one 
 left with a vital interest to secure punish- 
 ment for such a deed ; and because, if he failed, 
 Napoleon dare never employ suclT exemplary 
 punisliment for his enemies as would the plant- 
 ers for theirs. The emperors of the South are 
 the whole free society of the South, and it is a 
 society of mutual insurance. Against a slave 
 who has the disposition to become an assassin, 
 you find his emperor has a body-guard, which, 
 for general effectiveness, is to the Cent garde as 
 your right hand is to your right hand's glove. 
 
 It is but a few months since, in Georgia, or 
 Alabama, a man treated another precisely as 
 Mr. Brooks treated Mr. Sumner — coming up be- 
 hind, with the fury of a madman, and felling him 
 v/ith a bludgeon ; killing him by the first blow, 
 however, and then discharging vengeance by 
 repeated strokes upon his senseless body.* The 
 
 * " There are tender souls," says oSIr. Elliott, in the " New 
 England History," '' who feel that after death the good alone 
 live, and should only be spoken of, and this, in a degree, 
 is true ; " but " it is safest, it is most manly, to see men fairly, 
 as they are, whoever they are, alive or dead." The late Mr. 
 Brooks' character should be honestly considered, now that 
 personal eumity toward him is impossible. That he was 
 
XIX 
 
 man thus pitifully abused had been the master 
 of the other, a remarkably confiding and merci- 
 ful master, it was said — too much so ; " it never 
 does to be too slack with niggers." By such 
 indiscretion he brought his death upon him. 
 But did his assassin escape ? He was roasted, at 
 a slow fire, on the spot of the murder, in 
 
 courteous, accomplished, warm-hearted, and hot-blooded, 
 dear as a friend, and fearful as an enemy, may be believed by 
 all ; but, in the South, his name is yet never mentioned 
 without the term gallant or courageous, spirited or noble, is 
 also attached to it, and we are obliged to ask, why insist on 
 this? The truth is, we include a habit of mind in these 
 terras which slavery has rendered, in a great degree, obsolete 
 in the South. The man who has been accustomed, from 
 childhood, to see men beaten when they have no chance to 
 defend themselves ; to hear men accused, reproved, and vitu- 
 perated, who dare not open their lips in self-defense, or reply ; 
 the man who is accustomed to see other men whip women 
 without interference, remonstrance, or any expression of 
 indignation, must have a certain quality, which is an essen- 
 tial part of personal honor with us, greatly blunted, if not 
 entirely destroyed. The same quality, which we detest in 
 the assassination of an enemy, is essentially constant in all 
 slavery. It is found in effecting one's will with another 
 man by taking mifair advantage of him. Accustomed to 
 this in every hour of their lives. Southerners do not feel 
 magnanimity and the '* fuir-play" impulse to bo a necessary 
 part of the quality of " spirit,'' courage, and nobleness. By 
 spirit they apparently mean only passionate vindictiveness 
 of character, and by gallantry mere intrepidity. 
 
XX 
 
 the presence of many thousand slaves, driven 
 to the ground from all the adjoining counties, 
 and when, at length, his life went out, the fire 
 was intensified until his body was in ashes, 
 which were scattered to the winds and tram- 
 pled under foot. Then "magistrates and cler- 
 gymen" addressed appropriate w^arnings to the 
 assembled subjects. It was no indiscretion to 
 leave doors open again, that night. 
 
 Will any traveler say that he has seen no 
 signs of discontent, or insecurity, or apprehen- 
 sion, or precaution ; that the South has appeared 
 quieter and less excited, even on the subject 
 of slavery, than the North ; that the negroes 
 seem happy and contented, and the citizens 
 more tranquilly engaged in the pursuit of 
 their business and pleasure ? Has that traveler 
 been in Naples ? Precisely the same remarks 
 apply to the appearances of things there at this 
 moment. The massacre of Hayti opened in 
 a ball-room. Mr. Cobden judged there was not 
 the smallest reason in the French king's sur- 
 rounding himself with soldiers the day before 
 the hidden virus of insubordination broke out 
 and cast him forth from his kingdom. The 
 
AMERICAN editor's INTRODUCTION. XXi 
 
 moment of greatest apparent security to tyrants 
 is always the moment of their greatest peril. 
 It is true, however, that the tranquillity of the 
 South is the tranquillity of Hungary and of 
 Poland ; the tranquillity of hopelessness on the 
 part of the subject race. But, in the most 
 favored regions, this broken spirit of despair 
 is as carefully preserved by the citizens, and 
 with as confident and unhesitating an applica- 
 tion of force, when necessary to teach humility, 
 as it is by the army of the Czar, or the omni- 
 present police of the Kaiser. In Richmond, 
 and Charleston, and New Orleans, the citizens 
 are as careless and gay as in Boston or London, 
 and their servants a thousand times as child- 
 like and cordial, to all appearance, in their 
 relations with them, as our servants are with 
 us. But go to the bottom of this security and 
 dependence, and you come to police machinery, 
 such as you never find in towns under free gov- 
 ernment : citadels, sentries, passports, grape- 
 shotted cannon, and daily public whippings of 
 the sul)jects for accidental infractions of police 
 ceremonies. I happened myself to see more 
 direct expression of tyranny in a single day and 
 
XXU AMERICAN EDITOR S INTRODUCTION. 
 
 night at Charleston, than at Naples in a week ; 
 and I found that more than half the mhabitants 
 of this town were subject to arrest, imprison- 
 ment, and barbarous punishment, if found in 
 the streets without a passport after the evening 
 " gun-fire." Similar precautions and similar 
 customs may be discovered in every large town 
 in the South. 
 
 Nor is it so much better, as is generally 
 imagined, in the rural districts. Ordinarily 
 there is no show of government any more 
 than at the North : the slaves go about with as 
 much apparent freedom as convicts in a dock- 
 yard. There is, however, nearly everywhere, 
 always prepared to act, if not always in service, 
 an armed force, with a military organization, 
 which is invested with more arbitrary and cruel 
 power than any police in Europe. Yet the 
 security of the whites is in a much less degree 
 contingent on the action of the patrols than upon 
 the constant habitual and instinctive surveillance 
 and authority of all white people over all black. 
 I have seen a gentleman, with no commission or 
 special authority, oblige negroes to show their 
 passports, simply because he did not recognize 
 
AMERICAN EDITORS IXTRODUCTIOX. XXlll 
 
 them as belonging to any of his neighbors. I 
 have seen a girl, twelve years old, in a dis- 
 trict where, in ten miles, the slave population 
 was fifty to one of the free, stop an old man on 
 the public road, demand to know where he w^as 
 going, and by what authority, order him to 
 face about and return to his plantation ; and 
 enforce her command with turbulent anger, 
 when he hesitated, by threatening that she 
 would have him well whipped if he did not 
 instantly obey. The man quailed like a spaniel, 
 and she instantly resumed the manner of a 
 lovely child with me, no more apprehending 
 that she had acted unbecomingly than that her 
 character had been influenced by the slave's 
 submission to her caprice of supremacy ; no 
 more conscious that she had increased the secu- 
 rity of her life by strengthening the habit 
 of the slave to the master race, than is the 
 sleeping seaman that he tightens his clutch of 
 the rigging as the ship meets each new bil- 
 low. 
 
 The whole South is, in fact, a people 
 divided against itself, of w^iich one faction has 
 conquered, and has to maintain its supremacy. 
 
XXiv AMERICAN EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The '• state of siege" is permanent. Any 
 symptoms of rebellion on one side, or of treach- 
 ery on the other, cannot safely be left to the 
 slow process of civil law; every white man is 
 expected to deal summarily with them, and in 
 such a manner as to pervade with terror, cow- 
 ardice, and hopelessness all the possibly disaf- 
 fected ; and in many districts, where the conta- 
 gion of a bold or hot brain would be most 
 dangerous, the life of the whole white popula- 
 tion is that of a " vigilance committee," every 
 man and woman grim-faced for a possible fero- 
 cious duty. 
 
 There is no part of the South in which the 
 people are more free from the direct action of 
 slavery upon the character, or where they have 
 less to apprehend from rebellion, than Eastern 
 Tennessee. Yet, after the burning of a negro 
 near Knoxville, a few years ago, the deed was 
 justified as necessary for the maintenance of or- 
 der among the slaves, by the editor of a newspa- 
 per (the Register), which, owing to its peculiarly 
 conservative character, I have heard stigma- 
 tized as " an abolition print." " It was," he ob- 
 served, " a means of absolute, necessary self- 
 
AMERICAN EDITOR S IXTRODUCTIOX. XXV 
 
 defense, which could not be secured by an 
 ordinary resort to the laws. Two executions 
 on the gallows have occurred in this county 
 within a year or two past, and the example 
 has been unavailing. Four executions by hang- 
 ing have taken place, heretofore in Jefterson, 
 of slaves guilty of similar offenses, and it has 
 produced no radical terror or example for the 
 others designing the same crimes, and hence 
 any example less horrible and terrifying would 
 have availed nothing here." 
 
 The other local paper (the Whig), upon the 
 same occasion, used the following language: 
 
 *' We have to say, in defense of the act, that 
 it was not perpetrated by an excited multitude, 
 but by one thousand citizens — good citizens at 
 that — who were cool, calm, and deliberate." 
 
 And the editor, who is not ashamed to call 
 himself '' a minister of Christ," presently adds, 
 after explaining the enormity of the offense 
 with which the victim was charged — " We 
 unhesitatingly affirm that the punishment was 
 unequal to the crime. Had we been there we 
 should have taken a part, and even suggested 
 the pinching of pieces out of him with red-hot 
 
XXVI AMERICAN EDITOR S INTRODUCTIOX. 
 
 pincers — the cutting off of a limb at a time, 
 and then burning them all in a heap. The 
 possibility of his escaping from jail forbids the 
 idea of awaiting the tardy movements of the 
 law." 
 
 Hov/ much more horrible than the deed are 
 these apologies for it. They make it manifest 
 that it was not accidental in its character, but 
 a phenomenon of general and fundamental sig- 
 nificance. They explain the paralytic effect 
 upon the popular conscience of the great calam- 
 ity of the South. They indicate that it is a 
 necessity of these people to return in their 
 habits of thought to the dark ages of mankind. 
 For who, from the outside, can fail to see that the 
 real reason why men, in the middle of the nine- 
 teenth century, and in the centre of the United 
 States, are publicly burned at the stake, is one 
 much less heathenish, less disgraceful to the 
 citizens than that given by the more zealous 
 and extemporaneous of their journalistic expo- 
 nents — the desire to torture the sinner propor- 
 tionately to the measure of his sin. Doubtless, 
 this reverend gentleman expresses the upper- 
 moat feeling of the ruling mind of his commu- 
 
AMERICAN editor's IXTRODUCTIOX. XXVU 
 
 city. But would a similar provocation have 
 developed a similar and equally tumultuous, 
 avenging spirit in any other nominally Christian 
 or civilized people ? Certainly not. All over 
 Europe, in every free-state — California, for 
 significant reasons, temporarily excepted — in 
 similar cases, justice deliberately takes its 
 course ; the accused is systematically assisted 
 in defending or excusing himself. If the law 
 demands his life, the infliction of unnecessary 
 suffering, and the education of the people in 
 violence and feelings of revenge, is studiously 
 avoided. Go back to the foundation of the 
 custom which thus neutralizes Christianity, 
 among the people of the South, which carries 
 them backward blindly against the tide of 
 civilization, and what do we find it to be ? The 
 editor who still retains moral health enough to 
 be suspected, as men more enlightened than 
 their neighbors usually are, of heterodoxy, 
 answers for us. To follow the usual customs 
 of civilization elsewhere would not be safe. 
 To indulge in feelings of humanity would not 
 be safe. To be faithful to the precepts of 
 Christ would not be safe. To act in a spirit of 
 
XXVlll AMERICAN EDITOR S INTRODUCTION. 
 
 cruel, inconsiderate, illegal, violent, and piti- 
 less vengeance, must be permitted, must be 
 countenanced, must be defended by the most 
 conservative, as a " means of absolute, neces- 
 sary self-defense." To educate the people 
 practically otherwise would be suicidal. Hence 
 no free press, no free pulpit, nor free politics, 
 can be permitted in the South, nor in Kansas, 
 while the South reigns. Hence every white 
 stripling in the South may carry a dirk-knife in 
 his pocket, and play with a revolver before he 
 has learned to swim. " Self-preservation is the 
 first law of nature." 
 
 I happened to pass through Eastern Tennes- 
 see shortly after this tragedy, and conversed 
 with a man who was engaged in it — a mild, 
 common-sense native of the country. He told 
 me that there was no evidence against the negro 
 but his own confession. I suggested that he 
 might have been crazy. "What if he was?" 
 he asked, with a sudden asperity. 
 
 What if he was? To be sure; what if he 
 was ? In fact, he was not burned because he 
 deserved it ; nor, if we consider, because he 
 was believed by his rulers to have committed 
 
XXIX 
 
 the offenses charged upon him. It was not a 
 question of evidence, of morality, but of expe- 
 diency — simply, of self-preservation. His life 
 depended not upon a conviction of his guilt, in 
 the minds of his judges, but upon the opinion 
 which the subject people of the county were 
 likely to have about it, the same necessity 
 requiring this jury of his peers to be degraded, 
 cunning, and suspicious. To make them sure 
 that their rulers are a strong and hard-hearted 
 race, quick, sure, and terrible in their vengeance, 
 was the object. It was a question no more 
 of justice than of mercy, to the victim used 
 in accomplishing the object. 
 
 Is it incredible that men, nurtured in com- 
 munities whose most conservative and respect- 
 able classes, whose very professional teachers 
 feel themselves justified in taking part in such 
 barbarity, upon such grounds, should have been 
 found, by Mr. Gladstone, guilty of purely bar- 
 barous conduct towards a people whose patient 
 and self-controlling habits were so new to them 
 that they could only ascribe them to a slave- 
 like cowardice? Evidently, to the invaders 
 of Kansas, it must have seemed a merciful 
 
XXX AMERICAN EDITOR's INTRODUCTION. 
 
 treatment of those they had been taught to 
 consider their enemies, when they fell into 
 their hands, merely to hang, or shoot, and scalp 
 them, without torture. 
 
 " No people," it has been said, " are ever 
 found to be better than their laws, though 
 many have been known to be worse." If, in 
 the following advertisement, which was recent- 
 ly published in North Carolina, the proper- 
 names and technical phrases were suitably 
 changed, and it were presented to us by a 
 traveler as coming from the Sandwich Islands, 
 would it not strike us that it had been rather 
 premature to class the natives of those islands 
 amonc: the Christian nations of the world? 
 
 o 
 
 "' State of North Carolina, Jones County. — Whereas, 
 complaint upon oath liatli this day been made to us, Adonijali 
 McDaniel and John N. Hyraan, two of the Justices of the 
 Peace of said county, by Franklin B. Harrison, of said 
 county, planter, that a certain male slave belonging' to him, 
 named Sam, hath absented himself from his master's services, 
 and is lurking about said county, committing acts of felony 
 and other misdeeds. These are, therefore, in the name of 
 State, to command the said slave forthwith to surrender 
 himself and return home to his master ; and we do hereby 
 require the Sheriff of said County of Jones to make diligent 
 search and pursuit after the said slave, and him having 
 found, to apprehend and secure, so that he may be conveyed to 
 
AMERICAN EDITOR S IXTRODUCTION. XXXI 
 
 his said master, or otherwise discharged as the law directs ; 
 and the said Sheriff is hereby authorized and empowered to 
 raise and take with him such power of his county as he shall 
 think fit for apprehending the said slave ; and we do hereby, 
 by virtue of the Act of Assembly, in such case provided, in- 
 tunate and declare that if the said slave, named Sam, doth 
 not surrender himself and return home immediately after the 
 publication of these presents, that anij person may kill and 
 destroy the said slave, by suck means as he or they may think 
 Jit, without accusation or impeachment of any crime or offense 
 for so doing, and without incurring any penalty and forfeiture 
 thereby. 
 
 " Given under our hands and seals the 29th day of Sep- 
 tember, A. D., 185G. 
 
 '■■ A. McDANIEL, J. P. : seal. : 
 
 *• J. N. HYMAN. J. P.'' : SEAL 
 
 '•$100 REWARD. 
 
 " I v;ill give Fifty Dollars for the apprehension and 
 
 delivery of the said boy to me, or lodge him in any jail in the 
 
 State, so that I get him, or ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS 
 
 FOR HIS HEAD. 
 
 -F. C. HARRISON." 
 
 May not the most conservative of us soon be 
 obliged to consider less what we can do and 
 suffer to retain the fellowship, than what w^e 
 can do to guard against the sinister influences 
 upon our own politics and society, of contiguous 
 States, under the laws of which there is still 
 the liability of such an exposition of constitu- 
 
XXXII AMERICAN EDITOR S IXTRODUCTION. 
 
 tioiial barbarism? Whac is to be expected of 
 such seed but such bitter fruit as that of Kan- 
 sas, under the heat of Squatter Sovereignty ? 
 
 The supreme judicial authority of the 
 same State has declared that it would be pre- 
 posterous, while the intention of holding the 
 slaves in their present subjection was main- 
 tained, to consider it a crime for a v/hite 
 man to shoot a woman attempting to escape 
 from the ordinary chastisement of indocility. 
 It was decided (in the case of the State vs. 
 Mann), by Justice Ruffin, *' essential to the 
 value of slaves, as property, to the security of 
 the master, and to the public tranquillity," that 
 such recklessness with human life should be 
 unrestrained by the law.* 
 
 Let the reader who thinks there must be 
 '* two sides" to this story of Kansas, and that 
 Mr. Gladstone has chosen to give his country- 
 
 * " Sacli service as is required of a slave, can ouly be expected 
 of one •U'ho has no will of his own ; who surrenders his will in 
 implicit obedience to that of another. Such obedience is the 
 consequence only of uncontrolled authority over the body ; 
 there is nothing else which can operate to produce that effect. 
 The power of the master must be absolute to render the obe- 
 dience of the slave perfect."— 2. Devereaux's uV. C. Rep., 
 263. 
 
AMERICAN EDITOR S IXTKODUCTIOX. XXXlll 
 
 men but one of them, remember that the neces- 
 sity which has made the South thus exception- 
 al among civilized States, in its law, must have 
 made the people of the South much more ex- 
 ceptional among civilized mankind in their 
 habits and character. Mr. Gladstone demon- 
 strates but one consequence — that one which, 
 being defended and apologized for by the Presi- 
 dent of the United States, has most injured the 
 reputation of democratic institutions through- 
 out the world. The world should recos^nize the 
 fact that the disgraceful condition of Kansas, the 
 atrocious system, which the federal government 
 of the United States has been forced to counte- 
 nance in Kansas, is the legitimate fruit of des- 
 potism, not of free government. 
 
 There are, however, many other characteris- 
 tics of the people of the South which have had 
 their origin in this necessity, which we of the 
 North — since the absence of slavery is likely 
 hereafter to depend on a local ordinance, since 
 slavery is olhcially intimated to be national, and 
 all opposition to slavery declared to be "sec- 
 tional" — cannot afford to overlook. Would to 
 God we had " nothing to do with it." But, as 
 
XXXiv AMERICAN EDITOR S INTRODUCTION. 
 
 a Southern-born man said to me, lately, "It is 
 a white man's question." Shall we hereafter 
 exercise our rights as citizens of the United 
 States, which are simply our natural rights as 
 men, only by favor of Sharp's rifles and in en- 
 trenched villages ? 
 
 It is, for instance, the foundation of that pecu- 
 liar political cooperativeness and efficiency which 
 we see in the people of the South. Nothing is 
 safe if the slaves rise. Towards any party or 
 measures, therefore, which, however indirectly, 
 militate in the least against the everlasting 
 subordination of the slave race, they act, as 
 they do towards the slaves themselves, with the 
 self-preserving instinct of a community always 
 prepared for the attacks of a savage enemy. 
 Hence, the intensity and completeness with 
 which they give themselves up to any political 
 purpose in which an increase of wealth, and, 
 consequently, of stability in power, is involved 
 for the slaveholding body. They engage in 
 it as in war, and hold ordinary rules of morality 
 and social comity to be suspended till they have 
 gained their ends. 
 
 Their orators are wont to boast that they 
 
AMERICAX EDITOR .S INTRODUCTION. XXXV 
 
 belong to a military people. What are termed 
 the military qualities of the South are, again, 
 the natural effects of this inherited watchful- 
 ness and readiness to meet, instantly and de- 
 cisively, with cruelty and bloodshed, the first 
 symptoms of insubordinate disposition on the 
 part of their slaves. These military qualities 
 are, in fact, not such as are most valued for 
 modern armies — individual staunchness, pa- 
 tience, and endurance of character, contributing 
 to combined concentrativeness, precision, and 
 mobility— but rather those of the feudal ages, 
 or of savage u'arriors, the chief being mere 
 belligerent excitability, readiness of resort to 
 arms, an idolatrous estimate of the virtue of 
 physical courage, and an insane propensity of 
 that kind which leads Indian braves to amuse 
 or disgust their visitors, as the case may be, by 
 *' scalp-dances" and monotonous recitative of 
 their glorious achievements, past and pro- 
 spective. A government of force is ordinarily a 
 government of threats and gasconading osten- 
 tation. The subject must continually know 
 that the master is confident in his strength. 
 We are well instructed by Humboldt, that the 
 
XXXVl AMERICAN EDITOll S iX TRODUCTIOX. 
 
 only worthy purpose of the student of history 
 is to learn the influence which different circum- 
 stances have had on the development of char- 
 acter in mankind. Doubtless, slavery has not 
 wholly failed of good effects upon the character 
 of our fellow-citizens of the South. I do not 
 now inquire what those effects are, because 
 such an inquiry is not pertinent to the subject 
 of this book. In the conduct of those who 
 represent the influence of slavery in Kansas, 
 only the worst qualities w^iich it is possible for 
 men to acquire have hitherto been displayed. 
 Even the measurable success with which they 
 have, to this moment, maintained their conquest, 
 is due to no good judgment, energ}', or bravery 
 of their own, but is evidently entirely dependent 
 on what, to such observers as Mr. Gladstone, 
 must be the most incredible and inexplicable 
 circumstance in the whole sad business — the 
 encouragement they receive in their villainy 
 from the democraticparty of the Free-states, and 
 the constant countenance, supplies, reinforce- 
 ments, and patronage of the federal administra- 
 tion. Withdraw this ; let the oppressed citizens 
 generally feel that it would be right, and proper, 
 
AMERICAN editor's INTRODUCTION. XXXVU 
 
 and lawful to deal with their present rulers as 
 they have been dealt with by them, and the sav- 
 ages would disappear from the land as the more 
 manly Indians have before them, and then the 
 present scandal of Kansas would be lost in the 
 natural peace, order, and prosperity of a society, 
 no member of which need have aught to fear but 
 from his own folly, nor aught to hope but from 
 his own industry, as surely as the fire-black- 
 ness of its winter prairies is submerged in the 
 green flood of its spring. 
 
 Is it unpatriotic to thus show the incompati- 
 bility of slavery with good citizenship ? 
 
 The people of the South arc " my people." 
 I am attached to them equally as to those of 
 Massachusetts or Pennsylvania. My blood and 
 my fortune are equally at their service. I 
 desire their prosperity as I do that of no other 
 people in the world. I look upon slavery as 
 an entailed misfortune which, with the best 
 disposition, it might require centuries to wholly 
 dispose of. I would have extreme charity for 
 the political expedients to which it tempts 
 a resort. 
 
 But it seems to me now, that such inexcusa- 
 
XXXVlll AMERICAN EDITOR S INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ble scoundrelism in our common matters, as 
 has been shown in Kansas, should make us 
 consider if charity has not been carried too far ; 
 if the forbearing, and apologetic, and patron- 
 izing disposition towards everything in the 
 South, or of the South, or for the South, is not 
 as much calculated to bring us into difhculty 
 as the reckless and denunciatory spirit attrib- 
 uted to the abolitionists. Have not thousands 
 of our Northern people so habituated them- 
 selves to defend the South that they have 
 become as blind to the essential evils and dan- 
 gers of despotism as if they were themselves 
 directly subject to its influence ? 
 
 In the South itself, there has been for many 
 years a school of fanatics, who maintain that 
 slavery is essential to a high form of civiliza- 
 tion ; who, in their selfish anxiety to maintain 
 it, have trained themselves to think that its 
 influence is wholly ennobling and refining, 
 christianizing and civilizing. These views are 
 so flattering to the predominant- bad propen- 
 sities developed by slavery that they are 
 propagated with a zeal and a success like that 
 of the immediate followers of Mahomet. The 
 
AMERICAN editor's INTRODUCTION. XXxix 
 
 characteristic vices of the middle ages are 
 unearthed and enshrined under the name of 
 chivalry, and the youth of our country is 
 taught to reverence a reckless, blundering, 
 and blood-thirsty buccaneer as a " second 
 Washington," and a silly, romantic, swaggering 
 poltroon, who can talk wickedly of women and 
 wear a graceful feather, as " the Marion of 
 Kansas." 
 
 Against this gospel no one dare contend with 
 a spirit and boldness at all comparable to that 
 of its apostles. Books, periodicals, and news- 
 papers, are interdicted, if they maintain the faith 
 w^iich was universal among its friends in the 
 Soutli when our Union was formed. However 
 calm and respectful their manner, they are denied 
 the service of the United States mails ; those who 
 receive them are denounced as abolition trai- 
 tors ; gentlemen who acknowledge themselves 
 to privately hold similar opinions, and who are 
 on terms of friendship with their authors, feel 
 obliged to "discountenance" them. "If I 
 should express my real opinions," said one, 
 himself a large slaveholder, " it is not unlikely 
 T should be mobbed and my life placed in 
 
Xl AMERICAN EDITOR's INTRODUCTION. 
 
 jeopardy by men who never have owned and 
 never will own a single negro." 
 
 Nay, have we not recently seen that, for a 
 mere act of customary politeness to a political 
 opponent, and of respect to a high official of 
 our national government, Mr. Aiken, of South 
 Carolina, the wealthiest citizen and the largest 
 slave-owner of that state, has been denounced 
 and insulted, as guilty of a " gross wrong" to his 
 constituents ? There is no *' democratic paper" 
 in all the South, believes the editor of the 
 South Carolina Thnes, that has not condemned 
 the act ; no paper which has approved of 
 it. In all the South, not one editor still 
 lives to sympathize with the instincts of a 
 gentleman of the old school. So complete 
 is the success of the new gospel of slavery in 
 its own country.* 
 
 * The argument with which the South Carolina Times, in 
 the article referred to, disposes of the claim of courtesy, 
 strikingly sustains the opinions I have expressed, that it is to 
 an habitual precaution against insubordination of the 
 slaves that we are chiefly to attribute the peculiar customs 
 and manners of the South. Speaker Banks is an opponent 
 of the extension of slavery — not an abolitionist in the politic- 
 al sense ; " but," says the Times, " we regard him a? beyond 
 
AMERICAN editor's INTRODUCTION. xll 
 
 At the North, we have not only ** public 
 documents" sent us by the ton, but many self- 
 styled democratic newspapers, which follow, 
 as near as can be thought discreet for propa- 
 gandists, in the same course — denying the evils 
 of slavery, apologizing for them, or, with as- 
 tounding impudence, in the case of these Kansas 
 barbarisms, charging them upon the persecuted 
 and long-suffering victims, whom, also, they 
 holdup to scorn, as " traitors" and '- abolition- 
 ists." The most successful journal in the 
 service of the administration here in New 
 York, is not satisfied thus negatively to serve 
 the purposes of the slavery fanatics, but takes 
 the aggressive against freedom, daily arguing 
 " the universal failure of free society," earn- 
 estly combating " the wide-spread delusion 
 that Southern institutions are an evil, and 
 
 the pale of a refined courtesy — excluded by his own acts. 
 If incurable fanaticism be a merit, Speaker Banks has it. 
 If inexpiable treason be a virtue, Speaker Banks can claim 
 it. To prove this we need only repeat what we have said 
 before. Mr. Speaker Banks avows sentiments that lead 
 directly, and lead inevitably, to insurrection, rapine, and 
 murder ! He boldly proclaims himself an enemy to the 
 South — to the institutions of the South." 
 
Xlii AMERICAN EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION. 
 
 their extension dangerous," and diligently ad- 
 vocating the claims to universal adoption of a 
 system, living under the influence of which 
 Jefferson declared the citizen " must be a 
 prodigy who retained his morals and manners 
 undepraved ;'■ which Patrick Henry testified to 
 be "at variance with the purity of our 
 religion ;" which Mason held " to produce the 
 most pernicious effects on manners," and calcu- 
 lated to draw " the judgment of heaven upon a 
 country ;" which Franklin termed " an atrocious 
 debasement of our nature," and " a plan for the 
 abolition" of which Washington declared to be 
 "among his first wishes." 
 
 When the Supreme Court finds slavery to have 
 been considered a national institution by these 
 statesmen in the construction of our constitu- 
 tion ; when this opinion, at variance with 
 every impression we have received from our 
 fathers, is welcomed with cheers and congratu- 
 lations in the North, as by the State Demo- 
 cratic Convention of Connecticut ; when nearly 
 all the newspapers of the South, and one 
 quarter of those at the North, express nothing 
 but satisfaction with the criminality of the 
 
xliii 
 
 late administration in Kansas ; nothing but 
 charity or admiration for the savages nurtured by- 
 slavery to fight its battles ; nothing but sneers 
 and maledictions for the grand results of free 
 government manifested in the patient, orderly, 
 and industrious character of their victims ; 
 when with the ruling, though minor party, of 
 our citizens, freedom and the "Rights of man" 
 are subjects only of ridicule — slavery only of 
 apology or laudation ; when foreigners find 
 border- warfare the most interesting subject of 
 observation on our continent ; when the sub- 
 jects of every crowned head in Europe are 
 pointed to Kansas for a caution against dreams 
 of self-government ; when our army is used as a 
 reserve force for bands of robbers, while they 
 murder the sons, and ravish the daughters, and 
 devastate the property of our dearest friends 
 and neighbors, and all in the service of slavery, 
 is it not reasonable to believe that there is 
 greater danger of our forgetting the evils which 
 the people of the South suffer from slavery 
 than of our overlooking the advantages which 
 they claim to enjoy from it ? 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The following pages comprise the chief sub- 
 stance of a series of letters on the condition of 
 Kansas which appeared during the past winter 
 in the columns of The Times newspaper. By 
 the kind permission of the Editor, the material 
 then used has been introduced into the present 
 volume, in which a more complete and detailed 
 portraiture is attempted of those scenes of 
 peace and war which came under the author's 
 observation whilst travelling in the western 
 territories of America in the early summer of 
 1856. 
 
 To enable the reader better to comprehend 
 the political strife of which Kansas has been 
 the arena, the author has introduced into this 
 volume a few concluding chapters, which com- 
 prise in brief outline the principal events 
 
Xlvi PREFACE. 
 
 which have marked the histoiy of this contest. 
 The author has not attempted argument upon 
 the political questions involved. He has care- 
 full v avoided the subject of Slavery, except 
 where he speaks incidentally of the economics 
 of free and slave labour. He has not made 
 himself the advocate of the measures adopted 
 by the Free-state party to form a State Gov- 
 ernment, although the Committee of Investi- 
 gation appointed by Congress repon in favour 
 of the Constitution thus adopted, as one which 
 embodies the will of a majority of the people. 
 His simple desire has been to present facts, 
 and he cheerfully leaves it to others to draw 
 such inferences as they may deem legitimate. 
 
 As it has been the author's object to restrict 
 his statements to that which he has seen or 
 been able personally to verify whilst in the ter- 
 ritory, it necessarily follows that the events 
 which have occured since his visit are more 
 cursorily noticed. He has only introduced 
 these later events in order to give completeness 
 to the narrative ; but, as his information has 
 been gathered solely from those of whose 
 trustworthiness he has had full proof in con- 
 
PREFACE. Xlvii 
 
 nection with the events with which he is per- 
 sonally familiar, the author feels confidence in 
 the accuracy of the statements which the few 
 closing pages contain. 
 
 To the two interesting volumes which have 
 recently appeared in America upon the subject 
 of Kansas, by Mr. TVilliam Phillips and Mrs. 
 Robinson, the author is especially indebted for 
 facts contained in the concluding chapters of 
 this Book. Had they reached his hands before 
 his own volume was in the press, they might 
 have been further sen'iceable to him. As it is, 
 they have aided him in writing of that which 
 has occurred since his visit, whilst they give 
 valuable confirmation to the statements con- 
 tained in the narrative of his own investiga- 
 tions. 
 
 Lastly, the author hopes it will not gire 
 pain to any one of his many valued friends in 
 America, that he should have addressed him- 
 self to a subject which they cannot but grieve 
 over as he does. He can assure such, that he 
 has had no object in view but to hasten the 
 application of a remedy to that which is a sore 
 evil. Had similar events taken place in his 
 
Xlviii PREFACE. 
 
 own country, he would have felt warranted in 
 speaking of them with far greater severity. If 
 any feel yet aggrieved, he can only repeat the 
 maxim : — 
 
 *' Amicus Socrates, amicus Plato, sed magis 
 amicus Veritas." 
 
 But of those whose friendship is a prize 
 worth treasuring — and many such the author 
 rejoices to number in America — he feels assur- 
 ed it will never be said that their friendship 
 was conditional on silence as to the truth. 
 The author commits his Book, therefore, to 
 his true friends and to all others, known or un- 
 known, in the belief that the truth, spoken 
 without animosity and with a sincere desire to 
 render beneficial service, will, whilst it con- 
 tributes towards this end, be misapprehended 
 or misjudged by none. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Introduction by the American Editor. . . iii 
 
 Preface. ....... xlv 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Excitement in relation to Kansas.— Difference of Opinion.— The 
 President's Special Message.— Washington.— Contest as to a 
 Seat in Congress. — Rival Legislatures. — Appointment of a Com- 
 mittee of Investigation.— Southern Meetings.- Volunteei-s in 
 Arms. — j»Ii8souri. — Powder and Shot, — Advertisements. — A 
 Crisis at Hand. — Visit to Kansas 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Outburst of Violence. — Burning of Lawi'ence. — Contents of the 
 following Chapters. — Political Parties. — Dramatis Persona;. — 
 Federal Appointees. — Border-ruffian Ring-leaders. — Leaders of 
 the Free-state Cause 10 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Situation of Lawrence. — Eventful History. — The Winter Campaign 
 of 1855. — Earthwork Fortifications. — Organized Defence. — De- 
 termination to " wipe out Lawrence." — The Southern Wax'-ery. 
 — Peaceful Policy of Free-state Inhabitants. — Reinforcement of 
 the Border-ruffian Army. — Sheriff Jones's reported Assassination. 
 —Sheriff Jones's Tours of Arrest. — Hotel and NcAvspaper offices 
 to bo abated as Nuisances. — May 21st. — Position of the besieg- 
 ing Army. — The War-flag raised. — Arrests of Citizens. — Sur- 
 render of Arms demanded by Jones. — Entry of the Forces. — 
 General Atchison's Address to his men. — Demolition of Printing- 
 offices. — Cannon. — Burning of Free-state Hotel. — Flight of the 
 Women and Children. — General Pillage. — Firing of Governor 
 Robinson's House.— Southern Hearts filled with Joy and Pride. 
 — "Law and Order" triumphant 21 
 
1 C.-^XTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IT. 
 
 Tke divsfier&e Sack. — Digb^aiir^g o: :h? Forces. — KnSirs «e- 
 OBtBS tke Lav.— XkbsL— Dttftfale BecddetL— A Xi^( &£ Kan- 
 ■as <3tr. — Appfaranee of tbe Mob. — Desp^rrare Characters. — 
 &atesfM Co^BBe.— A Fearfal tkreaL— Xi^^p on tbe W^ 
 mtrnxL — Feflow-traT€lI«s. — '• Border-rofiaaziSw' — A Popolar Ora- 
 tor. — r ie asaa t Bep oBe. — Mocbb^. — ^^ Extras." — ^An locidest — A 
 xe^eelalile MexebuL— Sis OpimoKs.— Tbe - Did Hoes^ does 
 BOt eare aboat BreakfKt.— A gesUe HIn :.— A bccter Set.— Ciril- 
 xdea.— Tbe petheteJ ag Mo^^aat. — ^A Western yiizi. — Qoiet 
 GoBirersaikB.- Fiieafir Adriee.— A Tanke« b a Xcisanc*, and 
 waBkbepitd(«wm.— Acaa^dO^aaoa. . . . 39 
 
 L H A P ^ Z I^ '• . 
 
 u— HflnidTfareafa^— Ofioeof tke Hotd. 
 —A Bacder-TaJEaa Ai^Bvy.— A Free^oOer SHeaeed.— How to 
 a^fle fke Abo&Muab.— So«2h«n '^ Ksaa." — Fort Leares- 
 vQcffa.— GcKbEBgHoases.— A S^&t of diiaaksB WickedaesB 
 aad awrheffte d Ooizage. — Goreraor Sobiaaan's Arrest. — Fierce 
 T hc alA . — FteazB of a Beseae. — CoBaaittee of Investigation. — 
 Beware of tte HespL- Aireat of F ie& ^iito Mea.— Stale oi 
 Fiarties.— Beralaba <^ Tedaag. — O f ganaa tion d GncEnlla Par- 
 M 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 VTkj are s— _ 0--i,;;c3 p^rtolnei 3 — Tczsl TiH-zn c: Justice. — 
 The Jefficers of th* Taritory. — A Test re:^e'l— An unpioaa 
 Oadx. — ASrsaatioa of the Xebraska-KaiLSia Ac: ar i the Fa^i- 
 tire Save Law. — Jcdgew Jarv, and La^. — AH ozo Wav. — Sam- 
 ple of the Ksieas Ssatutes.— Ball ici LLiin.— Freedosi cf 
 ^eedi fiicbiddez. — Parrgjimeal: of Deaii. — Abase of tae Term 
 " L«^.^— yo HcD- cf Jistice for Free = tit 5 Meti- . . t7 
 
 HA? 
 
 — ':i9 Phnicai Fore* 
 
CONTENTS. I 
 
 A-i;^"':-: — Hrw :o ■^-'. -- Mi;-.-::-. — Ifje;^ ^'jja. — N:: F— 
 — : r — ■' .\' r " — A :':-j.::^ ?r-E-^^'JT. — Cvncl^.cri c: :b 
 
 CHAPTER Till. 
 
 R- V — 1 .^ - r-- ■ Les^^litzre — Mrz ir.i TLizji La 
 
 K.aasa.5.— I :f ir::ler^ — In--r_*^ Ex:e^: cf 
 
 Country—: -iLv-rs —The K»-*.-5 tnc ML»^z^ 
 
 -Ur^ -I-ilinT'b-f-Fcr^l^rj cf 
 
 The ' ::t^ — Ei : - - - 
 
 Ac:.- - : :-^^?- y - . :r 
 
 ia vi-r - — " c:w^-i, _ . — rirr-r.? 
 
 Bzi 7 ." l-^Msc— i: . ^ -IHj^ 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ?:r.i_Lg Cc::u-sj:. — Freedom uid SlaTery. — E,iv. i ?: 
 Kanaa?. — Xonhem F:r;" grant Aid S-xdede? . — SpL-i: of i 
 — Tbe P : - — • Ls^ a^d Or: - " -7 
 
 Son.— L^e.— Tto V.'e§-- 
 
 Cha:. Rcclprocltj— :: 
 
 Tte 1 New W&rll— }1 
 
 E'-vmii-.-r ... ir... — -icliieT-:— -' •■ ' v 
 Cor::exp: cf the Yarkee; — 
 Effect of Po::-Jc= on the Wc: . r . „ 
 
 CHAPTER X . 
 
 Varictlea cf Populiuon :i: Ka:i5i«. — Tvpe= of 2il 
 MLiaOcri Steamer. — ^Tce Border-riSini. — L 
 Free-soliers. — Ne-s- Ifexicia Spaniardi — 7" 
 German Je-srs, — "Datchaeti."' — Pr>?:r- 
 Stakes — Goremnieat OSeiala— Ur:? - 
 African Race. — Freedom of Spe-; - 
 tradon. — Jsd^e OTrifger. — Hli . — 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The day after the Sack. — Disbanding of the Forces.— Ruffians exe- 
 cuting the Lavr. — Thirst.— Double Rectified.— A Night at Kan- 
 sas City. — Appearance of the Mob. — Desperate Characters. — 
 Grotesque Costume. — A Fearful threat. — Night-trip on the Mis- 
 souri. — Fellow-travellers. — " Border-ruffians." — A Popular Ora- 
 tor. — Pleasant Repose. — Moi-ning. — " Extras." — An Incident.— A 
 respectable Merchant. — His Opinions. — The " Old Hoss" does 
 not care about Breakfast. — A gentle Hint. — A better Set.— Civil- 
 ities. — The persevering Merchant. — A Western Man. — Quiet 
 Conversation. — Friendly Advice. — A Yankee is a Nuisance, and 
 must be put down. — A candid Opinion. . . . 39 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Leavenworth City. — Going on Shore. — A State Prisoner. — Gov- 
 ernor Robinson in Custody. — Scanty Accommodation.— Governor 
 Robinson's Examination. — Horrid Threats. — Office of the Hotel. 
 — A Border-ruffian Armoury. — A Free-soiler Silenced. — How to 
 settle the Abolitionists. — Southern " Fixins." — Fort Leaven- 
 worth. — Gambling Houses. — A Night of shamless Wickedness 
 and unchecked Outrage. — Governor Robinson's Arrest. — Fierce 
 Threats. — Fears of a Rescue. — Committee of Investigation. — 
 Beware of the Hemp. — Arrest of Free-state Men. — State of 
 Parties. — Revulsion of Feeling. — Organization of Guerrilla Par- 
 ties. — Frequent Collisions 54 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Why are such Outrages permitted? — Total Failure of Justice. — 
 The Jeffreys of the Tei'ritory. — A Test required. — An impious 
 Oath. — Affirmation of the Nebi-aska-Kansas Act and the Fugi- 
 tive Slave Law. — Judge, Jury, and Law. — All ono Way. — Sam- 
 ple of the Kansas Statutes. — Ball and Chain. — Freedom of 
 Speech forbidden. — Punishment of Death. — Abuse of the Term 
 " Law." — No Hopo of Justice for Free state Men. . . 67 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Southern Law-makers. — Perversion of Authority. — A fraudulent 
 Legislature in Power.— The " Blue Lodge."— The Electors 
 overawed.— General Stringfellmv's Speecli.— The Physical Fore* 
 
CONTENTS. 11 
 
 Argiirnont.— How to got a Majority. — Illopjal Votes. — Not Fonr 
 per Cent. Legal. — Terrorism. — Polling. — The CongresB Report. 
 — Right of Might, — A forcible Persuader.— Conclusions of the 
 Committee of Investigation. — A Poll-tax. — Pro-slavery Votes 
 purchasable by Law. — Anti-slavery Votes prouunced void 
 by Law. — Public Documents cited. — Laws worso than Dra- 
 conian ... T7 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Recapitulation. — The " bogus" Legislature.— Men and Things in 
 Kansas. — Different Classes of Settlers. — Immense E.^tent of 
 Country. — Physical Aspect. — Rivers. — The Kansas and Missoux-i. 
 —Undulating Prairie.— Caravans. — Indian Tribes. — Fertility of 
 the Soil. — Salubrity of the Climate. — Commercial Advantages. — 
 The " mad Missouri." — Excellent Market. — " NebraskaKausaa 
 Act." — A Race between North and South. — Pro-slavery Party 
 in the Ascendant. — Struggle between the two Partic.",. — Tarring 
 and Feathering. — Sale of a Free Man. — Model Legislators. — Dis- 
 cordant Elements. — Development 90 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Striking Contrast. — Freedom and Slavery. — Rapid Progress of 
 Kansas. — Northern Emigrant Aid Societies. — Spirit of Eutei-prise. 
 — The " Regulators." — "Law and Order" Men. — The Widow's 
 Son. — Barbarous Outrage. — Tho Western Frontiersman. — His 
 Character. — Generous Reciprocity. — Mode of lutercouroe. — 
 The Pioneer of the New AVorld. — His Appointments — The 
 Romance of Peril. — Achievements of the Western Pathfinder. — 
 Contempt of the Yankees. — The Source of Life and Vigour. — 
 Effect of Politics on the Western Character. . . . 102 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Varieties of Population in Kansas. — Types of Mankind on board a 
 Missouri Steamer. — The Border-ruffians. — Loud Men. — Silent 
 Free-soilers. — New Mexican Spaniards. — Nuns. — Mormons. — 
 German Jews. — " Dutchmen." — Professed Gamblers. — High 
 Stakes. — Government Officials. — United States Officers. — Tho 
 African Race. — Freedom of Speech forbidden. — A curious Illus- 
 tration. — Judge O'Trigger. — His Appearance — Conversation— 
 
lii CONTENTS. 
 
 His Legal Wisdom.— Ljiich LaTv.— The Judicial Functionary's 
 Plan. . 114 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Two great Divisions. — Pro-slavery Men and Free-soilers. — Sub- 
 divisions. — Slaves. — Small Xumber of Slave-owners in Kansas. 
 — Their "\Vork.s. — '' Border-ruffians." — King of the Fire-eaters. 
 — Their Numbers. — Volunteer Companies. — An American 
 " Groggery." — A Border-ruffian's Boast.— A fair "Border-ruffian." 
 — ^The Free-state Party. — General Lane.— Governor Kobinson. — 
 His Services. — Enormities of Naples and Austria reproduced in 
 America. — Relative Numbers in Kansas of Southerns and North- 
 ems. — Migration. — Permanent Settlers. — Floating Population. — 
 Western Cities. — Contrast between Free and Slave Town?. 123 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Subject of the following Chapters. — Leavenworth City. — Far 
 Western Life- — Its accidental Features. — Fort Leavenworth. — 
 Appearance of the City. — Buildings. — Plan of the City. — Re- 
 mains of the primeval Forest. — Situation of the Houses. — Laying 
 out a City. — Most desirable Locations. — Increased Value of 
 Property. — Rapid Rise of a City. — Substantial Buildings.— 
 Wooden Shanties. . . ; 1'33 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Kansas Interiors. — The Log-hut. — Discomforts. — Wind and Mud. 
 — Strange Medley. — Various Modes of Construction. — Diflferent 
 Stages of Log-hut building. — The Wooden House and Shanty. 
 — How it is built. — Tent-life. — Interior Economy. — " Temperance 
 House." — The Company. — Occupations. — Unreasonable De- 
 mands for Accommodation. — Alligators turned out. — Travel 
 teaches Contentment. — Disallowed at Night, but enforced by 
 Day. — Conveniences of the Toilet. — Meals. — Pride of the Host, 
 — Rapid Eating. — Population of Leavenworth. — Commerce of 
 the Plains. — Value of Stock. — Caravan Trains. . . 146 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Traffic with the Indians. — How it is carried on. — Business and 
 Pleasure. — Good Per-centage. — Buoy Appearance of Leaven- 
 
CONTENTS. liii 
 
 worth. — Necessaries of civilized Life.— Steamboats. — Railroads. 
 —The Electric Telegraph.— Squatter-life.— Land without a Title. 
 — The " Claim."— Division of New Lands.— A " Bee." — "Log- 
 rolling.'' — Squatter Sovereignty. — " Tomahawk Rights." — "En- 
 tering," or *' Pre-empting." — Abuses of the System. — " Jump- 
 ing."—" Foundations."— xi " Caution."— Right of Suffrage. 100 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The Geography of Kansas. — Junction of the Kansas and Missouri 
 Rivers. — Kansas City. — The Santa Fe Road. — Settlements up the 
 Kansas River. — Lawrence. — Lecompton. — Topeka. — Kaw Half- 
 breeds. — Fort RUey. — Mounds. — California Road. — The Oregon 
 Trail. — Crossing the Plains. — Character of the Country. — The 
 Great American Desert. — The Rocky Mountains.— Banks of the 
 Missouri. — Leavenworth City and Fort. — Western Routes. — The 
 Upper Missouri. — Osawatomie. — Climate and Soil of Kansas. — 
 Production. — Wages 173 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The Red Races of Kansas. — Variety of Condition. — Deep Debase- 
 ment.— Prejudicial Intercourse with White Men. — Fire-water. — 
 Civilization.— Efforts for the Elevation of the Indian Tribes. — 
 Good Fruit. — The Indigenous Tribes of Kansas. — Kaws, Osages, 
 Ottoos, Pawnees. — A Total Abstinence Tribe- — The Immigrant 
 Tribes. — Shawnees, Delawares, Wyandots. — A Wyandot Family. 
 — Kickapoos, Sacs and Foxes, lowas. — Pottawat amies, Sacs and 
 'Foxes, Ottawas. — Results. 189 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Visit to a Company of Sioux Indians. — Their Ci'imes and Punish- 
 ment. — A timid Companion. — Ho ! ho ! ho ! ho ! — Friendship 
 accepted. — Friendship mistrusted. — Exhibition of Displeasure. 
 — The Calumet of Peace. — Indian Hospitality. — Te-o-kun-ko's 
 Appearance, Dress, and Feats. — Torn Belly in a Blanket. — The 
 Squaw and Pappoose. — Furnishings of the Tent. — Teaching the 
 young Idea how to Shoot. — Solemn Mela^icholy. — Parting Friend- 
 ship. — Mother and Child. — Description of Kansas Life concluded. 
 —The Reign of Terror 204 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 The Controversy.— Shall Kansas bo Slave or Frco? — Slavery a 
 
ilV CONTENTS. 
 
 Barrier to a Country'e Advancement.— Influence of Slavery on 
 Population, Education, Cultivation of the Soil, Price of Land. — 
 A fair Competition vroiild make Kansas Free. — Pecuniary and 
 Political Interests of the South.— A fair Competition from the 
 first denied 216 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 The Commencement of the Troubles in Kansas. — Its Organization 
 ae a Territory. — Slavery prohibited previously by the Missouri 
 Compromise. — Senator Douglas. — Conception of a bold Idea. — 
 The Compact broken. — Passing of the Nebraska-Kansas Act. — 
 Squatter Sovereignty. — Unskilled Legislators. — The People to 
 regulate their Domestic Institutions in their own Way. — Mr, 
 Scward'8 Speech. '-230 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Missouri takes an Interest in Kansas. — Claims staked off. — Sover- 
 eignty taken up in the new Territory. — Blue Lodges. — Slavery, 
 "at whatever Cost of Blood and Treasure." — Hostile Resolu- 
 tions. — Indian Lands ceded. — Northern Immigration. — The Chal- 
 lenge accepted. — Appointment of Governor and Judiciary. — 
 Governor Reeder. — Lawrence founded. — Leavenworth and other 
 Settlements. — Election of Delegate to Congress. — The Contest. 
 — Missourian Invasion. — General Striugfellow's Programme of 
 Operations. — Return of General Whitfield. . . , 239 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Election for the Territorial Legislature, March 30, 1S55. — Spirit of 
 the Press. — Preparations for an Invasion in Missoui-i. — Numbers 
 of the Invading Forces. — The Hemp. — Incidents of Bowie-knife 
 Voting. — Ninety out of ever>- Hundred Votes Illegal. — Incidents 
 at Bloomington. — Sheriff Jones' Exploits. — Windows Smashed. 
 —House Lifted. — Ballot-box Stolen.— Hurrah for Missouri !— Re- 
 turning Home. — Piratical Symbols. — Victory. — Protests against 
 Elections. — Unpopularity of Governor Reeder. — Summary Pun- 
 ishment of a Newspaper Press. — The Fraudulent Legislature Or- 
 ganized. — Exclusion of Free-state Membei-s. — Two Months of 
 Legislation. — Appointment of Officers. — Reciprocity. — Public 
 Companiec. 253 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 Removal of Governor Reeder. — Appointment of Governor Shau- 
 
con. — Character of the two Governors contrasted. — Shannon's 
 Declaration of Political Views.— Organization of the Free-state 
 Party.— Independent Action to form a State Government.— Pub- 
 lic Sentiment among the Southern Party.— Outrages.— A Cler- 
 gyman floated on the Missouri. — Murder. — Slackness of the Law. 
 — Singular Use of Judicial Power 271 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Murder of Dow.— The Guilty acquitted, the Innocent arrested.— The 
 Midnight Rescue.— Rally to Arms.— The Wakarusa War — Posi- 
 tion of the Encampments. — First Siege of Lawrence. — Its De- 
 fence. —Amusing Incidents. — Mournful Events.— The Treaty 
 of Lawrence.— Peace Festivities.— Disbanding of the Ruffian 
 Forces.— Discontent.— Barbarous Treatment of Prisoners.— Mur- 
 der of Mr. Brown. — Fiendish Cruelty ^i83 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Change in Popular Feeling after the Destruction of Larfrence.— 
 Retaliation.— Massacre at Osawatomie.— Personal Experience.— 
 Battles of Black Jack and Franklin.— Sack of Osawatomic.— 
 Road-side Horrors.— Hanging.— Repulsion of Northern Immi- 
 grants.— A Barbarous Wager. — Murder and Scalping. — The 
 Atrocity Completed.— August.— Murder of Major Hoyt.— Burn- 
 ing of Pro-slaveiy Forts.— Colonel Titus Seized and Liberated. 
 —Treaty of Peace.— Militia Called Out.— Proclamation of Re- 
 bellion.—" The Army of Law and Order in Kansas Territory."— 
 Second Fight at Osawatomie.— General Lane's Free-state Army. 
 —Expulsion of the Free-state Inhabitants of Leavenworth.— The 
 President's Messages. 295 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Governor Gean\— His Pacific Proclamation.— Its Interpretation.— 
 Release of State Prisoners on Bail.— Capture of Ninety-eight 
 Free state Men.— Their Condition in Prison.— Revolting Inhu- 
 manity towards the Prisoners. — Sufferings of the Settlers. — Sick- 
 ness, Cold, Hunger, and Orphanage. — The Present and the 
 Futiu-e of Kansas.— Action of Congress 310 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Supplement by the American Editor. .... 318 
 
KANSAS. 
 
 CHAPTER 1. 
 
 Excitement ia relatioa to Kansas. — Difference of Opinion. — 
 The President's Special Message. — Washington. — Contest as 
 to a Scat in Congress. — Rival Legislatures. — Appointment 
 of a Committee of Investigation. — Southern Meetings. — 
 Volunteers in arms. — Missouri. — Powder and Shot. — Adver- 
 tisements. — A Crisis at Hand. — Visit to Kansas. 
 
 When in New York, during the latter part 
 of the winter of 1855-6, I heard daily discus- 
 sions on the condition of affairs in the far 
 western territory of Kansas. Some of the 
 newspapers had their special correspondence at 
 what was termed '' the seat of war," and all 
 were eager to supply the latest intelligence 
 from the scene of contest. At Washington, 
 whilst the house of Representatives was busy 
 choosing a Speaker, — a process which lasted 
 through nine weeks, and required one hundred 
 and thirty-three ballots, — the President, with- 
 out waiting for the organization of the house, 
 made Kansas the subject of a special message. 
 Yet, while all parties agreed in recognizing the 
 
KANSAS. 
 
 existence of disorder in Kansas, there were 
 strange difterences in the light in which that 
 disorder was regarded. 
 
 Many of the public journals spoke with 
 indignant censure of bloodshed and forcible in- 
 vasion from neighbouring states, as well as of 
 violent interference with the people of Kansas 
 in the exercise of their rights of suffrage. The 
 President spoke in mild terms of " disturbing 
 circumstances," " irregularities," and " inau- 
 spicious events," adding, that "whatever irreg- 
 ularities might have occurred in the elections, 
 it seemed too late now to raise that question." 
 
 The papers spoke of a legislative body claim- 
 ing authority over the residents of Kansas, 
 which they had not elected, but which had 
 been forciby thrust upon them with pistol and 
 bludgeon by a lawless horde from the State of 
 Missouri. The President said, that "for all 
 present purposes the legislative body, thus 
 constituted and elected, was the legitimate 
 assembly of the territory." 
 
 The people of Kansas were represented by a 
 large portion of the press as groaning under a 
 most oppressive legislation, and as craving de- 
 
THE PRESIDENT S SPECIAL MESSAGE. 3 
 
 liverance from a fraudulent legislature, and 
 from tyrannical laws enacted by that legisla- 
 ture. The President made it the conclusion of 
 his message, that he felt it his imperative duty 
 to exert the whole power of the federal execu- 
 tive for the vindication of these laws, for the 
 suppression of all resistance to them, and for 
 the support thereby of public order in the terri- 
 tory. He begged all good citizens to help him 
 thus to restore peace, and asked for an appro- 
 priation to defray the expense of enforcing the 
 laws, and thus maintaining public order in 
 Kansas. 
 
 The difference was apparent. A large por- 
 tion of the people denied the legality of the 
 legislative power in the territory, and bitterly 
 complained of the injustice with which that 
 power was exercised, and the oppressions under 
 which they were consequently placed. The 
 President said it was too late now to raise the 
 question of legality, — they must submit ; that 
 if they did submit, peace would ensue ; but, if 
 otherwise, the federal force and the army of the 
 United States would be employed against them 
 to compel their submission. 
 
KANSAS. 
 
 At Washington I gained further insight into 
 the question. 
 
 I saw the tall figure of General Whitfield 
 moving about the House of Representatives, 
 and heard lengthened arguments whether he 
 or the ex-govenor Reeder was the rightful dele- 
 gate of Kansas. These discussions ended in 
 permission being given to Mr. Whitfield, the 
 pro-slavery delegate, to occupy a seat in the 
 house without voting, the question of right be- 
 tween him and Mr. Reeder being reserved. 
 
 Every day I heard Kansas and its contest 
 argued upon in the Senate Chamber and in the 
 House of Representatives, in the bustling hall 
 of the National Hotel, and in private political 
 circles. I heard that which I conceived to be 
 the extreme on the one side and on the other, 
 and was not long in discovering that, while the 
 President and the advocates of Southern views 
 maintained the authority of the illegally con- 
 stituted Territorial Legislature of Kansas, and 
 of the judiciary and other officers appointed by 
 it, the opposite party, with a large portion of 
 the people of Kansas themselves, asserted the 
 claims of an incipient State Legislature, which 
 
COMMITTEE OP INQUIRY. 5 
 
 they had elected in the prospect of its being 
 admitted as a state. 
 
 A double legislature, a double judiciary, a 
 double set of civil appointments throughout 
 each claiming sole prerogative, the State Leg- 
 islature calling the Territorial a fraud, and the 
 Territorial calling the State Legislature a sham ; 
 such a political condition appeared strangely 
 anomalous. 
 
 On the one side of the question a very lono- 
 report from the Committee of Territories was 
 presented to the Senate by Mr. Douglas, and 
 on the other side, a *' minority report," from 
 the same committee by Mr. Collamer. At 
 length, on the 19th of March, Congress gave a 
 temporary check to the protracted discussion 
 by accepting a motion which sprang from the 
 Committee on Elections, to the effect that a 
 committee should be appointed to investigate 
 and collect evidence in regard to the troubles 
 in Kansas generally, and particularly in regard 
 to any fraudulent or violent proceedings that 
 might have accompanied the elections in the 
 teiTitory. No member from any one of the 
 Southern states voted in flivour of the investi- 
 
G KANSAS. 
 
 gation, but happily a majority was given by 
 the Northern states, and the Committee on 
 Inquiry was appointed. This resolution was 
 passed whilst I was in Washington, and I made 
 up my mind at the same time, if practicable, 
 in the spring of the year, to carry out an 
 investigation on my own account, and to satis- 
 fy myself, if possible, as to where the truth 
 lay, which seemed buried beneath so over- 
 whelming a mass of contradictory assertions. 
 
 Later, when in South Carolina and other 
 Southern states, I witnessed extraordinary 
 meetings, presided over by men of influence, 
 at which addresses of almost incredible vio- 
 lence were delivered on the necessity of *' forc- 
 ing slavery into Kansas," of " spreading the 
 beneficent influence of Southern institutions 
 over the new territories," and of ^' driving 
 back at the point of the bayonet the nigger- 
 stealing scum poured down by Northern fana- 
 ticism." 
 
 These meetings generally terminated by an 
 urgent appeal for men and money. The result 
 of this public agitation was, that large compa- 
 
POWDER AND SHOT. 7 
 
 nies were formed of young men who were 
 enthusiastic for slavery, and subscriptions of 
 large amount were made to send these, who 
 were already at blood-heat with excitement, 
 armed into the territory, and furnished with 
 means of support during the continuance of 
 the campaign. 
 
 In the latter part of May I found myself in 
 the State of Missouri. For two or three 
 months I had read none but Southern journals, 
 I had spoken with none but Southern men, I 
 had heard none but Southern views, and, as a 
 consequence, I was fully furnished with the 
 South-side aspect of the controversy. 
 
 The accounts from Kansas indicated a most 
 threatening condition of affliirs. Party bitter- 
 ness had apparently increased. Law existed 
 only for party purposes, and deeds of violence 
 were of almost daily occurrence. 
 
 The St. Louis papers contained advertise- 
 ments, by the half-column, of rifles, revolvers, 
 gunpowder, and lead. One of these advertise- 
 ments may serve as an example of the whole. 
 I extract the following from the Daily Missouri 
 
O KANSAS. 
 
 Rejmbliccm, published at St. Louis. Attention 
 is arrested by tlie heading, " Kansas," in large 
 type, and the representation of a revolver in 
 the margin. 
 
 KANSAS. 
 
 JUST EECEIVED, by Adams Sf 
 Co's. ExjyresSy a large and fine Assort- 
 ment of Double and Singlk 
 
 SHOT-GUNS, 
 
 which will be sold cheap for Cash. 
 
 We have also on hand an Assortment of our own Mana- 
 facture of 
 
 RIFLES, 
 
 so well known for the past thirty years throughout tb& 
 Western country. 
 
 Emigrants to Kansas should not fail to call at 
 
 , and examine our Stock before purchasing else- 
 where. 
 
 The Committee of Inquiry appointed by 
 Congress I understood to be at the time in 
 Kansas, carrying on their investigations. 
 Through the kindness of friends, I had been 
 furnished with letters to Colonel Sumner, who 
 
VISIT TO KANSAS. U 
 
 was in command of the United States troops, 
 and other persons of influence in the territory. 
 Being ah'eady in the adjoining State, and 
 events of great moment in the history of 
 Kansas, if not the breaking out of civil war 
 itself, being evidently at hand, I felt disinclined 
 to forego my purposed visit. Five hundred 
 more miles of river navigation would take me 
 to the scene of conflict. I resolved to go and 
 see for myself. 
 1* 
 
10 KANSAS. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Outburst of Yioleuce.— Burning of Lawrence.— Contents of 
 the following Chapters.— Political Parties.— Dramatis Per- 
 Bonae. — Federal Appointees. — Border-ruffian Ring-leaders. — 
 Leaders of the Free-state Cause. 
 
 Could I have made choice of a period in which 
 to visit Kansas, which should be most rife with 
 incident and best adapted for the successful 
 prosecution of my inquiries, I could not have 
 selected one more favourable than that of my 
 actual visit. The aflairs in the territory had 
 reached a crisis. At that moment unresisted 
 oppression had reached its highest point, and 
 the severest blow was struck which Kansas has 
 yet received. Greater individual suffering may 
 have been inflicted later, but May 21st, 1S56, 
 was a day which turned the tide of popular 
 feeling, and thus terminated one era in the his- 
 tory of the Kansas struggle, and introduced 
 another. 
 
 On that eventful day the town of Lawrence, 
 
BURNING OF LAWRENCE. 11 
 
 without offence or crime, was attacked by armed 
 forces, some six or eight hundred strong ; its 
 principal hotel, the largest private building in 
 the territory, was battered down and then re- 
 duced to ashes ; the printing-offices of the Free- 
 state journals were set fire to, the editors having 
 been previously captured and carried off as pris- 
 oners ; the type and presses were destroyed and 
 cast into the Kaw river; and the city itself was 
 given over to a merciless sack. On the same 
 day, and by the same agency, occurred the firing 
 of Governor Robinson's house on Mount Oread, 
 after it had been made throughout the day the 
 head-quarters of the invading troops. Govern- 
 or Robinson himself had been arrested a few 
 days before while travelling eastward, and was 
 a prisoner during the attack upon Lawrence, as 
 well as for four months subsequent. His arrest 
 was made without a legal warrant, and his te- 
 dious confinement in the gaol at Lecompton 
 was equally without sentence or trial. 
 
 But the blow aimed at the Free-state cause 
 in the destruction of Lawrence, and the seizure 
 and imprisonment of some of its most active 
 adherents, brought a severe recoil. A spirit of 
 
12 KANSAS. 
 
 resistance was evoked, public feeling throughout 
 the country was aroused, and it is not improba- 
 ble that this great temporary triumph of the 
 pro-slavery party in Kansas may prove itself in 
 the end its most signal defeat. 
 
 In the following chapter I purpose describing, 
 as accurately as possible, from information gained 
 on the spot, the events of the siege of Lawrence. 
 It maybe right to add that, whatever testimony 
 I gathered in Kansas was, for the most part, 
 obtained from pro-slavery men. My account, 
 therefore, is rather the result of the admissions of 
 these than of the assertions made by Free-soil 
 advocates. I have endeavoured to omit all 
 statements which are not admitted by the 
 concurrent testimony of both parties. 
 
 In a succeeding chapter I will give some de- 
 tail of events witnessed by myself, which will 
 illustrate the earlier portion of Governor Kob- 
 inson's captivity and the spirit of his captors, 
 during a short period when it w^as my fortune 
 to be his companion in travel. 
 
 As an introduction to these narratives, how- 
 ever, it may be of service to many readers to 
 have presented in a single view the names of 
 
DRAMATIS PERSONS. 13 
 
 the principal personages who have borne their 
 part, whether nobly or ignobly, in the earlier 
 stages of Kansas history. A more particular 
 delineation of some of the most noted of these 
 characters may be attempted later, when oc- 
 casion requires. But the following list will 
 interpret for the reader the names most fre- 
 quently occurring in the narrative, and will 
 indicate the official capacity or political views 
 possessed by the individuals themselves. 
 
 Of political parties in Kansas, the two main 
 divisions are, of course, the Free-state and the 
 pro-slavery parties ; but the latter exhibits a 
 further distinction, according as its adherents 
 are moderate and constitutional in their main- 
 tenance of Southern views, or endeavour to 
 force their principles upon the territory by 
 powder and shot. The latter policy is known 
 as " border-ruffianism.'* 
 
 Colonel E. V. Sumner. — Colonel of the 1st 
 regiment of cavalry, and, until the latter part 
 of 1856, commander of the United States troops 
 in Kansas. Colonel Sumner won distinction in 
 the Mexican war, and has had much experi- 
 
14 KANSAS. 
 
 ence of military affairs in the Western territo- 
 ries. 
 
 Andrew H. Reeder. — The first Governor of 
 Kansas appointed by the President. A man of 
 erect form and determined aspect, hair slightly 
 gray, more apt to listen than to commit himself 
 by speech. He received his appointment as a 
 friend of the Southern interest, but offended his 
 party by failing to espouse the border-ruffian 
 cause. He was removed from the governorship 
 by the President in the summer of 1855, and 
 was subsequently elected by the Free-state 
 people- as delegate to Congress, in opposition to 
 Whitfield. 
 
 Daniel Woodson. — The Secretary of the ter- 
 ritory during Eeeder's governorship, and after- 
 wards acting Governor until the appointment 
 of Shannon. He is a tall, somewhat handsome 
 young man ; comes from Arkansas, and is true 
 to the South, but did not join in all particulars 
 the extreme party. 
 
 Wilson Shannon. — The second Governor of 
 
DRAMATIS PERSONiE. 15 
 
 Kansas appointed by the President. An extreme 
 Southern man in politics, of the border-ruffian 
 type. Under Shannon's governorship, all the 
 worst deeds that have marked the history of 
 Kansas have taken place. As the head of the 
 executive in the territory during the border- 
 ruffian rule. Governor Shannon's name v^ill 
 need to be mentioned only too frequently. 
 
 J. W. Whitfield. — The delegate returned 
 chiefly by Missourian votes, to represent Kansas 
 in Congress. " General " Whitfield, as he is 
 commonly called, is a resident of Missouri, and 
 was formerly an Indian agent. He is a tall 
 man, of uninviting expression of countenance 
 and somewhat sinister aspect. Latterly the 
 General took the field, and became very active 
 in the border-ruffian campaign. 
 
 Samuel Dexter Lecompte. — The Chief 
 Justice of Kansas territory, appointed by the 
 President. A small, fair-complexioned, keen- 
 eyed lawyer, Judge Lecompte has rendered 
 himself infamous as the type of judicial border- 
 ruffianism, even as Shannon represents the same 
 
16 KANSAS. 
 
 principle in the executive. The town of Le- 
 compton has been named in honour of the 
 Judge, and has been designated by the territo- 
 rial legislature as the capitol of the territory. 
 
 J. B. Donaldson. — The Marshal of the ter- 
 ritory, also appointed by federal authority. Like 
 Shannon, a native of Ohio, and, like him, also 
 determined to serve the power which placed 
 him in office. He is a man somewhat advanced 
 in life, but has made himself remarkable, even 
 amongst his associates, for his unscrupulous sur- 
 render of his powers as United States Marshal 
 into the hands of the border-ruffian leaders. 
 
 W. P. Fain.— Deputy U. S. Marshal. A 
 Georgian, and a despicable follower of Donald- 
 son in his measures of extermination. 
 
 Samuel J. Jones. — Formerly Postmaster in 
 the town of Westport, Missouri; afterwards 
 made Sheriff of Douglas County in Kansas, 
 and chief agent in^ the execution of the be- 
 hests of the border-ruffian judiciary. A re- 
 markably mean and contemptible man, but 
 
PRO-SLAVERY LEADERS. 17 
 
 one who has had much power placed in his 
 hands. 
 
 David R. Atchison, of Platte County, Mis- 
 souri, formerly Senator for the State, President 
 of the Senate, and Vice-President of the United 
 States ; known on the border as " General 
 Atchison," or " Old Dave," Captain of the 
 Platte County Rifles, and a prime leader among 
 the border-ruffians. A thorough Missourian in 
 his language and habits, as well as in his politi- 
 cal views. To General Atchison and the four 
 or five whose names follow, belongs the credit 
 of having commenced and been the chief 
 agents in sustaining the border-ruffian policy in 
 Kansas. 
 
 J. H. Stringfellow, living in the town of 
 Atchison, K. T. A doctor ; editor of the 
 Squatter Sovereign, a violent border-ruffian pa- 
 per ; member of the House of Representa- 
 tives in the Territorial Legislature, and chosen 
 to the Speakership of the same. Called generally 
 Dr. Stringfellow. His editorial articles breathe 
 out threatenings and slaughter continuallv. 
 
IS KANSAS. 
 
 Bexjamix Fkaxklix Strixgfellow. — A 
 brother of the former, practismg as a lawyer, 
 in partnership with Perer T. Abell, in Wes- 
 ton, Missouri. Called by distinction " General" 
 Stringfellow. A border-ruffian to the core. 
 Eather over the middle age, fair in complexion, 
 but furious in his crusade against freedom. 
 
 TVillia:>i p. PcIchaedsox. — Another of the 
 Missourian brotherhood, who has been engaged 
 in the plot from the commencement. He was 
 elected to the Tentorial Legislature as Member 
 of Council, and, on the organization of the 
 militia by the legislature, was made Major- 
 General of the Kansas Teritorial Militia. 
 
 Dr. G-eosge W. Batless, Col.Beowx, Col. 
 YorxG, Col. Booxte, all residents of Missouri, 
 and leaders in the cause of slavery extension. 
 
 Key. Thomas Johxsox-. — Superintendent of 
 the Shawnee Manual Labor School and ^Mission ; 
 appointed by the United States Government to 
 teach the Shawnee Indians farming, letters, and 
 the principles of Christianity. It will be well 
 
LEADERS OF THE FREE-STATE CAUSE. 19 
 
 for the Indians that they should not follow his 
 practice. He is a warm adherent of border- 
 ruffianism. As President of the Council, he has 
 been elevated to the highest office in the Terri- 
 torial Legislature, and some absurd attempts 
 were once made to make him Governor. 
 
 Colonel Buford, of Alabama, and Coloxel 
 Titus, of Florida; two zealous Southern men, 
 who came with other officers into Kansas about 
 April, 1S56, at the head of large companies of 
 volunteers from the Southern States, to aid the 
 border-ruffian cause. 
 
 Charles Roben-sox. — A native of Massachu- 
 setts, by profession a physician, and who has 
 had some experience of life in California. Al- 
 though under fony years of age, his cool self- 
 possession, caution, and soundness of judgment 
 marked him out as the leader of the Free-state 
 cause. When the Free-state party formed a 
 military organization, Dr. Robinson became 
 Major-General and Commander-in-Chief; and, 
 on then* forming a civil power, he was elected 
 Governor under their State constitution. 
 
20 KANSAS. 
 
 Colonel James H. Lane. — A young man, 
 full of impetuosity and fiery daring ; obtained 
 his rank as Colonel in the Mexican war ; has 
 also sat in Congress. He has devoted himself 
 with great spirit to the Free-state cause in 
 Kansas, was made Brigadier-General in the 
 Free-state army, and was chosen as President 
 of the Constitutional Convention which met at 
 Topeka. 
 
 Samuel C. Pomeroy. — Also a Free-state 
 General, and one who has taken, from the 
 first, an active interest in the settlement of 
 Kansas. 
 
 William Y. Roberts. — Made Lieutenant- 
 Governor under the Free-state constitution. 
 A man who likes, apparently, to see himself 
 in office, but lacks the nerve for high occa- 
 sions. 
 
SITUATION OF LAWRENCE. 21 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Situation of Lawrence. — Eventful History. — The "Winter Cam- 
 paign of 1855. — Earthwork Fortifications. — Organized De- 
 fence. — Determination to "wipe out Lawrence." — Ttie 
 Soutliern War-cry. — Peaceful Policy of Free-state Inhabit- 
 ants. — Reinforcement of the Border-ruffian Army. — Sheriff 
 Jones's reported Assassination. — Sheriff Jones's Tours of 
 Arrest. — Hotel and Newspaper offices to be abated as Nui- 
 sances. — May 21st. — Position of the besieging Army. — The 
 "War-flag raised. — Arrests of Citizens. — Surrender of Arms 
 demanded by Jones. — Entry of the Forces. — General Atchi- 
 son's Address to his men. — Demolition of Printing-offices. — 
 Cannon. — Burning of Free-state Hotel. — Flight of the "Wo- 
 men and Children. — General Pillage. — Firing of Governor 
 Robinson's House. — Southern Hearts filled with Joy and 
 Pride. — ** Law and Order" triumphant. 
 
 Some forty miles up the Kaw or Kansas 
 river, and some forty miles, therefore, from the 
 Missouri state-line, stands the town of Law- 
 rence. It is situated at a very beautiful spot 
 on the right bank of the river. Behind the 
 town, on the southwest, at the distance of 
 nearly a mile, rises a hill of considerable eleva- 
 tion, known as Mount Oread. Towards the 
 
22 KANSAS. 
 
 east, undulating prairie-land stretches for many 
 miles, intersected by the Wakarusa Creek. 
 And at a spot where the prairie, at the foot 
 of a somewhat high bluff, slopes towards the 
 woody margin of the Kaw, stands the busy 
 little town itself, now so famous in Kansas 
 annals. 
 
 The autumn of 1854 witnessed the erection 
 of the first log-huts of Lawrence by a few fami- 
 lies of New England settlers. During the year 
 1855 its population increased rapidly, chiefly 
 by the arrival of emigrants from the Northern 
 States. Its log-hut existence gave way to a 
 more advanced stage, in which buildings of 
 brick and stone were introduced ; and the 
 growing prosperity of the " Yankee town" early 
 began to excite the jealousy of the abettors of 
 slavery. Viewed as the stronghold of the Free- 
 state party, it was made the point of attack 
 during what was called " the Wakarusa war" 
 in the winter of 1855. Before the termination 
 of this its first siege, the necessity of some 
 means of defence being manifest, the inhabitants 
 of Lawrence proceeded to fortify their town by 
 the erection of four or five circular earthworks, 
 
WINTER CAMPAIGN. 23 
 
 thrown up about seven feet in height, and 
 measuring a hundred feet in diameter. These 
 were connected with long lines of earthwork 
 entrenchments, rifle-pits, and other means of 
 fortification. Whilst these engineering opera- 
 tions were being carried on, the men might 
 have been seen, day and night, working in the 
 trenches, in haste to complete the defence of 
 their Western Sebastopol. The inhabitants 
 were also placed under arms, formed into com- 
 panies, with their respective commanders, 
 under the generalship of Robinson and Lane, 
 had their daily drill, mounted guard day and 
 night upon the forts, and sent out at night a 
 horse-patrol to watch the outer posts, and give 
 warning of approaching danger. 
 
 The pacification which followed the Waka- 
 rusa campaign in December, 1855, afforded only 
 a temporary lull. Although war had ceased, 
 the people did not cease to carry arms, and used 
 them, when occasion offered, with fatal effect. 
 The Missourians did not conceal that they were 
 organizing another invasion, which should 
 effectually " wipe out Lawrence," and win 
 Kansas for slavery, " though they should wade 
 
24 KANSAS. 
 
 to the knees in blood to obtain it." The 
 Southern states were being appealed to far and 
 wide, to aid by men and money in the extirpa- 
 tion of every Northern settler. The spirit of 
 the pro-slavery party may be gathered from 
 their journals, from the columns of which ex- 
 tracts like the following might be made in any 
 number. After speaking of Free-state men as 
 being '' willing to violate the constitution of 
 their country, which explicitly recognizes 
 slavery," the Kickaiioo Pioneer (Dec. 26) pro- 
 ceeds : 
 
 " Should such men receive any compassion 
 from an orderly, union-loving people ? No ! 
 It is this class of men that have congregated at 
 Lawrence, and it is this class of men that Kan- 
 sas must get rid of. And we know of no better 
 method, than for every man who loves his 
 country and the laws by which he is governed, 
 to meet in Kansas and kill off this God-forsaken 
 class of humanity as soon as they place their 
 feet upon our soil." 
 
 Again, in an extra number of the same jour- 
 nal, published Jan. 18, 1856 : 
 
 *' Forbearance has now ceased to be a virtue; 
 
POLICY OF FREE-STATE INHABITANTS. 25 
 
 therefore we call upon every pro-slavery man 
 in the land to rally to the rescue. Kansas must 
 be immediately rescued from the tyrannical dogs. 
 * * * * Pro-slavery men, law and order men, 
 strike for your altars ! strike for your firesides ! 
 strike for your rights ! sound the bugle of war 
 over the length and breadth of the land, and 
 leave not an abolitionist in the territory to re- 
 late their treacherous and contaminating deeds. 
 Strike your piercing rifle-balls and your glitter- 
 ing steel to their black and poisonous hearts ! 
 Let the war-cry never cease in Kansas again, 
 until our territory is wrested of the last vestige 
 of abolitionism." 
 
 Surrounded by so much fire and fury, which 
 was not confined to mere words, the non-resist- 
 ance of the Free-state people was remarkable. 
 Lawrence kept itself fortified, continued its 
 drills, had its " Committee of Public Safety," 
 and did not return the shots frequently fired 
 against it by passers-by at night. In the mean 
 time the Free-state delegates met at Topeka, 
 organized the State Legislature, made applica- 
 tion to the federal power for the admission of 
 Kansas into the Union with a free constitution, 
 
 and petitioned the President, although vainly, 
 2 
 
26 KANSAS. 
 
 for protection from wrong. Their steadfast 
 adiierence to these peaceful measures, and their 
 remarkable moderation in the midst of much 
 that might have excited a spirit of resistance, 
 was doubtless due chiefly to the peaceable policy 
 ever counselled by their Commander-in-Chief 
 and Governor, Charles Robinson, whose wise 
 caution preserved the Free-state party from 
 doing a single act which might serve their 
 adversaries as a reasonable excuse for an appeal 
 to arms. 
 
 The month of May arrived, and the state of 
 parties continued as before. The pro-slavery, 
 or, as it was commonly termed, the border-ruf- 
 fian army, had, however, gained strength by 
 large reinforcements from the States. Colonel 
 Buford was there with his determined bands 
 from Alabama, Colonel Titus from Florida, 
 Colonel Wilkes and others with companies from 
 South Carolina and Georgia, all of whom had 
 sworn to fight the battles of the South in Kan- 
 sas. The President, too, through his Secretary- 
 at-War, had placed the federal troops at the 
 command of Governor Shannon, and the Chief 
 Justice Lecompte had declared, in a notable 
 
ASSASSIXATIOX OF SHERIFF JONES. 27 
 
 charge to a grand jury, that all who resisted 
 the laws made by the fraudulently elected 
 Legislature were to be found guilty of high 
 treason. 
 
 In the mean time the people of Lawrence, 
 some fifteen hundred, probably, in number, 
 silently awaited the coming blow. 
 
 The chief aim of the party in power was to 
 find an excuse for an attack upon Lawrence. 
 The inhabitants of the town, and especially 
 their *' Committee of Public Safety," were as 
 resolute in not giving any such occasion. At 
 length the report went through the country, 
 that Samuel Jones, the Sheriff of Douglas 
 County, who had been most active in making 
 arrests of Free-state men, with a view to excite 
 provocation, was shot — shot in the spine — 
 basely assassinated by blood-thirsty abolition- 
 ists. His murder must be avenged, they said, 
 though at the sacrifice of every abolitionist in 
 the territory. Yet Jones was not murdered. 
 He had been slightly wounded by a ball, from 
 whose pistol none could say; but how little 
 the Free-state party was chargeable with the 
 act may be judged from the indignation meet- 
 
28 KANSAS. 
 
 ing held on account of it in Lawrence on the 
 following day, the resolutions they passed con- 
 demnatory of the act, the reward they offered 
 for the apprehension of the guilty person, and 
 the care they took of Jones himself, lodging 
 him in their own Free-state Hotel, and attend- 
 ing to his wants until he was able to go forth 
 and persecute them anew, wdth a more deadly 
 rage than ever. 
 
 That Sheriff Jones had been assassinated, 
 that Governor Reeder had resisted a deputy 
 marshal in an attempt to arrest him, that the 
 people of Lawrence were turning the Free- 
 state Hotel into a fortress, with parapets and 
 port-holes for the use of cannon and small 
 arms, that there were mines beneath the streets 
 of Lawrence, to be sprung in case of attack — 
 these were the stories current in every one's 
 mouth when I first approached the territory, 
 and out of which abundant capital was made, 
 in order to inflame the people against Law- 
 rence. 
 
 Meanwhile, Sheriff' Jones rode about the 
 country with a "posse" of United States 
 troops, arresting whomsoever he pleased ; the 
 
ARRESTS, INDICTMENTS, AND MURDERS. 29 
 
 grand jury declared the Free-state Hotel and 
 the offices of the Herald of Freedom and Kansas 
 Free-State newspapers in Lawrence to be nui- 
 sances, and as such to be removed ; Governor 
 Robinson and several other men of influence in 
 the Free-state cause were severally seized and 
 held as prisoners ; Free-state men were daily 
 molested in the highway, some robbed, and 
 others killed ; and a constantly increasing army 
 was encamping right and left of Lawrence, 
 pressing daily more closely around it, and 
 openly declaring that their intention was to 
 *' wipe out the traitorous city, and not to leave 
 an abolitionist alive in the territory." 
 
 Tiie policy pursued by the inhabitants of 
 Lawrence during these events was a very 
 pacific one. They resolved, through their 
 Committee of Public Safety, to offer no man- 
 ner of resistance to the acts, however unjust, 
 of those possessed of authority, and even ten- 
 dered their services to the Marshal, to aid him 
 in serving his processes on those whom he de- 
 sired to arrest. They also made representations 
 of the danger of their position to the federal 
 and territorial authorities, but without effect. 
 
30 KANSAS. 
 
 At length the day approached when Law- 
 rence was to fall. On the night previous to 
 May 21st, could any one have taken a survey 
 of the country around, he would have seen the 
 old encampment at Franklin, four miles to the 
 southeast of Lawrence, which w^as occupied 
 during the Wakarusa war, again bristling with 
 the arms of Colonel Buford's companies, 
 brought from the States. This formed the 
 lower division of the invading army. On the 
 west of Lawrence, at twelve miles distance, 
 he would have seen another encampment in 
 the neighbourhood of Lecompton, occupied by 
 the forces under Colonel Titus and Colonel 
 Wilkes. These were reinforced by General 
 Atchison, with his Platte County Rifles and 
 two pieces of artillery ; by Captain Dunn, 
 heading the Kickapoo Rangers ; by the Doni- 
 phan Tigers, and another company under Gene- 
 ral Clark, as well as by General Stringfellow, 
 with his brother, the doctor, who had left for a 
 time his editorship to take a military command, 
 and other leaders, who brought up all the law- 
 less rabble of the border-towns, to aid in the 
 attack. These on the west of Lawrence 
 
COMMENCEMENT OF THE SIEGE 31 
 
 formed the upper division. A large proportion 
 were cavalry. The general control of the 
 troops was in the hands of the United States 
 Marshal, Donaldson, the whole body, of some 
 six or eight hundred armed men, being re- 
 garded as a i:iosse comkatus to aid this officer in 
 the execution of his duties. 
 
 By three o'clock on the morning of the 21st, 
 Colonel Titus, with about two hundred horse- 
 men, appeared on the crown of Mount Oread, 
 overlooking the town of Lawrence. In a few 
 hours the remaining portion of the upper divi- 
 sion had reached the same position. Some 
 occupied Governor Robinson's house, situated 
 on tlie declivit}^ of the hill towards the town, 
 which they made their headquarters ; others 
 planted their cannon, of which they had several 
 pieces, on the brow of the hill, in a position 
 which commanded tlie city. Shortly after, the 
 besieging army was reinforced by the arrival 
 of the lower division, under Colonel Buford. 
 A blood-red flag, inscribed with the words 
 " Southern Rights" on the one side, and 
 *' South Carolina" rudely painted on the other, 
 was then raised over the invading troops. 
 
32 KAN. ^ AS. 
 
 During the forenoon Fain, the Deputy-Mar- 
 shal, entered Lawrence with some assistants, 
 to make arrests of its citizens. He failed, 
 however, in provoking the resistance desired, 
 on which to found a pretext for attacking the 
 city; for the citizens ])ermitted the arrests to 
 be made, and responded to his demand for a 
 *' posse" to aid him. He dined at the Free- 
 state Hotel, at Messrs. Eld ridge's, the proprie- 
 tors', expense, and returned with his posse 
 and his prisoners to the hill occupied by the 
 troops. 
 
 The United States Marshal had now, he 
 Btated, no more need of the troops ; but, as 
 Sheriff Jones had some processes to serv^e in 
 Lawrence, he would hand tliem over to him 
 as a 2^ossc comitatus. 
 
 Accordingly, in the afternoon, Jones rode 
 into Lawrence at the head of twenty or more 
 men, mounted and armed, and placed himself 
 in front of the Free-state Hotel, demanding of 
 General Pomeroy the surrender of all arms. 
 He gave him five minutes for his decision, fail- 
 ing which the posse would be ordered to bom- 
 bard the town. General Pomeroy gave up 
 
GEN. 
 
 their brass howitzer and some small pieces, 
 the only arms that were not private property. 
 Jones then demanded the removal of the furni- 
 ture from the hotel, stating that the District 
 Court for Douglas County had adjudged the 
 hotel and the two free-state newspaper otiices 
 to be nuisances, and as nuisances to be remov- 
 ed, and that he was there as Sheriff to execute 
 these indictments, and summarily remove the 
 obnoxious buildings. 
 
 In the mean time the forces had left the hill, 
 and were at the entrance of the town, under 
 Titus and Buford, Atchison and Stringfellow. 
 General Atchison's address to his men on this 
 occasion may be cited as an example of the 
 mode of speech adopted by a late Vice-Presi- 
 dent of the United States. From various 
 reports of it made at the time, the following 
 is gathered, being in substance and language 
 that in which all agree : — 
 
 *' Boys, this day I am a Kickapoo ranger, by 
 This day we have entered Lawrence, 
 
 ' Southern Hights' inscribed on our banners, 
 
 and not one abolitionist has dared to 
 
 fire a gun. No, by , not one! This, boys, 
 
34 KANSAS. 
 
 is the happiest clay of my whole life. We have 
 entered the city, and to-night the abo- 
 litionists will learn a Southern lesson that they 
 will remember to the day of their death. And 
 now, boys, we will go in with our highly hon- 
 ourable Jones, and test the strength of that 
 Free-state Hotel, and learn the Emi- 
 
 grant Aid Society that Kansas shall be ours. 
 Boys ! ladies should be, and I trust will be, 
 
 respected by all gentlemen ; but, by , when 
 
 a woman takes on herself the garb of a soldier 
 by carrying a Sharpe's rifle, then she is no longer 
 
 a woman, and, by , treat her for what you 
 
 find her, and trample her under foot as you 
 
 would a snake. By , come on, boys ! 
 
 Now to your duties to yourselves and your 
 Southern friends ! Your duty I know you will 
 do ; and if a man or woman dare to stand be- 
 fore you, blow them to hell with a chunk of 
 cold lead !" 
 
 Thus inspirited by their leaders, the Sheriff's 
 posse, or rather the armed and inflamed rabble, 
 proceeded to their work of demolition. The 
 South Carolinians planted the red flag, with 
 its lone star and its inscription of " Southern 
 Rights," upon the roof of the large hotel. 
 The banner of the Doniphan Tigers bore the 
 
REMOVAL OF NUISANCES. 36 
 
 device of a tiger rampant. Another flag had 
 black and white stripes ; and a fourth displayed 
 in blue letters on a white ground the following 
 admonitory lines : — 
 
 *' Let Yankees tremble, 
 And abolitionists fall ! 
 Our motto is, 
 
 ' Give Southern ridits to all.' " 
 
 The newspaper offices were the first objects 
 of attack. First that of the Free State, then 
 that of the Herald of Freedom, underwent a 
 thorough demolition. The presses w^ere in 
 each case broken to pieces, and the offending 
 type carried away to the river. The papers 
 and books were treated in like manner, until 
 the soldiers became weary of carrying them to 
 the Kaw, when they thrust them in piles into 
 the street, and burnt, tore, or otherwise de- 
 stroyed them. 
 
 From the printing offices they w^ent to the 
 hotel. The Eldridge House, or Free-state 
 Hotel, was a building of size and strength. It 
 was solidly built of stone and concrete, 
 consisted of three stories above ground, 
 had a breadth of five windows in the front, and 
 
S6 KAXhiAS. 
 
 six windows on the side of the house. The 
 Messrs. Eldridge had just completed its furnish- 
 ing, and had well filled its store-rooms and 
 cellars in anticipation of the wants of their 
 guests. 
 
 As orders were given to remove the furni- 
 ture, the wild mob threw the articles out of 
 the windows, but shortly found more congenial 
 employment in emptying the ^ellars. By this 
 time four cannon had been brought opposite 
 the hotel, and, under Atchison's command, 
 they commenced to batter down the building. 
 In this, however, they failed. The GeneraPs 
 ''Now, boys, let her rip!" was answered by 
 some of the shot missing the mark, although 
 the breadth of Massachusetts-street alone inter- 
 vened, and the remainder of some scores of 
 rounds leaving the walls of the hotel unharm- 
 ed. They then placed kegs of gunpowder in 
 the lower parts of the building, and attempted 
 to blow it up. The only result was, the shat- 
 tering of some of the windows and other limit- 
 ed damage. At length, to complete the work 
 which their own clumsiness or inebriety had 
 rendered difficult hitherto, orders were given to 
 
GENERAL PII-LAUE. 37 
 
 fire the building in a number of places, and, as 
 a consequence, it was soon encircled in a mass 
 of flamtis. Before evening, all that remained 
 of the Eldridge House was a portion of one 
 wall standing erect, and for the rest a shapeless 
 heap of ruins. 
 
 The firing of the cannon had been the signal 
 for most of the women and children in Law- 
 rence to leave the city. This they did, not 
 knowing whither to turn their steps. The 
 male portion of its citizens watched, without 
 offering resistance, the destruction of the build- 
 ings named, and next had to see their own houses 
 made the objects of unscrupulous plunder. 
 
 The sack of Lawrence occupied the remain- 
 der of the afternoon. Sherifi' Jones, after gaz- 
 ing on the flames rising from the hotel, and 
 saying that it was "the happiest day of his 
 life," dismissed his "posse," and they immedi- 
 ately commenced their lawless pillage. In 
 this officers and men all participated, and they 
 did not terminate until they had rifled all the 
 principal houses of whatever articles of value 
 they could lay their hands upon, and had de- 
 stroyed that which they could not carry away. 
 
38. KANSAS. 
 
 Finally, Governor Robinson's house on Mount 
 Oread was set fire to, after it had been searched 
 for papers and valuables, and its burning walls 
 lit up the evening sky as the army of despera- 
 does, now wild with plunder and excesses, and 
 maddened with drink, retired from the pillaged 
 city. 
 
 The value of the property stolen and de- 
 stroyed during the day in Lawrence is estimated 
 to have amounted to nearly thirty thousand 
 pounds sterling. 
 
 Life was fortunately not taken, as the inhab- 
 itants of Lawrence disappointed their invaders 
 of a fight, by offering no resistance. The only 
 deaths which occurred were of two young men 
 in the pro-slavery ranks. One shot himself 
 accidentally through the shoulder ; the other 
 was killed by the South Carolina flag sweeping 
 a brick from the roof of the hotel, which fell upon 
 the young man's head and caused his death. 
 
 Thus ended a day which filled Southern 
 hearts with joy and pride. The next day the 
 journals were filled with glowing accounts of 
 victory, and of the glorious triumph obtained 
 by law and order over fanaticism. 
 
THE DAY AFTER THE SACK. 39 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Day after the Sack.— Disbanding of the Forces.— Ruffians 
 executing the Law.— Thirst.— Double Rectified.— A Night 
 at Kansas City.— Appearance of the Mob. — Desperate Char- 
 acters.— Grotesque Costume.— A Fearful Threat.— Night- 
 trip on the Missouri.— Fellow-Travellers.—'' Border Ruf- 
 fians.-'— A popular Orator.— Pleasant Repose.— Morning.— 
 " Extras." — An Incident. — A respectable Merchant. — His 
 Opinions.— The *' Old Hoss"' does not care about Breakfast. 
 —A gentle Hint.— A better Set.— Civilities.— The persever- 
 iug Merchant.— A Western Man.— Quiet Conversation.— 
 Friendly Advice.— A Yankee is a Nuisance, and must be 
 put down.— A candid Opinion. 
 
 The (lay following the attack upon Law- 
 rence being that of my own arrival in the 
 territory, I am able to supply its later history 
 from personal observation, and will endeavour to 
 illustrate the condition of Kansas at that excit- 
 ed time by a narrative of things seen and heard 
 during the period of my visit. 
 
 The border-ruffian forces employed in the 
 siege and sack of Lawrence being disbanded, 
 were to be seen on the following day spreading 
 over the roads towards the east, carrying fury 
 
40 KANSAS. 
 
 and violence wherever they went. Having 
 once been taught that robbery and outrage, if 
 committed in the service of the South, were to 
 be regarded as deeds of loyalty and obedience, 
 these ministers of a self-styled " law and order" 
 were slow to unlearn a doctrine so acceptable. 
 The day, like the preceding, was extremely 
 hot, the thermometer standing at above ninety 
 degrees ; their thirst knew no bounds ; and 
 when a barrel of Bourbon, or Monongahela, or 
 Double Rectified was accessible, they forgot 
 even in some instances to ask the politics of its 
 possessor. Thus through the day they sustain- 
 ed their turbulent fury, and when night came, 
 it found them prepared for any excesses. 
 
 It was on that night that I first came in con- 
 tact with the Missourian patriots. I had just 
 arrived in Kansas city, and shall never forget 
 the appearance of the lawless mob that poured 
 into the place, inflamed with drink, glutted with 
 the indulgence of the vilest passions, displaying 
 with loud boasts the *' plunder" they had taken 
 from the inhabitants, and thirsting for the op- 
 portunity of repeating the sack of Lawrence in 
 some other offending place. Men, for the most 
 
KUFFIANS AT LARGE. 41 
 
 part of large frame, with red flannel shirts and 
 immense boots worn outside their trousers, their 
 faces unwashed and unshaven, still reeking with 
 the dust and smoke of LawTence, wearing the 
 most savage looks, and giving utterance to the 
 most horrible imprecations and blasphemies ; 
 armed, moreover, to the teeth with rifles and 
 revolvers, cutlasses and bow^ie-knives, — such 
 were the men I saw around me. Some dis- 
 played a grotesque intermixture in their dress, 
 having crossed their native red rough shirt with 
 the satin vest or narrow dress-coat pillaged from 
 the wardrobe of some Lawrence Yankee, or hav- 
 ing girded themselves with the cords and tassels 
 which the day before had ornamented the cur- 
 tains of the Free-state Hotel. Looking around 
 at these groups of drunken, bellowing, blood- 
 thirsty demons, who crowded around the bar of 
 the hotel, shouting for drink, or vented their 
 furious noise on the levee without, I felt that 
 all my former experiences of border men and 
 Missourians bore faint comparison with the 
 spectacle presented by this wretched crew, 
 who appeared only the more terrifying from 
 the darkness of the surrounding night. The 
 
42 KANSAS. 
 
 hotel in Kansas city, where we were, was the 
 next, they said, that should fall ; the attack was 
 being planned that night, and such, they de- 
 clared, should be the end of every place which 
 was built by Free-state men, or that harboured 
 ''those rascally abolitionists." Happily this 
 threat was not fulfilled. 
 
 A number of these men became my com- 
 panions for the night, as I went up by one 
 of the Missouri steamboats from Kansas to 
 Leavenworth city, which, as a convenient 
 centre, I desired to make my headquarters 
 whilst investigating the condition of affairs in 
 the territory. The other fellow-passengers 
 were, for the most part, of a like order. A 
 few Germans, carrying their stock-in-trade, 
 to turn an honest penny by peaceful traffic, 
 while other people w^ere fighting ; a company 
 of New Mexicans, making their way through 
 Kansas to Santa Fe ; three or four persons 
 more gentlemanly in appearance, to whom I 
 shall again have occasion to refer; and, for 
 the rest, a crowd of adventurers little better 
 than those just taken on board, who might 
 be classed generally under the head of " bor- 
 
A NIGHT-TRIP ON THE MISSOURI. 43 
 
 der ruffians," made up, with a single exception 
 or two, our travelling party for the night. 
 
 A general rush to the bar ensued. Already- 
 maddened with whisky, each would treat his 
 fellow in arms : — 
 
 " Step up, and liquor here, you sir. A heap 
 finer this stuff than that there rot-gut ashore. 
 Here, you sir ; don't be askeard. One of our 
 boys, I reckon? All right on the goose, eh? 
 No highfalutin' airs here, you know. Keep that 
 for them Yankee Blue-bellies down East. If 
 there's any of that sort here, I reckon they'd 
 better make tracks, mighty quick, and that's a 
 fact, while I'se on board, unless they w^ant to 
 make a quicker road out than they came in. Yes, 
 sir, this yere tool of mine [handling a pistol], 
 it isn't the first time it has seen a Blue-belly. 
 If there's any of that 'ere sort aboard, I say 
 they'd better clear out, that's sartin. We ain't 
 agoin' to stand them coming here, we ain't. 
 Isn't their own place down East big enough 
 for them, I should like to know? We ain't 
 agoin' to stand their com in' and dictatin' to us 
 
 with their nigger-worshipping, we ain't. 
 
 I reckon we'll make the place hot enough for 
 them soon, that's a fact. Here, boys, drink. 
 Liquors, captain, for the crowd. Step up this 
 way, old boss, and liquor." 
 
44 KANSAS. 
 
 And thus the midnight talk went on — talk 
 which I neither care to remember nor to re- 
 peat, and in which I am compelled to omit the 
 fearful expletives of blasphemy which inter- 
 rupted, not every sentence merely, but every 
 word or two of the dialogue. Others sat down 
 to cards, and quarrelled over their losses ; some, 
 more sleepy, threw themselves upon the cabin 
 floor to rest, for it was already two hours past 
 midnight. In all, there were nearly two hun- 
 dred on board ; and as it was evident that the 
 majority must sleep on the floor, I hastened to 
 secure one of the berths, and thus to seek relief, 
 if possible, from the distracting noise. In a 
 smaller degree, I had had so much of a similar 
 experience before, that I managed to sleep, only 
 awakened at times by a louder shout from the 
 bar or the gaming-table. 
 
 In the morning, like my fellow-travellers, I 
 was early astir. My Western companions, ac- 
 customed to frequent potations, seemed already 
 sobered down by their few hours' rest. If less 
 boisterously demonstrative, however, in relation 
 to " Yankee Abolitionists " than in the night, 
 the change was only to an animosity of a more 
 
45 
 
 calculating and determined character. News 
 of fresh strife had been received during the 
 night. "Extras" of the different journals, in 
 the form of printers' slips, containing the latest 
 intelligence, were put on board and largely- 
 circulated. These invariably contained dis- 
 torted accounts of the events of the hour, and 
 appeals of a most inflammatory character. As 
 they were read aloud to the eager listeners, they 
 gave occasion to renewed determination to 
 ." fight the nigger-worshipping crew to the last 
 drop of blood." One " extra" I obtained, issued 
 by the Border Times at Westport, in wiiich the 
 outrages at Lawrence were announced beneath 
 the heading, " The Kansas Ball Opened — 
 War in Earnest." In another, a Lecompton 
 paper, the narrative was headed, ''Lawrence 
 taken — Glorious Triumph of the Law- 
 and-Order Party over Fanaticism in Kan- 
 sas." When cold-blooded murder, which has 
 left behind it destitution, widowhood, and or- 
 phanage, comes to be regarded by journalists as 
 the mere opening of a ball and a ground for 
 exultation, it is not to be wondered at that the 
 men who perpetrated these deeds were eager to 
 
46 KANSAS. 
 
 acquire fresh glory in the achievement of fur 
 ther " triumphs." 
 
 A single incident must suffice as an illustra- 
 tion. Before I had left my berth many minutes, 
 I was attracted by the blustering talk of one 
 of my fellow-travellers — " one of the most re- 
 spectable merchants in Weston," as I was 
 informed, but one who, as was evident, did not 
 deny himself in the rum-punch, gin-sling, whis- 
 ky-straights, brandy-cocktails, and other com- 
 pounds issued at the bar. 
 
 This respectable merchant was surrounded, 
 as he stood in the cabin of the boat, by a 
 circle, which I joined. Out of a side-pocket 
 protruded the head of a pistol ; in his hand 
 he brandished another, loaded, as he told us, 
 and ready for action. With threatening aspect 
 and attitude, he poured forth, amid many oaths, 
 the following language, addressed to us all : — 
 
 " I am bound to bring down some one before 
 
 I'm done ; I tell you, by I am. I'll teach 
 
 these infernal nigger-stealing Free-soilers a les- 
 son right peartly, that's a fact. If there's a dog- 
 gauned Abolitionist aboard, I should like to see 
 him, that I should. I'm the man to put a chunk 
 
POLITICS BEFORE BREAKFAST. 47- 
 
 o' lead into his woolly head, right off; yes, sir, 
 that's what I'll do." 
 
 Then, looking round at each of us, '' I reckon 
 I can raise the top off the head of ere a one of 
 you with this hyere tool. Speak the word, 
 
 and, by , I'm your man. That's so. I 
 
 should like to see the first Free-soiler that opens 
 his mouth ; that I should. I'd send him to hell 
 pretty quick, afore he know'd what he was 
 about; that's what I'd do. I'm a mighty 
 ce-urious customer, Jam." 
 
 And so thought, probably, one of his hearers, 
 for he said to the curious customer, " Come, 
 old boss, won't you have some breakfast?" 
 The old horse was not to be so easily diverted, 
 however. 
 
 " Breakfast ! think I'd be after breakfast 
 when I've got my duty before me ? No, sir, 
 exercise is the thing for me — not eating. I 
 tell you I'm bound to drop some one afore I'm 
 done — that I am. I've got to fight for the 
 liberties of my country and our glorious consti- 
 tution, and rid the place of those cowardly 
 blue-bellied Yankies. Yes, sir, that's what I've 
 got to do. I should like to know what they've 
 to do in this hyere place, with their snarlin', 
 sneakin', whittlin'-o'-nothin' ways. I tell you 
 
48 KANSAS. 
 
 there's not a man amongst them as knows how 
 to fight. I should like to see the first one as '11 
 open his mouth here, — that's what I should 
 like to see. I tell you I'm a ce-urious cus- 
 tomer. Yes, sir-ree; my dog knows that," 
 pointing to a large dog that seemed prepared 
 to stand by his master for better or worse. 
 Then, *'I should like to sot my eyes on the 
 man as would touch that 'ere dog of mine. I'd 
 lay him dead in a moment, that I would. Just 
 see me." 
 
 None of us felt inclined to touch the dog, and 
 the respectable merchant returned to his poli- 
 tics and patriotism. 
 
 " No Northern nigger-stealers here. I'll fix 
 'em up mighty smart, I will. I ain't here for 
 nothing, and that you'll see, just about as soon 
 as anything. Yes, sir^ I only want to see the 
 first Free-soiler here. I'll drop the first one of 
 you that opens his mouth for abolition cusses ; 
 I be dog-gauned if I don't." 
 
 And thus this valiant patriot went on for 
 about half an hour, ringing the changes on these 
 few forms of expression, and giving every one 
 an opportunity to accept his challenge and take 
 the consequences. 
 
FELLOW-TRAVELLERS. 49 
 
 I remained no lon2:er in this Western mer- 
 chant's immediate presence than was necessary 
 to prevent my becoming an object of his 
 suspicion. Being anxious to obtain some inform- 
 ation as to the hotels or other places of resort 
 in Leavenworth, I went up on the hurricane- 
 deck, having been told I should there meet 
 with some who could answer my inquiries. I 
 found on the upper deck the few more gentle- 
 manly persons to whom I have referred, but 
 whom, until this moment, I had not seen. One 
 or two appeared to be United States officers, 
 men of education and refinement. Another, a 
 gentleman more advanced in years, held him- 
 self somewhat apart, and appeared engaged in 
 anxious thought. He had an eye full of bright 
 intelligence, and wore the aspect of one who 
 w^as superior to those about him. I gained the 
 information I sought from one of the officers, 
 and took his recommendation to go to M'Car- 
 ty's hotel at Leavenworth, where he himself 
 was about to stop. I did not knov/ as yet, 
 however, who were my companions, and could 
 only get evasive replies to my inquiries on the 
 
 subject from the clerk of the boat. 
 .'3 
 
60 KANSAS. 
 
 I again descended to the cabin. The respect- 
 able merchant from Weston was still continuing 
 his challenges, pistol in hand. 
 
 " I should like to see the first one as '11 open 
 his mouth. I reckon he'd have to take the 
 change mighty smart. Lead 's the best argu- 
 ment for these infernal white-livered Yankees. 
 Let me alone for tamin' them down ; yes, sir; 
 let me alone for that, I say. I reckon they 
 won't be a tryin' on this game again a little 
 whiles. That's just about what I think." 
 
 And so on without intermission. 
 
 At my side stood a young man who had lived 
 for some years in Kansas territory, trading with 
 the Indians. We had travelled in company during 
 four or five days in coming up the Missouri, 
 aud our intercourse had led to a certain degree 
 of mutual confidence. He was a thorough 
 Western man, and, at the same time, a favour- 
 able specimen of his class, possessing in a large 
 degree the better traits which mark the Western 
 character, and displaying few of the worse. 
 As we should soon have to part, he inquired of 
 me what part of the Union I came from. I 
 replied, in a tone which I hoped would not 
 
FRIENDLY COUNSEL. 51 
 
 catch the ear of the noisy patriot in arms, that 
 he had mistaken me as a native of the Union, 
 and that I belonged to the old country, my 
 home being London. 
 
 " Indeed," said my friend the Indian trader, 
 '* I calculated you were a Northern man. Your 
 dress and looks aren't like our people's out 
 West." 
 
 " That is probable," I replied. 
 
 ** Yes, that's so," he proceeded, " and there's 
 several aboard as have been talking about 
 you, and they've all set you down for a 
 Northerner." 
 
 I hinted, in reply, that I had no desire to 
 excite remark on board, and glanced suggest- 
 ively at our neighbour who was threatening to 
 blow the brains out of the first Northern man 
 who should open his mouth. My friend per- 
 ceived my meaning immediately, and, dropping 
 his voice to a whisper, said : — 
 
 " Well, Colonel, just let me, as one that 
 knows the ways of the people here, give you a 
 word of caution, which you may find useful, 
 now that you're setting foot in these here 
 Western diggins. Don't let a soul of them 
 
52 KANSAS. 
 
 know that you're an Englishman. Should it 
 get out, it's just as much as your life is worth, 
 mind that. That's the state we're in just now, 
 all alongside of that cursed slavery question. 
 If you say you're an Englishman it's all the 
 same as being a Yankee; not a bit better. 
 And you know the law there — a Yankee is 
 a nuisance, and nuisances must be abolished. 
 That's what they all say there. So you mind, 
 Colonel ; and don't forget what I say." 
 
 I thanked my friendly adviser, and told 
 him I had already determined to follow his 
 counsel. 
 
 As for himself, he said, he did not believe 
 the Southern men had any right to do what 
 they had done in Kansas ; but being a thorough 
 Western man, and known in the territory for 
 years, he could go about and they would not 
 touch him, especially as he did not take part 
 with the Abolitionist fanatics. If they did 
 touch him, everybody knew what would be the 
 consequence. And as I looked at his fine ath- 
 letic frame, and noticed the powerful muscle 
 of his arm and the steady gaze of his eye, long 
 trained to guide the bead of his rifle, I thought 
 I, too, could perceive what would be the conse- 
 
FRIENDLY COU-\SEL. 53 
 
 quence of having this Western man for an 
 enemy. But he had given me wise counsel and 
 kind, and I was glad to think the son of the 
 prairie was my friend. 
 
M KANSAS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Leavenworth City. — Going on Shore.--A State Prisoner. — 
 Governor Robioson in Custody. — Scanty Accommodation. — 
 Governor Robinson's Examination. — Horrid Threats. — Office 
 of the Hotel. — A Border-ruffian Armoury.— A Free-soiler 
 Silenced. — How to settle the Abolitionists. — Southern " Fix- 
 ins.'- — Fort Leavenworth.— Gambling Houses.— A Night of 
 shameless "Wickedness and unchecked Outrage. — Governor 
 Robinson's Arrest.— Fierce Threats.- Fears of a Rescue. — 
 Committee of Investigation. — Beware of the Hemp. — Arrest 
 of Free-state Men. — State of Parties. — Revulsion of Feeling. 
 — Organization of Guerrilla Parties.— Frequent Collisions. 
 
 By about nine o'clock, a.m., the steamboat had 
 reached Leavenworth city. It would excite a 
 smile if I were to describe the aspect of this 
 *' city" of log-houses and w^ooden shanties ; as 
 it would if I were to narrate the manifold 
 adventures incident to Western travel. But 
 that is beside my purpose. The majority of 
 the passengers, with myself, landed. A great 
 crowd received us, all evidently eager with 
 expectation and excitement. To my astonish- 
 ment, the moment after landing I perceived 
 
A STATE PRISONER. 55 
 
 that the older gentleman whom I had seen on 
 the hurricane-deck of the steamboat was a 
 prisoner. Surrounded by a number of persons, 
 including the United States officers, he was led 
 off towards M'Carty's hotel, my purposed place 
 of stay. "Who's that they've got there?" 
 *' Who's that been caught, eh?" w^ere the eager 
 questions put on many sides. " It's Governor 
 Robinson, been brought round from Lawrence 
 by way of Kansas city," was the reply of one 
 in the crowd. " Governor Robinson, Governor 
 Robinson ! Who taught you to call that in- 
 fernal nigger-stealer Governor, I should like to 
 know?" was the instantaneous rejoitider. *' Say 
 the word again, and I will blow your brains out 
 for an Abolition traitor ; he is Doctor Robinson, 
 and nothing else, that's what he is, and he 
 shan't be that long. It's time we'd got shet 
 of these dog-gauned Abolitionists." Thus sur- 
 rounded by the menaces and imprecations of a 
 savage mob, the Free-state Governor was led 
 up the steep road which conducted to the small 
 wooden house known as M'Carty's hotel. 
 
 I followed, and, first inquiring for my own 
 accommodation, was met by the answer that if 
 
-^^ KAXP.IS. 
 
 I would come in again at night I might take a 
 chance of a place on tlic floor. This was suffi- 
 ciently unpromising. I then went to a larger 
 house, tlie headquarters of the Pro-slavery 
 party, hut met with no better reception. Leav- 
 ing, therefore, the question of accommodation, 
 I returned to M'Carty's, where I was informed 
 I could get a meal. Governor Robinson I 
 found in the front room of the house ; he was 
 standing up, and was being put through a close 
 examination by those in the room. A lar^-er 
 number had collected outside the open windows 
 and door, and, as I stood amidst this crowd, I 
 heard the constantly repeated expressions, 
 
 " Let i/s get hold of him ; if we don't 
 
 sarve him out, powerful quick. The hangin* 
 bone villain, be may say his prayers mighty 
 smart now. I'll be dog-gauned if we don't 
 string him up afore the day's out. Hangin's a 
 'nation siglit too good for him, the mean cuss. 
 He ought to have a shot through his head rio-ht 
 away — that's hou^ I'd sarve him." 
 
 Sick of hearing such expressions, mingled 
 with the vilest oaths, I went into the office of 
 the hotel, and sat down on a vacant chair to 
 
A BOKDEU-KUFriAX ARMOURY. 57 
 
 meditate and to observe. In the corner of the 
 room, in place of trunlvs and travelling-bags, 
 were rifles and double-barrels, dirks and sticks, 
 of that weight and calibre which only a "Western 
 American thinks of carrying. The clerk and 
 the persons passing in and out had nothing to 
 speak of but "the fighting." On the counter 
 were papers, heading their columns with the 
 words — " War to the knife." Everything 
 around was suggestive of warfare and blood- 
 shed. 
 
 I had sat for a few minutes, when there 
 entered a man — a Southerner by his very looks. 
 " Hand me a pair out of them hundred pistols 
 I left with you. Captain," were the words 
 which, with a slow drawling voice, he addressed 
 to the clerk at the counter. The large number 
 of instruments owned by our visitor suggested 
 that he was taking advantage of the existing 
 demand, by *' trafficking" a few small-arms. 
 We awaited, however, his remarks. Glancing 
 his cool eye at me and another in the room, and 
 anticipating probably that we might desire an 
 explanation, he slowly added — " I've just had 
 a turn down here with a Free-soiler." 
 
58 KANSAS. 
 
 We still looked inquiringly, and as he adjusted 
 his pistols in his belt, he proceeded for our 
 satisfaction — " I'd got nothing with me. I 
 didn't ought to have left these here tools behind 
 this morning, I allow. Anyways, I didn't leave 
 him till I made him give in. He came out 
 with his onremittin' abolitionism. I settled 
 him though, a heap quicker, I reckon, than he 
 expected. I tell you how I done. I jest put 
 my hand behind me, like this, the same as 
 though I had got my^ pistols with me, and 
 looked kinder ugly — down on him like, you 
 know ; and so, with my hand upon the pistols, 
 as he reckoned, he didn't stand out long. But 
 I felt mighty bad, I tell you, till I got the 
 draw on him, as he expected. Still I wasn't 
 goin' to stand his sarcy talk, in course, so I jest 
 shut him up mighty quick." By this time the 
 pistols were adjusted, and as he walked out, 
 their valiant wearer continued a kind of soli- 
 loquy — " Well, reckon I'm fixed now ! They 
 won't be so sarcy with their talk now that I've 
 these here fixins on. I brought him down a 
 kinder smart, I reckon. Expect he felt chawed 
 up some. Well, I calculate they won't be 
 
SCENES y.N LEAVENWORTH. 59 
 
 BO sarcy now. I'll see jest who next I'll 
 meet." 
 
 From the city of Leavenworth I went before 
 noon to visit the Fort. I found it at about 
 three miles' distance, beautifully situated on a 
 lofty blufl*, overlooking the Missouri, and suffi- 
 ciently elevated in position for its white walls 
 and familiar flag-staff to be seen for many miles 
 across the i'ar-stretching prairie. There was a 
 feeling of security and retirement about the 
 Fort, which rendered a resort to it an agreeable 
 relief from the angry excitement which pre- 
 vailed in all other places. Add to this, a visit 
 to Fort Leavenworth gave one the opportunity 
 of meeting the only society the neighbourhood 
 afforded. I have many pleasing recollections 
 of my intercourse on these occasions with the 
 officers stationed at Fort Leavenworth, chief 
 among whom must be mentioned Colonel 
 Sumner, at that time in command of the gar- 
 rison, with whom I had much interesting 
 conversation on the troubled condition of the 
 territory, and from whom I received, during my 
 stay in Leavenworth, much kindness and hospi- 
 tality. 
 
60 KANSAS. 
 
 The scenes of the twelve hours I have 
 described — from midnight of the 23rd of Ma}^ 
 185G, to noon of the 24:th — were repeated dur- 
 ing my few days' stay in Leavenworth, without 
 intermission. As the night advanced, the 
 ceaseless w^hisky-drinking show^ed its fruits. 
 Pistols went off sometimes unguardedly; knots 
 of people collected at each street-corner. The 
 bar-rooms in the hotels, which were all politi- 
 cal clubs, became crowded with noisy debaters, 
 planning the great deeds they were to perform 
 on the morrow. Numberless gambling-houses 
 were the resort of others. Cards could have 
 been picked up in the streets by the score; 
 and in a town where the very first demands of 
 civilization were wanting in the furnishing of 
 the house, there was no lack of such costly 
 indulgences as gaming-tables, which reminded 
 one of Baden-Baden or Hamburg. No element 
 of vice or crime seemed to be absent. Every 
 species of shameless wickedness and unchecked 
 outrage met one's gaze at every turn. 
 
 My owm accommodation at night was of the 
 worst. I was subject to frequent interruptions 
 of armed intruders, whom I could not keep out 
 
GOVERXOll IIOBINSOX S ARREST. 
 
 61 
 
 of my room ; and by clay I had to listen per- 
 petually to conversation which was painfully 
 revolting. On the day of my arrival, the 
 seizure of Governor Robinson was, of course, 
 the principal topic. He had been seized, I 
 ascertained, during the previous week, at Lex- 
 ington, in Missouri, whilst openly travelling 
 towards St. Louis, in company with Mrs. 
 Robinson. His captors were not at the time 
 possessed of any indictment against him, but 
 detained him by main force, and threats of 
 murder at the hands of the crowd, if he should 
 fail to consent. He was then conveyed to 
 Westport, on the border line, and detained 
 there until the attack upon Lawrence was 
 completed. The following night he arrived 
 under guard at Franklin, within four miles of 
 Lawrence, where he was intercepted by a mes- 
 sage from Governor Shannon, requiring him to 
 be taken to Leavenworth by way of Kansas 
 city, to avoid a rescue. By a circuitous route, 
 therefore, he was again brought down to Kansas 
 city, where he arrived in the night, a short 
 time before the departure of the steamboat on 
 board of which I first met him. ^ 
 
62 KANSAS. 
 
 Throughout the day stories were circulated 
 about the Free-state governor, for which there 
 was not the shadow of a foundation. Every 
 minute some fresh charge was brought, or some 
 new threat uttered against him. 
 
 " If I had caught his track, if I wouldn't 
 
 have shot him dead. I told him so at the 
 inquiry. I'd have smashed his head right out. 
 I don't care if it isn't true. I told him I 
 should believe it, all the same, till he proved it 
 wasn't. He is a flung up, pilfering, pup- 
 py ; that's what he is, fix it which way you 
 like." 
 
 Judge Lecompte came down to Leavenworth 
 in the evening to see Dr. Robinson. The next 
 day I also saw Governor Shannon. Rumours 
 were put into circulation that the Free-state 
 men intended to attempt a rescue of their lead- 
 er during the night. Committees were held in 
 consequence to organize a defence ; and few 
 probably retired to rest that night in Leaven- 
 worth city with the expectation of remaining 
 till morning without a summons to arms. 
 
 The Committee of Investigation appointed 
 by Congress was also sitting at Leavenworth 
 
A HEMP CAUTION. 68 
 
 during my stay. The enormities that were 
 
 brought to light embittered exceedingly the 
 
 Pro-slavery party ; and many threats were 
 
 made against the persons of those who gave 
 
 their testimony, as well as the lives of the com- 
 
 * 
 missioners. Some of these threats, whilst they 
 
 were terribly real, were at the same time suffi- 
 ciently ludicrous; as, for example, the follow- 
 ing manifesto, which appeared one Monday 
 morning during my stay in Leavenworth, 
 scrawled upon a piece of paper, which was 
 affixed to the door of the office occupied by 
 the Committee. 
 
 " May, 26. 
 " Messrs. Howard and Sherman. 
 
 " Sirs, with feelings of Surprise and Dis- 
 gust wee have been noticeing the unjust man- 
 ner in which you have been Conducting this 
 Investigation. Wee wish to inform you can 
 no longer sit in this place. 
 
 " Wee therefore request You to alter your 
 Obnoxious course, in order to avoid the Con- 
 sequences which may otherwise follow. 
 
 *' Capt. Hemp — in behalf of the citizens. 
 ** Leavenworth City — 1856." 
 
G4 KANSAS. 
 
 Mr. Howard, on entering the office, was ob- 
 served to take down the paper containing the 
 symbolical Capt. Hemp's declaration of inten- 
 tions, and, folding it up with a smile, placed it 
 in his pocket. 
 
 On the third day of my stay, several Free- 
 state men were arrested; among them Judge 
 Conway, then acting as clerk of the Committee 
 of Investigation, and two of the witnesses. 
 They announced it also as their intention not 
 to let a single Free-soiler escape. 
 
 Among all the scenes of violence I witness- 
 ed, it is remarkable that the offending parties 
 were invariably on the Pro-slavery side. The 
 Free-state men appeared to me to be intimid 
 ated and overawed, in consequence, not merely 
 of the determination and defiant boldness of 
 their opponents, but still more through the 
 sanction given to these acts by the Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 I often heard the remark, that they would 
 resist, but that they were resolved not to bring 
 themselves into collision with the Federal 
 power. The policy of the Free-state party, 
 prior to the 21st May, was one of determined 
 
HOSTILITIES PnOVOKED. 65 
 
 non-resistance, the people being connselled to 
 give no ground of offence or pretext for vio- 
 lence, and to seek a restoration of justice and 
 order through legal redress alone. That this 
 was the spirit in which they acted, is very evi- 
 dent from the documents and public appeals 
 which issued from them at that period. These 
 documents indicate, indeed, a degree of sub- 
 mission which it is difficult to reconcile with a 
 proper independence, and which gives some 
 colour to the charge often brought against the 
 Free-state men by their opponents, that they 
 were " a set of cowards, who, when it came to 
 fighting, would be certain to give in." 
 
 Their later conduct, however, was different. 
 In the hands of their oppressors all justice had 
 been set at defiance. They had been driven 
 out of house and home by an armed mob, act- 
 ing under territorial authority. The Federal 
 power had been appealed to in vain. The 
 Free-state men were driven to desperation. It 
 w^as but natural that some revulsion of feeling 
 should be experienced. As it was, guerrilla 
 parties were organized by some of the less 
 passive spirits on the Free-state side, corre- 
 
66 
 
 KANSAS. 
 
 spending with those already existing amongst 
 their opponents. These thought themselves 
 justified in recovering stolen horses and other 
 property. Other acts of retaliation occurred. 
 In several instances the opposing parties came 
 into collision, and violence ensued. For some 
 time, therefore, after the attack upon Lav^^rence, 
 an irregular strife v^^as maintained, and a bitter 
 remembrance filled each man's mind, and im- 
 pelled to daily acts of hostility and not unfre- 
 quent bloodshed. 
 
WHY ARK SUCH OUTKAGES PERMITTED. 67 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Why are such Outrages permitted ? — Total Failure of Justice. 
 — The Jeffreys of the Territory. — A Test required. — An im- 
 pious Oath. — Affirmation of the Nebraska-Kansas Act and 
 the Fugitive Slave Law. — Judge, Jury, and Law. — All one 
 "Way. — Sample of the Kansas Statutes.— Ball and Chain. — 
 Freedom of Speech forbidden. — Punishment of Death.— 
 Abuse of the Term '-Law." — No Hope of Justice for Free- 
 state Men. 
 
 Each party in Kansas lays claim to the title 
 of " law-abiding and order-loving." The Pro- 
 slavery party, being in power, especially boasts 
 of its affection for " law and order," and 
 preaches to its political opponents submission 
 to the constituted authorities. 
 
 Yet the brief history of the territory has 
 been little else than a succession of unjust op- 
 pressions and violent usurpations. It has 
 been the holiday of crime and wrong, anarchy 
 and bloodshed. Month after month, English- 
 men living in their peaceful homes have been 
 startled by the intelligence of new oppressions 
 
68 KANSAS. 
 
 and new outrages committed in Kansas, until 
 they have begun to ask, Are these events occur- 
 ring in a civilized land ? Does the country 
 really possess a government ? Is it true that it 
 is under the direct control of the Congress of 
 the United States? Has it really its Governor 
 and Secretary, its Chief Justice and Associate 
 Judges, its Marshals and Sheriffs, its lav^s and 
 law-officers, of which we read, or are these 
 mere empty titles? In general, how are the 
 extraordinary anomalies, v^'hich a condition of 
 affairs like that in Kansas implies, to be ac- 
 counted for ? How comes it that such enormi- 
 ties are permitted? Why is not a remedy 
 applied ? 
 
 To the solution of such inquiries I propose 
 to devote the present and succeeding chapter. 
 
 The first and most natural question is. If 
 such fearful outrages, as every mail brings us 
 intelligence of, are being committed in Kansas, 
 why are not the perpetrators of these enormi- 
 ties brought to justice ? Is there no judge, no 
 jury, no law, to which appeal can be made for 
 protection ? 
 
 The answer is simple. First, the man is 
 
JUDGES AXD JURIES. 69 
 
 wanting who possesses boldness or rashness 
 enough to bring the oifending parties to jus- 
 tice. Murder and cold-blooded assassination 
 were of almost daily occurrence at the time of 
 my visit; but whoever should dare to report 
 such a case would be at once a marked man, 
 and his life, in all probability, before the day 
 had expired, would be the penalty for his im- 
 prudence in the cause of right. 
 
 But, supposing the offender to be brought 
 to justice, who is the judge, of what character 
 the jury, and what the law by which he has to 
 be tried ? 
 
 The judge would be such a man as Chief 
 Justice Lecompte — the Jeffreys of the terri- 
 tory. Or, if not the chief of the " bloody 
 assizes" of Kansas, it would be some other 
 minion of the slave power, panting after the 
 extermination of every Free-state advocate, 
 and pledged by his oath of office to sustain the 
 most offensive measures which the slave power 
 has introduced. It cannot be otherwise, for all 
 the public offices are occupied by most reso- 
 lute adherents of the pro-slavery cause; and, 
 lest any one of a different stamp should creep 
 
70 KANSAS, 
 
 in, a test is demanded, contrary to the consti- 
 tution of the United States, of every candidate 
 for office, according to which he is required to 
 subscribe an oath, " solemnly swearing upon 
 the Holy Evangelists of Almighty God," that 
 he will " support and sustain the provisions of 
 the act entitled 'An Act to Organize the Terri- 
 tories of Nebraska and Kansas,' and the pro- 
 visions of the law of the United States com- 
 monly known as the * Fugitive Slave Law.' " 
 — {Vide " Statutes of the Territory of Kansas," 
 page 438.) Thus, by the law of the territory, 
 no man can sit on the bench, or hold any other 
 public office, unless he have first specially 
 indorsed and pledged himself to sustain the 
 two most extreme pro-slavery measures that 
 can possibly be cited. 
 
 If such be the judge, the jury would also be 
 of a character no less accurately defined by 
 statute. What is the law of Kansas concerning 
 jurors? "No person who is conscientiously 
 opposed to the holding of slaves, or who does 
 not admit the right to hold slaves in this terri- 
 tory, shall be a j uror in any cause in which the 
 right to hold any person in slavery is involved, 
 
JUDGES AXD JURIES. 71 
 
 nor in any cause in which any injury done to, 
 or committed by, any slave is in issue, nor in 
 any criminal proceeding for the violation of 
 any law enacted for the protection of slave 
 property, and for the punishment of crime 
 committed against the right to such property." 
 — (Statutes of Kansas, p. 378.) Again, by the 
 first section of the act, the power is placed in 
 the hands of the "Marshal, Sheriff, or other 
 officer, to summon a sufficient number of 
 jurors." — (p. 377.) And who are Marshal and 
 Sheriff? Donaldson and his deputy Fain are 
 the former; Samuel Jones is the most noted 
 of the latter: together, the destroyers of Law- 
 rence, and the hunters of Free-state men, even 
 to the death. With such a law, and with a 
 discretionary power vested in such hands, it 
 will be seen at once what kind of jury must, 
 of necessity, be procured. 
 
 And if such be the character of judge and 
 jury, what are the laws they have to dispense? 
 Take a sample : 
 
 *'If any person print, write, introduce into, 
 publish, or circulate, or cause to be brought 
 into, printed, written, published, or circulated, 
 
72 KANSAS. 
 
 or shall knowingly aid or assist in bringing 
 into, printing, publishing, or circulating, with- 
 in this territory, any book, paper, pamphlet, 
 magazine, hand-bill, or circular, containing any 
 statements, arguments, opinions, sentiment, 
 doctrine, advice, or innuendo, calculated to 
 produce a disorderly, dangerous, or rebellious 
 disaiFection among the slaves in this territory, 
 or to induce such slaves to escape from the 
 service of their masters, or to resist their au- 
 thority, he shall be guilty of felony, and be 
 punished by imprisonment at hard labor for a 
 term of not less than five years." — (Statutes, 
 cap. 151, sec. 11.) 
 
 *' If any free person, by speaking or 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 punished by im- 
 prisonment at hard labor for a term of not less 
 than two years." — (Statutes, cap. 151, sec. 12.) 
 
 And what kind of hard labour is the North- 
 
BALL AND CHAIX. 73 
 
 em man to undergo who should be lucklessly 
 brought before a Kansas judge and convict- 
 ed of denying the right to hold slaves in the 
 territory? This is defined in the same code, 
 where, after providing that every person so sen- 
 tenced shall be deemed a convict, and shall be 
 put to hard labour on the streets, roads, public 
 buildings, or other public works of the ter- 
 ritory, the act continues : — 
 
 " And the keeper shall cause such convict, 
 while engaged in such labour, to be securely 
 confined by a chain six feet in length, of not 
 less than 4-16ths nor more than 3-Sths of an 
 inch links, with a round ball of iron of not 
 less than four nor more than six inches in dia- 
 meter attached, which chain shall be securely 
 fastened to the ankle of such convict with a 
 strong lock and key ; and such keeper or other 
 person having charge of such convict may, if 
 necessary, confine such convict while so en- 
 gaged at hard labour, by other chains or other 
 means, in his discretion, so as to keep such 
 convict secure and prevent his escape ; and 
 when there shall be two or more convicts 
 under the charge of such keeper or other per- 
 son, such convicts shall be fastened together 
 by strong chains, with strong locks and keys, 
 
74 KANSAS. 
 
 during the time such convicts shall be en- 
 gaged in hard labour without the walls of 
 any jail or prison". — (Statutes, cap. 22, 
 sec. 2.) 
 
 Further, the convict may be '* employed 
 upon private hiring at labour" for the benefit of 
 the territorial treasury (cap. 22, sec. 3). The 
 person who gives utterance to a free thought* 
 therefore, may be placed at the will of the Pro- 
 slavery rulers, at the side, if they please, of 
 their negro slaves, to labour in their fields or 
 elsewhere, whilst they drag after them the 
 heavy ball and chain, symbol of their subjec- 
 tion to the slave power. 
 
 For greater " offences against slave property" 
 the law provides, of course, a severer penalty. 
 To aid in any rebellion of slaves against their 
 masters, to bring into the territory any book 
 or tract calculated to excite rebellion on the 
 part of slaves, free negroes, or mulattoes, to 
 carry out of the territory a slave belonging to 
 another, or to assist in the same, are all capital 
 offences, to be punished by death. 
 
 The man, therefore, who possesses a copy of 
 ** Uncle Tom's Cabin" is, in Kansas, on a par 
 
LAW. 
 
 76 
 
 with the murderer. His guilt demands the 
 heaviest penalty the law can inflict. But with- 
 out arguing from cases so extreme, let it be re- 
 membered that the utterance of even a syllable 
 against the right of holding slaves is made 
 punishable by two years' imprisonment and 
 hard labour on the public roads, with a chain 
 of six feet and a round ball of iron attached to 
 the ankle, and it will at once be seen whether 
 the law was made for the Pro-slavery or for the 
 Free-state men. Add to this the fact that 
 every act of the Free-state party, if viewed in 
 the light of the laws as interpreted by the 
 Federal government, is an act of treason against 
 the Federal power, and it will be perceived 
 what opportunity is given for the most cruel 
 despotism and the grossest wrong to take refuge 
 in the name and under the sanction of the law. 
 *' Law," in fact, was the word constantly in 
 the mouths of the self-styled border ruflians, 
 with whom I myself came daily into contact 
 in Kansas. So far from not appealing to it, 
 everything they did, every enormity they com- 
 mitted, was done in the name of the law of 
 the land. The constant taunt thrown out 
 
76 KANSAS. 
 
 against the Free-state party, and the chief diffi- 
 culty they themselves experienced, was the op- 
 position in which they stood to the recognized 
 law. " Law and order" became the watch-word 
 and war-cry of the most lawless in the territory ; 
 and the words "a posse of law-and-order men" 
 were synonymous with a company of freebooters 
 and murderers ranging the country in search 
 of their political opponents. The law, therefore, 
 was all on one side. And it will be seen that, 
 with enactments demanding the conviction of 
 all who spoke or acted against slavery, and a 
 judge and jury no less desiring their extermina- 
 tion, the wronged Free-state man, though he 
 should have been struck down in the highway 
 and robbed of his all, had more to lose than 
 gain by a recourse to the legal power. 
 
WHENCE DO SUCH LAWS COME ? 77 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Southern Law-makers. — Perversion of Authority. — A fraudu- 
 lent Legislature in Power.— The "Blue Lodge." — The 
 Electors overawed. — General Stringfellow's Speech. — The 
 Physical Force Argument. — How to get a Majority. — Ille- 
 gal Votes. — Not Four per Cent. Legal. — Terrorism. — Poll- 
 ing. — The Congress Report. — Right of Might. — A forcible 
 Persuader. — Conclusions of the Committee of Investigation.— 
 A Poll-tax. — Pro-Slavery Votes purchasable by Law. — Anti- 
 Slavery Votes pronounced void by Law. — Public Documents 
 cited. — Laws worse than Draconian. 
 
 The reader may be tempted further to ask, how 
 hiws so glaringly unreasonable and unjust as 
 those cited in the preceding chapter could have 
 become the laws of the land ? By what power 
 or authority were they enacted ? 
 
 Answer. — They were enacted by a falsely 
 chosen but authoritatively recognized Territo- 
 rial Legislature. This Legislature, viewed by 
 the general Government as the voice of the 
 people, becomes, of necessity, lawgiver to the 
 people of the territory ; and not only gives the 
 laws, but assumes to itself the right to define 
 
7S KANSAS. 
 
 its own authority. In this way the legal 
 existence of this assembly as a legislative body 
 has been determined by itself, and, being back- 
 ed by the United States troops, the so-called 
 Kansas Legislature has had almost all power in 
 its own hands. This is the Legislature for 
 which the votes were taken on the 30th of 
 March, 1855, and which, first meeting at Paw- 
 nee, was afterwards removed to the Shawnee 
 Mission, to be more conveniently near the 
 Missouri border. It is true, the election was 
 repudiated as fraudulent and unfair by the 
 Free-state population, and that they acted 
 independently of it in causing a fresh election 
 to take place on the 9th of October, 1S55. 
 This resulted in the convention for organizing 
 a State Government, w^iich met at Topeka, and 
 the subsequent election of State officers and 
 members of the General Assembly. When this 
 Assembly met the second time at Topeka, 
 on the 4th of July last, it will be remembered 
 that Colonel Sumner forcibly dissolved the 
 Assembly at the head of a considerable body of 
 United States troops, at the same time indicat- 
 ing his own view of the proceeding by stating 
 
THE LEGISLATURE fN OFFICE BY FRAUD. 79 
 
 that it was " the most painful duty of his whole 
 life." Repudiated, however, as the "bogus" 
 Legislature is on the part of the whole Free- 
 state population, it still maintains its power, 
 and gives laws to the territory. 
 
 But how, it may next be asked, is this 
 charge established, of the Legislature to which 
 the Federal Government gives the sanction of 
 its approval and the aid of its troops, being thus 
 falsely and fraudulently chosen ? 
 
 This fact admits of very easy proof. Long 
 before the first election in Kansas, a secret socie- 
 ty had been in existence in Missouri, generally 
 known as the " Blue Lodge," the avowed pur- 
 pose of which was, by a systematic organiza- 
 tion, to control the elections in Kansas. By 
 this agency immense armed bands of men from 
 Missouri were poured into Kansas, and, under 
 the generalship of efficient leaders, so distributed 
 through the electoral districts as to outnumber 
 and overawe the resident voters. The character 
 of these men may be inferred from an address 
 delivered by one of their chief leaders, General 
 Stringfellow, of Weston, in Missouri. General 
 Stringfellow is the brother of the Speaker in 
 
80 KANSAS. 
 
 the Legislative Assembly. The style of his 
 address is very characteristic. 
 
 " 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 • 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 disre- 
 garded, 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 
 Keeder and his vile myrmidons, and vote at 
 the point of the bowie-knife and the revolver. 
 Neither give nor take quarter, as our case de- 
 mands it. It is enough that the slaveholding 
 interest wills it, from which there is no appeal. 
 What right has Governor Reeder to rule Mis- 
 sourians 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." 
 
 And as their leader advised them so they 
 did. They neither gave nor took quarter ; they 
 allowed no qualms of conscience as to violating 
 
TIO'.V TO GET A MAJORITY. 81 
 
 laws ; and they entered every electoral district 
 in Kansas, aiid, in defiance of the rightful gov- 
 ernor, voted at the point of the bowie-knife 
 and the revolver. The result was a majority, 
 almost as ten to one, in favour of the pro- 
 slavery candidate, General Whitfield. Exact 
 returns from each district have since been 
 obtained by the Committee of Investigation, 
 and from their report presented to Congress, I 
 will extract one or two examples of the fraud 
 practised by this invading army. 
 
 The seventh district is a remote settlement, 
 as yet very sparsely inhabited, and containing 
 by census not more than 53 voters. In this 
 district alone no less than 597 votes were cast 
 for Whitfield, and seven for another candidate, 
 making in all 604, of which it has been ascer- 
 tained that not more than 20 were legal, the 
 remaining 584 being consequently illegal votes. 
 In the eleventh district, Marysville, " the total 
 number of white inhabitants, including men, 
 women, and children, was 36, of whom 24 were 
 voters. Yet the poll-lists in this district show 
 that 245 votes were cast at this election ! * * * 
 
 By a comparison of the census-roll with the 
 4* 
 
82 KANSAS. 
 
 poll-books it appears that but seven resident 
 settlers voted ; and 238 votes were illegally 
 and fraudulently given !" 
 
 And what was done at the election of a 
 delegate to Congress was repeated at the elec- 
 tion of the members of the Legislative Assembly. 
 By the report of the Committee of Investiga- 
 tion it appears that the proportion of illegal to 
 legal votes was as 4,908 to 1,410 ! From the 
 census it appears there v^ere but 2,905 voters 
 in the whole Territory, yet 5,427 votes were 
 recorded on the Pro-slavery side alone ! Many 
 of the Missourians returned the same night, 
 after giving their vote, to their own State. At 
 Leavenworth, a great number came down by 
 steamboat from Weston, and having effected 
 their object, returned by the same boat. Many 
 affirmed their right to vote as residents, although 
 they might have been only an hour in the terri- 
 tory, and had their home in Missouri. The 
 enormities committed by these armed bands 
 were fearful. Some we read of standing around 
 the polling-place and saying that *' no difficulty 
 would be made if they were allowed to vote in 
 peace, but that they were determined to vote 
 
THE POLLS CARRIED BY KNIFE AND PISTOL. 83 
 
 anyhow, and that each one of them was pre- 
 pared for eight rounds without loading, and 
 would go to the ninth round with the butcher- 
 knife." If the judges who presided over the 
 elections refused to receive their votes without 
 administering the oath of residence, theMissou- 
 rian invaders held their pistols at their heads, 
 while they appointed fresh judges from their 
 own number, and proceeded with the election, 
 *' masters of the position." So violent was 
 their hatred to the oath, that any voter who 
 professed himself ready to take it was threat- 
 ened with instant death, amid cries of " Shoot 
 him!" <'Ciit his guts out!" &c. "One of 
 them," we read in the report of the commis- 
 sioners, 
 
 "Mr. J. N. Mace, was asked if he would take 
 the oath ; and, upon his replying that he would 
 if the judges required it, he was dragged through 
 the crowd away from the polls amidst cries of 
 
 * Kill the nigger thief,' < Cut his throat,' 
 
 * Tear his heart out,' ^c. After they got him 
 to the outside of the crowd, they stood around 
 him with cocked revolvers and drawn bowie- 
 knives ; one man putting a knife to his breast 
 &Q that it touched him ; another holding a cocked 
 
84 KANSAS. 
 
 pistol to bis ear, while another struck at him 
 with a club." 
 
 The whole of the voluminous evidence accom- 
 panying the report submitted to Congress goes 
 to establish a succession of similar enormities 
 in each of the polling districts. These investi- 
 gations were being carried on within two doors 
 of the place where I was myself staying when 
 in Leavenworth ; and it was sufficient to hear 
 the manner in which the Missourians affirmed 
 their right to come over from their own State 
 and vote in the Territory of Kansas, and their 
 determination to do so on every occasion and 
 at all hazards, to understand the violence with 
 which they would assert that right when con- 
 fronted with their political opponents at the 
 polling-places. 
 
 Another question may be suggested on this 
 topic. By wliat right do these Missourians or 
 others from the neighbouring States vote in the 
 Kansas elections ? 
 
 By no right whatever except that of might. 
 The Missourians have no more right to vote in 
 Kansas than the voters in Middlesex have, after 
 using their rightful suffrage in their own county, 
 
ORGANIZED INVASION. S5 
 
 to go with their knives into Surrey and record 
 their votes a second time, with a pistol at the 
 liead of the election officer, in order to control 
 the Surrey elections. Indeed, as the States of 
 the Union are by their constitution perfectly 
 independent of one another and self-governed, 
 the parallel would be truer if we were to pic- 
 ture an army of Frenchmen, larger in number 
 than the aggregate of all our voters, who should, 
 at the point of the sword, choose fur us our 
 representatives, and return without exception 
 as our rulers men from among themselves or 
 pledged to their own political sentiments. 
 
 So much was it an act of main force and 
 illegal oppression, that among the conclusions 
 which the Commissioners of Investigation re- 
 port as established by the testimony adduced, 
 they give the first place to the following : — 
 
 " 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." 
 
86 KANSAS. 
 
 And as being the fruit of an organized inva- 
 sion they conclude, — 
 
 " Secondly, that the alleged Territorial Leg- 
 islature was an illegally constituted body, and 
 had no power to pass valid laws, and their en- 
 actments are therefore null and void." 
 
 While, however, in the first instances, the 
 interference of the Missourians was wholly il- 
 legal, the Legislature thus illegally constituted 
 took care to legalize the act for the future. 
 Hence we find them enacting in the "Act in- 
 stituting a poll-tax :" — 
 
 *' Sect. 1. That every free white male above 
 the age of twenty-one years who shall pay to 
 the proper officer in Kansas Territory the sum 
 of one dollar as a poll-tax, and shall produce to 
 the judges of any election within and for the 
 Territory of Kansas a receipt showing the pay- 
 ment of said poll-tax, shall be deemed a legal 
 voter, and shall be entitled to vote at any elec- 
 tion in said Territory during the year for which 
 the same shall have been paid, provided that 
 the right of suffrage shall be exercised only by 
 citizens of the United States and those who 
 have declared on oath their intention to become 
 such, and shall have taken an oath to support 
 
PRO-SLAVERY VOTES PURCHASED BY LAW. 87 
 
 the constitution of the United States and the 
 provisions of the act organizing the Territory 
 of Kansas." 
 
 In other words, by the payment of a single 
 dollar any citizen of any one of the United 
 States can purchase a voting power in Kansas 
 for a twelvemonth, provided he pledges himself 
 to the support of the Organic Act. In contrast 
 to this, in the 11th section (Statutes, p. 282) it 
 is expressly enacted that while every inhabitant 
 of Kansas paying a territorial tax is a qualified 
 elector, yet should he, on being challenged to 
 take an oath to sustain the provisions of the 
 Nebraska-Kansas Bill and the Fugitive Slave 
 Law, " refuse to take such oath or affirmation, 
 the vote of such person shall be rejected." 
 
 Hence, in the election of members for the 
 new Legislature, the results of which we re- 
 cently received, the pro-slavery Missourian who 
 paid a dollar was entitled to a vote, while the 
 Free-state settler in Kansas, though an owner 
 of land in the Territory, was denied his right 
 of suffrage by the Territorial law. The same 
 law required the candidates also, in order to be 
 eligible at that election, to take oath in support 
 
88 KANSAS. 
 
 of the Fugitive Slave Law (Statutes, p. 332). 
 The prediction, therefore, as to the results of the 
 election, which was ventured when these facts 
 were first laid before the English public, was 
 one in relation to which no room for speculation 
 could be said to exist. The complete verifica- 
 tion of it in the return of a wholly pro-slavery 
 Legislature, of which we have recently received 
 the intelligence, was the only result which 
 could reasonably be anticipated. 
 
 At the risk of writing that which is less gener- 
 ally interesting, I have presented in this and the 
 preceding chapter numerous extracts from pub- 
 lic documents. I have deemed it right to do 
 this, because the whole value of the present 
 statements rests on the authority whence they 
 are derived. The references I have made are, 
 firstly, to the " Statutes of the Territory of 
 Kansas," issued by the legislative body, to 
 which, though chosen by the inhabitants of 
 another State, the Government at Washington 
 gives the sanction of its approval and its mili- 
 tary aid ; and, secondly, to the report and evi- 
 dence of " the Special Committee appointed to 
 investigate the troubles in the Territory of 
 
OBJECT OF THE AUTHOR. 89 
 
 Kansas"— a report which, though dissented 
 from by one member of the committee, con- 
 tains testimony vvhicli can never be overthrown 
 or gainsaid. 
 
 My simple object has been to show that the 
 dark deeds of which I was an eye-witness in 
 Kansas, some of which I have detailed in for- 
 mer chapters, are no darker than the public 
 acts of the slave-power in that territory, as 
 exhibited in the archives of its House of As- 
 sembly ; and that the fearful anarchy and unre- 
 strained lawlessness which reign throughout 
 the territory find both their parallel and their 
 key in the flagrant unrighteousness of their 
 legal enactments. 
 
90 KANSAS. 
 
 CHAPTER YIII. 
 
 Recapitulation. — The " bogus*' Legislature. — Men and Things 
 in Kansas. — Different Classes of Settlers. — Immense Extent 
 of Country. — Physical Aspect. — Rivers. — The Kansas and 
 Missouri. — Undulating Prairie. — Caravans. — Indian Tribes. 
 —Fertility of the Soil.— Salubrity of the Climate.— Com- 
 mercial Advantages. — The '-mad Missouri.'' — Excellent 
 Market. — " Nebraska-Kansas Act." — A Race between North 
 and South. — Pro-slavery Party in the Ascendant. — Struggle 
 between the two Parties. — Tarring and Feathering. — Sale 
 of a Free Man. — Model Legislators. — Discordant Elements. 
 — Development. 
 
 Ix my earlier chapters on the subject of Kan- 
 sas, I attempted to depict some of the scenes 
 of riot and exhibitions of maddened hostility 
 which fell within my own experience as a 
 traveller in that territory immediately after 
 the burning and sack of the town of Lawrence. 
 In others I have endeavoured to explain the 
 extraordinary fact of such lawlessness being per- 
 mitted, by showing from the statute-books of 
 the territory that such acts were not the fruit 
 of a sudden and exceptional outbreak of pas- 
 
THE *' bogus" legislature. 91 
 
 sion, but were the reflection of the deliberate 
 injustice of their legislative enactments. I 
 have also indicated the fact that the Legisla- 
 ture, which has thus shamefully abused its 
 power, is not the choice of the people of Kan- 
 sas, but mainly of the inhabitants of an adjoin- 
 ing State, who controlled the elections by enter- 
 ing and voting in the territory in far larger 
 number than the total of its own voting popu- 
 lation. Further, that this Legislature — com- 
 monly called a " bogus," that is, a spurious 
 Legislature — possesses the sanction of the gener- 
 al Government, and the aid, consequently, of 
 the United States' troops. On the same ground, 
 every act of the people of Kansas to gain for 
 themselves a true representation and a better 
 government is regarded as " treason" or "rebel- 
 lion ;" and the leaders of such " rebellion" have, 
 as in the instance of General Robinson and 
 others, suffered, although untried, a long and 
 painful imprisonment. 
 
 This fact of an unrepresented minority, or, 
 with more truth, an unrepresented majority of 
 the people of Kansas, is alone sufficient to 
 shield the settlers in that territory from the 
 
92 KANSAS. 
 
 charge of universally participating in this sys- 
 tem of legalized ruffianism. There are, in 
 truth, large numbers of people occupying 
 claims in the territory, whose sole purpose 
 evidently is to act as peaceful pioneers of civil- 
 ization by transforming the rich prairie lands 
 of Kansas into a home for themselves and their 
 children. In justice to these and all others 
 concerned, I purpose devoting one or two chap- 
 ters to a description of men and things general- 
 ly in Kansas ; comprehending, if possible, some 
 description of the external aspect of the coun- 
 try, its towns and cultivation, with a more 
 special portraiture of the classes of men there 
 to be met — the Western settler, the Free-state 
 advocate, the Southern planter, the border-man, 
 and all other varieties of inhabitant that consti- 
 tute the existing elements of Kansas society. 
 This may meet the wants of those whose inter- 
 est in the political struggle, of which Kansas 
 is the theatre, may lead them to inquire what 
 kind of appearance the place presents, and what 
 objects meet the eye of one travelling in that 
 distant territory. 
 
 And first, in addition to that which Kansas 
 
IMMENSE EXTENT OF COUNTRY. 93 
 
 has of its own, those characteristics must be 
 presupposed which it possesses in common 
 with all the other vast territories of the Ameri- 
 can " far West." There is immense extent of 
 country. Add together England, Wales, Scot- 
 land, and Ireland, and the aggregate superficies 
 will yield almost precisely the area of Kansas ; 
 which, nevertheless, is small compared with its 
 sister territory, Nebraska. There is interest 
 attached to its physical aspect. Rivers of im- 
 mense proportions roll their vast and muddy 
 volume along, ordinarily at a great depth be- 
 neath the elevation of the general surface, 
 through which they have cut their deep broad 
 channel, leaving a margin of high bluffs, some- 
 times covered with a thick growth of cotton- 
 wood and elm, — at others too steep to admit of 
 more than the scantiest vegetation. Near these 
 rivers, and especially on the borders of the Kan- 
 sas and Missouri, are fine bottom-lands covered 
 with a rich and most fertile soil, needing no- 
 thing but the plough to convert them into 
 fruitful fields. Then follows prairie — beautiful, 
 undulating prairie — here and there a grove of 
 walnut, hickory, oak, or sugar-maple, but for 
 
94 KANSAS. 
 
 the most part a broad treeless and shrubless 
 pasturage, stretching its velvety surface of grass 
 as far as the horizon, decked, too, at the spring 
 season — when I saw it — with prairie flowers of 
 every hue, and alive with the hum of insects 
 no less variegated in colour and delicate in form. 
 Let the traveller put himself upon one of the 
 trails joining the caravan for Santa Fe, or 
 Oregon, or Utah, and he may spend his month 
 or six weeks amid the monotony of this sea of 
 grass as on an ocean voyage, traversing the 
 green waves of its rolling surface, with a circular 
 horizon always around him, till, having crossed 
 twelve and a half degrees of longitude, he finds 
 himself at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, and 
 at length at the western boundary of Kansas. 
 With the exception, however, of these trains, 
 which pass and repass with their long waggons 
 and innumerable oxen during the summer 
 months, the broad prairie-lands of Central and 
 Western Kansas are left to the occupancy of 
 the wandering tribes of Indians, of whom it has 
 been estimated that there are yet 25,000 in the 
 territory ; while the better- watered, better- 
 wooded, and more fertile lands in the East are 
 
ATTRACTIONS OF KANSAS. 96 
 
 occupied by the 10,000, or more, belligerent 
 settlers of our own blood, of whom w^e have 
 heard so much. 
 
 Were there nothing else to attract settlers 
 but the fertility of the land, the salubrity of the 
 climate, and the ccJmmercial advantages it pos- 
 sesses, Kansas would still have been sought 
 out as a favourable spot for Western emigrants. 
 Its soil, so far as I had opportunity to observe 
 it, in the lands watered by the Kansas and 
 Missouri rivers, is as rich as in any part of the 
 whole West of the United States, admirably 
 adapted for pasturage, suitable for Indian corn 
 and other crops, and, in some parts, for the cul- 
 tivation of hemp or tobacco. Its climate, hot 
 in summer, is nevertheless healthy, and free, 
 according to all accounts, from the fever and 
 ague so prevalent in many parts of Missouri. 
 Its economical advantages are quite peculiar. 
 It is, by virtue of its situation, the key to all 
 the vast territory which, westward and north- 
 ward, opens out from the junction of the Kansas 
 and Missouri rivers. The Kansas itself is no 
 inconsiderable stream. It receives into it the 
 Smoky-hill, the Grand Saline, Solomon's, and 
 
96 KANSAS. 
 
 the Republican Forks, besides smaller tribu- 
 taries, each of these greater in length, and in 
 the spring very much larger in volume, than 
 our own Thames. The "mad" Missouri, al- 
 though having more than 1,600 miles to run 
 vi^hen it passes Leavenworth before it reaches 
 the sea, and having already traversed 2,600 
 miles since it left the Great Falls, is, for the 
 whole distance, open to steam navigation; 
 while above the Falls the stream may still be 
 navigated by smaller craft for hundreds of 
 miles towards its source in the Rocky Mount- 
 ains. But, independently of this prospective 
 commerce, the settler in Eastern Kansas already 
 possesses the advantage of water communication 
 by which at once to forward his produce to the 
 southern market, and, above all, an excellent 
 market at his own door in the necessities of 
 produce and of stock arising from the constant 
 fitting out of the trains for New Mexico, which 
 make the cities on the Kansas border their 
 starting-place and entrepot. 
 
 But with much in these respects to attract 
 the settler, Kansas owes, doubtless, the rapidity 
 of its settlement principally to the political 
 
ATTRACTION'S OF KANSAS. 
 
 97 
 
 interests which have gathered around it. From 
 the first moment when the Nebraska-Kansas 
 Act was passed, which, whilst it organized 
 Kansas into a Territory, swept away all former 
 stipulations as to the exclusion of slavery, it 
 was perceived alike by North and South that 
 the future of Kansas in relation to slavery, and 
 with it, probably, of all territories that might 
 afterwards be admitted, must be determined by 
 the numerical proportions of its population. 
 A race was commenced between North and 
 South, and that party was to be the winner 
 who should send in the largest number of its 
 own adherents, whether Free-state men or 
 pro-slavery men, to determine the law for the 
 new Territory. Measures were taken by the 
 pro-slavery party to prevent the allotment of 
 lands to any but their own partisans ; and when 
 Free-state men still came in, squatter meetings 
 were held in Kansas by inhabitants of Mis- 
 souri, who passed resolutions to the following 
 effect : 
 
 " That we will afford protection to no aboli- 
 tionist as a settler on this Territory. 
 
 *' That we recognize the institution of slavery 
 
98 KANSAS. 
 
 as already existing in this Territory, and advise 
 slaveholders to introduce their property as early 
 as possible." 
 
 To meet these efforts on the part of organiza- 
 tions in Missouri, Emigrant Aid societies were 
 formed in Boston and elsewhere in the Eastern 
 States to promote the movement on the side of 
 the North, and to give facilities to settlers 
 intending to make Kansas their home. That 
 these were bond fide settlers, and not an invad- 
 ing army of illegal voters like the Missourians, 
 we have abundant proof. Indeed, it is idle to 
 suppose that men went from Boston to Kansas, 
 an overland journey equalling in distance that 
 from London to Odessa, their expenses not 
 being paid by the society, merely with a view 
 to record their votes, and then return. 
 
 The two parties, as might be anticipated, 
 soon came to blows. Public meetings were 
 perpetually being held, secret committees 
 formed, political clubs organized. A single 
 instance selected out of many will illustrate the 
 operation of these hostile measures. 
 
 A Vigilance Committee was appointed in the 
 spring of 1855, having for its object " to observe 
 
TARRING AND FEATHERING. 99 
 
 and report all such persons as shall, * * * by" 
 the expression of abolition sentiments, produce 
 disturbance to the quiet of the citizens or 
 dansfer to their domestic relations ; and all such 
 persons so offending shall be notified and made 
 to leave the territory." On this committee 
 were several members of the Legislature. The 
 first person "observed and reported" by the 
 committee as acting so as to endanger " their 
 domestic relations" (by which delicate expres- 
 sion is meant the institution of slavery) was Mr. 
 William Phillips, a lawyer residing in Leaven- 
 worth, whose offence was that he had sworn to 
 a protest against the validity of the election in 
 his district, in consequence of which protest 
 Governor Reeder had ordered a new election. 
 Mr. Phillips was "notified" to leave the terri- 
 tory. He refused to do so, whereupon he was 
 seized by a party of Missouri men to the number 
 of fourteen, taken across the river, and carried 
 several miles into Missouri. They then pro- 
 ceeded to shave one side of his head, next 
 stripped off his clothes, and put him through 
 the horrible ordeal of tarring and feathering. 
 This being completed, they rode him on a rail 
 
100 KANSAS. 
 
 for a mile and a-lialf, and finally put him up at 
 auction, a negro acting as auctioneer, and went 
 through the mockery of selling him, not at the 
 price of a slave, but for the sum of one dollar. 
 Eight days after this outrage a public meeting 
 was held, at which the following resolution 
 was unanimously adopted : " That we heartily 
 endorse the action of the committee of citizens 
 that shaved, tarred and feathered, rode on a 
 rail, and had sold by a negro, AVilliam Phillips, 
 the moral perjurer." The meeting was pre- 
 sided over by Mr. Rees, a member of Council 
 in the Kansas Legislature, and the resolution 
 was offered by Mr. Payne, a Judge and also 
 member of the House of Representatives ! The 
 outrage committed against Mr. Phillips was 
 not, therefore, the hasty act of a few murderous 
 ruffians, but one advisedly carried out and 
 afterwards deliberately endorsed by a number 
 of citizens and by members of both Houses of 
 Legislature. Mr. Phillips returned to Leaven- 
 worth, but has since, according to accounts 
 received in the autumn of 1856, been shot. 
 
 To return, however, from this digression. It 
 was out of elements thus discordant that the 
 
DISCORDANT ELEiME.XTS. 101 
 
 social life of Kansas had to develope itself. 
 The settler from the North brought his shrewd 
 intelligence and hard-working industry ; the 
 man of the South his fearless spirit and cavalier 
 independence. Both were animated by a de- 
 termination to conquer. United they might 
 have made of Kansas a garden of plenty and an 
 advance-post of civilization. But their work 
 in the territory w^as to oppose one another. 
 And, although this might have been done by 
 pacific means, yet, differing widely as they did 
 in natural characteristics, in their sympathies 
 and their political aims, they soon yielded to 
 the influence of party bitterness, so that the 
 Northern man's persevering energy and the 
 Southerner's high-spirited daring found exercise, 
 not in furthering a common cause, but in acts 
 of mutual hostility. 
 
102 KANSAS. 
 
 CHAPTEH IX. 
 
 striking Contrast. — Freedom and Slavery. — Rapid Progress of 
 Kansas.— Northern Emigrant Aid Societies.— Spirit of En- 
 terprise. — The " Regulators." — " Law and Order" Men. — 
 The Widow's Son.--Barbarous Outrage.— The Western 
 Frontiersman. — His character. — Generous Reciprocity. — 
 Mode of Intercourse.- The Pioneer of the New World. — 
 His Appointments. — The Romance of Peril. — Achievements 
 of the Western Pathfinder.— Contempt of the Yankees.— 
 The Source of Life and Vigour.— Effect of Politics on the 
 Western Character. 
 
 Nowhere in America, probably, is the con- 
 trast between the Northern and the Southern 
 man exhibited in so marked a manner as in 
 Kansas. He who would see the difference 
 between comfort and discomfort, between 
 neatness and disorder, cleanliness and filth, 
 between farming the land and letting the 
 land farm itself, between trade and stagnation, 
 stirring activity and reigning sloth, between 
 a wide-spread intelligence and an almost 
 universal ignorance, between general progress 
 
CONTRASTS. 103 
 
 and an incapacity for all improvement or 
 advancement, has commonly only to cross 
 the border-line which separates a free from 
 a slave State. But he who would see these 
 broad contrasts in a single view, the evi- 
 dences of well-directed enterprise and intel- 
 ligent energy mixed up with the ugly features 
 of backgoing and barbarity, should seek out 
 Kansas and make its strange varieties of in- 
 habitants his study. 
 
 Kansas is not altogether bad. It has its re- 
 deeming features, its fairer as well as its darker 
 aspects, asifto justify Byron's line, — "None are 
 all evil." An impulse more than ordinary has 
 been given on the part of the North, and the 
 necessities of the settler have been more than 
 ordinarily anticipated. Usually life in the bush 
 or life on the prairie implies a long apprentice- 
 ship of toil before the reward of industry is 
 reached. The Western settler must in most 
 instances make up his mind to years of lonely 
 struGrc^le. hard battlinsc with the earth and ele- 
 ments, before he finds himself surrounded by 
 the life of civilization even in its most rudiment- 
 ary forms. But it has not been wholly so in 
 
104 KANSAS. 
 
 Kansas. The want of capital, which is a prin- 
 cipal source of the difficulties and embarrass- 
 ments that so long retard the progress of settler 
 in a new countr}-, has been in a great degree 
 met by the active exertions of the Northern 
 emigrant-aid societies. The appliances of civil- 
 ized life are, as a consequence, by no means 
 wanting. The church, the school-house, the 
 public hall, the necessities of commerce, saw- 
 mills, and other erections of industry, are all in 
 a certain degree provided ; and large public 
 works and costly undertakings are promised, 
 and already have an existence on paper, which 
 are in advance of the wants of the place for 
 many years to come. Hence, trade has been 
 greatly stimulated and a degree of enterprise 
 developed which, had not the pursuits of indus- 
 try been diverted by the rude checks of war, 
 would have made this new territory remarkable 
 in the annals of successful progress and rapid 
 increase. 
 
 Unfortunately, as I had too many proofs at 
 the time of my visit, the labours of the honest 
 and vvell-disposed among the settlers were most 
 grievously interfered with by the necessity of 
 
THE widow's SOxV. 105 
 
 bearing arms and shielding themselves from 
 political oppression. The farmers were neglect- 
 ing their corn fields to form committees of de- 
 fence. Others found themselves mercilessly- 
 robbed of their produce and of their horses and 
 other stock, to supply the wants of the " Regu- 
 lators," who, in the name of " law and order," 
 scoured the country in search of political vic- 
 tims. A young man, when I was there, was 
 attacked by a band of men, who demanded his 
 horse. He refused. They held their pistols 
 before him, and renewed the demand : " He 
 must give his horse, or drop." He again assert- 
 ed his right to his own. The " Regulators" 
 were firm. He pleaded, if not justice, mercy — 
 telling them that he was the only son of a wid- 
 owed mother, and that to take his horse would 
 be to rob him of his chief means of supporting, 
 not himself alone, but her. The"Law-and- 
 Order" men were v/eary of the discussion. A 
 single shot terminated both it and the young 
 man's life. 
 
 But where these acts of violence were not 
 committed, the diversion of the settlers' labour 
 from the cultivation of their farms, to the organ- 
 
106 KANSAS. 
 
 izing of means of defence, was sufficient to lead 
 to serious apprehension as to the consequences. 
 It was my intention to have referred to this be- 
 fore the sad intelligence arrived that the Free- 
 state inhabitants of Lawrence v/ere suffering 
 from scarcity, and that the merchant in Weston 
 who sold them a quantity of flour had been ar- 
 rested b}^ a band of men from Platte City, with 
 the renowned Stringfellow at their head, who 
 denounced the flour-dealer as an Abolitionist, 
 and threatened to hang him. Fortunately, the 
 people of Weston, w^ho love free-trade, it ap- 
 pears, if they love nothing else that is i\'ee, came 
 to the rescue of their fellow-citizen, and com- 
 pelled the Platte party to take their departure. 
 To draw a true picture of Kansas life it is 
 necessary, of course, to place in the foreground 
 the true typical Western frontiersman. Coming 
 originally, whether from the cultivated farms of 
 New England or from the broad plantations of 
 the South, the settler in the West speedily 
 acquires those general characteristics which 
 belong to the border, and which mark out the 
 Western man as of a species distinct from either 
 Northerner or Southerner. It would be diffi- 
 
THE WESTERN FRONTIERSMAN. 107 
 
 cult, perhaps, to define it precisely, but there 
 is an element in the Western character which, 
 in the case of the majority I believe of our own 
 countrymen, would gain for it their natural 
 sympathies more readily than they are yielded 
 to the Eastern inhabitants of the States, either 
 North or South. This is the secret, probably, 
 of that strange attraction which belongs, not- 
 withstanding all its discomforts and all its 
 perils, to the border life of the furthest West. 
 Placed in circumstances where they have to 
 endure frequent hardship and privation, called 
 oftentimes to encounter great danger, and to 
 expose their lives to the most imminent perils, 
 these hardy men become in a short time wholly 
 indifferent to all considerations of personal com- 
 fort or safety. By a natural transition they are 
 next found deriving pride and pleasure from the 
 life of hardship to which they have become 
 inured, despising the softness of civilization and 
 conventional society, and loving only the proud 
 independence and excitement of a life, in which 
 the surmounting of obstacles, the subduing of 
 nature and perpetual hair-breadth escapes, form 
 the chief staple of each day's experience. 
 
lOS KANSAS. 
 
 Further, the border-man is so situated with 
 regard to his fellow settler that he is most 
 naturally led to share all he has with his neigh- 
 bour, and to make common stock of whatever 
 little conveniences each can afford. If A is 
 felling timber, he will cut for B too, who lives 
 in the log-house four miles off, and who per- 
 haps has unfortunately lost or broken his axe ; 
 and if B's wife has got a saucepan, A's better- 
 half shall not want the means wherewithal to 
 prepare the " hog and hominy" for the family's 
 wants. And why not ? If there were no 
 such generous interchange, a weary week's 
 journey might need to be undertaken before 
 Mr. B could replace his axe or Mrs. A her 
 saucepan. A Western man will take no re- 
 compense for services rendered, however kind 
 or valuable ; he dislikes to be offered thanks. 
 In my own experience, the most simple ac- 
 knowledgment of favour by a plain " if you 
 please," or "I thank you," has been received 
 with very evident displeasure that I should 
 introduce the coldness of Eastern conventional- 
 ism to mar the freedom of friendly intercourse. 
 The most unbounded hospitality reigns, the 
 
OPEN HEARTS AND OPEN DOORS. 109 
 
 talk of the stranger and the news he may 
 bring being the set-oiF against all he may re- 
 ceive. This set-ofF, however, he must give ; 
 for tlie Western man, while he holds that you 
 have a free right to everything in his cabin 
 without asking so much as his permission, con- 
 siders that you and yours are equally at his 
 disposal, and that, should he detain you for a 
 night beneath his roof, you are bound to an- 
 swer every one of the endless questions he has 
 to present for your solution. Whatever is not 
 generous and free, the true border-man with 
 difficulty comprehends and most heartily liates. 
 Let the stranger leave behind him all home 
 prejudices, all the chill formalities of conven- 
 tional society — be ready to accept the rough 
 fare set before him, which, if not good, is yet 
 the best the country w^ill afford — show no fear, 
 no suspicion, no restraint — handle his rifle as if 
 it were his cherished companion — be hearty 
 and cheerful and ready to communicate, not in 
 word only, but by handing out his brandy-flask, 
 or participating anything else he may have 
 with his entertainers, without allowing it to 
 appear in the smallest degree an act of favour, 
 
110 KANSAS. 
 
 and tell the rough settler that, though " of 
 Eastern raising," his heart is with the West, 
 and there is not a log-cabin in the whole bor- 
 der-land from north to south which is not open 
 for his reception. Except in Kansas, one is 
 compelled to add ; for there, although the 
 Western nature is still the same — and rightly 
 managed, there is little to fear even from the 
 man who glories in the name of border-ruffian 
 — ^yet, through this detestable war, the gener- 
 osity of the Western character is marred, and 
 each man looks with suspicion upon either 
 stranger or neighbour. 
 
 It is impossible, however, rightly to compre- 
 hend life in Kansas without taking into consid- 
 eration the natural characteristics of the West- 
 ern borderer. Take him at his best, and the 
 pioneer of the New World possesses a noble 
 character. There he stands, in his rough 
 woollen shirt of yellow or red, his big boots 
 forming a large circumference around his leath 
 ern hose, a buffalo-skin upon his back — at once 
 his covering by day and his bed, sheet, and 
 blanket all combined by night — his coonskin 
 cap, or slouched felt hat, covering a face which 
 
THE PATHFINDERS COXQUESTS. Ill 
 
 hot suns and keen frosts have made brown as 
 an Indian's, his rifle across his shoulder, pow- 
 der-horn and shot-pouch hanging from his neck, 
 his belt stuck full of twine and knives, and 
 hatchets and ammunition, and all the minor 
 necessaries of his life — the produce of his last 
 shot perhaps upon his shoulder, his visage the 
 fiercer for uncombed hair and thick bristly 
 beard; there he stands, ready for the widest 
 river, or the thickest forest, or the broadest 
 prairie, or the wildest Indian, or the most savage 
 beast that it may be his lot to light on, ready 
 to do or die. 
 
 That there is a charm in all this, at least to 
 *' those whose hearts are fresh and simple," and 
 who are sick of the luxury and display, the 
 hollow pretence and unmanly refinements of 
 the Eastern cities, will be understood by every 
 one. There is romance about the unheeded 
 perils and unthought-of hardships, there is at- 
 traction in the manly generosity of these brave 
 pioneers of civilization. They are the men to 
 conquer the wild w^oods and stern nature that 
 is before them ; and they do it. Step by step, 
 not gradually, but rapidly, they have carried 
 
112 KANSAS. 
 
 forward the outposts of civilized life; the red 
 man has receded before them ; the waste wil- 
 derness has been transformed into a fruitful 
 field; hundreds, thousands of miles have sub- 
 mitted to the steady march of their conquest ; 
 population has followed to fill up from behind 
 the lands they have cleared ; and hating, as 
 " crowded up like a city," the place where 
 they can see in the distance the smoke of an- 
 other man's log-hut, or cross another man's 
 claim, they ever move on, loving only the act 
 of conquest, and the pride of giving to the 
 world new lands for its enjoyment. 
 
 Open-hearted, hospitable, manly, enterpris- 
 ing, reckless of danger, careless of comfort, full 
 of cool courage and determination as the West- 
 ern pathfinder is, it may readily be supposed he 
 holds in most hearty contempt the delicately 
 raised Yankee, that is, inhabitant of the North- 
 eastern States. To him the Yankee appears 
 the embodiment of all that is stiff and cold, 
 calculating and selfish. He w^ould not exchange 
 the " rough and ready" welcome to one of his 
 own Western log-huts, for all the gorgeous 
 saloons and costly display of the most brilliant 
 
THE WESTERN PATHFINDER. 113 
 
 receptions in the Eastern cities. And well it 
 is that, in some part of the Union, the manly 
 strength of its first founders is thus perpetua- 
 ted. With all his faults, there is life and vigour 
 in the AVestern borderer, and although capable 
 of being transformed into the worst of ruffians, 
 because the most reckless and determined, yet 
 there are elements of character, as it has been 
 my object to show, in this rough population of 
 Missouri and other border lands, which are 
 noble in themselves, and of the highest value 
 to the interests of the States. 
 
 How this Western character has been affect- 
 ed by the strife of politics, how it has been 
 engrafted upon other stocks and transmuted 
 into new forms, I shall next describe. But 
 this subject must be reserved for another chap- 
 ter, in which I hope to pourtray more particu- 
 larly the varieties of inhabitants to be met with 
 in the seat of Western war and thus to place 
 before English eyes a picture of log-hut life in 
 Kansas. 
 
114 KiXNSAS. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Varieties of Population in Kansas. — Types of Mankiud on 
 board a Missouri Steamer. — The Border-ruffians. — Loud 
 Men. — Silent Free-Soilers. — New Mexican Spaniards. — 
 Nuns. — Mormons. — German Jews. — " Dutchmen." — Pro- 
 fessed Gamblers. — High Stakes. — Government Officials. — 
 United States Officers.— The African Race. — Freedom of 
 Speech forbidden. — A curious Illustration.— Judge 'Trig- 
 ger. — His Appearance — Conversation — His Legal Wisdom. 
 — Lynch Law. — The Judicial Functionary's Plan. 
 
 The population of Kansas comprehends various 
 classes of inhabitants, each distinguished from 
 the others by very marked characteristics. 
 Leaving out of view its native Indians, the 
 country cannot be rightly understood, without 
 some apprehension of the varieties of human- 
 kind existing among its white settlers. 
 
 The company I had on board the steamboat 
 in the ascent of the Missouri, described in an 
 earlier chapter of this book, might be taken as 
 representing not inadequately the various classes 
 of population in Kansas. The loudest men on 
 
TYPES OF MAIS'KIXD. 116 
 
 board — the rulers and men of authority by 
 virtue of noise — were the Missourians and 
 border-ruffians generally. Early or late, in the 
 saloon or on deck, at the bar or in the berths, 
 there was no release from their ceaseless clam- 
 our. The rifles on the table or in the corners, 
 and the pistols in their pockets, were so many 
 fresh arguments to strengthen the bravado of 
 their words. Xo contrary- opinion need at- 
 tempt to stem the torrent of their turbulent 
 bluster. Even so is it in Kansas. The loudest 
 men whose authority is gained by the defiance 
 they bid, revolver in hand, to all opposition, 
 are the supporters of the political views of the 
 South. The majority of these are natives of 
 Missouri, but many whom I met had come from 
 States as distant as Georgia and South Caro- 
 lina, — to appearance the olY-scourings of the 
 population ; young men of spirit and fire, whose 
 love of a fight had tempted them to engage in 
 the strife. 
 
 Next, there were doubtless among my fellow- 
 passengers silent Free-soilers — so silent as to 
 kheir views that it would be impossible to 
 identify them, were it not that a Northern man 
 
116 KANSAS. 
 
 can scarcely conceal his more unimpassioned 
 manners, his more careful attention to his dress, 
 and his colder and more formal demeanour in 
 general. So, also, is it in Kansas. There are 
 abundant proofs of the existence of quiet and 
 industrious settlers from the North, silently 
 trying to live out the storm, and thus prevent 
 the triumph of a mighty wrong. A consider- 
 able portion of these reach Kansas, by a some- 
 what tedious overland route, through the 
 Northern State of Iowa, to avoid the risk of 
 travelling through a Slave State. This accounts 
 for the fiict that, were I to set all cool tempera- 
 ments and men silent on slavery to the credit 
 of the Free-soilers, that party would still have 
 been very poorly represented among my fel- 
 low passengers. 
 
 Further, there were on board Spaniards be- 
 longing to New Mexico, filthy as to their persons, 
 disgusting in their manners. These, also, form 
 a part of the transient population of Kansas. 
 Moreover, there were several nuns going up to 
 one of the Koman Catholic missions, and some 
 adherents of the Mormon faith, making their 
 way, probably, across the plains to Utah. Be- 
 
TYPES OF MANKIND. 117 
 
 sides these were Jews, for the most part of 
 German origin, of whom a large class carry on 
 the trading and storekeeping in the towns of 
 Kansas. There were Germans also — called by 
 the Americans " Dutchmen" — who, intent on 
 making a livelihood, have settled so thickly in 
 Kansas, as they have done in all the AVestern 
 lands, that there are more German than English 
 names upon the shops and warehouses, and 
 they almost bid fair to monopolize the com- 
 merce of the country. Then there were others 
 intent on making gain, but not the honest gain 
 of the German — namely, the professed gam- 
 blers. These were men who played a trick 
 with cards, well known on the Western waters, 
 which occupies but a single minute. They 
 never accepted a stake of less than $100. They 
 began their work late at night, and left the 
 boat about daylight, carrying with them many 
 hundreds of dollars which they had got from 
 the drinking, maddened ruffians, fresh from the 
 spoil of Lawrence. These, unfortunately, are 
 too numerously represented also in the Terri- 
 tory. Again, there were of our number agents 
 of the Federal as well as the Territorial Govern- 
 
118 KANSAS. 
 
 ment, and officers in the United States' army ; 
 and, lastly, the African race was represented, 
 not only by the waiters and others employed 
 on the boat, but also by a poor slave, who, for 
 safety's sake, was handcuffed, and sat ordinarily 
 in a corner, where the black barber found for 
 him a seat, dropping only his wrists between 
 his knees w^hen a stranger approached, to 
 hide, apparently, the shameful shackle from his 
 gaze. 
 
 But amid all these — Pro-slavery men, Free- 
 soilers, New Mexicans, Mormons, Nuns, Jews, 
 Germans, professional gamblers, Federal officers, 
 and slaves — there was no liberty of speech, un- 
 less the license claimed by the Southern braves 
 be deemed a species of liberty. In an under- 
 tone, and keeping to the German language, I 
 ventured to condemn the existing outrages, 
 while conversing with two Germans. I found 
 them of my own mind, but, they added, no one 
 durst open his mouth. Of tlie denial of free- 
 dom of speech a curious illustration occurred 
 as our steamer was approaching the border-line 
 of Kansas. The word " abolition" had unguard- 
 edly dropped from the lips of the clerk of the 
 
FREEDOM OF SPEECH FORBIDDETT. 119 
 
 boat, not with the customary oath, but with a 
 laugh. "Shut up," was the instant rejoinder, 
 proceeding from a gruff, hoarse voice, " reck'n 
 we're in a section now, where you can't say 
 that there word, not even in jest, so don't 
 crowd on so mighty powerful. You'll have to 
 allow to respect the wishes of the sovereign 
 people; it's them that's to rule; — d'ye hear, 
 Mister?" 
 
 Another fellow-passenger held the same views. 
 He was a Judge, and resident in Missouri. I 
 forget his name, but it might have been O'Trig- 
 ger. Judge O'Trigger vw^s one of the best- 
 looking of the Missouri men. He was evident- 
 ly well to do, and had the respect of the others, 
 forming often the centre of a circle before 
 whom he would deliver his opinions. He was 
 a man of fine frame and handsome appearance 
 — tall, but also stout ; his eye betokened deter- 
 mination, and his countenance was not unat- 
 tractive, albeit his cheek was unceasingly, 
 except at mealtime, distended with the tobacco 
 quid. He was well dressed, wore a "Know- 
 Nothing" hat, and had a black coat on his 
 back, which, however, he removed when he sat 
 
120 KANSAS. 
 
 down to meals, thus making more conspicuous 
 his tobacco-stained shirt-front. This worthy- 
 judge was a leader of the talk on board, and I 
 believe I owe much of my personal safety to 
 the fact of my not refusing to form one of his 
 circle of auditors. But let Sir Oracle speak for 
 himself. 
 
 "I've got some boys* up hyar, and I expect 
 I'll bring them down. Reckon property's a 
 'nation sight safer at home than among those 
 mean, cantankerous Abolition cusses. That's 
 what I'm goin' up for, gentlemen. Got a 
 steep lot, I reckon, altogether; but they're no 
 account in these hyar diggins now, with them 
 Abolition rascals; that's a fact." Next, dis- 
 coursing on the agitating politics of the day, 
 the subject to which he always reverted, *' Tall 
 times these, gentlemen. Those Massachusetts 
 men calculated they'd have it all their own 
 
 way, I reckon. Get us only on their 
 
 tracks. We'll soon knock the wind out of 
 
 * By " boys " ia the Southern States are meant negroes. 
 The appellation, however, has no reference to age. "Old 
 man" is another frequent form of address, in speaking to 
 negro slaves. 
 
JUDGE o'tRIGGER. 121 
 
 them, that's sartin. What on airth have they 
 to do hyar, I should like to know ? Let Massa- 
 chusetts govern itself, I say ; and ?^e'll govern 
 owrselves. That's so. Let Massachusetts gov- 
 ern itself, and ive^W govern o^^rselves, I say. 
 That's right and fair ; and they've no right to 
 interfere." All joined heartily in admiring the 
 legal wisdom of Judge O'Trigger, interpreting 
 his conclusion as it was meant, — namely, that 
 Missouri should govern Kansas. Then, in 
 order to prevent the intrusion of Massachusetts 
 men, he had his remedy at hand. "We're not 
 agoin' to let them pass in, no how. There's 
 too many in it, by a long sight, a'ready. We're 
 most agen the border now, I reckon. Catch 
 
 e'er a one of them passing ; by , if I won't 
 
 scalp him. There's one thing we'll do. We'll 
 pass the word round the boat at the last land- 
 ing, so as they can jest kinder have their choice 
 which way they like. They must just be good 
 on the hemp or land. That's how we'll crowed 
 it on 'em, or they'll have to allow to take the 
 change out of this hyar revolver of mine. That's 
 so; they must just be right on the hemp or 
 put ashore. We've stood them a mighty steep 
 
122 KANSAS. 
 
 time, but they ain't agoin' to carry on that 
 powerful any longer. That's a fact." The 
 judicial functionary repeated many times his 
 plan, whereby to separate the wheat from the 
 chaff among the passengers ; but, fortunately, 
 when we reached the boundary line the excite- 
 ment was too great to admit of its execution. 
 Most probably the whole of it was mere bra- 
 vado. 
 
THE TWO RIVAI, ARMIES. 123 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Two great Divisions. — Pro-slavery Mea and Free-soilers. — 
 Subdivisions. — Slaves. — Small Number of Slave-owners in 
 Kansas. — Their "Works. — " Border-ruffians." — King of the 
 Fire-eaters. — Their Numbers. — Volunteer Companies. — An 
 American " Groggery." — A Border-ruffian's Boast. — A fair 
 " Border-ruffian." — The Free-state Party. — General Lane. — 
 Governor Robinson. — His Services. — Enormities of Naples 
 and Austria reproduced in America. — Relative Numbers in 
 Kansas of Southerns and Northerns. — Migration. — Per- 
 manent Settlers. — Floating Population. — Western Cities. — 
 Contrast between Free and Slave Towns. 
 
 The two great divisions in the population of 
 Kansas are, of course, the pro-slavery men and 
 the free-soilers. These are the two rival armies 
 which, having poured during the past two years 
 into the territory, form the bulk of its inhab- 
 itants, and now stand side by side contending 
 for the mastery of power in the future State. 
 These parties are susceptible also of a sub-divis- 
 ion, according as their purposes in entering the 
 territory are peaceable or warlike. A most not- 
 able distinction is that which separates the man 
 
124 KANSAS. 
 
 who, whatever be the policy he has espoused, 
 seeks to cany the day by his right of suffrage as 
 a permanent honest settler, and the lover of dis- 
 turbance who comes to assert victory at the 
 expense of falsehood, treachery, robbery, and 
 bloodshed. Judge O'Trigger, who had "got 
 some boys up to Kansas," and who spared exe- 
 cuting his threat against those who would not 
 w^earthe pro-slavery badge, — namely, a bunch 
 of hemp, symbolic of a rope, stuck into the 
 buttonhole — is, thus far, greatly more to be 
 respected than the Northern man who, in the 
 pursuit of his cause, should turn his Yankee 
 acuteness to dishonest account. 
 
 There are, therefore, honajide settlers among 
 the pro-slavery men. Judging by the number of 
 slaves, which, according to the census of 1855, 
 was 192, and has not, probably, increased since 
 that time, those who have brought their " live 
 stock" with them, in order to cultivate the 
 soil, are not many. A single Southern planter 
 will often own four or five times the whole 
 number of slaves existing in Kansas. But in 
 the Western States the ownership is generally 
 limited. Supposing, therefore, the average of 
 
PRO-SLAVERY SETTLERS. 125 
 
 "hands" owned by one master in Kansas to be 
 as small as four, which my own observation 
 would lead me to think a sufficiently low esti- 
 mate, we still have fewer than fifty as the total 
 number of slave-owning settlers in Kansas. It 
 is singular that for the sake of fifty men, to pro- 
 tect them in their "right" to hold property in 
 slaves, so many other rights have been trampled 
 under foot, and thousands of honest men inter- 
 dicted in the peaceful possession of their lands 
 and the legal exercise of their political suffrages. 
 There are, as may be supposed, many besides, 
 who, although not owning slaves, are yet right- 
 ful pro-slavery settlers. Still, if we are to 
 estimate their number by the evidences of 
 their industry, and ask what cities have they 
 built, what buildings have they erected, what 
 lauds have they brought under culture, what 
 commerce have they introduced, where are 
 their farm-houses in the country, and their 
 stores, and warehouses, and schools, and 
 churches in the towns, we should come to 
 the conclusion that if they are as numerous as 
 they profess to be, their powers are so absorbed 
 by their much talking that they are unable to 
 
126 KANSAS. 
 
 exhibit any proportionate fruit of the labour 
 of their hands. 
 
 Of the pro-slavery men who are not perma- 
 nent settlers, little need be said. These are the 
 " border-ruffians," who have figured so much and 
 so ill in the short history of Kansas. Their 
 acts sufficiently indicate their character. Bold, 
 reckless men, intent upon one object, and that 
 the extermination of every Free-soiler from the 
 territory, utterly unscrupulous as to the means 
 by which their object shall be attained, they 
 are to be seen and heard on every side — now 
 standing in knots at the street corners, or in 
 the bar-rooms, concocting their schemes of 
 strife; now as marauding "posses," armed to 
 the teeth, galloping across the country, ready 
 to waylay and hang on the nearest tree any 
 one they may meet who will not join their 
 faction ; again, in large numbers assembling in 
 some "grocery," surrounded by whisky and 
 rum barrels, or in the open air, addressed by 
 some one of their leading men, some king of 
 the " Fire-eaters," who makes them swear to 
 follow him till the last drop of Abolition blood 
 is shed ; or, led on in troops by such masters 
 
BORDER-RUFFIAN POPULATION. 127 
 
 in infamy as Donaldson, Marshal of the United 
 States, or Jones, the Sheriff of Douglas County, 
 or David R. Atchison, who left his seat at 
 Washington as President of the United States' 
 Senate to engage in this unjust war, and under 
 their generalship planting their cannon before 
 the Free-state buildings in Lawrence, and 
 reducing them to ashes, notwithstanding the 
 unresisting surrender of the inhabitants. 
 
 It is of necessity impossible to estimate the 
 number of this border-ruffian population, as the 
 number itself varies with the political occasions 
 which call them out. In a single day of elec- 
 tion, their number has been increased some- 
 times by the advent of at least 3,000, who have 
 crossed the border in order to control the 
 elections. Many hundreds are at all times 
 organized into volunteer companies, bearing 
 such titles as " Kickapoo Rangers," "Platte 
 County Rifles," "Shot-gun Militia." In a 
 circular issued by one of the Missouri societies 
 a few weeks before my visit, the system is open- 
 ly confessed, while they appeal for help to 
 sustain more vigorously this organized border- 
 ruffianism : — 
 
128 KANSAS. 
 
 *' The western counties of Missouri have, for 
 the last two years, been heavily taxed, both m 
 money and time, in fighting the battles of the 
 South. Lafayette county alone has expended 
 more than $100,000 in money, and as much 
 and more in time. Up to this time the border 
 counties of Missouri have upheld and main- 
 tained the rights and interests of the South 
 in this struggle, unassisted, and not unsuccess- 
 fully." 
 
 Not quite unassisted, either ; for when I was 
 in South Carolina, not long before, immense 
 meetings were being held and large sums sub- 
 scribed, in order, although far more than 1,000 
 miles removed, to express active sympathy with 
 those who were fighting the pro-slavery battles 
 in Kausas. 
 
 As these border-ruffians form a fluctuating 
 population, so their mode of life and place of 
 habitation are not those of permanent settlers. 
 They collect mostly about the large hotels and 
 groceries (which is the American emendation 
 of the word "groggery") and bar-rooms and 
 gambling-houses, where they remain " loafing 
 about," as an American would term it, during 
 the day, and at night throw themselves on the 
 
ROxMANCE OP RUFFIANISM. 129 
 
 floor, if beds be scarce, their revolvers at their 
 side, and thus, a dozen in a row, prepare them- 
 selves for next day's action. 
 
 The name border-ruffian is one they glory in. 
 " I am a border-ruffian, I am ; none of your 
 city-raised Down-easters. I can draw my 
 bead at forty rod, and bound to shoot centre, 
 anyhow. If the crowd wish, I don't care if we 
 have a hand-fight before this here bar. I'm 
 dreadful easy to whip ; yes, sir-ee, dreadful 
 easy. So jest jump me up, stranger, and we'll 
 smash in all-createdly." This, stripped of its 
 many oaths, is a specimen of the ordinary way 
 in which a border-man introduces himself. I 
 have seen instances in which the name of 
 " border-ruffian" has been given to a steamboat, 
 or to a favourite horse or dog, or as a sign for a 
 grocery. A peculiar style of hat enjoys the 
 same very popular appellation. And the story 
 is told — I know not with what truth — of one 
 of the Missouri fair at a Kansas ball declining 
 the hand of a Free-soiler on the ground that 
 " she was a border-ruffian, and could not be 
 seen dancing with an Abolitionist." There is 
 romance, therefore, even in ruffianism. 
 
130 KANSAS. 
 
 Quitting, however, the chivalry of the South, 
 the Free-state party claim notice. There are 
 among these, as in the Southern party, the 
 noisy as well as the quiet — those that take 
 pleasure in political strife as well as those 
 whose object is honest, peaceful settling. On 
 the side of freedom there has been a needless 
 amount of speech-making, and committee- 
 forming, and resolution-passing, and pen-and- 
 ink indignation, as well as more active efforts 
 in the way of fortifying and trenching their 
 stronghold, Lawrence, and organizing into vol- 
 unteer armed corps. There has also been scrip 
 issued and credit taken on the strength of the 
 hoped-for Free-state of Kansas. But, injudicious 
 as many of the acts of the Free-soil party may 
 have been, they are at least free from the graver 
 charge of unrestrained violence and lawlessness, 
 of which the Southern party have given so 
 many grievous exhibitions. 
 
 In General Lane the adherents of the Free- 
 state cause have as a leader a man of spirit and 
 determination, not numbering more than thirty- 
 four years, but who, ten years ago, won laurels 
 in the war with Mexico, and has since distin- 
 
GOVERNOR Robinson's services. 131 
 
 guished himself in apolitical career as Lieuten- 
 ant-Governor of his native State, Indiana, and 
 latterly as a member of Congress. The fiery 
 energy of Lane is counterbalanced by the cooler 
 temperament of the other most noted leader of 
 the Free-state forces, as well as Governor 
 under the Free-state constitution. General Rob- 
 inson. Robinson is by some years Lane's senior, 
 but is probably not more than forty years old, 
 although liis careworn looks might betoken a 
 greater age. By profession he is a physician. 
 He, too, has seen rough service in the field, can 
 tell of hair-breadth escapes, and has had some 
 experience in politics in the Legislature of 
 California. He was returned to the Californian 
 Legislature, from the district of Sacramento, 
 whilst yet a prisoner on account of the part he 
 took in the disturbances which occurred there 
 in 1S50, and in which he espoused the cause of 
 the squatters. He was at the same time 
 wounded, to all appearance mortally. He 
 recovered, however, from his wounds, was 
 acquitted from the charges of murder and con- 
 spiracy, under which he was arraigned, and 
 took his seat in the State Legislature. During 
 
IIS'J KANSAS. 
 
 the same year he was wrecked on his passage 
 to New York by way of Panama.* Governor 
 Kobinson's chief value as a leader consists 
 in those qualities of caution, foresight and judg- 
 ment, which, added to determined energy, 
 make a man wise to deliberate and bold to 
 act. These rare qualities he has combined in 
 a remarkable manner. As a man of cool, de- 
 liberate action and never-failing resoluteness 
 
 * A few days after the above references to Dr. Robinson's 
 eventful experiences in California were written, our public 
 journals contained an account extracted from El A^icaragiiense, 
 of the execution of Lieutenant Jennings Estelle in the city of 
 Granada, for the murder of his fellow- officer, Lieutenant 
 Charles Gordon. As the name of Charles Robinson occurs in 
 the declarations committed to writing by Estelle shortly before 
 his execution, it may be interesting to extract a few lines of 
 the confession, as little doubt can exist that the " Charles Rob- 
 inson" referred to is the later Governor Robinson of Kansas. 
 The following are Estelle's words : — 
 
 "I was born in Marshall, Tennessee, in the year 1833, and 
 was raised from my infancy in Hinds County, Mississippi. I 
 started to California in 1852. On the road I had a difficulty 
 with a man of the name of Howard, and shot him. I after- 
 wards shot a man of the name of Hays, but the wound did not 
 happen to prove fatal. In the same year I had a difficulty 
 with Charles Robinson, and stabbed him in three places. My 
 last two difficulties, while in California, occurred at the State 
 Prison, where I had been employed for the last two years. 
 After getting in the last scrape, I came to Nicaragua, and shot 
 Thomas Edwards. I afterwards shot Charles Gordon." 
 
FREE-STATE POPULATION. 133 
 
 of character, Governor Robinson has been in- 
 valuable to his cause, and has won the admi- 
 ration of the 02:)posite party. To such an extent 
 has the value of his services unfortunately been 
 recognized, that the party in power thought it 
 expedient to place their hands upon him and 
 detain him all the summer months of 1S5G as 
 a prisoner, although untried and uncondemned. 
 The enormities of Naples and Austria are 
 reproduced in the United States of America. 
 
 In point of number the Free-state cause is 
 more largely represented in Kansas, I have 
 good ground for concluding, that the cause of 
 the South. In the election with a view to a 
 State constitution which took phice on October 
 9, 1855, 2,710 Free-state men voted. In the 
 election of the Free-state candidate, Ex-Gov- 
 ernor Reeder, as a delegate to Congress, 2,849 
 votes were cast. Allowing for an increase of 
 population during the succeeding year, and 
 making the necessary addition for the wives 
 and families of the voters, I have no doubt that 
 these figures will give a tolerably near approxi- 
 mation to the Free-soil population of Kansas. 
 That a Northern should flow in more readily 
 
134 KANSAS. 
 
 and more numerously than a Southern popula- 
 tion is what might naturally be anticipated. 
 To the Northern man it is a small matter to 
 migrate towards the West in search of broader 
 lands and richer harvests. To the Southern 
 planter it involves the removal of his stock of 
 slaves and the introduction of a system most 
 ill-adapted to the necessities of first settlement. 
 As a practical result, we have but to cast our 
 eye over the Western States and territories be- 
 longing to the North of the Union, and w^e see 
 a constant stream of immigration, so that fifty 
 waggons will sometimes be ferried across the 
 Mississippi in a single day, conveying in motley 
 grouping the earthly all of Eastern families 
 who have traversed probably a thousand or fif- 
 teen hundred miles to seek a new home in the 
 West. It is estimated, indeed, that in the 
 Northern States there is an annual westward 
 flow of between 200,000 and 300,000 souls. In 
 the South, on the other hand, the Western 
 migration advances with the slow steps which 
 attend the removal of a cumbersome machinery. 
 While, however, the Northern man has the 
 advantage in the facility of transit, and in that 
 
FRUITS OF NORTHERN ENTERPRISE. 135 
 
 instinct which impels the true Northerner, if he 
 do not succeed in one place, to seek better for- 
 tune in another, the inhabitant of the South, 
 and especially of the State of Missouri, has a com- 
 pensation in the nearness of Kansas to his own 
 home, and the consequent ease with which he 
 can remove thither. We should anticipate, as 
 a result, that the Free States of the North 
 should give Kansas the larger number of its 
 permanent settlers, who have not journe3^ed 
 500, or 1,000, or 1,500 miles, simply to retrace 
 their steps ; and that the Southern Slave States 
 would furnish the majority, if not the w^hole, 
 of its merely fluctuating and non-resident popu- 
 lation. And so it is. Of its peaceable, indus- 
 trious, order-loving population, nearly all are 
 true to the cause of liberty. This was not 
 only my own conclusion after coming in contact 
 with the settlers very generally, but was con- 
 firmed to me by the observation of one whose 
 opinion is entitled to the highest respect, and 
 whose official position must have enabled him 
 to form a very sound judgment upon the sub- 
 ject. This gentleman stated to me without 
 any hesitation, that "were the will of the ma- 
 
136 KANSAS. 
 
 jority of the Kansas settlers to determine, as 
 the Organic Act prescribes, the territory's ad- 
 mission as a Free or Slave State, the question 
 would, beyond a doubt, be decided in favour of 
 freedom." My informant added the mournful 
 remark, tliat he saw no near prospect of such a 
 result, however much it was the will of the 
 majority of those who had a right to will in 
 the matter. 
 
 What the Free-state men have done in Kan- 
 sas may be seen by a glance at their well-or- 
 dered " claims," or at Lawrence, Topeka, Paw- 
 nee, Osawatomie, Tecumseh, Council City, and 
 the other places to which they have given an 
 existence and a name. Lawrence is dignified 
 with the name of city, and with its earth-works 
 and circular forts intended to ward off a Pro- 
 slavery attack, and its broad " Massachu- 
 setts street" occupied by stores and offices 
 of greater and less architectural pretence, it 
 is, for a Far- Western town, no inconsiderable 
 place. The new Free-state Hotel, which was 
 battered down with tjie aid of United States' 
 cannon, was a substantial building of three 
 stories, by fiiv the finest as well as largest 
 
FRUITS OF NORTHERN ENTERPRISE. 137 
 
 house in the whole territory. For the rest, 
 Western cities must not be judged by European 
 rules. They are always more remarkable on 
 paper than in reality ; and, whatever they can 
 show in existence, they have much more in 
 prospect. Still, the Free-State settlers in 
 Kansas have, by the introduction of capital, 
 given a more than usual impulse to settlement 
 in that territory, and the steam saw-mill, 
 the school-house, and the church attest the 
 enterprise and the intelligence with which 
 they have commenced their labours. Con- 
 trasting the towns built by the Free-state 
 population with Leavenworth or other places 
 where the majority are from the South, one 
 remarks in the former a greater number of 
 mechanics, shopkeepers, useful artisans, flirm- 
 ers, and rough labourers ; and in the latter an 
 excess of lawyers, doctors, land-speculators, 
 rum-sellers, and bar-keepers. 
 
 -Leavenworth City, and the manner of life in 
 Kansas, both in town and country, I must 
 reseiTe for another chapter. 
 
138 KANSAS. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Subject of the following Cbaptera. — Leavenworth City. — Fai 
 Western Life. — Its accidental Features.*— Fort Leavenworth. 
 —Appearance of the City.— Buildings.— Plan of the City. — 
 Remains of the primeval Forest. — Situation of the Houses. 
 — Laying out a City.— Most desirable Locations. — Increased 
 Value of Property.— Rapid Rise of a City.— Substantial 
 Buildings.— Wooden Shanties. 
 
 In the following chapters I propose concluding 
 my description of life in Kansas by drawing in 
 outline a portraiture of Leavenworth City, as 
 the most populous and important place the 
 Southern men have had any hand in building ; 
 and by glancing, in illustration of life in the 
 country, at the system pursued of entering, 
 claiming, clearing, log-hut erecting, and gener- 
 ally improving the land. 
 
 While, however, Leavenworth is the best 
 example of what a Southern population has 
 done in Kansas, I must in justice premise that 
 any rudeness which may be discovered in it 
 must not be wholly attributed to Southern 
 
LIFE IN TOWN AND COUNTRY. 139 
 
 barbarity, but belongs rather to the essence of 
 Far Western life. I only describe Leaven- 
 worth and the external appearance of Kansas 
 Territory generally, with a view to enable 
 those who are interested in the great struggle 
 now taking place on that soil, to bring before 
 their minds more vividly and truly the scenes 
 and localities in the midst of which these im- 
 portant political events are occurring. I have 
 withheld in these pages a description of much 
 that is rough and uncivilized, lest a false argu- 
 ment should thence be constructed. There 
 are many discomforts and many dangers on the 
 border land which it were very unfair to asso- 
 ciate with the perils arising from the revolvers 
 of the " Regulators." In ascending the Mis- 
 souri, for example, the steamboat was twice 
 during the passage discovered to be on fire at 
 a tender point near the furnaces ; five or six 
 times, also, it ran upon sandbanks, and had to 
 be lifted off by a curious machinery of spars 
 and derricks, by means of which the vessel is 
 raised and made to walk over the bank, like 
 some long-legged leviathan. Yet, in narrating 
 the events which occurred on board, I felt 
 
140 KANSAS. 
 
 bound to omit all notice of such accidental 
 circumstances, lest they should unfairly be put 
 to the charge of the border-ruffian company 
 which it was my particular object to describe. 
 They have enough that is bad to bear on their 
 own account, without being made responsible 
 for those other irregularities which universally, 
 and as if by nature, characterize the rude life of 
 the border. 
 
 " The finest city on the Missouri, heaps of 
 stone buildings — quite a place," was the de- 
 scription given me of Leavenworth, shortly 
 before reaching it, by my friendly adviser, the 
 Indian trader of Easton. Too flattering an 
 expectation only led to disappointment when I 
 was put ashore among the rough log tenements 
 which constitute the most prominent features 
 of this embryo city. Three or four miles above, 
 stands Fort Leavenworth, the chief garrison in 
 the Territory, and the entrepot for the supply 
 of the forts beyond, as well as the place of 
 departure for the Government trains. It stands 
 upon a boldly-projecting bluff, far elevated 
 above the Missouri, which rolls turbulently past 
 its base, and, commanding a widely extending 
 
LEAVENWORTH CITY. 141 
 
 view of the broad prairie ground towards the 
 west, its white walls and well-known flagstaiF 
 form a most welcome signal of approaching 
 home to the traveller returning from the 
 plains. 
 
 A spot where the banks of the Missouri ard 
 less elevated and abrupt has been wisely chosen 
 for the Site of the city of Leavenworth. Land- 
 ing from the river, there is first a broad levee of 
 about half a mile, with a frontage of stores and 
 warehouses full of bustle and activity. The 
 levee is the natural river bank, in the wet season 
 muddy, in the dry season parched and dusty, 
 against the steep acclivity of which the steam- 
 boat is thrust to discharge itself of its freight 
 and passengers. The quay is broad, being 
 designed to receive all the business of the place 
 and of the country behind, which receives its 
 supplies through Leavenworth. At the time 
 of my visit, goods of every kind lay in piles 
 upon the quay, while the road was further 
 blocked up with long waggons, each with six 
 or more yoke of oxen, preparing to cross the 
 plains. The stores fronting the levee presented 
 an irregular line of erections, for the most part 
 
143 KANSAS. 
 
 built of wood ; some of one story, some of two, 
 but in all cases covered almost from top to bot- 
 tom with signboards, inscribed in characters 
 more remarkable for size than beauty. Passing 
 back from the front street, other streets paral- 
 lel and rectangular are reached, very regular as 
 to their latitude and longitude, but very irregu- 
 lar in their grading. The city spreads over, in 
 fact, an irregular space of about a square mile, 
 the surface of the ground being exceedingly 
 uneven, and occupied with buildings before it 
 has received the needed levelling. 
 
 As in most Far Western towns, the houses 
 are scattered over the place in detached erec- 
 tions at considerable intervals, with out-houses, 
 commonly at a distance behind each. Could 
 the plan of the city be carried in mental vision, 
 the houses would be found to be very regularly 
 built upon broad avenues, which, upon paper, 
 make Leavenworth an imposing city. But as 
 the trees of the primeval forest are not wholly 
 removed, and their stumps continue to inter- 
 rupt the intended thoroughfares, it is impossible 
 at times to keep to the authorized avenue or 
 street. The old pathway through the wood is 
 
CITY AND FOREST. 143 
 
 still most naturally followed, and, with nothing 
 to prevent the most direct route being taken, 
 the pedestrian finds himself following a track 
 which conducts him now along the line of a 
 future avenue, now diagonally intersecting it, 
 again branching off through a projected '* im 
 provement," and then crossing what is one day 
 probably to be a garden, between some log-hut 
 and its yet humbler out-house. 
 
 The houses are widely scattered over the 
 ground, according to a custom in all Western 
 towns, which originates, doubtless, in the high 
 price charged for land. As soon as a spot is 
 recognized as a site of future greatness, the 
 land, which has been sold probably before for 
 one or two dollars per acre, rises, it may be, to 
 50 or 100 dollars. Land surveyors draw elabo- 
 rate plans. Streets are laid off, as rectangular 
 and equidistant as geometer could desire. 
 Broadway and Washington, Jefferson and Madi- 
 son Avenues immediately take up the lati- 
 tudes ; First, Second, Third, and Fourth Streets 
 are assigned the longitudes. As yet, probably, 
 not a tree has fallen before the axe. Town lots, 
 however, are sold to persons living at a dis- 
 
14-4 KANSAS. 
 
 tarice. Lawyers help the surveyors, and sur- 
 veyors help the lawyers, while both together 
 help the speculators. ''Most desirable loca- 
 tions" meet speedy purchasers, who judge of 
 the value of their purchases from the map. 
 The few first settlers enter on their claims. 
 " Improvements" begin ; the trees fall ; the 
 prices rise ; the speculators, the surveyors, and 
 the lawyers have all got well paid, and, in the 
 following year, by a process of which we might 
 question the straightforwardness, a whole city 
 has come into being, and all the representations 
 and promises of the map, so false in themselves, 
 have become actually realized. The conse- 
 quence is that, in the city which, a twelve- 
 month before, was occupied only by the 
 Indian's wigwam, property has already ac- 
 quired a high value, and every one is profiting 
 by a rising market. If the game is played 
 too hard by tiie speculators, a reaction will 
 sometimes ensue, and the settler sufiTers a 
 loss. But ordinarily he is no exception to 
 the general gain ; for, although all the profits 
 realized are at his expense, the value of land 
 thus entered upon and constituted into a little 
 
HOW WESTERN CITIES ARE BUILT. 145 
 
 centre of commerce is sufficiently great to 
 leave him in j)ossession of a profitable invest- 
 ment. Singular as it may appear to us, this is 
 the history of nearly all the towns and villages 
 which, by the hundred, rise up yearly through 
 the west of America ; and the high price w^hich 
 is put by anticipation upon the land is a sufficient 
 reason why, in Leavenworth, as elsewhere, the 
 settlers have preferred to get cheaper sites by 
 spreading to a distance from the centre of busi- 
 ness. 
 
 Some few of the buildings in Leavenworth 
 are substantial stone erections of fair exterior, 
 and a hotel on a large scale is projected ; but 
 for the most part the houses are confined to the 
 wooden shanty or the plain rough log-hut. 
 The latter, however, belongs more to country 
 than to city life, and is only to- be seen in all 
 its rude simplicity upon the " claim," where 
 the settler is turning the bush into cultivated 
 and productive farm land. 
 7 
 
146 KANSAS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Kansas Interiors. — The Log-hut. — Discomforts. — Wind and 
 Mud. — Strange Medley. — Yarious Modes of Construction.— 
 Diflerent Stages of Log-hut building. — The Wooden House 
 and Shanty. — How it is built. — Tent-life. — Interior Economy. 
 — " Temperance House." — The Company. — Occupations. — 
 Unreasonable Demands for Accommodation. — Alligators 
 turned out. — Travel teaches Contentment. — Disallowed at 
 Night, but enforced by Day. — Conveniences of the Toilet.— 
 Meals. — Pride of the Host.— Rapid Eating. — Population of 
 Leavenworth. — Commerce of the Plains. — Value of Stock. — 
 Caravan Trains. 
 
 A DESCRIPTION of the home-life of Kansas 
 must commence with the log-hut as the most 
 elementary form of dwelling. 
 
 The external form of the log-hut is probably 
 familiar to most readers. But it would be dif- 
 ficult to convey to those accustomed to the 
 homes of England an idea of the dirt, discom- 
 fort, and misery which often reign within. In 
 justice I must add that I have seen remarkable 
 exceptions to this — especially in the backwoods 
 of Canada and of the North Western States of 
 
THE LOG-CABIN. 147 
 
 the Union. The Western border-man, how- 
 ever, loves his rude cabin with all its apparent 
 discomforts. The wind which enters in gusts 
 through the broad gaping chinks betwixt log 
 and log is to him an agreeable ventilation ; 
 wanting this, the place would feel close and 
 remind him of the pitiable habitations of " city- 
 raised Down-Easters." The filth upon the 
 floor, the smoke which fills the air, the blend- 
 ing of diverse odours arising from the cooking 
 of hog-flesh over the fire and the presence of 
 the living hog-flesh in the room, the interming- 
 ling of pig and poultry, parent and child, within 
 the same few yards square, the strange decking 
 of sides and roof with household stores and 
 buflalo-skins, rifles, hatchets and powder-horns, 
 all these things seem to be elements of charmed 
 life to the true-born Western man. 
 
 There are stages of progress, too, in log-hut 
 building. The most elementary is that in which 
 the logs are piled one above another in a single 
 square^ notched and saddled so as to fit into one 
 another angularly at about a foot short of the 
 extremity of each log, and thus to form a stout 
 framework, sawn through at the place where 
 
148 KANSAS. 
 
 the door is intended, and the whole capped by 
 a roofing of timber covered with broad flat 
 pieces of wood, called " shakes." If the settler 
 desires to have his cabin plastered, he uses mud. 
 Within, for furniture, he contents himself with 
 a few tree-stumps, nicely trimmed, for seats, 
 and a shelf or two, to do service in place of 
 bedsteads. In dry weather the cooking is most 
 conveniently managed outside the dwelling. 
 This is the first stage of log-hut building. The 
 second is marked by the introduction of the 
 chimney. This is commonly built outside the 
 house, as an adjunct ; or rather, one might say, 
 the house seems to be built against the chimney, 
 so speedily has that which is but a novel inven- 
 tion come to be regarded, if one may judge from 
 its size and prominence, as the most important 
 feature. The third stage — if one may pass 
 over the introduction of a second floor, reached 
 by a rough ladder of home manufacture — is 
 that in which further accommodation is sought 
 laterally. This is accomplished by building a 
 second square hut at, probably, twelve feet dis- 
 tance from the first and carrying the roof across 
 the intervening space, so that a single house is 
 
KANSAS HOMES. 149 
 
 formed, consisting of rooms right and left, and 
 an open reception-room in the centre, where 
 meals can be taken if desired, free to the air at 
 its two sides, but shielded above by the roof 
 covering. This is the highest style of log-house, 
 and one much in favour in some parts of the 
 Far West. 
 
 For the city life of Leavenworth, however, 
 tlie log-hut is naturally discarded for the more 
 polished shanty, or the yet larger wooden house. 
 Sawn timber costs less in many parts of Kansas 
 than the rough log, the groves and forests being 
 far from plentiful, even in the east of the terri- 
 tory. A frame is run up and the planks nailed 
 together, much as in any other place, under- 
 standing always that the rough settler is not 
 particular about the right relation of the door 
 to the doorway, or the nice fitting together of 
 the plank sides, or the general finish and archi- 
 tectural correctness of either exterior or interior. 
 That, when built, it is next furnished can 
 scarcely be said of one of these Western houses. 
 The settler commonly arrives at the place of 
 his choice, strikes his tent, deposits his house- 
 hold furnishings and implements of husbandry 
 
150 KANSAS. 
 
 and war, and it then remains to build his house 
 around his furniture rather than to introduce 
 his furniture into his house. I have seen many 
 instances in which a family has been living 
 half within and half without their house, their 
 domestic arrangements being in a state of 
 incompleteness. On the very outskirts, too, 
 of Leavenworth, I have remarked families 
 living, Indian-like, beneath a rude covering 
 of branches and mud, or under a simple awning 
 stretched across a pole, amid the thick brush- 
 wood which skirts the steep banks of the Mis- 
 souri. In the city itself, however, there are 
 many houses of two stories, and comparative 
 comfort, such as would be called in the vernac- 
 ular of the West "mighty fine," "elegant," 
 "right smart," "all-fired grand and Down-East 
 like." 
 
 As an illustration of the interior economy 
 of one of these better houses, I will attempt 
 a brief sketch of that which was my own home 
 while in Leavenworth City. " Temperance 
 House " was a newly erected, low-roofed, 
 wooden building, with two rooms in front, 
 and others at the rear. The name was an 
 
TEMPERANCE HOUSE. 151 
 
 attraction to me, from the certainty that the 
 worst of the Missourian borderers would most 
 decidedly eschew a house where the bar-room 
 was destitute of " liquor." I had reason to be 
 satisfied with it, for the company was the 
 quietest and most sober I saw in Leavenworth, 
 and permitted me to stay there without the 
 customary inquiry " whether I was sound on 
 the goose." They were evidently for the most 
 part Free-state men, although in their constant 
 political discussions none ventured to make the 
 admission. The house was approached by a 
 narrow gallery, with steps at each end, always 
 occupied by a row of men who sat, some on the 
 gallery rail, others on chairs tilted against the 
 house, others with their feet upon the rail-top. 
 Their employment was to chew, to spit, to talk 
 politics, and to whittle. From the gallery were 
 entered the two front rooms. That on the left 
 was the bar-room, with nothing stronger where- 
 with to satisfy thirst than a bucket of water 
 and a tin dipper, placed upon the counter ; and 
 beyond it the dining-room and other apartments. 
 That on the right was my own bedroom. 
 There was a certain air of cleanliness and of 
 
152 KANSAS. 
 
 the intention of comfort about the place which 
 bespoke it the work of a Northern man. Most 
 generously, too, the host granted me exclusive 
 right and privilege in relation to the front 
 sleeping apartment, which he " allowed to be- 
 lieve was the finest room in the house." This 
 concession was not made, it is true, without 
 the exercise of some tact and persuasion. The 
 room contained, unfortunately, two large beds. 
 Mine liost *' calculated the stranger could not 
 want more than one, at mosty There were 
 several, he said, occupying the room at the 
 time. Beds were scarce in Leavenworth. I 
 had myself been offered at the two principal 
 hotels nothing better than " a chance on the 
 floor." My request for the whole room, with 
 its accommodation for at the least four persons, 
 was evidently highly unreasonable, and as unac- 
 countable as it was unreasonable. I explained, 
 however, that I had a singular love for privacy 
 at night, albeit he would not find me unsociable 
 as a guest by day. I gave him to understand, 
 also, that the indulgence of my peculiarity of 
 taste was the condition of my staying in his 
 house, but that he would not find me indis- 
 
DOMESTIC ECONOMY'. 153 
 
 posed to meet any just claim lie might have 
 upon me in consequence. Mine host was con- 
 quered. He engaged to do what he could to 
 accommodate the occupants of the room else- 
 where, with much consideration adding, " If 
 any of the alligators come in, just make them 
 put, Colonel." I promised, and acted upon my 
 promise. 
 
 AVhen I returned to my room at night, I had 
 opportunity to examine it at leisure. Looked 
 at with Eastern eyes, it was open to unfavour- 
 able criticism. The apartment itself was rude 
 and cheerless ; its sides of rough, unpainted 
 deal were not proof against the entrance of 
 draughts, and permitted communication with 
 adjoining rooms by either sound or sight ; its 
 floor was, of course, uncarpeted ; its two beds 
 offered nothing better than shuck mattresses 
 and dirty blankets ; washing-stands and looking- 
 glasses were out of the question ; three or four 
 chairs and a small rickety table forjned the only 
 additional furniture. Nevertheless, travel in 
 the West soon teaches one that, if the essentials 
 are present, it is a folly to distress oneself about 
 minor accessories. I was not long in discover- 
 
154: KANSAS. 
 
 ing that a mattress, though made of the crack- 
 ling leaves of the Indian corn, is welcome 
 to weary bones, and that the draughts of ah* 
 which j)assed through the open chinks were 
 more than compensated by the relief they 
 afforded from the suffocating heat. Locks and 
 bolts had not yet been introduced for use on 
 the door. The door opened upon the street, 
 and in that street were collected some of the 
 basest ruffians that ever disgraced humanity. 
 But an adjustment of a chair against the door 
 caused an alarm with every incursion, and, 
 as very fortunately the most violent did not 
 intrude, a discreet assertion of my prerogative 
 in relation to both beds was sufficient to pre- 
 serve the privacy of my room. Not so, how- 
 ever, during the day ; but, knowing that to the 
 Western man a refusal is an incomprehensible 
 selfishness, I made, for the sake of peace and 
 goodwill, a free surrender throughout the day 
 of the room, with its beds, chairs, table, and 
 floor, all of vi^hich were as freely used, that 
 I might have the better claim for indulgence at 
 night. The conveniences of the toilette were 
 wanting, but, as in all Far Western places. 
 
THE CROWD EATING. 155 
 
 there was a board behind the house on which 
 stood a couple of tin basins filled with the 
 muddy water of the Missouri, while a square 
 foot of mirror, with brush and comb attached 
 by means of a string, hung upon the wall for 
 the use of '' the crowd." In all this there was 
 evident intention to provide for the necessities 
 of the guests, and I very heartily thanked the 
 worthy host for setting so good an example of 
 hotel keeping in Kansas. 
 
 The host particularly prided himself on the 
 powers of his cook, and the superiority of his 
 table generally. "Step in, stranger; the 
 crowd's going in to eat," was my summons, 
 soon after six o'clock, to breakfast ; the same 
 at half-past twelve for dinner ; and at six in 
 the evening for supper. These are the good 
 hours kept generally by Western folk. I 
 entered the dining-room, saw the table covered 
 with breakfast fare, including the usual small 
 dishes of meat and cakes and apple preserve. 
 The " crowd" was standing around the table, 
 each man with a hand upon the back of his 
 chair. The female portion of the company 
 having been seated, a signal was given, and a 
 
156 
 
 KANSAS. 
 
 simultaneous action ensued. The movement 
 of the chair with one hand, the seizure of 
 the nearest small dish with the other, the 
 sudden sitting down, and the commencement 
 of a vigorous eating, were the work of a 
 moment. In five minutes the company had 
 left the table for the gallery on the street front, 
 the better for damper, Indian-corn bread eaten 
 with molasses, sliced bacon cooked, apparently, 
 in grease, and tea or coffee. Some few, more 
 fortunate or more quick to seize opportunities, 
 had obtained a piece of Johnny-cake, or some 
 apple-sauce, or other delicacy from the smaller 
 dishes, in addition. At dinner it was the same 
 — fat bacon, corn-bread, and tea or coffee. At 
 supper, the same ; and at each meal in about 
 equal quantity. The next day the same, and so 
 every day. I concluded, in relation to the 
 whole subject of the domestic economy of 
 Kansas, that unsophisticated nature is contented 
 with little, and that in Kansas, nature is allowed 
 to have very much her own way in this par- 
 ticular. 
 
 The population of Leavenworth City fluctu- 
 ates much with political occii^sinns. It would 
 
COMMERCE OF THE PLAINS. 157 
 
 be safe to estimate it, however, at about 
 1,500. I speak of the time of my visit, when 
 it had been little more than eighteen months 
 in existence as a settlement. It owes its pros- 
 perity, in great part, to its favourable position on 
 the Missouri, which brings to it much of the great 
 commerce of the plains and the traffic with the 
 Indians, in addition to the home trade of the 
 territory. The commerce of the plains, which, 
 during more than thirty years, has been rising 
 in importance, has become, since the war with 
 New Mexico, and the removal of commercial 
 restrictions which has followed the war, a most 
 valuable feature in the Kansas trade. Setting 
 aside the very numerous trains in the service of 
 the Government, which maintain communication 
 between Fort Leavenworth and the outposts 
 on the Santa Fe and Oregon routes, the annual 
 value of the recrular commerce amounts to 
 from $2,000,000 to 83,000,000. This employs 
 many hundreds of waggons, and a still larger 
 number of men, and tends materially to keep 
 up the price of labour in the territory. Each 
 waggon, again, requires twelve or more oxen, 
 and a great number of mules are also employed 
 
158 KANSAS. 
 
 on the expeditions. This makes the rearing of 
 stock a very profitable employment for the 
 farm lands in Kansas and Missouri. The trains 
 go almost exclusively during the spring and 
 summer months, when the prairie grass furnishes 
 the necessary food for the animals. According 
 to the season, they get over from ten to twenty 
 miles in the day. A w^aggon is estimated to 
 carry about 5,500 lb. The expense of transport 
 varies with the season. It ranges from a little 
 over SI in the best months to as much over 
 $2 in the worst months, per hundred-weight 
 per 100 miles. The distance from Leaven- 
 w^orth to Santa Fe is between SOO and 900 
 miles. In the winter months, when the jour- 
 ney is accompanied by great hardship and peril, 
 the mail is the only communication, which is 
 transported once a month by means of mules. 
 With Oregon the trade on the plains has almost 
 ceased in favour of the route by the Pacific ; but 
 the Government has still occasion to use the 
 Oregon track as far as Fort Kearney and Fort 
 Laramie, a distance of GOO miles. The great 
 traffic, however, is to Fort Riley, Fort Munn, 
 and thus to Santa F6. Independence in Mis- 
 
CARAVAN TRAINS. 159 
 
 soiiri, Kansas City on the border, and Leaven- 
 worth, are all made use of as the c?itrej)6ts 
 of this trade ; and few things can be imagined 
 more strangely picturesque than the sight 
 which these cities present when, in the spring 
 or early summer, their streets are filled with 
 scores of long, cumbrous-looking covered wag- 
 gons, and hundreds of oxen and mules ; while a 
 noisy crew of light-hearted adventurers — Mis- 
 sourian, Spanish, half-breed, and Indian — dress- 
 ed in every variety of romantic costume, are 
 busied in fitting out their train for its many 
 weeks' journeying over the rolling grassy plains 
 of the Western prairies. 
 
160 KANSAS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Traffic with the Indians.— How it is carried on.— Business and 
 Pleasure.— Good Per-ccntage.— Busy Appearance of Leaven- 
 worth. — Necessaries of civilized Life. — Steamboats. — Rail- 
 roads.— The Electric Telegraph.— Squatter -life.— Land with- 
 out a Title. — The " Claim.-' — Division of new Lands. — A 
 « Bee." — " Log-rolling." — Squatter Sovereignty. — '• Toma- 
 hawk Rights." — "Entering," or "Pre-empting." — Abuses 
 of the System. — "Jumping." — "Foundations." — A *• Cau- 
 tion."— Right of Suflrage. 
 
 An important item in the commerce of Lea- 
 venworth is that which is brought to it by the 
 Red Rovers of the prairie. 
 
 The traffic with the Indians is a feature by 
 itself, and one of not inconsiderable importance, 
 in the trade of Kansas. It rests almost exclu- 
 sively, however, in the hands of one or two 
 parties, who, having been known by the Indian 
 tribes for years, are able to monopolize the 
 trade. The chief mode of carrying it on is 
 the following : 
 
 Every quarter of a year the Indian tribes to 
 
TRAFFIC WITH THE INDIANS. 161 
 
 which allowances are dae receive their pay- 
 ment from the Government agent. On the day 
 of payment a grand feast is prepared by the 
 merchant, and notice is sent to the various 
 Indian tribes of the hospitalities to which they 
 are invited. The entertainment is often very 
 costly; the more costly the more profitable. 
 On quarter's day the Indians come down, after 
 long journeying, men, women, and children, 
 often to the number of three or four hundred, to 
 receive their pay and to make their purchases of 
 white men's manufacture. With their pockets 
 full,theysitdown to the feast; eat, drink, and are 
 merry ; at the same time are forgetful ordinarily 
 of the rules of prudence. The result is a large 
 sale, and the next day the tribes are seen 
 returning, the men with their hatchets and 
 knives and accoutrements of all sorts ; and the 
 squaws with their shawls and blankets, and 
 beads and trinkets, often to the value of thou 
 sands of dollars. One Indian trader sella 
 annually about $10,000. At a recent sale 
 the amount expended by the Indians reached 
 $3,000. The account might be analyzed aa 
 follows : 
 
162 KANSAS. 
 
 Dollars. 
 Cost price of articles . . . 1,000 
 Expenditure on feast . . . 500 
 
 Balance of profit cleared . . 1,500 
 
 3,000 
 
 Many of the articles yield 200 per cent, 
 profit; but 150 per cent, is probably a fair 
 average. In the traffic with the Indians gener- 
 ally there are more tact and shrewdness mani- 
 fested by the traders than fair dealing. In fact, 
 honour, honesty, morality, all that is good, is 
 lamentably rare in the Western border-land. 
 The frontiersman has a manliness and generosity 
 of his own which all must admire, but these 
 qualities spring from the peculiarities of his 
 position on the outskirts of civilization. There 
 is little, it is to be feared, of higher motive. 
 For the rest, the Western borderer is almost as 
 untutored as a savage. He thinks little about 
 his maker, God; as a consequence it comes, also, 
 that he tliinks and cares little about his fellow- 
 man. 
 
 With a commerce thus extended, the quays 
 
PLEASURE AND PROFIT. 163 
 
 of Leavenworth present a busy appearance, 
 and had not peaceful industry been diverted by 
 the turbulence of evil passions into other chan- 
 nels, the newly-settled Territory would have 
 been blessed already with a large measure of 
 prosperity. As it is, large steamers daily pass 
 up and down, and find active employment in 
 the transport of goods and passengers. The 
 imports of manufactured goods are very large ; 
 and, while some of what we should deem the 
 necessaries of civilized life are but beginning 
 to be introduced, I have observed, as a con- 
 trast, one or two piano-fortes being landed, to 
 supply the w^ants, no doubt, of some refined 
 denizen of the Eastern States. 
 
 The size and number of the steamboats on 
 the Missouri would occasion surprise to one 
 unaccustomed to the rapid progress the Western 
 world exhibits in all that furthers the building 
 up of cities and the extension of commerce. I 
 counted upon its waters from ten to fifteen 
 large steamboats, each capable of accommo- 
 dating, on the average, a hundred passengers 
 at the least, and in effect carrying many more, 
 in addition to their cargo, besides a much larger 
 
1G4 KANSAS. 
 
 number of steamers of less capacity ; all of 
 which were regularly employed upon the trade 
 of the Missouri. This large traffic is in great 
 part sustained by Kansas. Yet eighteen months 
 before, there was not so much as a village of 
 white settlers within the whole extent of the 
 Territory. Railroads are already projected, but 
 how far their formation is to be looked for as a 
 speedy occurrence is doubtful, because the bills 
 which empowered their construction, and which 
 passed the first Legislature, were evidently a 
 part of a false system of legislation, which 
 grants the constitution of companies in order 
 to gain the constituents as adherents and sup- 
 porters of the granting power. The electric 
 telegraph, however, is a mark of progress which, 
 if not already, soon will be among the things 
 accomplished. I remember observing the wires 
 for several hundred miles up the Missouri, as 
 far as Independence and Liberty, which are 
 close to the Kansas border-line. In a very 
 brief space of time they would, doubtless, be 
 carried into the Territory. 
 
 It is rather remarkable that, so far as Leaven- 
 worth city is concerned, the ** improvements," 
 
BUSY APPEARANCE OF LEAVENWORTH. 165 
 
 as all erections are called in America, are made 
 u'^on land the tenure of which is not yet as- 
 certained to the holders. The truth is that 
 Leavenworth is built upon land still of right 
 belonging to the Delaware Indians, and for 
 which the price to be paid as purchase-money 
 is not yet determined. It might occasion 
 wonder that men should be induced, without a 
 title to the soil, to expend the sums which have 
 been laid out on some of the more solid and 
 permanent buildings in the city. Sales arc al- 
 ready effected, and land stands at a high price in 
 the market for which the title does not yet exist, 
 except the title of long occupation, which 
 assigns it to the Delawares. All these mys- 
 teries, however, become unravelled as the eye 
 is opened to the methods of dealing adopted by 
 our astute American cousins towards the Indian 
 race. The day soon comes when the lots, on 
 which the city stands, are put up to auction 
 for the benefit of the old possessors of the soil. 
 Bidding takes place. The price is perfectly 
 understood beforehand. Occupant A bids his 
 price for his own lot, B for his ; A does not in- 
 terfere with B, and B does not interfere with A. 
 
166 KANSAS. 
 
 Western honor forbids over-bidding, although 
 the market value of the land may be ten times 
 that offered. The auction terminates ; the ac- 
 counts are settled ; the Indian must take his 
 money, with the usual deductions, and go 
 further West ; and the President of the United 
 States grants a title-deed in his own name to 
 the preemptor of the soil. Many in Leaven- 
 worth are only speculators, w4io have entered 
 lots in the city in order to realize with the ad- 
 vancing value of land. 
 
 Passing from town to country, the squatter 
 life of Kansas claims notice by peculiarities of 
 its own, as well as those which it has in com- 
 mon with other Western territories. The log- 
 hut, which I have already described, will furnish 
 the reader with one important element in the 
 life of the country. The log-hut stands in the 
 midst of the " claim," generally of 160 acres, 
 called a quarter-section ; and there, on his own 
 freehold, the settler copes with the first diffi- 
 culties, and commonly also reaps the after-fruit 
 which belongs to the pioneer in the wilderness. 
 In Kansas, however, as indeed in a less degree 
 in other newly-settled Western lands, this pro- 
 
SQUATTER-LIFE. 167 
 
 cedure is not marked by so much definiteness 
 and regularity as might at the first be supposed. 
 Even granting that all is previously arranged 
 with the Indians, the title cannot be given 
 until the Government-survey is made, which, 
 by an excellent system, divides all new lands 
 in the United States into counties, townships, 
 sections, and quarter-sections, of equal size and 
 perfect regularity of latitude and longitude. 
 But long before the survey is completed, the 
 squatter is upon the ground. He has already 
 paced out his 160 acres, or his 320 acres, or 
 whatever larger or smaller quantity of land he 
 wishes to possess. He has begun to clear. The 
 first trees he fells are already shaped into logs 
 for his hut ; with smaller wood he is beginning 
 his fencing. He has summoned a "bee," and a 
 *' log-rolling" has taken place ; that is, he has 
 asked neighbouring settlers to lend him their aid 
 by rolling the logs to the site of his future 
 home— a service which they are at liberty to ask 
 of him in return when occasion requires. Last- 
 ly, the arrow is marked over his doorway, and 
 his name probably added besides, to warn all 
 after-comers to respect prior rights. 
 
168 KANSAS. 
 
 It is this system which constitutes *' squat- 
 ting." The land is free. The settler may 
 choose his home wherever he may please, 
 provided no one else is before him in the field. 
 *' Squatter sovereignty," and what are called 
 "tomahawk rights," are introduced, and be- 
 come the incipient law of the future territory. 
 None durst interfere, if he might, with a "claim" 
 thus made. The notice given to the Govern- 
 ment authorities secures the pre-emption. The 
 act itself is called that of " entering," or " pre- 
 empting." When, probably a couple of years 
 later, the survey is completed, and land-offices 
 are opened in the territory, the squatter, if he 
 chooses to retain the land, of which he has had 
 the free use, ofters at the land sale the upset 
 price of $1J per acre, over which no one bids 
 against him, and the land becomes his by legal 
 right and title. During the first stage, mutual 
 protection is given to the squatters by their 
 forming into " Squatters' Associations ;" and 
 the " squatter-right" to a lot of ground is bought 
 and sold on the strength of the law which ema- 
 nates from these associations, and which asserts 
 its power by rifle and tomahawk. 
 
"JtTMPING." 169 
 
 Such is squatting theoretically, and as prac- 
 tised in its purest forms, — a rough method, but 
 one well adapted for the country to which it is 
 applied. But there are many abuses to which 
 this system has become, in Kansas, at least, 
 subject in practice. Such an abuse is the 
 practice technically called "jumping a claim," 
 — one which has been only too frequent in the 
 unsettled condition of the territory. To jump 
 a claim is 'to take it, notwithstauding that it is 
 pre-occupied by one who has already given 
 notice of his claim to a pre-emptive title. The 
 temptation to jump lies in the advantage of 
 entering into another man's labours, and be- 
 coming the happy possessor of improvements 
 without the necessity of toiling for them. 
 The price of jumping is ordinarily a fight. 
 There is no other way of settling such matters. 
 Neighbours, however, will generally help, being 
 guided by their political sentiments as to the 
 side they shall espouse. The weaker then 
 goes to the wall, — a result which many Free- 
 state settlers have had occasion to deplore in 
 the numerous instances in which the act of 
 
 jumping has been sustained by numbers and 
 8 
 
170 KANSAS. 
 
 combined strength beyond their power to resist. 
 The fighting which follows has sometimes led 
 to very serious consequences. More than one 
 of the chief movements in the political history 
 of Kansas have had their origin in difficulties 
 arising from this prolific source. Even the 
 House of Assembly has not been free from 
 angry debates between members of the Legis- 
 lature resulting from disputed claims. And 
 one instance, at least, is known in the Upper 
 House in which violent blows between the 
 eyes, and other expressions of injured honour, 
 were interchanged by two members of Coun- 
 cil, in order to settle a difficulty originating in 
 the precarious rights of Squatterdom. 
 
 There are other abuses to w^iich the system 
 is subject, which it is unnecessary to explain in 
 detail ; but it may not be uninteresting to 
 advert to one developmentof Kansas squatting, 
 which, to the eye of the traveller, appears 
 singularly ridiculous. Often, in riding over the 
 prairie, the traveller meets with a small clear- 
 ance, sufficient, at least, to show that some one 
 has been there. Then, probably, a fev/ stakes 
 are seen ; the settler has evidently intended to 
 
"foundatioxs" and " cautions." 171 
 
 stake off his ground. Next appears the "foun- 
 dation" — four logs, perhaps, placed in a quad- 
 rangle, tlie earnest, apparently, of the log-hut 
 that is to follow. And, on a bit of stick, lastly, 
 or on a piece of paper nailed to a tree, appear 
 the words, in a scarcely legible scrawl, " This 
 is Jim Barton's claim ; and he'll shoot the 
 first fellow as comes within a mile of it." Such 
 an announcement is technically called a " cau- 
 tion." As you read, you instinctively draw- 
 back ; and, if on the look-out for a claim your- 
 self, you seek fortune further on. But Jim 
 Barton's "foundation" will probably never be 
 occupied. If you are pleased with the site, 
 you may avail yourself of Mr. Barton's begin- 
 ning, and little fear his caution. Most probably 
 that gentleman lives in a neighbouring State, 
 but desires the elective franchise in Kansas. 
 Anxious to give some colour to his claim as 
 a voter, he has set his mark on a piece of land, 
 and henceforth claims the privileges of an 
 owner of the soil. But this is against all squat- 
 ting law and precedent, Avhich requires that 
 every squatter personally reside upon his claim. 
 The men of Missouri, however, framed squatter 
 
172 KANSAS. 
 
 laws for themselves in relation to Kansas ; 
 among them, that '* protection should be afford- 
 ed to no Abolitionist settlers ;" and, with the 
 dangerous power conferred by recent legislation 
 on "squatter sovereignty," they have found 
 themselves free to exercise with impunity their 
 own sovereign will. Many affirmed their right 
 to a vote in the territory, although they only 
 threw down an axe upon the ground ; others, 
 if they only intended at some time to make 
 a claim ; others, again, if they were only on the 
 ground on the day of election. 
 
KANSAS TOPOGRAPHY. 173 
 
 CHAPTER X.V. 
 
 The Geography of Kansas. — Junction of the Kansas and Mis- 
 souri Rivers. — Kansas City. — The Santa Fe Road. — Settle- 
 ments up the Kansas River. — Lawrence. — Lecompton. — 
 Topeka.— Kaw Half-breeds.— Fort Riley.— Mounds.— Cali- 
 fornia Road.— The Oregon Trail— Crossing the Plains.— 
 Character of the Country.— The Great American Desert. — 
 The Rocky Mountains.— Banks of the Missouri. — Leaven- 
 worth City and Fort, — Western Routes. — The Upper Mis- 
 souri. — Osawatomie. — Climate and Soil of Kansas. — Produc- 
 tion. — Wages. 
 
 A TRAVELLER, approaching Kansas from the 
 East by way of the Missouri, first sees the ter- 
 ritory at the point of confluence of the Missouri 
 and Kansas Rivers. On his right, the Missouri, 
 which at this point suddenly changes its course, 
 pours down its muddy volume from the North, 
 bringing the washings of thousands of miles, 
 which render its waters at some seasons of the 
 year so densely turbid, that an object cannot be 
 seen if lying a few inches beneath tlie surface. 
 On his left, flows into it a somewhat purer and 
 less turbulent stream, the Kaw or Kansas River, 
 
174 KANSAS. 
 
 which, intersecting the Territory which bears 
 its name in a direction ahiiost due AVest and 
 East, leaves fertility all along its course, and 
 from between thickly clustering oak and elm, 
 maple and hickory, which beautifully shade its 
 banks, terminates its windings in the rolling 
 flood of the Missouri. 
 
 At the point of junction between the two 
 rivers, the traveller will discern amongst the 
 wood the little Indian village known as Wyan- 
 dot city, planted on the reserve belonging to 
 the pale-faced tribe, which Cooper has rendered 
 famous by his novel of " Wyandotte." On the 
 left, facing the Missouri, at a short distance 
 below the junction, stands the bustling little 
 town called Kansas city, where the traveller 
 will probably be induced to land. If its crowd- 
 ed levee or quay were to be taken away, little 
 would be left to Kansas city. It is oddly 
 wedged in, like the lower town of Quebec in 
 Canada, upon a narrow slip of land between 
 the river and a steep bluff, so that if the city 
 wish to extend its boundaries, it can only do so, 
 as in the Canadian city, by mounting the bluff 
 behind it, and forming an upper town. 
 
THE SANTA F& ROAD. 175 
 
 From Kansas city the traveller may strike 
 for the West, in order to form his first acquaint- 
 ance with the territory. He may take the " San- 
 ta Fe Road," in which case he will enter Kan- 
 sas, after passing Westport, at the Shawnee 
 Manual Labour School. Pie will see the Rev. 
 Thomas Johnson's farm, as well as the Baptist 
 and the Friends' IMission. Forty miles will 
 bring him to Hickory Point, after which he 
 will, in a second or third day's journey, ride 
 through Willow Springs to Hundred and Ten. 
 Sixty miles more of rolling prairie and grassy 
 plain will take him to Council Grove, or Big 
 John Spring, where, as the name indicates, the 
 traveller may hold his council, and determine 
 whether, having followed the Santa Fe Road for 
 a hundred and thirty miles, he will trust him- 
 self to the trail for a prairie-ride of weeks into 
 the territory of New Mexico. This is the most 
 Southern of the great routes. As far as Coun- 
 cil Grove, it carries the traveller across an un- 
 dulating tract, often overhigh wave-like ridges, 
 commanding extensive views across the broad 
 savannahs ; and, before he has reached Hickory 
 Point, the course of the streams, or creeks as 
 
17t> KANSAS. 
 
 they are there termed, will have indicated to 
 the observer that he has left the valley of the 
 Kaw, and that he is skirting the basin of the 
 Osage and other large rivers of the South. 
 
 Or, from Kansas city, the traveller may take 
 the more frequented " California Road," in 
 order to trace upward the Kansas river, and see 
 the towns and settlements which have risen so 
 rapidly upon its banks. In this case he has a 
 ride of about forty miles, passing through a 
 woody tract of country belonging, by Govern- 
 ment-grant, to the Shawnee Indians, until he 
 reaches the shady banks of the Wakarusa. 
 Crossing the creek, he sees the spot famous as 
 the camping-ground of the Governor's troops 
 during the siege of Lawrence ; then, passing 
 through Franklin, a strong pro-slavery village, 
 he has four miles yet before him, and at length 
 finds himself in the Free-state stronghold of 
 Lawrence. Following for twelve miles more 
 the southern margin of the Kaw, the traveller 
 reaches Lecompton, the capital of the Terri- 
 tory, according to the designation of the Terri- 
 torial Legislature. The situation of Lecompton 
 is less attractive than that Lawrence, but it 
 
SETTLEMENTS OX THE KAW RIVER. 177 
 
 has received some impulse by being made the 
 seat of Government. The military tents are 
 probably now removed, but there for long the 
 soldiers' tents marked the site of the Western 
 encampment, and the place of confinement for 
 the Free-state Governor, editors, and a hundred 
 more political offenders. Another twelve miles' 
 stage takes the traveller through Tecumseh to 
 Topeka, vvhere he sees the little building 
 known by the Free-state people as Constitution 
 Hall, and finds himself at the seat of Govern- 
 ment and intended capital under the Free-state 
 rc.^unc. 
 
 Here our explorer will probably cross the 
 river, and as he wanders about its northern 
 bank, and passes from grove to thicket, and 
 creek to prairie, he will sec, here and there, a 
 curling smoke, and, on nearer approach, will find, 
 he is on a spot where a few families of Kaw 
 half-breeds have erected their wigwams, and 
 made for themselves a home. From the Indian 
 village he may return, if he please, through the 
 Delaware reserve to Kansas city ; following in 
 this case the lefc bank of the river, and coming 
 
 out by the old Delaware road at Wyandot city, 
 
 8* 
 
17S KANSAS. 
 
 whence he reaches his destination, after a 
 homeward journey of about seventy miles; 
 or he may take the military road to Leaven- 
 worth, a distance of about fifty miles, passing 
 on his way the Grasshopper and Stranger 
 Creeks, and gently ascending or descending 
 wdth the wavy roll of the prairie. It may be, 
 however, that the traveller wishes to strike for 
 the West, in which case he may follow upward 
 the course of the Kansas River by the Fort 
 Riley Road, passing the St. Mary's Catholic 
 Mission, crossing the Vermilion and Big Blue 
 Rivers, and glancing at a few small villages 
 founded by Free-state settlers, until he reaches 
 Pawnee and Fort Riley, at the confluence of 
 the Smoky Hill and Republican Forks. At 
 various points in the course of his journeying, 
 the traveller will have observed mounds, ap- 
 parently natural, but sometimes showing indi- 
 cations of artiticial erections upon their summit, 
 which will remind him of the interesting mounds 
 in the Ohio and the Mississippi valleys, and 
 suggest speculations as to the earlier dwellers 
 upon the banks of the Kaw. 
 
 Should the inclinations of the traveller lead 
 
THE OREGON TRAIL. 179 
 
 him towards California, he has but to take the 
 California road branching out in a northwesterly 
 direction after crossing the Vermilion Creek, and 
 he will strike, in about forty miles, the great 
 Oregon and California trail, which, patiently 
 followed through a number of weary weeks, 
 w^ill conduct him in safety to the golden State. 
 For the first thousand miles, as far as Bear 
 River, the Oregon, Californian, and Utah par- 
 ties journey together, taking the North Fork 
 of the Platte River, and crossing the Rocky 
 Mountain ciiain by the great South pass. At 
 Bear River they part. The few who go to 
 Oregon have another thousand miles before 
 them. The Californians have an equal distance, 
 dropping their Mormon companions eighty 
 miles upon their route, as they pass the city of 
 the Great Salt Lake. According to the route 
 traversed, the entire length of the ride varies 
 from 2050 to 2350 miles. A like distance, 
 could it be laid off from London in a direct line, 
 would transport a person eastward to the bor- 
 ders of Tartary, or to the banks of the Tigris 
 and Euplirates ; or southward, it would lead 
 bim beyond the limits of the Great Desert of 
 
180 KANSAS. 
 
 Africa. Yet, as many as eighty thousand travel- 
 lers have been known to cross the plains in 
 a single year. It is unnecessary to remark 
 that these overland expeditions, with the large 
 waggons and long teams of oxen and in- 
 numerable mules which accompany them, im- 
 ^ly a prairie traffic of not inconsiderable 
 activity. 
 
 By all accounts, these long overland journeys, 
 after the first novelty is passed, are far from 
 attractive. The slow ascent and descent of the 
 prairie waves, the crossing of interminable sa- 
 vannahs, without an object, except the faithless 
 mirage, to relieve the dead uniformity of the 
 scene, the horizon of prairie-grass ever encircling 
 the traveller, however interesting for the first 
 day or two, become after a time unspeakably 
 monotonous. The flying of the eagle overhead, 
 the starting of a herd of buffalo, the meeting 
 of another train of travellers, the encounter of 
 a party of Indians, friendly or hostile, come to 
 be the notable events of the pilgrimage, even 
 as, on an ocean voyage, the dull monotony is 
 relieved by the sighting of a distant sail, the 
 exchange of news with a returning ship, the 
 
CRossma the plains. ISl 
 
 disturbance of a shoal of sharks, or the catching 
 of some luckless whale. 
 
 On the Westward route, moreover, the attrac- 
 tions of the landscape and the comforts of the 
 traveller suffer a speedy decrease, while dangers 
 multiply and miseries of every kind grow apace. 
 For the first hundred and fifty miles the road 
 traverses richly-wooded, rolling prairie, on which 
 the fertile soil has caused so luxuriant a growth 
 of prairie-grass, that the traveller may sit down 
 and conceal himself in its midst. The fertile 
 region of "tall grass" being left behind, broad, 
 sandy plains are reached, almost destitute of 
 timber, but carpeted with the fine, slender " buf- 
 flilo-grass," which countless herds of bufililo, 
 elk, and antelope keep short by their constant 
 browzing. These pasture lands continue for 
 about 850 miles westward. The rivers, which 
 cut their deep channels through this region, 
 afford the traveller only too frequent occasions 
 for practice in the art of fording, which, with 
 the scores of oxen and the long heavy waggons 
 which accompany the caravan, is a process 
 involving difficulty and frequent danger. The 
 larger streams are crossed by boats. 
 
182 KANSAS. 
 
 At length the finely-cropped buffalo-grass 
 disappears, and nothing is left but a sterile 
 waste, of a light sandy color, unrelieved by 
 river, rock, or tree. The soil is a kind of marl, 
 with indications of limestone. This tract is 
 knov^n as the " Great American Desert," and 
 stretches from North to South over 1,000 miles 
 of country. In following the Santa Fe trail, 
 wild, roving tribes of Cheyennes and Arapahoe 
 Indians will probably be met in this district, as 
 ill the preceding the hunting-grounds of the 
 Kaws are traversed. On the Oregon trail, the 
 unfortunate traveller may cross the path of the 
 savage Sioux, who, if they have come down 
 from the North on an expedition of warfare or 
 revenge, will not spare. The western bounda- 
 ry of the desert region exhibits a curious phe- 
 nomenon. Here and there, and in some parts 
 in considerable number, appear elevations of 
 the soil, platforms rather than mounds, perpen- 
 dicular at the side, and flat upon the surface, 
 varying in height from fifteen to fifty feet, and 
 of exceedingly various breadth. These flat 
 mounds are commonly called buUcs, a word 
 adopted from the Canadian French. The 
 
THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 183 
 
 Spaniards of New Mexico call them cerros. 
 Through the action of the weather, these biittes 
 assume frequently most fantastic shapes, remind- 
 ing one of gaunt battlements and towers. Hence 
 the well-known Court House, Cathedral, and 
 Chimneys, familiar to the traveller on the Ore- 
 gon trail. 
 
 From this point to the Rocky Mountains, the 
 country is represented by travellers in glowing 
 colours. They speak of a rich soil, of fertilizing 
 streams, of well-timbered groves, of a genial 
 climate, of attractive landscape, of sunny 
 slopes and sheltered valleys, of laughing water- 
 falls, and green quiet meadow-lands, of fruits 
 for every taste, and flowers of every hue. 
 Whether an actual paradise or not, these 
 pleasant characteristics seem to belong to 
 the slopes and spurs of the Rocky Moun- 
 tains throughout the Southern portion of the 
 chain. 
 
 I have thus far attempted to describe the 
 geographical features of Kansas, as seen by the 
 traveller who ventures across the plains, gather- 
 ing my information from the narratives of the 
 expeditions of Colonel Fremont, Colonel Emory, 
 
184 KANSAS. 
 
 and other explorers. I must again return to 
 ground trodden by myself. 
 
 I have already accompanied the traveller 
 from Kansas city up the Kaw River to the 
 various settlements upon its banks. It remains 
 that that portion of Kansas be visited, which 
 lies upon the Missouri bank, and confronts the 
 counties of Clay, Jackson, and Platte, in Mis- 
 souri State. 
 
 In ascending the Missouri, the thirty miles 
 which intervene between Kansas city and 
 Leavenworth, present little to detain the trav- 
 eller. Both in Kansas on his left, and Missouri 
 on his right, he sees a rich reddish soil of great 
 depth, inviting to the agriculturist and the raiser 
 of stock, and giving promise of speedily yielding 
 support to a busy population. Delaware city 
 is passed, — a small cluster of houses, which 
 would probably not have attained civic honours, 
 were it not for the sanguine aspirations of 
 land-speculators. Within a few miles is the 
 Moravian Mission to the Mu usees, — a mere 
 fragment of that tribe, who, with afev/ flimilies 
 of Sfcockbridi^e Indians, do not number more 
 than about a hundred and fifty souls. Then 
 
THE WESTERN ROUTE. 185 
 
 come Leavenworth city and Fort Leaven- 
 worth, of which some description has been 
 already attempted. 
 
 From the Fort, should the traveller desire to 
 explore the interior, he has choice of two 
 roads, both leading Westward. The more 
 Southern one, called the Fort Riley Road, 
 passes through Easton, and strikes the Kaw 
 nearly opposite Topeka. The more Northern, 
 likewise a Government road, takes to Fort 
 Kearney, where it joins the great trail up the 
 valley of the Platte, and conducts, by the route 
 already described, to the South Pass, and thence 
 to the Pacific Ocean. 
 
 Ascending the Missouri from Leavenworth, 
 Kickapoo is speedily reached, after which Wes- 
 ton is seen on the Missouri side. At thirty 
 miles distance is Atchison, the home of Dr. 
 Stringfellow, and the town whence his furious 
 Squatter Sovereign is issued. Doniphan, Lewis- 
 ton, Palermo — small places chiefly settled from 
 Missouri — succeed; and then, sixty miles above 
 Leavenworth, the steamboat reaches ordinarily 
 its last landing-place at St. Joseph's — popularly 
 called St. Joe's — in Missouri. Some steamers 
 
18(5 KANSAS. 
 
 ascend the river higher to Nebraska, in which 
 case they make Council Bluffs, 270 miles above 
 Leavenworth, their final destination, embarking 
 or disembarking at that point those passengers 
 who reach the Territory by the Northern route 
 through Iowa. 
 
 Having reached the end of ])Opulation North- 
 ward, it remains only to say that tliere are one 
 or two roads Southward from Kansas city, 
 which conduct to the Osage River, besides the 
 Sac trail which leads from the Santa Fe road to 
 the Neosho or Grand River. Upon the Osage, 
 near the junction of the Pottawatomie, is a 
 Free-state settlement, which, very much in 
 defiance of sound philology, has been named 
 Osawatomie, the design being to preserve in 
 the name of the town some respectful remem- 
 brance of the two streams, by the side of w^iich 
 it is built. Unphilosophical, however, as such 
 a system of nomenclature may be, it has a 
 better claim to originality than that exhibited 
 in a small town in the extreme North, for 
 which the fertile brains of the inliahitants 
 could invent no better name than Lawrence 
 No. 2. 
 
THE CLIMATE AND SOIL. 187 
 
 The climate and soil of Eastern Kansas offer 
 much that is inviting to the settler. The 
 extremes of heat and cold in the summer and 
 winter seasons are indeed much in excess of 
 anything experienced in England. Neverthe- 
 less, the temperature is more moderate than in 
 many parts of the American continent, and the 
 Territory is situated within that favoured zone 
 which makes it rich as a corn and hemp 
 producing country. The crop of Indian corn, 
 as far as I could ascertain, has generally yielded 
 from fifty to eighty bushels per acre. Wheat, 
 fifteen to twenty bushels. Hemp, which on the 
 Missourian side of the river is the chief sta- 
 ple, is there found to yield in favourable 
 situations 1,000 lbs. to the acre. Tobacco may 
 probably be grown in some portions of the 
 Territory. 
 
 The wages paid for farm labour at the time 
 of my visit, were about the same as those paid 
 for white labour in Missouri. Men employed 
 in sawing and clearing — the principal work of 
 the Western settler — obtained twenty dollars 
 per month and their board. But a fine field 
 for the intelligent and enterprising is oftered 
 
188 KANSAS. 
 
 by the overland trains, which give employment 
 at high wages to a large number of the younger 
 men. In some instances I learned that superior 
 hands were in the receipt of a hundred dollars 
 per month. 
 
 From the same cause an important branch of 
 farming in Kansas and Missouri is the raising 
 of stock. The Western expeditions absorb 
 annually a very large number of oxen and 
 mules. They, at the same time, furnish a valu- 
 able market for the consumption of the produce 
 raised on the farms. 
 
THE RED RACES OF KANSAS 189 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The Red Races of Kansas. — Variety of Condition. — Deep De- 
 basement. — Prejudicial Intercourse with White Men. — Fire- 
 water. — Civilization. — Efforts for the Elevation of the Indian 
 Tribes. — Good Fruit. — The Indigenous Tribes of Kansas. — 
 Kaws, Osages, Ottoes, Pawnees. — A Total Abstinence Tribe. 
 — The Immigrant Tribes. — Shawnees, Delawares, Wyan- 
 dots. — A Wyandot Family. — Kickapoos, Sacs and Foxes, 
 lowas. — Pottawatomies, Sacs and Foxes. Ottowas. — Re- 
 sults. 
 
 The white man's occupancy of Kansas is 
 an event only of yesterday. So recently as 
 August, 1854, it could be written that there 
 was *'not a town or village of whites in 
 either Kansas or Nebraska." Till then these 
 vast territories were, as they still in great 
 part continue to be, the red man's hunting- 
 grounds. 
 
 These Indian aborigines exist in great variety 
 of tribes, and in almost equal variety of com- 
 plexion, physical form, and degree of civiliza- 
 tion, throughout the hundreds of thousands of 
 square miles that lie between the United States 
 
190 KANSAS. 
 
 and the Rocky Mountains. Very much, accord- 
 ing to which of these tribes a traveller may 
 fall in with, will be his impression as to 
 whether the American Indians are living in a 
 state of brutal debasement, and w^asting away 
 under the influence of vice and disease com- 
 bined with frequent war and famine, or whether 
 they are advancing in the arts of peace and 
 civilization, and forming populous and happy 
 commonw^ealths. I have myself witnessed, in 
 t4'ibes removed but a short distance from one 
 another, the extremes of a brutality akin to 
 that of the beast, and a civilization which might 
 with advantage be copied by the white men in 
 their neighbourhood. This remarkable difference 
 of condition is not easily associated with the 
 distinction of tribe, but is very readily connect- 
 ed with the diversity of circumstance and 
 influence by which the particular tribe may 
 have been surrounded. 
 
 Where no civihzing influence is brought to 
 bear, the red man lives out his rude, savage 
 life, hunting the bufl:alo and the elk, gorging 
 himself when his chase is successful until he is 
 insensible through repletion, and then awaking 
 
CONDITION OF THE INDIAN TRIBES. 191 
 
 to spend days, perhaps, without a morsel of 
 food; never cultivating the soil, but loving only 
 the life of the nomade ; ever warring against 
 his neighbours of another tribe, and himself the 
 victim of the most cruel superstitions and tor- 
 turing fears. In such a state, there is no pro- 
 gress towards civilization. One generation goes 
 and another comes, no whit the better than 
 its predecessor, and often very much the 
 smaller through famine or the ravages of small- 
 pox, or through extermination by a more power- 
 ful tribe. Thus the Pawnees, who once spread 
 over Kansas and Nebraska, to the number of 
 nearly thirty thousand, and made other tribes 
 submit to their power, have been reduced to a 
 few thousand in number by visitations of small- 
 pox, and by the superior power of the yet more 
 savage Sioux, who have come down upon them 
 from the North. Those that remain owe pro- 
 bably their existence to the fact that, in their 
 weakness, they have accepted the protection of 
 the whites, and have made some beginnings to- 
 wards the possession of a civilized life. 
 
 Again, w^here — as is frequently the case — the 
 relations of the white man to the Indian have 
 
192 KANSAS. 
 
 been accompanied by unhappy influences, the 
 result is seen in the red man knowing some- 
 thing of civilization, but knowing and imitating 
 only its vicious side. Where there has been 
 tyranny and wrong on the part of the white 
 man, the Indian's native suspicion and vindic- 
 tiveness have been confirmed and increased. 
 Where the Government agent has, with the one 
 hand, dealt out in large amount the annuities 
 voted by Congress, and with the other received 
 the money back in exchange for rum ; or where, 
 the agent being more honest, some speculating 
 trader has done his left hand's work for him ; 
 the result has been a fearful drunkenness, and the 
 growth of a passion which the Indian knows 
 not how to curb. For a draught of the *' fire- 
 water," the Indian will sometimes give all that 
 he has. And it is undeniable that the cupidity 
 of the white man has dealt out destruction 
 amongst tens of thousands of the Indian race. 
 
 There are other ways besides, which it were 
 a shame to dwell upon, in which contact with 
 the races called civilized has only more bru- 
 talized the brutal, spread disease and death 
 among the red men's ranks, and given an out- 
 
CIVILIZATIOX. 193 
 
 ward garniture of seeming civilization only to 
 hide new shapes of vice and hideous deformity. 
 Instances I need not give, for, to a greater or 
 less degree, every Indian tribe is an example of 
 the prejudicial influences of contact with the 
 superior race. I may remark, however, as a 
 further special illustration, that the half-breeds, 
 wherever they exist in America, almost univer- 
 ally exhibit a union of the vices of the two 
 races whence they are derived, whilst their cor- 
 responding virtues are lost. 
 
 As I have looked at the white men with 
 whom the aboriginal tribes have to deal, I have 
 often wondered how any very happy influence 
 upon the Indian character could be anticipated 
 from their companionship and example. 
 
 But in some of the red races, civilization and 
 Christian teaching have shown marvellous 
 power. The instances just adverted to, where 
 drunkenness and debauchery are the two chief 
 lessons learned from association with the whites, 
 are not instances of the failure of civilization 
 and Christianity to elevate the savage, but of 
 that which is not truly the one as it is eminent- 
 ly not the other. It would be very unfair, 
 9 
 
194 KANSAS. 
 
 however, to charge the United States* Govern- 
 ment with wholesale injustice, or even with 
 neglect, in relation to the native tribes. Equal- 
 ly unfair would it be to brhig its agents under 
 a universal censure, as forgetful of the claims of 
 humanity, and grasping only at self-advantage. 
 It is true the history of the Indians in America, 
 as from territory to territory they have been 
 pushed out Westward before the advancing tide 
 of white population, has been a most mournful 
 one — mournful, I mean, not because they have 
 had to yield to another race, but because of the 
 barbarous cruelty with which the conquest has 
 been, in former years at least, pursued. It were 
 easy to gather from among the inhabitants of 
 the States whole volumes of traditionary his- 
 tory as to the dealings of their fathers with the 
 Indians; and nine-tenths of these traditions are 
 traditions of bood, telling of the white man's 
 cruelty and the red man's revenge. But for 
 long the United States' Government has at- 
 tempted to act honourably with the aboriginal 
 possessors of the land. Congress votes yearly 
 large sums as annuities to the dispossessed 
 tribes. It sends an agent to arrange with the 
 
TREATMENT OF THE INDIANS. 195 
 
 heads of the tribe for the sale of their land ; and, 
 althouQ:h the Indians are not aware how dis- 
 proportioned the sum offered is to the valae of 
 the land, still they accept the terms ; and, fair 
 or unfair as to tlie means by which the nego- 
 tiation is concluded, the Government thus pays 
 for what it takes. Further, ic grants the dis- 
 possessed tribes reservations for their exclusive 
 right. It establishes schools, sustains missions, 
 provides farming implements and stock, in- 
 troduces agriculture, and seeks to encourage 
 labour and thrift, and thus to mould them into 
 the habits of civilization. 
 
 Amongst the best examples of the happy 
 effects of this mode of treatment, are those 
 tribes which are now located in what is called 
 the Indian Territor}^ immediately South of 
 Kansas. This Territory contains a population 
 of about a hundred thousand, principally Che- 
 rokees, Creeks, and Choctaws. These people 
 have come under the influence of Christian 
 teaching, and exhibit in a remarkable manner 
 the fruits of the better policy adopted towards 
 them. They have ceased to exist as tribes, 
 and, possessing housea and farms, have formed 
 
196 KANSAS. 
 
 themselves into a social order. Each nation 
 has its own government, republican in form, 
 and framed generally after the model of the 
 United States. Each has its wTitten constitu- 
 tion and laws. They have their public schools, 
 education being provided for through their 
 public funds. Large quantities of cotton and 
 other produce are yearly sent by them to the 
 New Orleans market. In the mechanical arts 
 they have made considerable progress. The 
 Scriptures and other books are in circulation 
 in their own languages. The Cherokees and 
 Choctaws each have their newspaper ; and the 
 former of these, being the most advanced, have 
 two seminaries for higher instruction, as well 
 as an orphan school — the former costing 70,000, 
 the latter 18,000 dollars. Amongst the Chero- 
 kees are also some who have sought higher 
 education in the universities of the States, and 
 distinguished themselves by their attainments. 
 And there are many who, as large planters, 
 own negro slaves, for which practice they are 
 also indebted to white civilization, and prove, 
 I was informed, to be kind rather than tyran- 
 nical masters. These Indians are very anxious 
 
REAL CIVILIZATIOX. 197 
 
 to be in no particular behind their white neigh- 
 bours, and look forward to their government 
 being recognized by the Confederacy, and 
 themselves admitted to representation in Con- 
 gress. 
 
 According, therefore, as they have been 
 brought under elevating influences or other- 
 wise, the Indians of North America may be 
 found, either living in the lowest depth of sav- 
 age barbarism, steeped in the most loathsome 
 vice and misery, and dwindling away as a con- 
 sequence of their corruption ; or, on the other 
 liand, thriving and prosperous, possessing in 
 some degree the refined enjoyments, and ex- 
 hibiting the good fruits w^hich belong to a 
 civilized condition. 
 
 Amongst the Indians inhabiting Kansas, may 
 be seen examples of almost every stage, from 
 the lowest to the highest. It is convenient to 
 classify the Indian tribes as indigenous and im- 
 migrant. The former are natives of the soil 
 they inhabit, and are commonly found in their 
 native debasement unaffected by civilizing influ- 
 ences. The latter belong originally to other 
 parts of the continent, now occupied by a large 
 
198 KANSAS. 
 
 and busy population, and have been transported 
 to the country they inhabit, or driven to it by 
 the Westward advance of the dominant race. It 
 is among these that the examples of a high 
 social condition to which I have adverted, are 
 to be found. 
 
 Of the tribes indigenous to Kansas, the most 
 numerous are the Kansas or Kaw Indians, from 
 which the Territory derives its name, who — 
 with the Osages in the Southern, and the Ot- 
 toes in the Northern portion of the Territory, 
 and some smaller tribes — make up the wild, 
 roving population which scours its Central and 
 Western plains. The Osages, all savage as 
 they are, honourably distinguish themselves by 
 their firm adherence to temperance principles. 
 Their abhorrence of the " fire-water" is very 
 remarkable, and is as rare as it is praiseworthy. 
 These tribes all speak dialects of the Dacotah 
 language, and thus identify themselves as mem- 
 bers of the great family of the Sioux, one of the 
 most savage of the Indian tribes, which has 
 descended at different periods like a Northern 
 scourge, spreading its blood-thirsty armies for a 
 thousand miles over the savannahs of the West. 
 
THE RED ROVERS OF KANSAS. 199 
 
 The Pawnees are a distinct race, and belong to 
 Kansas, but are now much reduced in number. 
 These, with the several Sioux tribes mentioned, 
 form the native Indian population of Kansas, 
 estimated at about eleven thousand, tenanting 
 the broad open prairie, and often causing terror 
 to the travellers crossing in the trains. 
 
 The Indian populations introduced from the 
 East, and owning lands which liave been as- 
 signed to them by the Government, are more 
 numerous. They reach probably fourteen thou- 
 sand. They vary much as to their degree of 
 civilization. The fertile banks of the lower 
 Kansas are cultivated by the Shawnees on the 
 right or Southern banlv, and by the Delawares 
 and Wyandots on the North, following the 
 margin of the Missouri as far as Leavenworth. 
 The Shawnees have been well cared for, are 
 good agriculturists, and have acquired generally 
 the arts of civilized life. For fifty years the 
 Society of Friends has sustained a Mission 
 amongst them; and the Methodists and Bap- 
 tists have likewise their schools for manual la- 
 bor and instruction. The Wyandots are equal- 
 ly advanced. They own some beautiful lands, 
 
200 KAN.^AS. 
 
 purchased from the Delawares, at the junction 
 of the Kansas and Missouri rivers. They are 
 remarkably fair in complexion, and I have met 
 with many whose appearance, were they trans- 
 ported to our own country, would hardly be- 
 tray their Indian origin. I journeyed for a 
 week in company with a family of Wyandots, 
 coming from one of the missions. The family 
 consisted of two women, with several children, 
 the eldest a grown lad. On board the steam- 
 boat, American etiquette, which is v/onderfuUy 
 tenacious of the rights of color, required that 
 the Wyandot family should wait at each meal 
 until every white passenger had eaten, when 
 they viere at liberty to sit down with the 
 slaves and partake of whatever might remain. 
 Yet they paid their full fare, and their deport- 
 ment v/as a contrast in refinement to that of 
 the self-styled " ladies," with whom they were 
 accounted unv/orthy to sit at the same table. 
 
 Following the Missouri Northward from the 
 Delaware reserve, we meet : first, the Kicka- 
 poos, a few miles from Fort Leavenworth ; 
 and upon their lands some few hundreds of Win- 
 nebagoes and Pottawatomies ; further North, 
 
WYAXDOTS, DELAWAKES, ETC. 201 
 
 some of the Scics and Foxes of Missouri ; and, 
 lastly, the lowas, whose reservation reaches 
 to the Nebraska border. The condition of the 
 lowas is very deplorable. They are of that 
 class of Indians to whom contact with the 
 whites, and participation in Government allow- 
 ances, have wrought harm rather than good. 
 They lead a life of miserable idleness, wear no 
 dress beyond the blanket, and seem to set no 
 value on efforts made for the amelioration of 
 their condition. 
 
 Again, if we go from the Kansas river South- 
 ward, after passing the Shawnee reserve, v/e 
 meet with the Pottawatomies, and small num- 
 bers of Weas and Piankeshaws, Peorias and 
 Kaskaskias. These, with the Miamis, cluster 
 about the banks of the Osage river and its 
 tributaries. Further Westward, upon the Ma- 
 rais des Cj^gnes Creek, are to be found upwards 
 of two thousand of the Sacs and Foxes from the 
 Upper Mississippi. But more interesting is 
 the small community of Otto was and Chip- 
 pewas, in the same district, whose condition 
 a devoted Baptist missionary, the Rev. J. 
 Meeker, has raised to one of a most encour- 
 
202 KANSAS. 
 
 aging character. The people have been induced 
 to give up their tribe system, and under the 
 stimulus of independent property, they advance 
 in numbers, in wealth, and, above all, in moral 
 and intellectual elevation. Further South, we 
 come upon the highly ci\"ilized Cherokees of 
 the Indian territory. The v/hole of these 
 reservations are in the Eastern portion of Kan- 
 sas. And one eftect of the rapid immigration of 
 white settlers which has taken place during 
 the last two years, will be, to dispossess many 
 of these Indians, to cause their transference 
 once more to a district further West. 
 
 Upon the whole, there is more to sadden 
 than to cheer in the aspect presented by the 
 Indian race on the Western plains of America. 
 In their natural condition, unutterably debased, 
 sunk almost to the level of the brute, their 
 contact with the white race has generally con- 
 tributed but little to their moral and social 
 elevation. Where the circumstances of this 
 contact, however rarely, have been more favour- 
 able, a different result is manifested, and in 
 instances of complete civilization, elements of 
 character are developed which command admi- 
 
RESULTS. 203 
 
 ration. There is sufficient in this to prove that 
 the Red Indian is perfectly susceptible of ele- 
 vating influences, and capable of b-eing raised 
 to his true position and dignity as a man; 
 sufficient, therefore, to indicate the responsi- 
 bility of the white man in relation to the race, 
 and to call for a regret that the intercourse 
 which has hitherto existed, has been of a char- 
 acter so little calculated to discharge that 
 responsibility aright. 
 
204 KANSAS. 
 
 CHAPTER XYIL 
 
 Visit to a Company of Sioux Indians.— Their Crimes and 
 Punishment. — A timid Companion. — Ho ! bo ! ho ! ho ! — 
 Friendship uccepted.— Friendship mistrusted. — Exhibition 
 of Displeasure. — The Calumet of Peace. — Indian Hospital- 
 ity.— Te-o-liiin-ko's Appearance, Dress, and Feats. — Torn 
 Belly in a Blanket.— The Squaw and Pappoose.— Furnish- 
 iahings of the Tent. — Teaching the young Idea how to Shoot. 
 — Solemn Melancholy. — Parting Friendship. — Mother and 
 Child. — Description of Kansas Life concluded. — The lieigu 
 of Terror. 
 
 One hot afternoon, having paid a visit afc Fort 
 Leavenworth, I spent a while before returning 
 to the exciting scenes in the city, in strolling 
 about the grassy slopes and shady groves in 
 the neighbourhood of the Government reserve. 
 Suddenly my eye fell .upon a little cluster 
 of ten^ts, within a spacious inclosure, upon the 
 flank of a gently-swelling prairie- wave. As I 
 looked, there sprang from under one of the 
 tents a savage-looking figure, to whom paint 
 supplied the place of more seemly apparel. 
 The streaked and spotted savage darted forth 
 
VISIT TO A SIOUX ENCAMPMENT. 205 
 
 as if under some resistless impulse, raised his 
 arrow towards the sky, shot high and far, ran 
 for the fallen shaft, and returned to his hiding- 
 place, in less time than is needed to recount the 
 feat. Next appeared a woman, who crossed, 
 in her blanket, from one tent to another. I 
 knew at once that the Indians before me were 
 the company of Sioux of whom I had heard, an 
 hour previously, from Colonel Sumner. 
 
 These Sioux — belonging to the most savage 
 of the prairie tribes — had been guilty, during 
 the previous year, of stopping the mail on its 
 way across the plains to Utah, and of murdering 
 one of the officers in charge. It was not the 
 first occasion on which they had attacked parties 
 of travellers on the Western route. For this 
 act a number of the tribe implicated had been 
 taken as prisoners. Each man was privileged 
 to select from his wives the squaw of his choice ; 
 and the captive band had been conveyed to Fort 
 Leavenworth, and kept in confinement upon the 
 Government reserve. In the spring of 1856 
 the President granted them a pardon. Colonel 
 Sumner had the pleasing duty of ordering their 
 shackles to be knocked off, and of beholding 
 
206 KANSAS. 
 
 their gratitude in high leaps and joyous antics. 
 They were now waiting an opportunity of con- 
 voy, by which they might be safely returned to 
 their native wilds — the presence of many hos- 
 tile tribes in the intervening territory being 
 sufficient to make Fort Leavenworth a prison- 
 house to them, from which they could not 
 escape without a protecting force. Such was 
 the history of this Dacotah band, as related to 
 me by Colonel Sumner. 
 
 I crossed the fence and walked towards the 
 tents, designing to form a more intimate 
 acquaintance with the warrior tribe of which 
 I had so often heard. I found I was not alone. 
 A white man was looking from a distance at 
 the lodges and their wild tenantry, whom I 
 approached with the inquiry whether he had 
 come to see the Indians. My white brother 
 was not very communicative, but, on being 
 pressed, said he was '• took aback some, just a 
 spot ; he'd never sot eyes on such a salvagerous 
 set of coons ; he v/as nary lick afeared, not by 
 a long sight, but he kinder druther keep tracks 
 a little ways oiF such a salvagerous, onairthly 
 set ; they smelt so powerful bad." I told him 
 
ho! ho! ho! ho! 207 
 
 I comprehended his meaning, and placing 
 myself between him and his supposed danger, 
 induced him to accompany me round the side 
 of the little encampment to get a front view 
 of the tents and their occupants. In the mean 
 time I told my companion briefly what I knew 
 of the Indians; that they were Sioux, had 
 attacked a train and committed murder, &c. 
 ]\Iy friend listened in silence. 
 
 We had examined from a short distance one 
 or two interiors without attracting notice. At 
 length we stood in front of a tent at some 
 twenty yards distance, within which were two 
 men, a woman, and a child. "Ho! Ho! Ho! 
 Ho !" A shout, shrill and startling, showed 
 that we were seen. It came from the head of 
 the family ; I cannot recall his name, but Te-o- 
 kun-ko, the Swift, will answer the present 
 purpose not inappropriately. The tall grim 
 savage, who beyond a girdle had no covering 
 except a thick sheathing of vermilion, ochre, 
 and other pigments mingled \\\th grease, sprang 
 forward as he shouted, bow and arrow in hand, 
 and made a beckoning motion with his arm. 
 My companion w^as behind me, so that I was 
 
208 KANSAS. 
 
 not in a position to see how the invitation 
 alFected him; but for myself, acting upon 
 former experience, I accepted it immediately, 
 and as I stepped quickly forward, found hands 
 extended from within the tent, which I shook 
 with a hearty cheerfulness. 
 
 But it was with Tah-zce-keh-dd-cha, the Torn 
 Belly, and Tchon-su-mons-ka, the Sand-Bar, 
 mistress of the lodge, in her robe of blue and 
 belt of shining buttons, that I was shaking 
 hands, for Te-o-kim-ko was already levelling 
 his arrow at some offending object, on which 
 he fixed an eye glaring with rage. 1 looked 
 round, and to my horror discovered it to be none 
 other than my companion, whom the shrill cry 
 of the Sioux, half a minute before, had evidently 
 pierced with terror, and who, panic-stricken, 
 was " making tracks" as fast as his legs would 
 bear him. Indians, thought I, never miss their 
 aim. Te-o-kiin-ko's rage was horrible to behold. 
 A tragedy was surely to take place instantly 
 before my eyes. No, a comedyj Te-o-kun-ko 
 raises steadily his arrow towards the sky, 
 whilst he bends his body backwards for a far 
 upward shot. His head falls carelessly over his 
 
THE CALUMET OF PEACE. 209 
 
 shoulder towards his pale-faced guest, his coun- 
 tenance relaxes, the eye loses its fiery rage, and 
 with an unearthly "Ha! ha! ha!" the arrow 
 is sprung from the bow ; it makes an acute 
 arc far up in the blue sky, and descends, as its 
 owner intended it should, at the feet of a horse, 
 midway between himself and the mean-spirited 
 runaway who had mistrusted his friendship. 
 
 I was now received into the family, and 
 honoured as a guest. There was little space to 
 spare beneath the tent ; but lie of the Torn 
 Belly, Tiih-zee-keh-dd-cha, made me sit upon 
 the ground, and drew me close to his side, that 
 I niii^ht be sheltered from the scorchins: sun. 
 Te-o-kun-ko the meanwhile lit the calumet 
 of peace, and paid his guest the highest re- 
 spect it is in the power of Indian host to 
 ofier. The ugly, squat-shaped, broad-faced 
 child played about my feet ; so I patted his wild 
 little head, and won the mother, Tch6n-su- 
 mons-ka. 
 
 Te-o-kun-ko was of a restless disposition. 
 He never laid down his bow, but sprang out 
 frequently from beneath the tent to shoot an 
 arrow high aloft, run after it, and return. His 
 
210 KANSAS. 
 
 dress I hfive described in saying he had a blue 
 girdle sustained by a leathern strap. He was 
 tall, and of that extreme slenderness of limb 
 only to be seen amongst certain wild races. 
 His hair was parted in the centre, and brought 
 down over each shoulder in a plait of two feet 
 in length, into which horse-hair and other sub- 
 stances were introduced, and which terminated 
 in a ball of thyme or other scented herb. Be- 
 hind the head the hair was brought back, and 
 terminated by a brass ring. He wore car-rings ; 
 also a necklace of beads, long and short, alter- 
 nately, and a second, looser necklace of brass 
 chain. Further, he had armlets — five or fix 
 coils of stout brass wire above the elbow, two 
 coils at the wrist. Each little finger had its 
 ring. In his hand was his bow and a few 
 arrows — the arrows broad at the point, and 
 fledged with goose quill and other feathers 
 brightly dyed. Other adornment had he none, 
 save streaks of bright paint across his brow and 
 cheeks, and spots and patches, red and yel- 
 low, about his naked body. 
 
 Tah-zee-keh-dd-cha^at my elbow, w^as a quiet 
 sprite. He had a blanket loosely thrown around 
 
INDIAN FAMILY LIFE. 211 
 
 his shoulders ; and whether he had lost his scalp 
 or not, I cannot say, but he shielded liis head 
 with a handkerchief, which he held tightly 
 beneath his chin. This attitude gave him 
 very much the appearance of an old woman. 
 He wore, also, beaded moccasins, and exhibited 
 a larger number of finger-rings than his com- 
 panion. 
 
 The squaw was dressed in a blue robe, which 
 was held around her person by a broad leathern 
 strap of unusual stoutness. Had the intentions 
 of its manufacturer been carried out, this strap 
 would doubtless have found its place in the 
 harnessing of some Western team ; but it was 
 now ornamented with a triple rov/ of brass 
 buttons, and put to fairer use. Sand-Bar had 
 ear-rings, armlets, big and little linger-rings ; 
 her liair was parted and plaited, not wholly 
 unlike that of any European ; her forehead 
 was daintily streaked with lines of beauty 
 and grace, in bright blue and flaming ver- 
 milion. 
 
 The little pappoose was dressed simply in 
 vest and leggins. From each ear hung two 
 rings with watch-keys attached, the rings being 
 
212 KANSAS. 
 
 passed through both tlie lobe and tlie upper 
 cartilage of the ear. Around its neck a brass 
 medal was suspended. On examining the medal, 
 I beheld the image and superscription of Queen 
 Victoria ! 
 
 Behind the family group there hung, on the 
 sides of the tent, arrows, bows, pipes, furs, 
 buffalo-skins, painted robes, goose-quills, eagles' 
 claws and beaks, porcupines' spines, feathers, 
 liair, beads, paints, and all else that an Indian 
 counts valuable. The complexion of these 
 Indians was of the darkest red, differing very 
 much in depth of shade from the more civilized 
 tribes. 
 
 As w^e could not exchange intelligibly a 
 single word, our intercourse was limited to 
 looks and gestures. They examined my dress 
 with solemn curiosity. The child began this, 
 and my neighbour, the Torn Belly, followed it 
 up. He pulled my coat-tails, drew^ out my 
 neck-tie, pushed his finger up the same until 
 he tickled my neck, altogether surveyed me 
 thoroughly. Afterwards we fell to amuse- 
 ment. I stuck a coin upon a stick, and invited 
 the pappoose to shoot with his miniature bow 
 
PARTING FRIENDSHIP. 213 
 
 and arrow. The voiuig: Sioux warrior entered 
 into the game with zest, his father sustaining 
 his arm, whilst he again and again shot only to 
 miss the mark. At last he won his prize, gave 
 the bit of silver into his mother's keeping — an 
 oftice which she discharged by putting it into 
 her mouth — and eagerly demanded a renewal 
 of the practice. 
 
 Through tlie half-hour during which 1 sat 
 under their tent, these solemn figures never 
 smiled, never indicated in the countenance the 
 least presence of feeling. Even the child never 
 laughed. When it triumphed with the bow, 
 the father said, " Ila ! ha ! ha I" and the child 
 said, "He! he! he!" but the countenances 
 never relaxed their mournful expression. Every 
 Indian that I ever saw, has exhibited the same 
 strange characteristic. The red races are said 
 to be cheerful, even jovial, amongst them- 
 selves. Be this true or false, in the presence 
 of strangers they divest themselves of every 
 indication of the emotional, and leave upon 
 the mind an impression of tiio profoundest 
 melancholy. 
 
 When I rose to go, my entertainers shook me 
 
214 KANSAS. 
 
 warmly by the hand, and indicated their desire 
 that I should repeat my visit, and especially 
 remember to bring some tobacco with me the 
 next time. Having passed behind the tent, I 
 heard a foot-step following me. It was the 
 little marksman, who, when I stopped, ran 
 towards me, and seized my legs as if to detain 
 me. Next came the Sand-Bar, rushing to the 
 rescue, lest white man should steal red man's 
 child. I surrendered that which it would have 
 been a sore affliction to keep, and left, con- 
 vinced, that whether under a white skin or a 
 red one, a mother's heart is still the same. 
 
 When I returned from my friendly visit to 
 the Sioux to the riot and savage turmoil of the 
 white settlement, I felt doubtful whether I had 
 not left civilization behind me. 
 
 With these Indian sketches, however, my 
 description of the country and its inhabitants 
 must terminate. Much indeed remains unsaid, 
 w4iich is characteristic of Kansas and its home- 
 life in town and country. But having yet to 
 treat more particularly of the lierce struggle 
 between slavery and freedom of which it has 
 
REFLECTIONS. 216 
 
 been the theatre, and to supply some passages 
 in its brief but stormy history, I must close 
 this portion of the subject. It is impossible, 
 however, to leave the consideration of its 
 beautiful prairies and fertilizing streams, its 
 busy settlers and active commerce, without 
 giving expression to the mournful regret, that 
 a country on which Nature smiles so beauti- 
 fully, and towards wliich Providence has been 
 so bountiful in the gifts of material wealth and 
 natural advantages, should have been turned 
 by the foul hand of man into a land of sorrow 
 and suftering, bloodshed and crime. Now the 
 widow wrings her hands, and orphans shed 
 tears of bitterness over that ricli and lovely 
 soil ; discord and anarchy have taken the place 
 of law ; poverty and partial famine are seen 
 instead of abundance ; wrong has been legal- 
 ized, right subdued ; and, amid the heavings 
 of an uncontrolled lawlessness, men have cast 
 from them every moral restraint, and intro- 
 duced a Reign of Terror, in which every base 
 passion of man finds free exercise for its ener- 
 gies of evil. 
 
216 KANSAS 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 The Controversy. — Shall Kansas be Slave ov Free ? — Slavery 
 a Barrier to a Country's Advancement. — Influence of Slave- 
 ry on Population, Education, Cultivation of the Soil, Price 
 of Land. — A fair Competition would make Kansas Free. — 
 Pecuniary and Political Interests of the South. — A fair Com- 
 petition from the first denied. 
 
 It is strange that men should fight so hard to 
 introduce so bad a thing as slavery into a land. 
 
 We have been so accustomed to dwell on 
 the moral evils of slavery, the essential enor- 
 mity of the system, and the wrongs which 
 almost of necessity arise out of it, that we are 
 apt to overlook that which otherwise we 
 should not be slow to recognize, namely, how 
 baneful the system is in its influence upon the 
 white race, and how seriously it impoverishes 
 a country, and retards the progress of its people. 
 
 The celebrated Jefferson, himself a slave- 
 holder, has left in his writings a strong testi- 
 mony against the system in its reflex influence 
 
THE CONTROVERSY. 217 
 
 Upon the masters, when he said, that "the man 
 must be a prodigy who can retain his manners 
 and morals undepraved" whilst living in the 
 midst of such a system. " The whole com- 
 merce," he writes, " between master and slave 
 is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous 
 passions — the most unremitting despotism on 
 the one part, and degrading submission on the 
 other." As one of the chief founders of the 
 republic, Jefferson, — in common with Wash- 
 ington, Franklin, Madison, Henry, and all the 
 leaders of his time, — regarded the abolition of 
 what he calls " this great political and moral 
 evil," as essential to the prosperity of the 
 Union. 
 
 But slavery is as great an economical, as it 
 is a political or moral evil. The day on which 
 I first set foot in a slave state, and a few hours 
 before I crossed the border-line, I was convers- 
 ing with a gentleman residing in Pennsylvania, 
 whose views appeared to be Southern, but who 
 expressed them in a tone of candour and mod- 
 eration. *' Well," said he at length, ** this 
 afternoon you will be in our Southern states. 
 
 You expect, I dare say, to find the difierenco 
 10 
 
218 KANSAS. 
 
 the moment you cross the state-line. Which- 
 ever way you look, you will calculate on see- 
 ing nothing but what is bad. I should like very 
 much to know, whether you find it as bad as it 
 is most likely you expect." 
 
 The truth is, I had no expectation to " feel 
 the ditlerence the moment I crossed the state- 
 line." I was not prepared for any visible sign 
 of the geographical boundary being passed. 
 How great, then, was my surprise to find that, 
 in going into a state naturally richer, I was in 
 effect entering one practically and visibly poor- 
 er ; and tliat the enterprise and progress I had 
 been accustomed to admire in the Northern 
 states, were exchanged, on the passing of a 
 geographical line, for lethargy and almost back- 
 goipg. It was evident that I was in the midst 
 of new conditions of society, and that new 
 social conditions had brought with them a 
 wholly new and widely different order of 
 things, one that reached the length of chang- 
 ing the entire aspect of the country. Had I 
 met my friend afterwards, I must have confessed 
 to many and great surprises ; and, had he asked 
 me my opinion as to the "institution" after 
 
SLAVERY A VISIBLE BLIGHT. 219 
 
 travelling throughout the Southern states, — 
 passing the moral evil — I must have character- 
 ized it, as a visible blight upon the entire 
 economical and commercial, as well as social, 
 existence of the South. 
 
 Now in Kansas we Imve a country, immense 
 in extent and most rich in its capabilities of 
 production, till recently guaranteed to be free 
 from this blighting influence as well as great 
 wrong, but now thrown open to its unrestrained 
 introduction. In the persons of their respective 
 advocates, tlie rich soil of Kansas has become 
 the battle-ground of the two systems, Slavery 
 and Freedom. All who have interest in the 
 progress of humanity, and many besides, ask 
 anxiously, which is to be the victor ? Is slavery 
 to find in it a new soil over which to extend its 
 pernicious influence, or are the energies of free- 
 men to make it a land which shall smile with 
 the blessings of social happiness and general 
 prosperity ? 
 
 By all unprejudiced witnesses the fact is 
 acknowledged, that slave labour in any tem- 
 perate climate cannot hold its ground when 
 brought into fair competition with free labour. 
 
220 KANSAS. 
 
 As a system, slavery ever brings with it a 
 heavy entail of disorder, slovenly negligence, 
 stereotyped adhesion to old methods, disregard 
 of all improvements, costly and unnoticed ex- 
 penditure, and general impoverishment in all 
 that pertains to the cultivation of the soil. 
 
 This is not a matter of controversy. It is 
 sufficient to see the *' thrown out" or " turned 
 out" lands of Virginia, — thousands of acres 
 now no longer cultivated, naturally far richer 
 than the soil of Massachusetts, enjoying a more 
 genial climate, adapted to the growth of more 
 remunerative products, and in a state colonized 
 at an earlier period, — and to compare the pov- 
 erty of the one with the wealth exhibited in 
 the other state, to be convinced of the terribly 
 pernicious influence of the slave system on the 
 agriculture of a country. Whether we illus- 
 trate the contrast between a slave state and a 
 free state, in the market price of the land, 
 in the .difference of population, or in the rela- 
 tive extent of unimproved soil, we arrive at 
 the same conclusion, and gain sure indices 
 of the prejudicial economic results of slavery. 
 
 To cross the border from Pennsylvania to 
 
A FREE STATE AND A SLAVE STATE. 221 
 
 Virginia, is to cross from land at forty-nine 
 dollars, to land at twenty-one dollars per acre, 
 as shown by the Government returns. In 
 South Carolina, with its far-famed rice planta- 
 tions, the returned value of the land is only a 
 fraction over five dollars per acre ; in free Con- 
 necticut, it is upwards of thirty dollars the 
 acre. Or, passing to the states of the West, it 
 would be sufficient for intending settlers in 
 Kansas to glance at the neighbouring slave 
 state of Missouri. They would there see the 
 twelve southern counties in that state showing 
 in the Government returns a value for their 
 land of thirteen dollars per acre ; whilst its 
 ten northern counties, bordering on free Iowa, 
 although naturally less productive, support a 
 population one-fourth larger ; that population 
 has improved one-half more of soil ; has raised 
 the soil it has improved to a value about 
 one-half higher, namely, nineteen dollars an 
 acre ; and is possessed, as a consecpience, of an 
 assessed value in land two and a half times as 
 large as that of the tiner counties in the south 
 of the same state. It may further be mention- 
 ed that, for 339 scholars in the public schools 
 
22 i? KANSAS. 
 
 i;i the twelve southern counties, the ten coun- 
 ties bordering on Iowa can sliow^ a school 
 attendance of 2,329. Yet this is but the result 
 of the proximity of freedom 
 
 And if the slave system, as contrasted with 
 free labour, is always accompanied by an infe- 
 rior agriculture, a depreciated value of the 
 land, a smaller population, a fettered com- 
 merce, and a remarkable prevalence of almost 
 barbarous ignorance, there are yet further many 
 special reasons why slavery should not be per- 
 mitted to introduce its paralyzing influence 
 upon the free soil of Kansas. The climate is 
 temperate ; hence those products for the raising 
 of which negro slavery is sometimes claimed to 
 bo necessary, are not grown on its soil. Slave 
 labour, again, is unprofitable, except where the 
 slaves can work in gangs, and can be kept 
 within the view of the overseer. Hence, the 
 Indian corn and otlier grain crops which are 
 best adapted to the soil and climate of Kansas, 
 are quite unsuitable for any but free labour. 
 Further, of planters owning slaves, but a small 
 number can be expected for many years to 
 come to transport their stock into this new 
 
ECONOMIC ARGUMENTS AGAINST SLAVERY. 223 
 
 territory, whilst the remaining settlers, even 
 from the South, are not necessarily slave-pro- 
 prietors. 
 
 From a consideration of facts such as these, 
 the conclusion has been drawn, that Kansas 
 left to itself (as is guaranteed by the Organic 
 Act, passed in May, 1854) to determine its own 
 institutions, and to legalize or not to legalize 
 slavery, according to the will of the ninjority, 
 must inevitably determine in fivour of free- 
 dom. Some writers, even in this country, 
 have with too much haste concluded, that so 
 unequal a race as that between slavery and 
 freedom cannot be long sustained ; that, with 
 the pernicious fruits of slave labour before 
 their eyes, the settlers in Kansas cannot long 
 hesitate in their choice ; that the territory 
 must soon, therefore, settle down, and make 
 its application for admission into the confeder- 
 acy with a constitution guaranteeing freedom. 
 Hence these writers infer, moreover, that, if 
 the strife existinci: in Kansas has disturbed the 
 whole Union, the anxiety exhibited on both 
 sides is very unnecessary, — at any rate on the 
 part of the North, — seeing that very speedily, 
 
'224 KANSAS. 
 
 by the working out of natural causes, Kansas 
 must of necessity become free. 
 
 Such a conclusion, reasonable as it may ap- 
 pear, is founded on an imperfect view of the 
 question- The question is not whether Kansaa 
 ought to be a free or a slave state, in order 
 best to secure its ultimate prosperity and the 
 development of its resources ; but whether 
 Kansas, free or slave, will most enrich those who 
 are able to profit by its being opened to them. 
 In a case like that of Kansas, the most profit- 
 able will be always deemed, b}^ the majority 
 of men, the most reasonable policy. And as 
 the majority are to rule, the (piestion reduces 
 itself to this : Is there not a large class to 
 whom the extension of slavery is a source of 
 profit? And if so, is that class in preponder- 
 ating number? 
 
 "Whilst it is perfectly true, therefore, that 
 between slavery and freedom in Kansas, it is a 
 folly on material, as much as it is a wrong on 
 moral grounds, to choose the former, it is not 
 to be forgotten that the self-interest of many 
 may conflict with the requirements of right 
 reason. In concluding that men can never 
 
SHALL kax.=;as be slavi! or free? 225 
 
 commit the folly of making Kansas a slave 
 state, we lose sight of the important fact, that 
 the South has an immense interest in upholding 
 slavery and in extending it over new territory. 
 The history of slavery in the United States 
 has always been ultimate loss for the sake of 
 present gain ; an impoverished inheritance left 
 to the child for the sake of immediate profit 
 to the lather. To supply the depreciation con- 
 sequent on the land being lefc almost to itself, 
 and, therefore, not rising in value, it is of 
 immense importance to the planters of the 
 South, that the value of their slave-property 
 should be maintained, and, if possible, increased. 
 Though a fictitious source of wealth, a rise in 
 the price of his slaves is of more importance 
 to the planter than a rise in the value of his 
 land, in proportion as he has more money in- 
 vested in the one tiian in the other. To 
 bring about this result there is no means so 
 effectual as the extension of slave territory, 
 which is, in effect, the opening of a new mar- 
 ket for the slaves. 
 
 Virginia alone is drawn upon by the states 
 
 on the Mississippi, for as njany as ten thousand 
 
 10* 
 
226 KANSAS. 
 
 annually, — a rare encouragement, it must be 
 confessed, for slave-breeding. 
 
 Grovernor Wise is reported to have told the 
 Virginians that, if California were made a 
 slave state, the value of their negroes would 
 rise from a thousand to three, or even five, 
 thousand dollars. 
 
 Every slaveholder, therefore, has a direct im- 
 mediate interest in the extension of the area of 
 slavery, although it should bring eventual ruin 
 to the development of the country's resources. 
 Add to this, that to gain fresh political power 
 is of highest moment to the Southern interest. 
 The ascendancy of the North is an event the 
 slaveholder with reason dreads, as likely, if not 
 to jeopardize his property, at least to curtail 
 his privileges. Hence the favour with which 
 he regards all filibustering, Southern annexa- 
 tion, and extension of slave territory in general. 
 Every new slave state admitted to the confe- 
 deracy gives two more votes for slavery in the 
 Senate, and a further addition to Southern 
 votes in the House of Representatives, besides 
 engaging another whole population in the sup- 
 port of the Pro-slavery interest, More need 
 
INTERESTS OF THE SOUTH. 227 
 
 not be said, to show that, if the voice of the 
 South were to decide it, Kansas would be 
 given not to freedom, but to slavery. 
 
 But the truth is, the question extends itself 
 far beyond the limits of Kansas. The ultimate 
 fate of this territory will very materially influ- 
 ence the subsequent history of territories be- 
 yond, as w^ell as of states in its neighbourhood. 
 With all its vehemence in the cause, Missouri 
 is not strong as a slave state ; its northern por- 
 tion is eminently unfitted for slave labour; 
 and, if Kansas were to be made a free state, 
 Missouri itself, having free soil on its north, 
 west, and east, would probably ere long be- 
 come to a great extent practically free. Again, 
 with a free Kansas, freedom must be given of 
 necessity to Nebraska, and whatever other new 
 states may be formed north of the old com- 
 promise line. Hence, Kansas is made the 
 battle-ground of a great principle. " Squatter 
 sovereignty," forced upon the country by the 
 abettors of Southern views, must there work 
 itself out to its legitimate issues ; and the 
 issue with relation to Kansas wdll, to a great 
 extent, determine the ultimate condition of the 
 
22S KANSAS. 
 
 other vast territorial possessions of the Ame- 
 rican Union. 
 
 It is of yet greater significance, however, to 
 remark, that the supposition that in Kansas the 
 slave system must yield eventually to free 
 labour, is unfounded, because, from its first 
 settlement, two years ago, this fair competition 
 between the two systems of labour has never 
 been permitted. An equal race would, un- 
 questionably, result in the triumph of freedom; 
 but this has been from the first denied. The 
 partisans of the South, insisting on their own 
 views, have proscribed all opposition ; and 
 possessing the aid and authority of the federal 
 Government, have decreed that nothing shall 
 be legal which does not favour their own side 
 in this contest of principles. 
 
 To reveal the base infamy of these trans- 
 actions, — transactions in which the Govern- 
 ment at Washington is as deeply im^Dlicated as 
 the border-ruffians of Missouri — as well as to 
 exhibit the revolting barbarity which has been 
 associated with them, I invite attention to the 
 brief history of the Kansas struggle contained 
 in the following chapters. A consideration of 
 
A FAIB COMPETITION DENIED. 229 
 
 its varied events will suffice, I think, to carry 
 the conviction that a fair competition between 
 the systems of slavery and freedom has not 
 hitherto existed, and by those in power was 
 never intended to exist, in Kansas. 
 
SdO KANSAS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 The Commencement of the Troubles in Kansas. — Its Organi- 
 zation as a Territory. — Slavery prohibited previously by the 
 Missouri Compromise. — Senator Douglas. — Conception of a 
 bold Idea. — The Compact broken. — Passing of the Nebraska- 
 Kansas Act. — Squatter Sovereignty. — Unskilled Legisla- 
 tors. — The people to regulate their Domestic Institutions in 
 their own Way. — Mr. Seward's Speech. 
 
 Kansas dates the commencement of its troubles 
 from the day on which the Act was passed by 
 the Congress of the United States, which gave 
 it a political existence as a duly organized 
 Territory. This was in May, J 854. 
 
 Its previous history in relation to slavery 
 was very simple. In virtue of what is com- 
 monly called the Missouri Compromise Mea- 
 sure of 1820, the North conceded to the South 
 that Missouri, which lies north of latitude 3G° 
 30', should be admitted into the Union as a 
 slave state; accepting as an equivalent the 
 enactment, that in all the remaining portion of 
 
THE BEGINNING OF TROUBLE. 231 
 
 the Louisiana Territory lying north of that 
 geographical line, slavery "shall be and is 
 hereby for ever prohibited." Kansas is north 
 of that line of latitude, which very accurately 
 divides the northern from the southern half of 
 the possessions of the United States. The 
 question was finally, and for ever, settled by a 
 strictly defined line, confirmed by many sub- 
 sequent acts of legislation. And thus, for four 
 and thirty years, Kansas had peace. 
 
 Prominent among those of Northern politi- 
 cians in America, who are devoted to Southern 
 interests, is the Honourable Stephen Arnold 
 Douglas. Mr. Douglas is a short, thick-set 
 man, of dark complexion, determined in action, 
 and vehement in speech ; but withal clever, 
 full of tact and ability, and well fitted to carry 
 whatever measure he may set his heart upon. 
 He was," it is understood, in his earlier career a 
 labouring man or mechanic; and, it is probable, 
 set his heart upon the Presidential Chair. At 
 any rate, he has made great steps towards the 
 attainment of that coveted honour. Still a 
 young man, he has risen from his lowly sta- 
 tion, and now sits as Senator for Illinois. It 
 
232 KANSAS. 
 
 would be a pleasing reflection, if this rapid 
 elevation had taken place side by side with 
 independent action and faithfulness to the 
 great trust of one who rules his country. 
 Probably Mr. Douglas may say, he has been 
 faithful to his own convictions. Still, the 
 truth remains : — A Northern man, he has 
 espoused Southern politics; swimming with 
 tlie stream of official favour, he has, in be- 
 friending those in power, most befriended him- 
 self; he has struck well for the highest honour 
 America has to bestow, and, having achieved a 
 great past, has opened for himself the way, 
 should fortune still favour, for a great future ; 
 finally, he may take to himself the credit of 
 having made more noise than almost any other 
 member of the Senate in the present Congress, 
 and having done more by public acts to influ- 
 ence his country — albeit that influence is to 
 curse it — than probably any man of his time. 
 
 Senator Douglas, as a trusty Servian t of the 
 South and friend of the Administration, sat as 
 Chairman upon the Committee of Territories. 
 When, in December, 1S53, a bill was sub- 
 mitted by Mr. DodgC; Senator for Iowa, for 
 
THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE REPEALED. 233 
 
 the organization of the Territory of Nebraska, 
 Mr. Douglas took the bill in hand in com- 
 mittee, and returned it to the House amended, 
 in the shape of a wholly new bill. The little 
 alteration he had to suggest was nothing less 
 than that the Compromise of 1820 should be 
 revoked, or rather that it sliould be held to be 
 inoperative and void, because Congress had no 
 right to legislate upon the subject of slavery,* 
 and that the new territories should be placed 
 under that peculiar rule now known as Squat- 
 ter Sovereignty. What rewards are great 
 enough for the daring ingenuity that devised, 
 and the energy that carried through the House, 
 a measure like this, contemplating ends which 
 minds cast in the ordinary mould would never 
 have ventured even to conceive ! 
 
 Such genius was irresistible. The man be- 
 ing found who had the hardihood to say, " Let 
 us break faith and we can carry all our own 
 way," the scheme had not to wait for willing 
 adherents. From thirty to seven-and-thirty 
 voted at the ditYerent divisions in favour of the 
 
 * In the territories, that is to say.— Am. Ed. 
 
234 KANSAS. 
 
 measure ; from ten to fourteen were all who 
 opposed it in the Senate. A majority was 
 likewise found for it in the House of Repre- 
 sentatives. And thus the bill, which broke a 
 compact solemnly entered into, for which an 
 equivalent had been received, and which had 
 often been reaffirmed, — a bill which declared 
 impossible that which was enacted " for ever," 
 and had been acted upon for thirty-four years, 
 became the law of the land. 
 
 By virtue of another provision of the substi- 
 tuted bill, the great tract of country formerly 
 called somewhat indefinitely Nebraska, was di- 
 vided into two distinct territories ; the more 
 promising portion at the south, bordering on 
 the State of Missouri, being organized under 
 the name of Kansas, and the remaining por- 
 tion, reaching as far north as the British pos- 
 sessions, receiving the specific title of the 
 Territory of Nebraska. This was sagacious, 
 even as all the other provisions of the Act. 
 To subjugate to the slave power a territory 
 stretching so far north as the orignal Nebraska, 
 would have been an almost hopeless task. To 
 fight the battle on a comparatively narrow 
 
SQUATTER SOVEREIGNTY INSTITUTED. 235 
 
 strip of country in the south, with Missouri on 
 its entire flank from south to north, was a task 
 comparatively easy and fall of promise as to 
 ultimate success. 
 
 Thus was Kansas organized as a Territory of 
 the Union, under the dominion of that new 
 form of government known, in modern history, 
 as " Squatter Sovereignty." In the settlement 
 of all new territory, tliere is in most instances 
 a period during which, the surveys being yet 
 uncompleted, men are found to throw down 
 their hatchet upon land to which as yet they 
 liave no title. Such men are called squatters. 
 Much almost inevitable evil springs out of this 
 system, as has been shown in former parts of 
 this volume. For purposes of mutual defence, 
 societies are formed, understandings are come 
 to, and thenceforward all is regulated in ac- 
 cordance with " Squatter Law," and for the 
 maintenance of " Squatter Rights." There 
 exists little definable distinction between Squat- 
 ter law and Lynch law ; and when men speak 
 of holding land by Squatter right, they often 
 mean what is otherwise expressed as Tomahawk 
 right. 
 
236 KANSAS. 
 
 Wlien General Cass first made use in the 
 Senate of the expression "Squatter Sovereigns," 
 he had reference to the legalization of power 
 in the hands of the class of men above de- 
 scribed. Uncertain as to their dwelling-place, 
 unpossessedof titles to their so-called "claims," 
 believing in law only so far as it favours them- 
 selves, as unskilled in relation to the principles 
 of justice as they are unscrupulous in the meth- 
 ods of its adiniuistratidu, it migiit be reasona- 
 blv sup[>os('tl that the S'piatters are not the best 
 men to constitute the rulers of the land. Yet, 
 according to the eidightened legislation of the 
 last few years, the squatters have been made 
 the sovereigns through most of the territories 
 of the United States. 
 
 Kansas is an example of the legitimate work- 
 ing out of the much admired system of squatter 
 sovereignty. By the Act organizing it as a 
 territory, it was stipulated that, whilst the 
 compact under which it had been guaranteed 
 free from slavery since ISiJO was to be held as 
 inoperative and void, the people were to be at 
 liberty to " form and regulate their domestic 
 institutions in their own way." The squatter 
 
ECLIPSE. 257 
 
 sovereigns, being very far from harmonious in 
 their views of the peculiar domestic institution 
 intended by this e.\pre<;sion, have been quite 
 unable to agree as to iiow it is to be regulated, 
 and have very naturally resorted to fighting, in 
 order to decide whether slavery is to be legis- 
 lated into, or excluded from, the territory. 
 
 Mr. Sewanl, the Senator for New York, was 
 not far frum the truth, wiu'ii, on the memora- 
 ble night of the passing of the Nebraska-Kan- 
 sas Bill, he closed liis fruitless opposition to it, 
 by designating the act of that night as one that 
 would mark an rra in American legislation. 
 " We are on the eve of the consummation of a 
 great national transaction — a transaction which 
 will close a cvcle in the history of our coun- 
 trv — and it is impossible not to desire to pause 
 for a moment, and survey the scene around us 
 and the prospect before us. • • • The sun lias 
 set for tlie last time upon the guaranteed and 
 certain lihrrties of all the unsettled and unor- 
 ganized portions of the American continent 
 tliat lie within the jurisdiction of the United 
 States. To-morrow's sun will rise in dim 
 eclipse over them." How long the obscuration 
 
238 KANSAS. 
 
 would last, Mr. Seward continued to say, no 
 human mind could foresee. One thing is cer- 
 tain : the Senator's prophecy of a coming dark- 
 ness has been verified in Kansas to the full; 
 from the moment of the passing of that bill 
 there has been nothing but darkness, thick 
 darkness enwrapping the land; and tiie light 
 has scarcely yet even faintly begun to dawn. 
 
MISSOURIAKS IN KANSAS. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Misuouri takes an Interest in Kansa?.— Claims staked off. — 
 Sovereignty taken up in the new Territory. — Bluo Lodges. 
 — Slavery •• at whatever Cost of Blood aud Treasure.'' — Hos- 
 tile Resolutions. — Indian Lands ceded. — Northern Immigra- 
 tion.— The Challenge accepted.— Appointment of Governor 
 and Judiciary. —Governor Reedt-T. — Lawrence founded. — 
 Leavenworth and other Settlements. — Election of Delegate 
 to Congress. — The Contest. — Missourian Invasion. — General 
 Stringfellow's Programme of Operations.— Return of Gene- 
 ral Whitfield. 
 
 At the time when Kaiisa.s was thus organized 
 and opened for settlement, the inliabitants of 
 the contiguous State of Missouri had VLTyniuch 
 their own way in the new Territory. For 
 some time previously, they seem to have been 
 possessed of the secret, that the Compromise of 
 1S20 was to be broken, and that the squatter 
 was to have the sovereignty of Kansas. Ac- 
 cordingly, most of those living near the border 
 took occasion, at some time or other, to cross 
 the river, and •' stake off a claim." This was 
 
240 KANSAS. 
 
 done in order to give them tlie sovereignty 
 they desired. Each man, although his "stak- 
 ing otr a claim" should have consisted merely 
 in pacing out forty acres and leaving a notch 
 with his axe on one of tiic trees, considered 
 himself thereby constituted a squatter, and 
 invested consequently with a share in the sov- 
 ereignty of the future Territory. Each man 
 also agreed to respect the rights of his brother- 
 squatter. This is part of squatter law ; and is 
 self-evidently the only condition on which to 
 have one's own right maintained. *' If you 
 will say I am lord of the soil, I will say you 
 are; and so, we shall be all lords together, and 
 none, who is not of our way, shall invade our 
 sovereign right." Whilst each recognized his 
 brother-squatter, it occurred apparently to no 
 one to respect the rights of the Indian tribes. 
 These not merely occupied the land, but had 
 had the land specially assigned to them by 
 the government in compensation for their re- 
 moval from, and surrender of possessions, 
 further East. Hence, the " claims," on which 
 these inhabitants of Missouri rested their right 
 to rule Kansas, had the additional detraction 
 
MISSOUKI TAKES UP SOVEREIGNTY. 1?41 
 
 that the land which, although unpaid for, they 
 called tlieir own, b-jlonged by public treaty to 
 other peoph?. 
 
 At about the period of the passing of the act, 
 " blue lodges" and other secret societies were 
 formed; and, throughout the year lS-51, nu- 
 merous meetings were held in Western Mis- 
 souri, at which tlie people were addressed by 
 General David 11. Atchison, then Vice-pre- 
 sident of the United States,* General String- 
 follow, Dr. ]5aylcss and other?*. Thus a power- 
 ful movement was organized, having for its 
 object the settlement of KaiiJ^as by the people 
 of Missouri, and the exclusion of all eujigrants 
 from the North. 
 
 At the earlier of these meetings, the people 
 "pledged themselves, if the territory of Kansas 
 be opened to settlement, to co-operate to ex- 
 tend the institutions of ^lissouri [i. e. slavery] 
 over the territory, at whatever cost of blood and 
 treasured And, as they were ready before the 
 opening of the territory, to shed their blood 
 
 ♦ Uc had been elected President of the Senate in place of 
 W.R. King:. V. P.. in December, ISS?.— Am. Kd. 
 U 
 
242 KANSAS. 
 
 that slavery might be introduced, so at a later 
 period, when settlers began to come from the 
 North under the protection of Eastern Emi- 
 grant Aid Societies, they encouraged each 
 other by resolutions still more violent, and 
 meetings more directly hostile in their char- 
 acter. At the meetings of the " Platte Coun- 
 ty Self-defensive Association" and other simi- 
 lar organizations, the resolutions generally 
 adopted v^ere to the effect, that protection 
 should be afforded to none but Southern set- 
 tlers in Kansas; that Abolitionists arriving 
 there should be immediately removed from the 
 territory ; and that all coming from any place 
 North of Mason and Dixon's line were Aboli- 
 tionists, and to be treated as such, whatever 
 they might say to the contrary. 
 
 In the mean time arrangements were made 
 by the government for the cession of lands by 
 the Indians. This was not effected in the 
 ordinary manner, by a commissioner appointed 
 to negotiate with the tribes on their own soil. 
 But delegates from the Indians were taken pri- 
 vately to Washington, a treaty negotiated with 
 them, and information immediately telegraphed 
 
HOSTILE RESOLUTIONS. 243 
 
 to the Missouri associations, which were ready 
 at once to take up the ceded lands. Much 
 complaint was made by the Indians afterwards 
 in relation to these treaties. " The chiefs, head 
 men, and counsellors of the Delaware nation" 
 published also a protest against the acts of 
 "their white brethren," in settling on lands in 
 violation of the treaties made with them. But 
 the Missourians had gained their end. They 
 had, by their interest at Washington, obtained 
 precedence of the Northern men in taking up 
 the lands. They held large districts under 
 squatter right ; and under the sovereignty of 
 squatterdom, they considered themselves pos- 
 sessed of authority to rule, if need were, the 
 Indians out, and to legalize themselves in. 
 
 There was activity, however, on the part of 
 the free States. The State of Massachusetts 
 especially showed itself energetic in promoting 
 the settlement of Kansas by its own New Eng- 
 land sons. In this, they accepted the challenge 
 which the principle of the Nebraska-Kansas 
 act offered, and showed themselves willing to 
 run the race with the South, encouraged by 
 the idea that the majority of the population of 
 
244 KANSAS. 
 
 the new Territoiy was to decide the question 
 of its institutions. Hence sprung the Massa- 
 chusetts Emigrant Aid Society, and the Ameri- 
 can Settlement Company of New York, as well 
 as minor associations, known as the Octagon 
 Settlement Company, the Vegetarian Settle- 
 ment Company, and the New York Kansas 
 League. The object of these associations was 
 to assist settlers in Kansas by making arrange- 
 ments for their transit, aiding them in the 
 choice of locations, and especially enabling 
 them, by an advance of capital, to erect saw- 
 mills and other valuable appendages, for gener- 
 al use. As a consequence of this agency, and 
 tempted by the increased advantages of protec- 
 tion and comfort which settlement held out 
 under the operation of such a system, large 
 numbers from the free States were induced to 
 make Kansas their home. And the Territory 
 still presents, in consequence of the peculiari- 
 ties of its history, a contrast of population very 
 unusual in the Far Western lands. On the one 
 hand are those in great number who by their 
 thoughts and feelings, habitudes and wants, 
 indicate that they have been nursed amidst the 
 
NORTHERN IMMIGRATION. 245 
 
 social refinements of New England or New 
 York, and that Western life is yet strange to 
 them ; and on the other hand, in constant con- 
 tact with these, there are exhibitions of savage 
 coarseness and brutality, which are happily 
 rare even amidst the rough forest-life of the 
 first pioneers. 
 
 By the Organic Act, the Governor and Judi- 
 ciary of the Territory were to be appointed by 
 the President of the United States. Mr. An- 
 drew H. Reeder of Pennsylvania received the 
 appointment as head of the Executive, with 
 Mr. Daniel Woodson of Arkansas, as Secretary. 
 Samuel Dexter Lecompte was made Chief Jus- 
 tice of the Territory, with Sanders N. Johnston 
 and Rush Elmore as Associate Justices, and 
 Isaacs and Donaldson respectively Attorney 
 and Marshal. These were all appointed as un- 
 flinching supporters of the Southern cause. 
 Some of them have remarkably justified what- 
 ever was expected of them. But Reeder, the 
 Governor, appears from the first to have hesi- 
 tated to yield himself as the instrument of giv- 
 ing effect to the base designs of the Missourian 
 party. He exhibited a caution and reserve. 
 
246 KANSAS- 
 
 which were very becoming in one holding the 
 highest civil power in the Territory, but which 
 were very unpalatable to those who looked to 
 him for plain-spoken, unshrinking partisanship. 
 In his public acts, he seemed to aim at impar- 
 tiality. In speech, he always avoided commit- 
 ting himself, and as to any expression of his 
 opinions or intentions observed strict silence. 
 He probably found the abettors of the principle 
 of Squatter Sovereignty to be men very differ- 
 ent in character from that which he had anti- 
 cipated ; and shrinking from allying himself 
 with a border-ruffian horde, he soon became 
 mistrusted by the party he was expected to 
 support, and thus prepared the way for his 
 dismissal from his office. 
 
 The Governor arrived in the territory early 
 in October, 1854. During the two or three 
 months preceding, settlers had been entering 
 at a rapid rate ; and at a pretty spot on the 
 Southern bank of the Kansas river, some forty 
 miles from its mouth, a number of Free-state 
 emigrants had founded what is now called the 
 City of Lawrence. In July, 1854, consisting 
 of but a single log-hut ; in October, comprising 
 
APPOIXTMENT OF GOVERNOR AND JUDGES. 247 
 
 a score, or thereabouts, of rough wooden tene- 
 ments, witldn which its inhabitants had to 
 make their bed upon the floor with bufialo-robe 
 and blanket ; Lawrence has since risen to the 
 dignity of a city, possesses the best buiklings 
 in the territory, has its public edifices, supports 
 several newspapers, has its literary society, is 
 protected, moreover, by earthwork fortifications, 
 has twice sustained a siege, and has achieved for 
 itself a history and a name. At about the same 
 time, the foundations w^ere laid of Topeka, 
 Pawnee, Grasshopper Falls, and other places, 
 which being the work of Free-state settlers, 
 called forth the jealousy and threatened hostility 
 of the opposing party. The Southern men who 
 "moved into" Kansas, settled chiefly in Leaven- 
 worth, and at Kickapoo, Atchison, Doniphan, 
 and other places upon the Missouri, conveniently 
 near to the State from which they principally 
 came. Leavenworth, although now a " City," 
 had not yet probably more than a dozen houses; 
 but it became a great centre for land specula- 
 tors, and, wdth its advantages as a point for 
 commerccj has experienced a wonderfully rapid 
 growth. 
 
24S 
 
 KANSAS. 
 
 Each organized TeiTit(;ryof the United States 
 is permitted to be represented in Congress 
 by one delegate, who lias liberty to speak, 
 but possesses no voting power. One of the 
 first duties of Governor Eeeder, on arriving in 
 Kansas, was to appoint a day for the election 
 of the Territorial Delegate. He appointed 
 Nov. 29, divided the territory into nineteen 
 electoral districts, and appointed judges for each 
 district, who were to administer the oaths, 
 especially that of actual residence, and to preside 
 generally over the election. The candidates 
 for the office were three : Mr. Whitfield, the 
 nominee of the border counties of Missouri, a 
 tall, determined-looking man, whose antecedent 
 history belonged to the annals of Indian trading ; 
 Judge Wakefield, a plain-spoken and thorough 
 Free-soiler, a man who had been a long lifetime 
 in the West, and possesses the respectable 
 and comfortable appearance which belongs to 
 the portly judge of olden time; and Mr. Flen- 
 niken, theoretically an advocate of squatter sov- 
 ereignty,who had accompanied Governor Reeder 
 into the territory, and held views probably not 
 flu* differing from his own. 
 
ELECTION OF DELEGATE TO CONGRESS. 249 
 
 The election day came, and with it the first 
 day of that open violence which has since 
 plunged Kansas into so much misery. General 
 Whitfield was the nominee of the people of 
 Missouri. By fair means or by foul, he must 
 be elected. The " Blue Lodge " gathered its 
 forces, summoned to its aid its secret pass-words, 
 signs, and grips, and speedily had obtained 
 means, and mustered forces sufficient to control 
 the election in the neighbouring territory. They 
 could not but be successful ; for, although all 
 the legal votes that were recorded in the terri- 
 tory had been given undividedly to either of the 
 other candidates, there were yet as many, and 
 more than half as many more, friends of slavery 
 who came to secure the victory to Whitfield. 
 Independently, however, of this overwhelming 
 number of illegal votes. General Whitfield had 
 a majority. A very large proportion of the 
 settlers did not f ote : others w^ere ignorant of 
 Whitfield's true character, and voted for him. 
 In Kansas he had declared himself to be in favour 
 of the people deciding their institutions for 
 themselves, according to the true theory of 
 
 squatter sovereis^nty, — that is, A governing A. 
 11^ ^ ' 
 
250 KANSAS. 
 
 This gained him votes. Afterwards it proved 
 that he was in favour of the institutions of 
 Kansas being decided by the people of Missouri, 
 —that is, B governing A. 
 
 In this election the Missourians w^ere lavish 
 in their provision for a thorough conquest. One 
 might suppose that in a district like Marys- 
 ville, which at the best could scarcely boast of 
 more than half a dozen log-houses, 238 armed 
 men were not needed in order to carry the poll. 
 Yet 238 went thither, and recorded their votes 
 for Whitfield, against seven residents voting for 
 the other candidates. In all, the 1729 who were 
 subsequently recognized by the Committee of 
 Investigation as non-resident voters, appear to 
 have spread their force over eight of the elect- 
 oral districts. It is needless to say they con- 
 quered. 
 
 These invaders from Missouri made no con- 
 cealment of their purpose in' visiting Kansas; 
 they freely said that they intended to make 
 Kansas a slave state. Where the judges were 
 not compliant, they removed them, and extem- 
 porized judges from their own number. Some, 
 to make a show of residence, struck a stake 
 
INVASION AND CONQUEST. 251 
 
 into the ground, or nailed a piece of paper with 
 their name upon it to a tree, or entered their 
 names upon lists as persons who meant to set- 
 tie in Kansas at some time. All, if their ow^n 
 statements be relied on, either had a *' claim," 
 or intended to have a *' claim," or had some 
 friend who had a " claim ;" and therefore all 
 had votes. And a great portion not only had 
 votes for themselves, but votes for friends also, 
 left behind probably in Missouri, but who were 
 going to settle in Kansas, and, wishing to have 
 a hand in shaping the laws and institutions of 
 the territory, had asked them to vote for them. 
 In the majority of instances, it was sufficient 
 to surround the approach to the balloting-box 
 with a crowd of armed ruffians to deter the 
 Free-state men from voting. A few days pre- 
 viously their operations had been marked out 
 for them by General Stringfellow. They were 
 to " mark every scoundrel that was the least 
 tainted w^ith free-soil ism or abolitionism, and 
 to exterminate him ;" they were to have no 
 " qualms of conscience as to violathig laws, 
 state or national, the time had come when 
 such impositions must be disregarded ;" they 
 
252 KANSAS. 
 
 were to *' enter every election district in Kan- 
 sas, in defiance of the Governor and his vile 
 myrmidons, and vote at the point of the bowie- 
 knife and the revolver ;" they were to " crush 
 out the abolition rascals," and to " mind that 
 slavery be established." '• It was enough that 
 the slaveholding interest willed it, from which 
 there is no appeal.' 
 
 And that day, the 29th of November, 1854, 
 the slaveholding interest, from wdiich there is 
 no a'ppeal, achieved the first of its great bowie- 
 knife victories, and witnessed the establishment 
 of rifle-iTile in Kansas. 
 
ELECTIONS FOn THE LEGISLATURE. 253 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Election for the Territorial Legislature, March 30, 1855.— 
 Spirit of the Press. — Preparations for an Invasion in Missou- 
 ri. — Numbers of the Invading Forces.— The Hemp.— Inci- 
 dents of Bowie-knife Voting.— Ninety out of every Hundred 
 Votes Illegal.— Incidents at Bloomington.— Sheriff Jones' 
 Exploits.— "Windows Smashed.— House Lifted.— Ballot-box 
 Stolen. — Hurrah for Missouri I— Returning Home. — Pirati- 
 cal Symbols. — Victory.— Protests against Elections.— Un- 
 popularity of Governor Reeder.— Summary Punishment of a 
 Newspaper Pres.s.— The Fraudulent Legislature Organized. 
 — Exclusion of Free-state Members. — Two Months of Legis- 
 lation. — Appointment of Officers.— Reciprocity. — Public 
 Companies. 
 
 The next event of importance in the history 
 of Kansas was the election of members of coun- 
 cil and representatives to form a Territorial 
 Legislature. This was fixed for March 30, 
 1855. 
 
 During the interval, nothing was done either 
 to rectify past illegalities, or to pacify the ill- 
 feeling which thence resulted. The temper of 
 the men of influence in Missouri may be gathered 
 
054 KAXSAS. 
 
 from their public papers. The Squatter Sorer- 
 cigjij Dr. Stringfellow's organ, published at 
 Atchison, reflecrs the spirit of the Pro-slavery 
 men as follows : — 
 
 '• Mondav of last week a fight came off at 
 Doniphan, Kansas territory, in which bowie- 
 knives were used freely. The difficulty arose 
 out of a political discussion, the combatants 
 being a Pro-slavery man and a Free-soiler. 
 Both parties were badly cut, and we are happy 
 to state that the Free-soiler is in a fair way to 
 ' peg out,' while the Pro-slavery man is out and 
 ready for another tilt. Kansas is a hard road 
 for Free-soilers to travel.'' 
 
 Asrain, in their editorial columns : — 
 
 •We can tell the impertinent scoundrels of 
 the Tribune, that they may exhaust an ocean 
 of ink, their emigrant aid societies spend their 
 millions and billions, their representatives in 
 Conirress spout their heretical theories till 
 doomsday, and his Excellency Franklin Pierce 
 appoint Abolirionist after Free-soiler as our 
 governor, yet we will continue to lynch and 
 hang, to tar and feather, and drown every 
 white-livered Abolitionist who dares to pollute 
 our soil." 
 
■WARLIKE PREPARATIONS. 255 
 
 Wlien the 30th March came, the leaders of 
 the Pro-slavery party were prepared for it by a 
 thorough organization, extending through all 
 the Western counties of Missouri, as a result 
 of which they were enabled to pour into the 
 Territory' of Kansas an invading force, in cora- 
 parison of which that called out on the former 
 occasion was small. 
 
 The voters were marshalled into distinct 
 bands under separate leadership. Those that 
 were to exercise the suffrage -in more remote 
 districts, mounted their horses and got ready 
 their waggons a few days in advance. Every 
 warlike equipment was provided, and on the 
 day of election, the testimony from Lawrence 
 tells us, they were seen upon the field, march- 
 ins: to the sound of drum, with banners wavino: 
 in the wind, plentifully supplied with arms and 
 ammunition, the more warlike in appearance 
 for a couple of field-pieces, and furnished with 
 waggons and horses, tents, supplies of food, and 
 every other necessity of a campaign. A white 
 or blue ribbon or piece of tape in the button- 
 hole, was the badge adopted in the districts 
 near Lawrence. In the northern districts, the 
 
256 KANSAS. 
 
 piece of hemp was the more customary mark 
 of those who were ready to use the halter in 
 proof of the soundness of their views. " Nei- 
 ther give nor take quarter," and " All right on 
 the hemp," were their two pass- words. 
 
 As the number of illegal votes recorded by 
 non-residents was 4,908, it may be estimated 
 that this invading army numbered about five 
 thousand men. The number of votes legally 
 given, was 1,410 ; of w^iich about SOO were 
 given to the Free-state candidates. General 
 David R. Atchison, recently Vice-president of 
 the United States, announced at a convention 
 held a short time previously, that there were 
 1,100 coming from his own county of Platte in 
 Missouri; and "if that wasn't enough, they 
 could bring 5,000 more ; that they came to 
 vote, and would vote, or kill every Aboli- 
 tionist in the Territory." 
 
 Of course they conquered. The legal voters 
 were for the most part driven away. Where 
 they could not stuff the ballot-box, they stole 
 it. Where the authorized election judges were 
 strict in the performance of their duty, they 
 held a pistol at their heads till they resigned, 
 
BOWIE-KNI^E VOTING. 257 
 
 when they elected judges imiyrornvtu from their 
 own number. All the fraud and brutality of 
 the former election were re-enacted, only w^ith 
 more undisguised shamelessness and daring 
 violence. 
 
 The testimony obtained b}^ the Committee of 
 Investigation, is very full with relation to this 
 election. There is little room for choice in 
 selecting from the report of the Commissioners 
 one or other of the districts as an example of 
 the account they have to tell. For shortness, 
 I will extract the report of the Doniphan pre- 
 cinct in the 14th district, as a fair sample of 
 the less violent of these electioneering speci- 
 mens : — 
 
 "The eveninsr before the election some 200 
 or more Missourians from Platte, Buchanan, 
 Saline, and Clay counties, Missouri, came into 
 this precinct, with tents, music, waggons, and 
 provisions, and armed with guns, rifles, pistols, 
 and bowie-knives, and camped about two miles 
 from the place of voting. They said they came 
 to vote, to make Kansas a slave state, and 
 intended to return to Missouri after they 
 had voted. On the morning of the election, 
 the judges appointed by the governor woulfl 
 
258 KANSAS. 
 
 not serve, and others were chosen by the 
 crowd. 
 
 " The Missourians were allowed to vote with- 
 out being sworn, some of them voting as many 
 as eight or nine times ; changing their hats and 
 coats, and giving in different names each time. 
 After they had voted they returned to Missouri. 
 The Free-state men generally did not vote, 
 though constituting a majority in the precinct. 
 Upon counting the ballots in the box, and the 
 names on the poll-lists, it was found that there 
 were too many ballots, and one of the judges 
 of election took out ballots enough to make the 
 two numbers correspond." 
 
 A carefulness so praiseworthy, that the bal- 
 lots should not exceed in number the aggre- 
 gate of the names on the poll-lists, does not 
 appear to have been practised elsewhere. It 
 is legitimate to infer this, from the fact, that 
 whilst the whole number of persons in the 
 Territory possessing a vote, according to the 
 census taken the previous month, was only 
 2,905, the number of votes recorded on the 
 Pro-slavery side alone was 5,427. Of this 
 number, probably 530 were cast by residents. 
 For every one legal vote, consequently, nine 
 
SHERIFF JONES* EXPLOITS. 259 
 
 illegal votes were given. On the other hand 
 the Free-state candidates received 791 votes, 
 notwithstanding the intimidation which in 
 some districts entirely prevented the Free- 
 state men from exercising their rights. 
 
 This election was the occasion of bringing 
 into prominence one whose name has since 
 been an important one in Kansas annals, — 
 Sheriff Jones. This Samuel Jones, at that time 
 post-master in Westport, Missouri, had the 
 command of the five or six hundred Missouri- 
 ans who were charged with the attack on the 
 polls in the second district. The voting took 
 place at Bloomington, a place chiefly inhabited 
 by Free-state men, situated on the Wakarusa 
 Creek, about twelve miles above Lawrence. 
 The judges appointed by the Governor were 
 Messrs. Burson, Ramsay, and Ellison, by whom 
 the polls were opened in a log-house. The 
 notable Jones, approaching the window of the 
 log-house, demanded for his Missourian cohort, 
 that they should be permitted to vote without 
 being sworn as residents of Kansas. This was 
 refused. The invading forces were then form- 
 ed into small bands, and got ready their arms, 
 
260 KA.\SAS. 
 
 of which they had broughi in ox-waggons an 
 ample store. 
 
 " They again demanded," the Congressional 
 Committee reports, '• that the judges should 
 resign ; and, upon their refusing to do so, 
 smashed in the window, sash and all, and pre- 
 sented their pistols and guns to them, threaten- 
 ins: to shoot them. Some one on the outside 
 cried out to them not to shoot, as there were 
 Pro-slavery men in the house with the judges. 
 They, then, put a pry under the corner of the 
 house, and lifced it up a few inches, and let it 
 fall again, but desisted upon being told there 
 were Pro-slavery men in the house. During 
 this time the crowd repeatedly demanded to be 
 allowed to vote without being swo^n, and Mr. 
 Ellison, one of the judges, expressed himself 
 willimr, but the other two judges refused. 
 Thereupon, a body of men, headed by Sherifif 
 Jones, rushed into the judges* room vrith cock- 
 ed pistols and drawn bowie-knives in their 
 hands, and approached Burson and Ramsay. 
 Jones pulled out his watch, and said he would 
 give them five minutes to resign in, or die. 
 When the five minutes had expired, and th«« 
 
PIRATICAL SYMBOLS. 261 
 
 judges did not resign, Jones said he would 
 give them another minute and no more. Elli- 
 son told his associates that, if they did not 
 resign, there would be one hundred shots fired 
 in the room in less than fifceen minutes ; and 
 then, snatching up the ballot-box, ran out into 
 the crowd, holding up the ballot-box and hur- 
 rahing for Missouri." This was followed by a 
 complete row. The chief events were, the re- 
 moval of the poll-books by Mr. B arson, the 
 capture of the said books by Jones, the choice 
 of two new judges, and the final and signal 
 triumph of Sheriff Jones and his cohort of Mis- 
 sourians, in the proportion of more than ten 
 illegal to one legal vote. The incident which 
 occurred on this occasion to one of the residents 
 of the district, Mr. Mace, I have already in a 
 former chapter narrated. 
 
 A Presbyterian clergyman, the Rev Fred- 
 erick Starr, who was an eye-witness of the 
 fraud and intimidation practised at Leaven- 
 worth city, and has published a statement of 
 this and preceding events, describes a scene by 
 no means rare on the occasion of this election. 
 " Some four days later," he writes, " I was on 
 
262 KANSAS. 
 
 my horse, returning from Platte city to West- 
 on, when four waggons came along, and on the 
 bottom sat six men. A pole, about five feet 
 high, stuck upright at the front of the wag- 
 gon ; on its stop stuck an inverted empty 
 whisky-bottle ; across the stick at right angles 
 was tied a bowie-knife ; a black cambric flag, 
 with a death's-head and bones daubed on in 
 white paint, and a long streamer of beautiful 
 glossy Missouri hemp floated from the pole ; 
 there was a revolver lashed across the pole, 
 and a powder-horn hanging loosely by it. 
 They bore the piratical symbols of Missouri 
 ruffians returning from Kansas." The clergy- 
 man then describes his surprise at being salut- 
 ed by the driver of the waggon as a friend. 
 BcG^rimed with dirt and with an eisrht or nine 
 days' absence from home, he scarcely knew 
 him. But the hand was held out, and to his 
 pain he had to recognize a gentleman well- 
 known and much respected in Platte City, be- 
 longing to the legal profession, son of a dis- 
 tinguished physician, " the most gentlemanly 
 and talented Southerner whom he ever met in 
 the South," with whom, moreover, he had 
 
PROTESTED ELECTIONS. 263 
 
 been associated two months previously in can- 
 vassing the county in favour of a Maine Liquor 
 Law. He was the captain of his party ; they 
 numbered over forty in all ; they had been to 
 vote at Fort Riley, the most distant of the 
 electoral districts, and had had a journey, 
 therefore, of nearly three hundred miles ; they 
 " had had a good time." The clergyman went 
 his way. '• wondering how education, custom, 
 interest, and sin could blind the eyes of God- 
 like intellect, and turn to stone the noblest 
 and most generous hearts." 
 
 Thus was elected the famous Legislature of 
 Kansas, which has since given laws to the ter- 
 ritory, received the sanction of the Federal 
 Government, become the fountain-head of 
 legislative authority, and, backed by United 
 States troops, had ridden rough-shod over the 
 liberties and guaranteed privileges of the peo- 
 ple, by perverting its power to the legalization 
 of the darkest injustice and oppression. 
 
 The returns from six of the districts were set 
 aside by Governor Reeder, on account of mani- 
 fest illegality, and the elections consequently 
 in these districts were not confirmed. Had 
 
264 KANSAS. 
 
 more than four days been allowed for protest- 
 ing against the validity of the returns, and had 
 all persons who might venture so to protest not 
 been threatened with immediate hanging, it is 
 reasonable to suppose that the Governor would 
 have had to deal with other districts in like 
 manner. Failing information, however, he 
 was compelled to grant certificates of election. 
 For the six districts disputed, he ordered new 
 elections for May 22nd. " This infernal scoun- 
 drel will have to be hemped yet," writes the 
 editor of one of the Missouri journals, in com- 
 menting upon this act of the Governor. In 
 one of the contested districts, Leavenworth, 
 the Missourian forces again carried the poll by 
 violence, on the occasion of the new election. 
 In the others, the Free-state settlers alone 
 voted, and of course returned their own candi- 
 dates. 
 
 In the mean time Governor Reeder, — who was 
 far too independent, as well as too honourable 
 a man, to become the pliant tool of the Pro- 
 slavery party, — became increasingly unpopular 
 amongst his democratic friends. Threats of 
 assassination were frequent, if he should dare 
 
PUNISHMENT OF A PRESS. 265 
 
 to refuse his confirmation of the illegal elec- 
 tions. Meetings were held, at which he was 
 declared unfit to be Governor. One or two 
 small attempts were made to elect a Governor 
 in his place, whilst secret plotJ more eflacacious 
 in their nature were laid, by which to bring 
 about his removal. 
 
 The fraudulent election of March 30th left 
 the two parties in Kansas more widely sunder- 
 ed than before. The Free-state people were 
 exasperated through finding themselves merci- 
 lessly trampled upon without a chance of 
 redress. The advocates of slavery made no 
 secret of what they had done : and, as the 
 Missouri journals of that date abundantly show, 
 openly exulted in the triumph Missouri had 
 gained for slavery in Kansas. One newspaper, 
 The Farkville Lwninary, itself an advocate of 
 Pro-slavery principles, yet venturing to demur 
 to the interference of Missouri in the elections of 
 Kansas, was branded as abolitionist and incen- 
 diary ; and on the 14th April, an armed mob 
 came down from Platte City, to inflict sum- 
 mary punishment. They destroyed the press 
 
 and type, throwing^ them into the river, and 
 12 
 
266 KANSAS. 
 
 seized upon the editor, who escaped being 
 lynched only through his wife refusing to be 
 severed from him. 
 
 Tlie illegal Legislature, being now invested 
 with power, proceeded to organize itself, and 
 to commence the exercise of its authority. It 
 assembled, therefore, as ordered by the Gov- 
 ernor, at Pawnee, the highest settlement up 
 the Kaw river, close to Fort Riley, and com- 
 menced its sittings on the 2nd July. One of 
 the prime movers in the Missourian outrage, 
 the Rev. Thomas Johnson of the Shawnee 
 Mission, Vv^as elected President of the Council. 
 The Speakership of the lower house was given 
 to Dr. J. H. Stringfellow. There was one 
 Free-state man in the Council, Mr. Conway. 
 The legislature arranged that matter by expel- 
 ling him, and giving his seat to his Pro-slavery 
 opponent in the election. There remained one 
 white sheep in the House of Representatives, 
 Mr. Houston, returned by the settlers about 
 Big Blue. That gentleman resigned his seat, 
 having no wish to act in a Legislature illegally 
 constituted. The five Free-state members who 
 claimed their seats in consequence of the new 
 
TWO MONTHS OF LAW-MAKING. 267 
 
 election ordered by the Governor in the con- 
 tested districts, were excluded, the Legislature 
 ruling that they were the wrong members, and 
 that the Pro-slavery men were tlie right, to 
 whom accordingly their places were given. 
 Thus was the Kansas Legislature purged of all 
 opposing elements. 
 
 Elected by Missourian votes, and composed 
 almost exclusively of residents of that State, 
 notwithstanding that the law requires the dele- 
 gates to be residents of Kansas, tlie Legislative 
 Assembly sat during the months of July and 
 August, 1855. For the sake of being nearer 
 their home, they removed early in July, in 
 spite of the veto of the Governor, to Shawnee 
 Mission, on the border line of Missouri. There 
 they legislated by day, and at Westport, in 
 Missouri, two miles distant, they carried on 
 their drunken revels at night. 
 
 Being in haste to give a code of laws to 
 Kansas, they transferred into a volume of more 
 than a thousand pages, the greater part of the 
 laws of their own State, substituting the words 
 ''Territory of Kansas" for "State of Missouri." 
 In protection of slavery, they enacted far more 
 
268 KAXSAS. 
 
 rigorous laws than obtain in Missouri, or than 
 were ever before conceived of, making it a 
 felony to utter a word against the institution, 
 or even to have in possession a book or paper 
 wliich denies the ric^ht to hold slaves in Kan- 
 sas. Some of these laws have already been 
 quoted in this volume. It will have been seen 
 that for every copy of a Free-state newspaper 
 which a person might innocently purchase, the 
 law would justify that person's condemnation 
 to penal servitude for two or five years, drag- 
 ging a heavy ball and chain at his ancle, and 
 hired out for labour on the public roads, or for 
 the service of private individuals, at the fixed 
 price of fifty cents per diem. So comprehen- 
 sive did these legislators make their slave code, 
 that by the authority they thus gave them- 
 selves, they could, in a very short time, have 
 made every Free-state man in the territory a 
 chained convict, standing side by side, if they 
 so pleased, with their slaves, and giving years 
 of forced labour for the behoof of their Pro- 
 slavery fellow-citizens. 
 
 The Legislature proceeded also to appoint 
 officers for the Territory. Even the executive 
 
RECIPROCITY. 269 
 
 and judiciary were made to hold office from it- 
 self; and a Board of Commissioners chosen by 
 the Legislature, instead of the inhabitants 
 themselves, was empowered to appoint the 
 sheriffs, justices of the peace, constables, and 
 all otlier officers in the various counties into 
 which the territory was divided. 
 
 Every member of succeeding Legislatures, 
 every judge of election, every voter, must 
 swear to his faithfulness on the test-questions 
 of shivery. Every officer in the territory, 
 judicial, executive, or legislative, every at- 
 torney admitted to practise in the courts, every 
 juryman weighing evidence on the rights of 
 slaveholders, must attest his soundness in the 
 interest of slaver}^ and his readiness to endorse 
 its most repugnant measures. 
 
 For further security, the members of the 
 Assembly submitted their enactments to the 
 Chief Justice for confirmation. This judicial 
 confirmation was gratefully given; all they 
 had done was declared legal. And the sheriffs 
 and other local officers appointed by the Legis- 
 lature, were equally ready with their aid in the 
 execution of these unjust laws. 
 
270 KANSAS. 
 
 There was a wonderful reciprocity in all 
 this. Still more will this be evident, on the 
 perusal of the hundred and forty pages of acts 
 of incorporation, passed by the Legislative As- 
 sembly, by virtue of which joint-stock com- 
 panies are called into being, and charters given 
 to railway, mining, insurance, land-holding 
 and other companies, to toll-bridges, ferries, 
 plank-roads, even universities, beyond all that 
 the territory can require for many years to 
 come. In these public trusts, the champions of 
 the Pro-slavery cause have a monopoly of power 
 for years conferred upon them. And, whilst 
 the members of the Legislature have more 
 than amply repaid themselves, they have also, 
 by a judicious introduction of other names into 
 their grants, bound to themselves four or five 
 hundred individuals, who, as favoured grantees, 
 have become interested in upholding those laws 
 upon the legality of which their grants depend. 
 
CHANGE OF GOVERNOR. S?! 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Removal of Governor Reeder.— Appointment of Governor 
 Shannon.— Character of the two Governors contrasted. — 
 Shannon's Declaration of Political Views.— Organization of 
 the Free-state Party.— Independent Action to form a State 
 Government. — Public Sentiment among the Southern Party. 
 —Outrages.— A Clergyman floated on the Missouri.— Mur- 
 der.— Slackness of the Law.— Singular Use of Judicial 
 Power. 
 
 In consequence of the removal of the Houses 
 of Legislature from the place he had designated 
 as the capital, Governor Reeder declared their 
 proceedings irregular and void. This height- 
 ened the enmity his impartial and cautious 
 conduct had already aroused against him. He 
 had been many times threatened with hanging, 
 shooting, stabbing, and other forms of death ; 
 and he had been knocked down and kicked by 
 General Stringfellow, while sitting in his office, 
 and without having oftered any offence. His 
 removal, however, was essential to the success 
 of the Missourian party. To effect this, there- 
 
272 KANSAS. 
 
 fore, they had used their influence with the 
 federal Government; and, on a charge of some 
 purchasers of land from the Kaw Indians, in 
 the matter of which he appears to have been 
 perfectly innocent, Andrew Reeder was, in the 
 month of July, 1855, removed by President 
 Pierce from the governorship of Kansas. 
 
 Eeeder's successor in office was Wilson Shan- 
 non, who arrived in the territory on the 1st of 
 September. In their new governor, the slavery 
 party had a man after their own heart. He 
 had formerly been governor of Ohio, and had 
 held other high positions. But he had also 
 seen rough life, and learned rough practices, in 
 California and Mexico ; and it; would be diffi- 
 cult to conceive of a man more undignified in 
 his whole conduct, or more ill-fitted by natu- 
 ral qualifications for the responsibilities attach- 
 ing to a country's rule. 
 
 Shannon was the direct contrast to Reeder, 
 as well adapted to satisfy the wishes of the 
 Missourians, as his predecessor was the reverse. 
 Reeder was so firm in purpose and in act, that 
 it was vain to seek to turn him from his own 
 convictions. *' Gentlemen," he said on one 
 
GOVERNOR SHANNON S SENTIMENTS. 273 
 
 occasion, when, shortly after the election of 
 March, he was waited u[»on by a Pro-slavery 
 deputation, who informed him that he must 
 grant their candidates certificates of election or 
 die — " Gentlemen, two or three of you can 
 assassinate me, but a legion cannot compel me 
 to do that which my conscience does not ap- 
 prove." Shannon, on the other hand, w^as so 
 weak and pliable in the hands of those to w^hom 
 he had surrendered himself, that they could shape 
 his conduct perfectly at will. The first governor 
 of Kansas, notwithstanding that he came as 
 a man of the administration, was rem>arkable 
 for his moderation and impartiality ; he wished 
 apparently to put into practice the principle 
 of squatter sovereignty, according to the pure 
 and perfect ideal in which it had theoretically 
 presented itself to him. The second governor 
 saw in squatter sovereignty only another word 
 for the domination of the slave power, — never 
 so much as attempted to be moderate or impar- 
 tial, and was prepared for the darkest tyranny 
 that ever disgraced human rule. Reeder w^as 
 ever reticent, and cautious of committing him- 
 self. Shannon was open and free ; came 
 12* 
 
274 KANSAS. 
 
 committed, and never intended it should be 
 otherwise. The first declined the invitations 
 made to him when he assumed office in the 
 territory, and thereby saved his independence, 
 as well as kept himself sober, although from 
 that moment he fell in Missourian esteem. 
 The second governor of Kansas accepted the 
 hospitalities and convivialities of the Missouri- 
 ans in Westport the night before he entered the 
 territory, displayed that love of good cheer 
 which seems never to forsake him, and in the 
 course of his speeches defined his intended 
 policy in Kansas, with a point and plainness of 
 speech which left his Missourian entertainers 
 nothing to desire. " The enactments of your 
 Legislature," he said, addressing the people of 
 Missouri, *' are valid, and I have the will, and 
 am clothed wnth the power, to employ what- 
 ever force is necessary to carry them into 
 execution ; and I call upon yoti (again, the 
 people of Missouri), to sustain me in the dis- 
 charge of this duty." " As to slavery," writes 
 the Missouri Democrat in reporting his speech, 
 *' he had no intention, he said, of changing his 
 political faith ; he thought, with reference to 
 
FREE-STATE GOVERNMENT ORGANIZED. 275 
 
 slavery, that as Missouri and Kansas were ad- 
 joining States, it would be w^ell if their insti- 
 tutions should harmonize, otherwise there 
 would be continual quarrels and border feuds. 
 He vas for slavery in Kansas, (Loud cheers.)" 
 During the same month in wiiich Governor 
 Shannon commenced his administration, the 
 Free-state party, as an independent political 
 body, w^as organized. From their new^ gov- 
 ernor the Free-state people saw that they had 
 nothing but high-handed oppression to expect ; 
 to the Federal power which they had memori- 
 alized in the hope of obtaining justice, they 
 looked in vain for redress ; the law of the 
 territory defined their opinions as felonious, at 
 least if put into language, and condemned their 
 acts as rebellious and treasonable. They, 
 therefore, held their mass-meetings and con- 
 ventions, passed resolutions without number, 
 and, treating the fraudulent Legislature as spu- 
 rious and consequently unpossessed of legisla- 
 tiv^e authority, they availed themselves of the 
 right of American citizens to assemble together 
 in a peaceable manner to make provision for 
 their own government. Thus w^as set on foot 
 
276 KANSAS. 
 
 the Free-state organization, which, whether 
 constitutional or otherwise in its mode of 
 action, has brought itself into competition with 
 the territorial authorit}^ and given rise to the 
 double governorship, double judiciary, double 
 legislature, doable militia, and in general, double 
 claim to obedience, w4iich has constituted so 
 peculiar a feature in the politics of Kansas. 
 
 The Territorial Legislature had appointed 
 Oct. 1, for the election of the delegate to Con- 
 gress. The Free-state party, repudiating the 
 acts of the Legislature, appointed Oct. 9 for 
 the same purpose. General Whitfield, as be- 
 fore, was elected on the one occasion, Missouri- 
 ans again having the chief share in the polling. 
 Andrev/ Reeder, the late Governor, was elected 
 on the other, by a large vote from tbe Free- 
 state population. The two candidates w^ere 
 sent, therefore, to Washington, to contest the 
 seat. Delegates were also chosen to represent 
 the Free-state people in Kansas at a conven- 
 tion for the purpose of framing a constitution. 
 This convention met at Topeka between Oct. 
 23 and Nov. 11, and framed a constitution em- 
 bodying Free-state views, under which applJ 
 
ABOLITIONIST BLOOD. 277 
 
 cation was made to Congress for the admission 
 of Kansas into the confederacy as a State. In 
 the following month the people voted upon 
 and adopted this constitution ; in January, 
 1856, they elected their Governor and other 
 State officers, as well as a Senate and House of 
 Representatives; on March 4, the State Gov- 
 ernment was organized, and the Legislature 
 met to adopt a memorial to the Federal Gov- 
 ernment, and to adjourn till July; and at the 
 same time they received the President's special 
 message and subsequent proclamation, in which 
 their movement was denounced as rebellion, 
 and power was granted to Governor Shannon 
 to employ the United States troops for the 
 suppression of every movement which placed 
 itself in opposition to the Territorial Legisla- 
 ture, although that Legislature owed its exist- 
 ence to force and fraud. 
 
 Thus far the history of the eiiorts of the 
 Free-state party to organize a State Govern- 
 ment, in relating which I have anticipated by 
 a little the narrative of the course of events 
 generally in the Territory. 
 
 Possessing a code of laws which would jus- 
 
278 KANSAS. 
 
 tify the extermination of every Free-soiler in 
 the Territory, and having obtained in Wilson 
 Shannon a Governor ready from the heart to 
 execute those laws, the Slavery party had little 
 to interrupt its designs. The vow was often 
 expressed that "Missouri river should run red 
 with the blood of Abolitionists." The Squat- 
 ter Sovercigji uttered the feeling of the South- 
 ern party in words that admit of no second 
 meaning : — 
 
 "It is silly to suppose for an instant that 
 there can be peace in Kansas as long as one 
 enemy of the South lives upon her soil, or one 
 single specimen of an Abolitionist treads in the 
 sunlight of Kansas territory." 
 
 Again, the editor of the same organ waxes 
 yet warmer : — 
 
 " We are determined to repel this Northern 
 invasion, and make Kansas a Slave State ; 
 though our rivers should be covered with the 
 blood of their victims, and the carcasses of the 
 Abolitionists should be so numerous in the ter- 
 ritory as to breed disease and sickness, we will 
 not be deterred from our purpose." 
 
 During the autumn of 1855, many enormi- 
 
A CLERGYMAN FLOATED. 279 
 
 ties were committed by the warm adherents of 
 slavery. But none probably was more revolt- 
 ingly cruel than their treatment of a Western 
 preacher, the Rev. Pardee Butler. This gen- 
 tleman unfortunately set foot in the violently 
 Pro-slavery town of Atchison. His sentiments 
 were known, and for the purpose of proving 
 them, and obtaining a pretext for the intended 
 assault, a number of the " most respectable 
 citizens" requested his signature to some Pro- 
 slavery resolutions. He declined to give it. 
 This was his crime. He was hurried away to 
 the river, painted, lashed to some logs, and 
 floated down the rapid tide. 
 
 But let the editor of the Sguatter Sovereign 
 tell the tale in his own words, for he was no 
 passive spectator of the scene, and his own 
 account of what his own hands took part in 
 doing, will assuredly not err on the side of ex- 
 aggeration. 
 
 "After the various plans for his disposal had 
 been considered, it was finally decided to place 
 him on a raft, composed of two logs firmly 
 lashed together ; that his baggage and a loaf 
 of bread be given him ; and, having attached a 
 
2^0 KANSAS. 
 
 flag to his primitive bark, emblazoned with 
 mottoes indicative of our contempt for such 
 characters, Mr. Butler was set adrift on the 
 great Missouri, with the letter R legibly paint- 
 ed on his forehead. 
 
 "He was escorted some distance down the 
 river by several of our citizens, who, seeing 
 him pass several rack-heaps in quite a skilful 
 manner, bade him adieu and returned to At- 
 chison. 
 
 " Such treatment may be expected by all 
 scoundrels visiting our town for the purpose of 
 interfering with our time-honoured institutions, 
 and the same punishment we will be happy to 
 award all Freesoilers, Abolitionists, and other 
 emissaries." 
 
 Thus was a minister of the Gospel treated, 
 against whom no heavier charge could be 
 alleged, than that his opinions w^ere not 
 favourable to the extension of slavery. Mr. 
 Butler fortunately esca[)ed wdth his life, and 
 from his own account w^e learn that the follow- 
 ing were some of the mottoes emblazoned on 
 his flag : — " The way they are served in Kansas." 
 "Cargo insured, — unavoidable danger of the 
 Missourians and the Missouri river excepted." 
 
A FREE-STATE MAN SHOT. 281 
 
 " Let future emissaries from the North beware. 
 Our hemp crop is sufficient to reward all such 
 scoundrels." 
 
 Two months later, Mr. Collins, who owned a 
 saw-mill at Doniphan, was shot on similar 
 political grounds, by a violent Pro-slavery man, 
 named Patrick Laughlin. Pat came, it is said, 
 originally from Ireland, and had rendered him- 
 self famous by an exposure, as it was termed, 
 of the Kansas Legion. Laughlin was aided in 
 this attack by three or four armed associates, 
 and Mr. Collins' sons were present, and sought 
 to defend their father. There was a consider- 
 able interchange of bowie-knife cuts and pistol- 
 firing on this occasion, and the murderer himself 
 was wounded. But the victim being a Free- 
 state man, the law took no cognizance of the 
 murder, and Laughlin found protection, and 
 was rewarded by a situation in a shop in 
 Atchison. 
 
 This reference to the slackness of the law 
 suggests the remark that, through the whole 
 course of the Kansas struggle, the idea of hold- 
 ing office for the administration of justice seems 
 never to have entered the minds of those hold- 
 
282 KANSAS. 
 
 ing the legal appointments in the territory. 
 They were appointed — whether judges, mar- 
 shals, sheriffs, or constables — by a certain party 
 whicli through fraud had got into power, for 
 the extermination of the other party. The 
 power of arrest, the power of imprisonment, 
 the power of hanging, was theirs only that 
 they might arrest, imprison, or hang Free-state 
 men. Hence, jnurderers, if they have only 
 murdered in behalf of slavery, have gone 
 unpunished ; whilst hundreds liave been made 
 to suffer for no other crime tlian the suspicion 
 of entertaining Free-state sentiments. 
 
MURDER AT MID-DAY. 283 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Murder of Dow. — The Guilty acquitted, the Innocent arrested. 
 — The Midnight Rescue.— Rally to Arms. — The Wakarusa 
 War. — Position of the Encampments. — First Siege of Law- 
 rence. — Its Defence.— Amusing Incidents. — Mournful Events. 
 — The Treaty of Lawrence. — Peace Festivities. — Disbanding 
 of the Ruffian Forces. — Discontent. — Barbarous Treatment 
 of Prisoners. — Murder of Mr. Brown. — Fiendish Cruelty. 
 
 It Avas in the month of November, however, 
 that the great outburst of legalized violence 
 commenced, since which time the rule of 
 bloodshed and crime has not ceased. On the 
 21st of that month, in open day, a Pro-slavery 
 man named Coleman, living at Hickory Point, 
 shot dead his Free-state neighbour, Dow, as he 
 passed his cabin door. Dow's body lay in the 
 road, where it fell, till night, when Branson, at 
 whose house Dow boarded, carried it home. 
 The Free-state men were naturally indignant 
 at the murder, and held a meeting on the sub- 
 ject. Coleman, being alarmed, fled to the Gov- 
 
2S4 KANSAS. 
 
 ernor. His murder being on the right side, his 
 act was politically a work of merit. The Free- 
 state men, however, followed him, and insisted 
 on his arrest. The anthorities refused either 
 to issue a warrant, or to examine the murderer. 
 On the other hand, Jones, the Sheriff, obtained 
 a warrant for tiie arrest of Branson, whose only 
 offence was that he had shown respect to the 
 dead body of Dow. Summoning a posse of 
 about twenty-five men, including two who were 
 parties to the murder of the morning, Jones 
 rode across to the scene of the murder, and 
 reaching it at night, entered the cabin of the 
 unoffending Branson. Finding him in bed, the 
 sheriff drew his pistol, cocked it, and holding 
 it at Branson's breast, said, " You are my pris- 
 oner, and if you move I will blow you through." 
 The other men cocked their guns, and gathering 
 around Branson, took him prisoner. As they 
 were riding off with their prisoner, some Free- 
 state men who had heard of the deed, came up 
 to the party and rescued Branson, without, 
 however, shedding blood. 
 
 This transaction gave rise to what is known 
 in Kansas as the " Wakarusa War." Jones, 
 
RALLY TO ARMS. 28S 
 
 immediately after the rescue of Branson, wrote 
 to Governor Shannon that an open rebellion 
 had commenced on the part of the Free-state 
 men, that he had been forcibly interfered with 
 in the discharge of his duties, and that he 
 expected the Governor to furnish him with a 
 force of three thousand men, to aid him in the 
 execution of the law. The Governor then 
 issued a proclamation, calling on all to rally to 
 arms in order to suppress the rising rebellion. 
 He wrote to Eichardson, Eastin, and Strickler, 
 Generals of thenew Territorial Militia, to collect 
 all the forces they could command, and to place 
 them at Sheriff Jones' disposal ; whilst all the 
 border-counties of Missouri were canvassed and 
 taxed to supply men and arms for the new 
 campaign. 
 
 The town of Lawrence, which had no share 
 in the rescue of Branson, and whose only olFence 
 was that it was inhabited for the most part by 
 Free-state people, was declared by the Gover- 
 nor to be in insurrection. By the Governor's 
 own admission, not a single warrant was in the 
 hand of any officer against any one of the citi- 
 zens of Lawrence. But as the main object was 
 
2S6 KANSAS. 
 
 to *' wipe out the Yankee city," the forces that 
 were enrolled were gathered at different points 
 around Lawrence. In this manner an encamp- 
 ment was formed on the west, at Lecompton ; 
 a second, under General Atchison's command, 
 toward the north, on the opposite side of the 
 river ; but the principal encampment was that 
 on the eastern side, below Franklin, on the 
 Wakarusa Creek, which has given its name to 
 the campaign. 
 
 From Franklin, which stands upon the edge 
 of the prairie-level, a grassy slope descends 
 towards the stream, from which it is separated 
 by the thick belting of timber which skirts the 
 creek. In this bottom and timber-land, the 
 lawless forces were herded, as day by day they 
 came in succession from the Missouri border- 
 towns. All passers-by were arrested, so that 
 Lawrence was shut oiT from communication 
 with the east. Acts of assault were numerous ; 
 drunkenness was universal and incessant. They 
 possessed cannon, rifles, powder, and ammuni- 
 tion of every kind, some of which had been 
 forcibly taken by order of one of the judges 
 from the United States arsenal at Liberty, ni 
 
THE WAKARUSA WAR. 287 
 
 Missouri. " These men," as Governor Shan- 
 non subsequently stated, "came to the Waka- 
 rusa camp to tight ; they did not ask peace ; it 
 was war — war to the knife." In another state- 
 ment, referring to this rabble liost, the Gover- 
 nor says with enthusiasm, " Missouri sent not 
 only her young men, but her gray-headed citi- 
 zens were there ; the man of seventy winters 
 stood shoulder to shoulder with the youth of 
 sixteen." In all, Governor Shannon admits 
 that there were as many as fifteen hundred men 
 under arms, collected by the 1st or 2nd Decem- 
 ber. They continued to flow in after that date, 
 and only waited until they felt themselves suf- 
 liciently strong in number, to make the longed- 
 for attack upon Lawrence. 
 
 Within Lawrence, arming, drilling, fortifying, 
 meeting-holding, and resolution-passing, went 
 on continually amongst its Free-state inhabit- 
 ants. Dr. Kobinson was appointed Commander- 
 in-Chief, and urged ever moderation and caution ; 
 General Lane, his associate in command, in- 
 spirited his soldiers, and prepared them to stand 
 boldly at the expected blow. Many strange 
 incidents occurred during this anxious time. 
 
2SS KANSAS. 
 
 Some were curious, as, for example, the con- 
 veyance of the brass howitzer from Kansas City 
 in a box, in the course of which, being *' stalled 
 down" in ascending from the ford, a party of 
 border-ruffians, who stopped to question, were 
 induced by the Yankee-driver of the team to 
 help him out of his difficulty, and to forego their 
 examination of his questionable merchandize. 
 No less amusing was the stratagem of two intre- 
 pid Lawrence ladies, who, in order to replenish 
 the supplies of gunpowder and rifle-caps, found 
 space for two kegs of the former, and a quanti- 
 ty of caps and lead, beneath the wide circum- 
 ference of their fashionable dresses, and walled 
 round with combustible, safely passed the ruf- 
 fian patrol, and reached the city with their 
 precious charge. 
 
 But other events were of a sadly diffiirent 
 character. Most mournful of all was the shoot- 
 ing of poor Thomas Barber, and the distracting 
 grief of his widow. For no fault of his own, 
 except that he was on the road when General 
 Richardson, Judge Cato, Judge Wood, Colonel 
 Burns, Major Clarke, and some others were 
 passing, he was shot. Burns and Clarke were 
 
INCIDENTS OF THE CAMPAIGN. 289 
 
 the two by whom the death-stroke was given, 
 for they both shot him ; but as he continued to 
 keep his saddle for some minutes, the others, 
 judges and generals as they were, joined in the 
 pursuit of his two companions and the sinking 
 body, until one of these, the brother of poor 
 Barber, unable longer to sustain the lifeless 
 corpse, left it on the road, and the two, press- 
 ing forward their horses, saved their lives by 
 flight. And who was to arrest the murderers ? 
 No one. A judge of the Supreme Court, hold- 
 ing office by Federal appointment, was of the 
 party, an approving spectator, if not an actor 
 in the outrage. Higher legal sanction could 
 not be given. 
 
 Fortunately for humanity, Governor Shan- 
 non, who is almost as weak as he is t3a'annical, 
 became frightened of the lawless host he had 
 collected around Lawrence, and finding Colonel 
 Sumner unwilling to aid him without definite 
 instructions from the Government, he concluded 
 a treaty of peace with the leaders of the Free- 
 state party. This was on Sunday, the 9tli 
 December, twelve days after the issue of his 
 
 proclamation of war. The treaty was signed 
 13 
 
290 KANSAS. 
 
 at Lawrence by Governor Shannon on the one 
 hand, and Generals Robinson and Lane on the 
 other. The following day, the people of Law- 
 rence invited their late besiegers to a supper 
 and dance, and celebrated the pacification by 
 joyous festivities. The Governor, however, 
 did not wait for these convivialities. To show 
 liow true his heart was, and how friendly his 
 feelings, he drank the health of every Free-state 
 man that came into the Cincinnati House. As 
 he went his way, with Jones and others as an 
 escort, he is reported by Mr. Phillips the corre- 
 epondent of the New York Tribune, to have 
 explained hov/ his character was misappre- 
 hended by the people of Lawrence. " Now, 
 ge — entlemen, you — hie — you don't understand 
 me. You all abuse me, but — hie — but it's be — 
 because you don't know me. Get to know 
 me right — hie — well, and you'll — hie — you'll 
 find I'm a — hie — I'm a h — 11 of a fellow." 
 
 The news of the pacification was received 
 with much indignation by the rabble forces 
 collected at the Wakarusa camp. Governor 
 Shannon was accused of having played false, 
 and many talked of lynching him. However. 
 
DISBANDING OF THE FORCES. 291 
 
 the orders came from the Governor to disband 
 the forces, and neither Atchison nor Stringfel- 
 low durst lead them on to the attack of Law 
 rence, much as they wished it, when not 
 shiekled by the territorial authority. Above 
 all, the whiskey was, as the Western men say, 
 *' a'most gi'n out" — a circumstance which was 
 of itself sufficient to cause the abandonment of 
 the enterprise; and the cold had become so 
 intense, that even their great camp-fires scarcely 
 sufficed to make the exposure endurable. The 
 consequence was that the camp on the Waka- 
 rusa was broken up ; the forces retired in like 
 manner from Lecompton and the left bank of 
 the Kaw ; and the first campaign in Kansas had 
 reached its termination. 
 
 To those accustomed to more settled methods 
 of government, it may seem incomprehensible 
 that a town should be surrounded by a besieg- 
 ing army, and should have more than fifteen 
 hundred men placed under arms against it 
 by the ruling power, when no crime had been 
 committed against the State by any of its 
 inhabitants, when not a single legal warrant 
 was in existence against any of the people, and 
 
292 KANSAS. 
 
 when they testified their readiness to give up 
 to the proper officers any person against whom 
 such warrants might be issued. Yet such was 
 the position of Lawrence. The Committee of 
 Investigation, after fully weighing all the testi- 
 mony upon the subject, reported that they could 
 see " no reason, excuse, or palliation" for the 
 feeling of hostility evinced in this invasion of 
 Lawrence. 
 
 Of the gross cruelty which was practised 
 against those of the Free-state men who fell 
 into the hands of the officers of the territory, it 
 may suffice to present one example out of 
 many — that relating to the arrest of Dr. Cutler 
 and Mr. Warren. I have heard very full 
 accounts of this transaction, but prefer giving 
 it in the words of the Congressional Commit- 
 tee : — 
 
 "They were taken without cause or war- 
 rant, sixty miles from Lawrence, and when Dr. 
 Cutler was quite sick.* They were compelled 
 
 * The place of arrest was iu the neighbourhood of Doni- 
 phan, where Dr. Cutler resided. He was returning home 
 after a severe illness, from which he had endeavored to 
 recruit himself by a stay at Dr. Robinsou's house in Law- 
 rence. 
 
TREATMENT OF PRISONERS. 293 
 
 to go to the camp at Lecompton, and were put 
 into the custody of Sheriff Jones, who had no 
 process to arrest them. They vv^ere taken into 
 a small room, kept as a liquor-shop, w^hicli was 
 open and very cold. That night Jones came in 
 with others, and went to * playing poker at 
 twenty-five cents ante.' The prisoners were 
 obliged to sit up all night, as there was no 
 room to lie down when the men were playing. 
 Jones insulted them frequently, and told one 
 of them he must either • tell or swing.' The 
 guard then objected to this treatment of pris- 
 oners, and Jones desisted. G. F. Warren thus 
 describes their subsequent conduct : ' They 
 then carried us down to their camp. Kelly, 
 of the SquaUcr Sovereign, who lives in Atchison, 
 came round and said he thirsted for blood, and 
 said he should like to hang us on the first tree. 
 Cutler was very weak, and that excited him 
 so that he became delirious. They sent for 
 three doctors, who came. Dr. Stringfellow 
 was one of them. They remained there with 
 Cutler until after midnight, and then took 
 him up to the office, as it was very cold in 
 camp.' " 
 
 Of the many acts of infamy which occurred 
 during the short interval between the termina- 
 tion of the Wakarusa War and the opening of 
 
294 KANSAS. 
 
 the second campaign already described in the 
 early chapters of this volume, I will only refer 
 to one, which occurred in January, 1856 ; this 
 was the murder of Mr. Brown, of Leavenworth. 
 Mr. Brown's offence was, that he had rescued a 
 Free-state man from the hands of a party of 
 ruffians who were about to take his life. Whilst 
 thus acting, a band of Kickapoo Rangers arrived, 
 armed as usual v/ith their rifles and hatchets. A 
 fight of some hours' duration ensued, notwith- 
 standing that it was night ; wounds were given 
 on both sides, and a Pro-slavery man, named 
 Cook, fell in the encounter. After this, Mr. 
 Brown, returning with seven others to Leaven- 
 worth, was again attacked by the company of 
 the Rangers, by whom they were taken prison- 
 ers and carried into a shop in Easton. There 
 some of the citizens of the place joined in the 
 outrage. The Captain of the Rangers did his 
 best for a time to protect Mr. Brown. At 
 length, however, he left him, w^ien the crowd, 
 infuriated by liquor, surrounded their victim, 
 and taking their hatchets literally hacked him 
 to death. The wound of which he died was a 
 deep iiatchet-gash on the side of the head, in- 
 
phesidential moderation. 295 
 
 flicted by a man named Gibson. Poor Brown 
 lingered long enough after the fatal blow to 
 suffer yet more exquisite refinements of cruelty, 
 whilst the ruthless savages kicked him, jumped 
 upon his fallen body, spat tobacco-juice into 
 his eyes, and barbarously mutilated his body. 
 
 This murder was again on the right side of 
 politics, and no attempt therefore was made to 
 bring to justice the perpetrators of the foul 
 deed. Many, however, are well known. Some 
 were officers of the law ; one of the most re- 
 fined in cruelty has already been mentioned in 
 these pages as the United States Deputy Mar- 
 shal ; and others were of "the most respecta- 
 ble" inhabitants of the place. 
 
 It is difficult to believe that, after acts of 
 such enormity, the President declared in his 
 message on Kansas, that '^ no acts prejudicial 
 to good order have occurred under circum- 
 stances to justify the interposition of the federal 
 government." 
 
296 KANSAS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Change in Popular Feeling after the Destruction of Lawrence. 
 — Retaliation. — Massacre at Osawatomie. — Personal Experi- 
 ence. — Battles of Black Jack and Franklin. — Sack of Osa- 
 watomie. — Road-side Horrors. — Hanging. — Repulsion of 
 Northern Immigrants. — A Barbarous Wager. — Murder and 
 Scalping. — The Atrocity Completed. — August. — Murder of 
 Major Hoyt. — Burning of Pro-slavery Forts. — Colonel Titus 
 Seized and Liberated. — Treaty of Peace. — Militia Called 
 Out. — Proclamation of Rebellion, — •' The Army of Law and 
 Order in Kansas Territory." — Second Fight at Osawato- 
 mie. — General Lane's Free-state Army. — Expulsion of the 
 Free-state Inhabitants of Leavenworth. — The President's 
 Messages. 
 
 The events described in the preceding chapters 
 bring the history of the contest in Kansas 
 down to the spring of 1856. The still more 
 stirring events which succeeded have ah'eady 
 been described in the chapters of personal nar- 
 rative, with which this volume commenced. 
 The later history of the territory claims a brief 
 notice. 
 
 The attack and burning of Lawrence wrought 
 
THE CAMPAIGN OP 1S56. 297 
 
 a great change in popular feeling. Of this 
 many evidences came under my owii observa- 
 tion. " We will stand it no longer," was the 
 substance of what I heard on every side from 
 the Free-state adherents. Before I left, it had 
 become the universal conviction, alike of the 
 Pro-slavery and the Free-state party, that a 
 civil war had fairly commenced ; and this convic- 
 tion was shared in even by those in authority. 
 The territory was placed, not under martial 
 law, but under territorial law maintained by 
 the United States forces ; and the well-mounted 
 dragoons from Fort Leavenworth might be 
 seen stationed at various points along the val- 
 ley of the Kaw, to sustain the authority of the 
 governor. At the same moment came the 
 new^s from Washington of the outrage commit- 
 ted in the Senate chamber upon the person of 
 Mr. Sumner. I w^ell remember the effect this 
 had upon many, who concluded that the rule 
 of force and violence had been fairly inaugu- 
 rated even in the highest places of the land, 
 and w^as no longer restricted to the lawless in- 
 habitants of the frontier. Bands of men under 
 military command paraded the streets of Lea- 
 
 13* 
 
298 KANSAS. 
 
 venworth ; others guarded the points of egress 
 from the city. They held lists in their hands, 
 containing the names of Free-state men, whom 
 they made rapid work of seizing and placing in 
 confinement. The Committee of Investigation, 
 although holding appointment from Congress, 
 found itself compelled to interrupt its sittings. 
 Every hour brought intelligence of some fresh 
 deed of violence or wrong. 
 
 The exasperation, however, wrought in the 
 minds of the Free-state men, led to many acts 
 of retaliation. Convinced that a civil war had 
 begun, they ceased in many places to hesitate, 
 and boldly met the sword by the sword, vio- 
 lence by violence. The marauding bands of 
 Pro-slavery men, who had been long scouring 
 the country and committing inhuman outrages 
 upon all who were politically obnoxious, were 
 met by guerrilla parties on the Free-state side, 
 whose repeating fire-arms frequently proved 
 more than a match for the heavy, long-barrel- 
 led Mississippi guns of their opponents. At 
 Osawatomie a horrible massacre took place, of 
 which the actual circumstances will probably 
 never be known. I was at Leavenworth when 
 
THE SV/ORD MET BT THE SVv'OHD, 299 
 
 it happened ; but as far as I could ascertain, a 
 fight had occurred between half a dozen Pro- 
 slavery nien and as many or more of the oppo- 
 site party. Ever}^ Pro-slavery man w^as left 
 dead, as well as three of the Free-state men. 
 At the time when this took place, the spirit 
 which pervaded the minds of both parties in 
 that district, was one of war even to extermi- 
 nation. As long as I remained in the Terri- 
 tory, outrages and bloodshed were of daily, fre- 
 quently much more than daily occurrence. It 
 were easy to fill many chapters with the details. 
 
 There was not unanimity, however, in the 
 Free-state councils ; for, whilst one portion 
 engaged in open warfare, especially with a 
 viev/ to the recovery of stolen horses and other 
 property, others* adhered to the last to their 
 former policy of non-resistance, and held meet- 
 ings, made speeches, and passed resolutions, 
 condemnatory of the active measures of their 
 brother Free-state men. 
 
 Thus ended May, iS56, and June came in 
 with a continuance of the same measures of 
 
 * And much the larger portion, including al! the original 
 Isaders of the Free-state party.— Asf. Er> 
 
SOO KANSAS. 
 
 hostility and frequent collision. On the 2nd 
 of June occurred the battle of Black Jack, near 
 Palmyra ; on the night of the 4th occurred that 
 of Franklin. Each of these terminated favour- 
 ably to the Free-state men. On the 8th oc- 
 curred the sack of Osawatomie ; its offence, 
 like that of Lawrence, being that it v/as in- 
 habited by Free-state settlers. This abomi- 
 nable outrage was effected by some Missouri 
 companies, which General Whitfield had or- 
 ganized, and was making use of in various 
 parts south of the Kaw^ Colonel Sumner was 
 on the field, also, with his dragoons, during all 
 the early part of June, endeavoring to restore 
 order and prevent collisions. Why the attack 
 was permitted, however, on the defenceless 
 town of Osawatomie, does not appear. 
 
 On the ]-oad in the neighborhood of West- 
 port and Kansas City, outrages were of daily 
 occurrence at the time I left the Territory. 
 Companies of armed plunderers, under Captain 
 Pate and other leaders, used to camp out near 
 the Lawrence road, and attack all Free-state 
 men who might fall into their hands. One 
 ISIew England man, by name Barlow, they 
 
IIOAD-SIDE HORRORS. 
 
 301 
 
 proceeded to hang on the bough of a tree as 
 an Abolitionist, and, with the rope around his 
 neck, raised him from the ground. But one 
 of their number induced them to relent, having 
 extorted from the poor man, who had settled 
 in Lawrence, a promise that he would leave 
 the Territory within twelve hours ; and having 
 also robbed him of his oxen, waggon, and 
 goods. He, therefore, lived to tell the tale. 
 But many were not so fortunate, and oftener 
 than once or twice dead bodies were found 
 dangling from the boughs of trees, or murdered 
 and mutilated forms discovered by the bare 
 road-side. 
 
 Towards the end of June, the Pro-slavery 
 men adopted the system of stopping all the 
 parties of emigrants from the free States, and, 
 after robbing them, sending them back whence 
 they came. In the following month, the pas- 
 sage through the State of Missouri was wholly 
 interdicted to men of northern views ; armed 
 forces were stationed and batteries erected on 
 the river-side ; hence the only approach from 
 the north was by a tedious route through Iowa 
 and Nebraska. 
 
302 KANSAS. 
 
 Individual instances of barbarity continued 
 to occur almost daily. In one instance, a man 
 belonging to General Atchison's camp made a 
 bet of six dollars against a pair of boots, that 
 he would go out and return with an Abolition- 
 ist's scalp within two hours. He went forth 
 on horseback. Before he had gone two miles 
 from Leavenworth on the road to Lawrence, 
 he met a Mr. Hops, driving a buggy. Mr. 
 Hops was a gentleman of high respectability, 
 who had come with his wife, a few days pre- 
 viously, to join her brother, the Rev. Mr. Nute, 
 of Boston, who had for some time been labour- 
 ing as a minister in Lawrence. The ruffian 
 asked Mr. Hops where he came from. He re- 
 plied, he was last from Lawrence. Enough ! 
 The ruffian drew his revolver and shot him 
 through the head. As the body fell from the 
 chaise, he dismounted, took his knife, scalped 
 his victim, and then returned to Leavenw^orth, 
 where, having won his boots, he paraded the 
 streets with the bleeding scalp of the murdered 
 man stuck upon a pole. This was on the 19th 
 August of last year. Eight days later, when 
 the widow, who had been left at Lawrence 
 
ACTS OP ATROCITY AND RETALIATION. 303 
 
 sick, was brought down by the Eev. Mr. Nute, 
 in the hope of recovering the body of the mur* 
 dered husband, the whole party, consisting of 
 about twenty persons in five waggons, was 
 seized, robbed of all they had, and placed in 
 confinement. One was shot the next day for 
 attempting to escape. The widow and one or 
 two others were allowed to depart by steamer, 
 but penniless. A German incautiously con- 
 demning the outrage, was shot; and another 
 saved his life only by precipitate flight. 
 
 To narrate the history of these summer 
 months, would be to present a succession of 
 similar atrocities, committed under the name 
 of law, and " with a view to maintain public 
 order in the territory." 
 
 During the month of August alone, besides 
 the brutal homicide just mentioned, there oc- 
 curred another in which a company of Geor- 
 gians, in their vengeance against Mayor Hoyt, 
 fairly riddled his body with their bullets. This 
 took place at a fort on Washington Creek, 
 which was one of a number of military posts 
 that had been erected in different parts, and 
 garrisoned by southern bands. The murder 
 
304 KANSAS. 
 
 led to retaliation. The Free-state men burned 
 the fort, and the Georgians took to flight. 
 They also attacked the post at Franklin, 
 which, after a keen contest and some loss, was 
 surrendered in like manner, the cannon and 
 arms being left in the hands of the Free-state 
 men. The next day, Colonel Titus's house 
 near Lecompton, which was another of the 
 southern head-quarters, was attacked, and after 
 loss of life on both sides, Titus himself and 
 eighteen others were taken prisoners. These 
 acts of the Free-state party were those of men 
 exasperated by the presence of murderous 
 bands, who were daily putting into execution 
 their threats of extermination, who did not 
 hesitate at times to shoot their prisoners, and 
 who were carrying on a ceaseless system of 
 rapine and murder. Neither did the Free-state 
 people thus resort to arms, until they had 
 asked and been refused their personal protec- 
 tion at the hands of the federal troops, which 
 were stationed in the neighbourhood for the 
 ostensible purpose of preventing violence and 
 restoring good order in the territory. 
 
 The successes of the Free-state party led 
 
ADVANCE OF atciiison's ahmy. 305 
 
 Governor Shannon to conclude a second treaty 
 at Lav/rence, which stipulated for peace, and 
 led to an exchange of prisoners. No sooner 
 had peace been made, however, than hostilities 
 were resumed. The following day General 
 Richardson had called out the militia to put 
 down the Free-state men ; and, three days 
 later, the Governor proclaimed the territory to 
 be in a state of insurrection, and rallied all to 
 arms. General Atchison, who had been re- 
 cruiting in Missouri, was advancing into the 
 territory with 450 men. This number increas- 
 ed in a few day to 1,150 rank and file, a large 
 proportion mounted, and well supplied with 
 cannon and arms. The whole body was form- 
 ed into two regiments under Generals Atchison 
 and Reid, and assumed the name of " The 
 Army of Law and Order in Kansas Territory." 
 Plundering parties continued to commit almost 
 incredible outrages. Fights occurred when- 
 ever opposing parties met. Atchison's army 
 moved towards Osawatomie, and, before the 
 month of August had expired, that small town 
 had for a second time been subjected to a mer- 
 ciless attack. The disparity in number was 
 
306 KANSAS. 
 
 overwhelming, and, after a hot contest of sev- 
 eral hours, Captain Brown's little Free-state 
 band was finally driven out from the wood in 
 which they had sheltered themselves. The 
 besiegers then burned a considerable portion 
 of the town ; but the loss on the side of the 
 southern army was very large. Three waggon- 
 loads of dead and w^ounded were removed from 
 the place. 
 
 The presence of this southern army of exter- 
 mination, which effectually blockaded the 
 country east of Lawrence, and prevented sup- 
 plies from reaching the Free-state settlements, 
 called out General Lane from Lawrence, who 
 again put the Free-state stronghold under 
 defence, and organized forces by which he 
 drove back the southern army to Missouri. 
 Then ensued attack and repulse, victory and 
 defeat, and all that chain of hostile events 
 which have been rendered familiar to us by 
 the accounts of the operations of the two con- 
 flicting armies. Leavenworth at this time be- 
 came a scene of daily outrage. The Free- 
 state residents — many of them merchants in 
 f\\Q place, having valuable stocks of goods, and 
 
PUBLIC FREEDOM NOT TO BE INFRINGED. S07 
 
 possessed of property besides — were literally 
 driven out of tlie place, a hundred at a time, at 
 the point of the bayonet, some escaping by the 
 boats, others seeking refuge in the woods and 
 ultimately at the fort. Their property fell for 
 the most part into the hands of the adminis- 
 trators of "law and order;" and some who 
 escaped by the river had not the means to pay 
 their passage out of the scene of strife. 
 
 Thus commenced September, for I have only 
 related the events of a single month, as an 
 illustration of the wild anarchy and blood- 
 thirsty fury which reigned throughout the 
 summer of 1S56. In viev/ of these events, it is 
 almost an insult to read the message of Pre- 
 sident Pierce upon the condition of Kansas. 
 Mark how careful he is to sustain the authority 
 of the party which assumed to be that of "law 
 and order," and to guard against all infringe- 
 ment of the liberty to do wrong : — 
 
 '* But it is not," he said in his first Special 
 Message, " the duty of the President of the 
 United States to volunteer interposition by 
 force to preserve the purity of elections either 
 in a State or Territory. To do so would be 
 
308 KArcsAS. 
 
 subversive of public freedom. And whether a 
 law be wise or unwise, just or unjust, is not a 
 question for him to judge. If it be constitu- 
 tional — that is, if it be the law of the land — it 
 is his duty to cause it to be executed, or to 
 sustain the authorities of any State or Territory 
 in executing it, in opposition to all insurrec- 
 tionary movements." 
 
 President Pierce regarded the monstrous 
 code of Kansas as constitutional, and therefore 
 to be backed by his executive power, because it 
 is, by the enactment of a false Legislature, the 
 law of the Territory. Could he have forgotten, 
 that no law is constitutional which violates the 
 Constitution ? Now, the Constitution of the 
 United States guarantees every citizen liberty 
 of speech ; the laws of Kansas make speech in 
 favour of freedom a punishable crime. The 
 Constitution guarantees freedom of the press ; 
 the Kansas code forbids on pain of imprison- 
 ment the printing of so much as an " inuendo" 
 that might be dangerous to slavery, and Kansas 
 mobs, aided by federal troops, raze to the ground 
 and burn to ashes Free-state printing-offices. 
 The Constitution guarantees trial by jury for 
 every accused person ; the law of Kansas forbids 
 
BLESSINGS OF LAW AND GOVEKNMENT. 309 
 
 Free-state men to sit as jurors ; and the idea 
 of a jury is in practice treated as a nullity 
 The Constitution guarantees liberty, and prom- 
 ises protection in the exercise of the electoral 
 franchise ; in Kansas every election that is 
 recognized by the central Government, has 
 been carried by rifle and revolver. The Con- 
 stitution guarantees the sacredness of personal 
 right, promises to guard the citizen's property, 
 and to protect his liberty of person and of 
 residence ; in Kansas, men are driven by hun- 
 dreds from their intended homes, robbed of 
 their possessions, held in forced confinement, 
 compelled to leave the land, for no crime but 
 that of holding Free-state views, or that of 
 being natives merely of northern soil. 
 
 And when a second and a third time the 
 President was appealed to by the Free-state 
 people in Kansas to exercise his power for the 
 prevention of wrong, they only received the 
 same cold answer. They were referred to the 
 laws, — laws which condemned many of them 
 to death, and all to imprisonment and penal 
 labour. They were told to value the political 
 blessings they enjoyed. 
 
810 KANSAS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Governor Geary. — His Pacific Proclaraatioa. — Its Interpreta- 
 tion. — Release of State Prisoners on Bail. — Capture of 
 Ninety-eight Free-state Men. — Their Condition in Prison. — 
 Revolting Inhumanity towards the Prisoners. — Sufferiuga 
 of the Settlers. — Sickness, Cold, Hunger, and Orphanage. — 
 The Present and the Future of Kansas. — Action of Congress. 
 
 In the autumn of 1856, Wilson Shannon was 
 succeeded in the governorship of the territory 
 by its present Governor, John W. Geary.* For 
 the Free-state inhabitants the change could not 
 bo for the worse, such was the character of the 
 man from whose tyranny, and at the same time, 
 despicable weakness, they were thus relieved. 
 Some were led to hope for peace and protec- 
 tion ; and many in this country may have 
 inferred from the apparently pacific tone of the 
 new Governor's proclamation, that a brighter 
 
 *Who resig-oed in March, 1857, and is succeeded by 
 Robert J. Walker. — Am. Ed. 
 
GOVERXOR GBARY. Sll 
 
 day was at length dawning upon Kansas. 
 Such anticipations have not, however, been 
 realized. The Governor's pacific proclamation 
 must be interpreted on the same principles 
 with the President's pacific messages. He 
 promised to quell insurrection; but the law 
 defines as insurrectionary every organized ac- 
 tion of the Free-state party. He promised to 
 enforce laws ; but law is only another name for 
 oppression. He promised, if the people would 
 obey, to restore peace, tranquillity, and order ; 
 but the price of that peace is a surrender to the 
 slave power. And that he might make the 
 people obey, he said he should feel justified in 
 calling out the militia, employing the federal 
 troops, and using the utmost firmness and 
 authority in his power. And very much in 
 accordance with his proclamation thus inter- 
 preted, the new Governor has acted 
 
 Dr. Robinson and his fellow-prisoners, who 
 had been confined at Lecompton since the 
 month of May, on a charge of usurpation of 
 office and high treason, were indeed admitted 
 to bail in the month of September, notwith- 
 standing the strenuous attempt made to defer 
 
312 KANSAS. 
 
 the case until April, when the prisoners would 
 have been eleven months in confinement before 
 their charge was brought up. The Free-state 
 Legislature, which met in July, and was dis- 
 persed by Colonel Sumner at the head of the 
 United States dragoons, endeavoured again to 
 meet in the spring of the present year, but 
 were prevented by the Governor. But would 
 we know what spectacle Kansas has presented 
 during the rigour of the past winter and under 
 the present governorship, let the voices from 
 the political prisons of Lecompton answer. I 
 have before me an address to the American 
 people, signed by ninety-eight Free-state men, 
 who were then suffering a long and wretched 
 imprisonment for their political offences. 
 
 After narrating at length the particulars of 
 their capture, shortly after the arrival of Gov- 
 ernor Geary, they proceed as follows : — 
 
 ** We come now, at last, to speak of a sub- 
 ject too immediate, too vital, to admit of our 
 passing it unnoticed, yet too full of horror to 
 dwell upon. We allude to our treatment and 
 condition since our confinement here, any de- 
 scription of which must come far short of the 
 
V 
 
 THE POLITICAL PRISON AT LECOMPTOX. 313 
 
 terrible reality. A few of our guard will ever be 
 remembered by us with emotions of the deepest 
 gratitude for their kindness ; but the greatest 
 portion of them are drunken, brawling demons, 
 too vile and wicked for portrayal. Times 
 without number have they threatened to either 
 shoot or stab us, and not unfrequently have 
 they attempted to carry out their base and 
 hellish threats. Several nights have the guard 
 amused themselves throughout their different 
 watches, by cursing us, throwing stones at the 
 house, breaking in glass, sash, &c. Two large 
 cannon stand planted but a few yards from our 
 prison, and tv/o nights has the match been 
 swung several hours in the hands of the gun- 
 ners, with orders to discharge both, heavily 
 loaded with shot and slugs, upon us, in case our 
 friends should come in sufficient force to avenge 
 our wrongs. These, however, are only slight, 
 compared with other insults and sufferings 
 heaped upon us daily. Most of us are poorly 
 clad — few have any bedding. Our prison is 
 open and airy, yet small ; without, surrounded 
 with unearthly filth ; within, all is crawling 
 with vermin, all, everything, mixed with misery. 
 When youths, we listened with doubt to the 
 dark stories of the Jersey prison-ships, and the 
 Black-hole of Calcutta, never dreaming that 
 
 we should at last be a sad, actual part of their 
 14 
 
314 KANSAS. 
 
 counterpart ! More than once have we proplie- 
 sied to one another, that all would not leave 
 this charnel-house alive. Our assertions have 
 been verified; several have been dangerously 
 sick, one has died. His name was William 
 Bowles, and formerly from St. Charles, Mo. 
 He laboured with us nobly for our God-given 
 rights, and it was with feelings of unutterable 
 sorrow that we parted with him. After an 
 illness of two days, he left his sufferings this 
 morning, at one o'clock. Before his death, we 
 requested the officers of the guard to have him 
 removed to a place of quiet. We talked and 
 became tired, yet nothing was done. Last 
 night all the physicians in town were sent for, 
 and each refused to come. Dr. John P. Wood, 
 who is also judge of probate and committal jus- 
 tice, could not come, ' because he was sick ;' yet 
 he was seen that evening, as well as the follow- 
 ing morning, doing hard labour. Others had 
 reasons, we know not what. Dr. Brooks was 
 sent for five times ; but as he was at a card- 
 table playing poker, he swore he ' would not 
 
 leave the game to save every Abolitionist 
 
 in the territory.' 
 
 *♦ Sickness and death of the most horrid forms 
 are in our midst ; the scrapings of Pandemo- 
 nium surround us; we can see nothing left us 
 but an appeal to the last tribunal, with God as 
 
SICKNESS, COLD, AND HUNGER. 815 
 
 our judge, and our jury the great American 
 people." 
 
 But it is not in the prison alone that the 
 unoffending settlers of Kansas have had to 
 endure fearful suffering. A gentleman from 
 Ciiicago, who visited the territory in the winter 
 on behalf of a committee of relief, whilst he 
 confirmed the preceding statements, reported 
 further that he found many of the settlers 
 reduced by these acts of political oppression to 
 the very verge of starvation. In one district 
 he met with forty fiimilies entirely destitute, 
 some of the fathers being confined in the Le- 
 compton prison ; their food green pumpkins 
 and green Indian corn, grated by the hand. In 
 another he found a family of five motherless 
 children, the eldest only seven years old, in a 
 state of starvation, their father a prisoner at 
 Lecompton. In a third he discovered a hun- 
 dred families, so destitute of clothing that they 
 were ashamed to be seen. Again, a neighbour- 
 hood where nearly every person was sick ; and 
 another place where a family had subsisted for 
 four weeks on nothing but w^olves' meat. This 
 gentleman visited all the settled portions of 
 
316 KANSAS. 
 
 Kansas, and everywhere he had visible proof 
 that sickness and hunger had followed, as is 
 usual, in the train of war. 
 
 Looking at the prospects of Kansas in the 
 future, it affords some encouragement to know 
 that the territory has been relieved of some 
 few of those who were foremost in plotting 
 strife and upholding the Reign of Terror. The 
 present Governor has not permitted himself to 
 be the tool of the border-ruffian leaders, in a like 
 manner with his predecessor. Lecompte, " the 
 Jeffreys of the territory," has been removed 
 from the office of Chief Justice.* Colonel 
 Titus, who with Buford commanded the south- 
 ern bands from Georgia and other States, and 
 filled the land when I was there vv^ith the terror 
 of his deeds, has recently left the territory to 
 join Walker in Nicaragua, and thus resume his 
 former career as a filibusterer. Many besides, 
 throughout the struggle, who have gone from 
 the South to engage in the Kansas war, have 
 become disgusted when they w^itnessed the 
 
 * It was so stated with authority at the close of Pierce's 
 administration ; but the rumor proved to be unfounded. — Am. 
 Ed. 
 
FUTURB PROSPECTS OF KANSAS. 317 
 
 reality, and have in a better spirit returned to 
 their homes. 
 
 Nevertheless, peace is not yet in Kansas, 
 and the question is not yet decided whether 
 the new territory shall be an accession of soil 
 to slavery or to freedom. Right has not yet 
 taken the place of wrong, nor liberty been 
 substituted for despotic oppression. At Wash- 
 ington there are indeed hopeful signs in rela- 
 tion to the action of the Federal Government. 
 The Committee on Territories has presented to 
 Congress a report, which recommends the re- 
 pudiation of the acts of the Kansas Legislature 
 as those of a spurious body, and the repeal of 
 the whole Kansas code, which has given sanc- 
 tion to the bloodshed and crime under which 
 the territory has groaned. This measure, 
 which, if adopted, would be a first great step 
 towards remedying the wrongs of Kansas, has 
 obtained a majority in the House of Represent- 
 atives. On the other hand, whilst these sheets 
 have been passing through the press, the intel- 
 ligence has arrived of the bill having been re- 
 jected in the Senate. How the contest will 
 end, time alone can show. 
 
318 KANSAS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXYI. 
 
 SUPPLEMENT BY THE AMERICAN EDITOK. 
 
 April 13, 1857. 
 All the federal offices in Kansas continue to 
 be filled by the ring-leaders of the conspiracy 
 against free-labor. Some of them are guilty 
 directly in their own persons, and all are guilty 
 indirectly, as conspirators and abettors, before 
 and after the fact, of the murder of citizens 
 whose only offense was a confession that they 
 preferred that slavery should not be established 
 in the territory. Let the reader not slight this 
 statement. It would be a disgraceful and 
 wicked thing for one to make such assertions 
 without adequate ground of perfect conviction 
 of their truth. If undeniable or if convincing 
 testimony of their truth is readily within his 
 reach, no man who respects himself, and who 
 would live with a clear conscience, can fail to 
 regard them gravely, anxiously, indignantly. 
 
SUPPLEMENT BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR. 319 
 
 It is a simple, undeniable, indefensible fact, 
 that the new President of the United States not 
 merely still refrains from executing justice in 
 Kansas, but also that he has renewed and ex- 
 tended the countenance, patronage, honors, and 
 friendship of the government to men who regard 
 it as a merit and a matter of boasting that, for a 
 political purpose, they liave shot, in cold blood, 
 and in the back, citizens of several independent, 
 sovereign free states, of whom they knew no 
 harm but that they intended to vote against the 
 establishment of slavery in territory belonging 
 to those states, and of which they w^ere resi- 
 dents and land-owners. 
 
 With a possible exception in the new secre- 
 tary, there is no man now in Kansas recognized 
 by our federal government, including its judicial 
 branches, to have any official authority there, 
 who is not a notorious plotter and probable 
 pledged conspirator to prevent an honest 
 action of the law of Squatter Sovereignty, 
 as it is defined by the President and all its 
 friends. 
 
 There are plenty of Free-state men from the 
 North, capable and respectable, who have 
 
320 
 
 KANSAS. 
 
 always belonged lo the Democratic partv, and 
 who supported Mr. Bachanan in the hope that 
 he would be just to Kansas, but not one such has 
 been appointed to office. 
 
 The Hon. R. J. Walker has been selected 
 to succeed Governor Gearv, who resigned his 
 oSce, either because, as his enemies say, he 
 considered his life in danger from the Pro- 
 slarery faction, or, as his friends sav. because 
 the President refused to sustain him in taking 
 any measures inclining towards justice. Gov- 
 ernor Walker has been recently known to the 
 public chiefly for his efforts to have a railroad 
 built from his state of Mississippi throush a 
 district at present occupied chiefly by non- 
 slavehoiding farmers in Texas., and thence a 
 thousand mUes across a desert country to that 
 portion of California which is nearest to the 
 cotton-soils of Sonora, and which it is thought 
 might be made a slave state even without this 
 assistance. He asserts that he desires to have 
 the free-soil party in Kansas treated with fair- 
 ness. He is the only one at present holding 
 office for Kansas, who has ever made this pro- 
 fession. He remains yet in Washington, attend- 
 
SUPPLEMENT BY THE AMERICAN EDITOK. 321 
 
 ing to some necessarr private business : he is a 
 business man, and was a subscriber for one rail- 
 lion dollars' worth of the stock of the Grand 
 Southern California Railroad Company. Nev- 
 ertheless, it is thought he may take a look at 
 the territory in May. 
 
 Under a process of law, which the President 
 recognizes as constitutional and valid, many 
 good citizens, accused of resistance to the 
 tyranny of an organization made by the Mis- 
 sourians for the purpose of establishing slavery 
 in Kansas, have been torn from their fami- 
 lies, and held in unwholesome confinement 
 until some died and all were greatly impover- 
 ished. Of the many hundred boasting robbers 
 and murderers of Free-state seulers, none yet 
 are punished or even rebuked by the officers 
 appointed to execute justice in the name of the 
 majesty of the people of the confederate states. 
 
 The body of men who were last year ap- 
 pointed by the partisans of slavery for the pur- 
 pose of preventing the success of any move- 
 ments unfavorable to the establishment of 
 slaveiy in the territory, and whose acts for 
 that purpose are laws to the President of the 
 
322 KANSAS. 
 
 United States and all those whom he appoints 
 to office, have recently pretended that they 
 were willing to give an opportunity to the 
 people of the territory to indicate, by a vote, 
 what they demanded in their government. The 
 instrument of this pretension — -just now w^armly 
 commended by the Northern friends of Slavery 
 extension, because it is the first act of this 
 body which assumes to be intended to carry out 
 their petted principle of Squatter Sovereignty — 
 is the same which ex-Governor Geary vetoed on 
 the ground of the absurd inconsistency of its 
 provisions with its alleged purpose. It pro- 
 vides for a census of the citizens of the territory 
 who were resident in it, on the 15th March, 
 when no emigrants from the Free states would 
 be likely to have recently become resident, but 
 when, as it has now been made manifest, mul- 
 titudes would have just come in by land from 
 Missouri. From the census thus taken by offi- 
 cials, every one of whom is a sworn enemy of 
 freedom, a voting list is to be made up, which 
 is to be revised by sworn friends of slavery. 
 The territory is then to be formed into nineteen 
 voting districts, the size, and shape, and rela- 
 
SUPPLEMENT BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR. 323 
 
 tions of which, to each other, and to Missouri", 
 are to be determined by men who are ashamed 
 of nothing which has been done to subdue the 
 free-soil party of the territory in the last two 
 years. The number of delegates who are 
 to represent the people of each district, is to 
 be proportionate to the population returned by 
 the special census. This proportion, not very 
 difficult for a business man to ascertain, is to be 
 declared by the Governor and Secretary, ap- 
 pointed by the President, and as this is the only 
 duty connected with the election assigned to 
 the governor, it is evident that the " Legisla- 
 ture" had some misgivings that the friends of 
 Mr. Buchanan, in the Free states, were speaking 
 the truth when they declared that he was dis- 
 posed to do the fair thing with Kansas. 
 
 Finally, the votes are to be taken, not by 
 ballot, but viva voce, by vocal declaration, so 
 that the slavery party may not be voted against 
 by one man who is not willing to make himself 
 known as a free-soiler to the land-officers, who 
 are to settle disputed claims — and there are 
 comparatively few claims which are not dis- 
 puted — these land-officers being all men com- 
 
324 KANSAS. 
 
 mitted to, and identified with, the conspiracy, 
 to establish slavery on the soil of Kansas. The 
 inspectors of election are to be men similarly 
 pledged or sworn to disregard the rights of the 
 free-soilers, and by such trusty hands, the vote 
 is to be recorded, and returned. The whole 
 process, in short, is in the hands of the same 
 unscrupulous miscreants, who have been pro- 
 tected in every crime of which the reader has 
 read in this book, by the present federal judi- 
 ciary. It has been often reported, of late, that 
 the scandalous laws enacted last year by the 
 Legislature, established by Missouri in the ter- 
 ritory, have been repealed under the concilia- 
 tory policy of the session of this year. Certain 
 laws which it would have been impracticable 
 to attempt to execute, have been repealed. It 
 yet remains a legal felony for any man in the 
 territory to order a book, such as this, for in- 
 stance, to be sent to him. Any one who offers 
 to receive a free-soil newspaper, is liable to five 
 years imprisonment. No conscientious free- 
 soiler is eligible to sit upon a jury; and, in 
 general, no practicable means of harassing, 
 persecuting, and silencing, those who would 
 
SUPPLEMENT BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR. 325 
 
 act effectively against the establishment of 
 slavery in the territory, are left unprovided for. 
 
 And, yet, it is very plainly declared by Gov- 
 ernor Walker, after long consultation with the 
 President, pending his acceptance of the gov- 
 ernship, that he will attempt to carry out these 
 laws, and force the people to accept this tyran- 
 nical usurpation of authority as a constitutional 
 republican government. He believes, we are 
 told, that it will be impossible to establish 
 slavery in Kansas, because of its ungenial cli- 
 mate, (though it is milder than that of Virginia) 
 therefore we are to believe that he will not 
 lend himself to the schemes of his old friends, 
 who have shrunk from nothing to conquer 
 those who are opposed to its establishment, and 
 if the foolish people from the North will only 
 kiss the hand that smites them, and lie quietly 
 under the heel that crushes them, he has confi- 
 dence that he will restore peace and order in 
 the territory. 
 
 What of their rights as men and as citizens ? 
 What of justice? What of squatter sover- 
 eignty ? What of the honor and faith of the 
 nation? Not one word. 
 
326 KANSAS. 
 
 The hope that constitutional liberty can be 
 maintained in America, now rests on the integ- 
 rity of the independent state governments in 
 decharing, demanding, and securing the rights 
 of their citizens. 
 
 It is impossible, if the policy of the new 
 administration is to be judged from present 
 symptoms, that the thinking citizens of each 
 state in which men can yet afford to think 
 freely, should not before long ask themselves : 
 
 " What are the delegated, and what the 
 reserved rights of this state ? Why should it 
 remain in union with others for whose conve- 
 nience and satisfaction its citizens are forced to 
 relinquish, on common ground, their funda- 
 mental rights — rights, the free use of which is 
 essential to the preservation of a decent and 
 civilized state of society ? Is it from a craven 
 devotion to political tranquillity we allow these 
 rights to be suppressed, systematically, formally, 
 and year after year, and administration after ad- 
 ministration, suppressed ? Is it from pride in 
 holding our state part of a Great Nation ? Have 
 we no patriotic duty but to keep men of our 
 own party in office ? 
 
SUPPLEMENT BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR. 327 
 
 *' What is the value of the federal constitution 
 to us, if, in ourtenitories, more than half our peo- 
 ple can be deprived of the rights to which those 
 who made the Constitution declared all men, 
 everywhere, to be justly entitled, and which 
 they fought a long, desperate, and bloody war to 
 secure?" 
 
 It is the crime of a coward and not the wis- 
 dom of a good citizen to shut his eyes to the 
 fact, that this Union is bound straight to disas- 
 trous shipwreck, if the man at the helm main- 
 tains his present course. 
 
 The prophetic mind of Jefferson, uncon- 
 sciously but clearly described the process by 
 which we have suffered ourselves to be brought 
 to our present perilous condition. 
 
 *' Is this the kind of protection we receive in 
 return for the rights we give up? 
 
 '* Our rulers will become corrupt, our people 
 careless. A single zealot may commence per- 
 secutor, and better men be his victims. It can 
 never be too often repeated that the time for 
 fixing every essential riglit on a legal basis is 
 while our rulers are honest, ourselves united. 
 From the conclusion of this w^ar, we shall be 
 
328 KANSAS. 
 
 going down hill. It will not then be necessary 
 to resort every moment to the people for sup- 
 port. They will be forgotten and their rights 
 disregarded. They will forget themselves but 
 in the sole faculty of making money, and will 
 never think of uniting to effect a due respect 
 for their rights. The shackles, therefore, which 
 shall not be knocked off before the conclusion 
 of this war, will remain on us long; will be 
 made heavier and heavier till our rights shall 
 revive or expire in a convulsion."* 
 
 " The time to guard against corruption and 
 tyranny is before they shall have gotten hold 
 on us. It is better to keep the wolf out of the 
 fold, than to trust to drawing his teeth and 
 talons, after he shall have entered." t 
 
 * Notes on Virginia. London, 1787, p. 269. 
 t Ibid., p. 197. 
 
s 
 
/^,