A History of Kansas

by Anna E. Arnold

Territorial Governors.

WILSON SHANNON, ANDREW H. REEDER, JOHN W. GEARY,
JAMES W. DENVER, ROBT. J. WALKER, SAMUEL MEDARY

The Sacking of Lawrence, May 21, 1856. A number of minor conflicts occurred. Sheriff Jones was wounded, a young free-state man named Barber was killed, and then came the long feared attack upon Lawrence. From the beginning the policy of the free-state people had been to avoid conflict wherever possible. On this occasion they made every attempt to conciliate and to pacify the attacking force, but in vain. As the proslavery leaders rode through the town they were invited to dinner by Mr. Eldridge, the proprietor of the new $20,000 hotel built by the Emigrant Aid Company. They accepted the invitation, and in the afternoon the mob completely demolished the hotel. They threw the two printing presses of the town into the river, ransacked stores and houses, taking whatever they wanted, and before leaving town burned Governor Robinson’s home. The financial loss to Lawrence and the surrounding country was heavy. Though the people had been oppressed and outraged they had not been conquered. By offering no resistance they had robbed the affair of any possible justification in the eyes of the world.

John Brown.

John Brown. There was one who bitterly opposed this policy of nonresistance, who believed that the way to meet the situation was to fight. This was John Brown, a tall, gaunt, grizzled old man who had come to Kansas a few weeks before the sacking of Lawrence. Five sons had preceded him and had settled near Osawatomie. John Brown came, not to aid his sons in their pioneer struggles, nor to make a home for himself, but because it seemed to him an opportunity to strike a blow at slavery. He hated slavery with an intensity that knew no bounds, and he gave all of his mind and energy to warfare against it.

The Pottawatomie Massacre, May 24, 1856. The sacking of Lawrence roused him to a high pitch of excitement. He believed that this outrage should be avenged, and determined to strike a blow, to return violence for violence. With a party of seven or eight men, including four of his sons, he made a night trip down Pottawatomie Creek where a number of proslavery settlers lived. Five of these settlers were called out of their houses and killed.

Beginning of Four Months of Violence. This kind of warfare was not in accordance with the plans or purposes of the leaders of the free-state movement, and was not approved by them. News of the awful affair spread rapidly through the Territory and created wild excitement. The Pottawatomie massacre was followed by a period of nearly four months of violence on both sides.

Both Sides Arm for War. A band of border ruffians gathered to wreak vengeance on those who had taken the lives of the proslavery settlers of Pottawatomie Creek. The battle of Black Jack resulted, in which the border ruffians were defeated by John Brown and his men. The Missouri border hurriedly gathered more forces and marched a well-armed body of men into Kansas. The free-state men had been busy, too, and on June 5 the Missourians were met by a band of armed free-state Kansas settlers.