Since Brown is herein creditably reported to have "terminated this life in the bush and again become active," it is fair to inquire into the nature of the public service which he rendered during the period of activity thus auspiciously announced. Mr. Phillips gave out what Brown said he intended to do. But Mr. Villard states that he did not do that; and that there is no record of what he did do, or of where he went. It appears, then, that "the termination of the life in the bush" was not a termination of it at all; and that the period of his public activities "terminated" at the end of a night ride, on stolen horses, from Lawrence to the vicinity of Topeka. It may be worthy of note, that the above example of Brown's activity in public affairs is probably the shortest period of public activity by a hero, that has ever been dignified by historical record. Further: History does not sustain the statement that Brown "recruited his band" after the disbanding of it, June 10th. There is no reason apparent why he should have enlarged it. He and his sons could operate more profitably than a larger party could, and with less risk of detection.
Brown was not a loafer: and he was not in idleness during the fifty days of his obscuration; neither was he fighting, "pressing to close quarters," for no fighting was being done during this time. Investigation, however, of the record and of the various admissions and statements subsequently made by his sons, discloses the facts that the activities in which they were engaged were merely akin, or similar to a state of warfare; that there was continuous "fighting," of a certain kind, where they were, and "trouble"; so much so that the sons, at least, had a surfeit of it, and were "tired" of the "business," and were anxious to quit it and leave the Territory.
Salmon Brown stated to Mr. Villard, that they left "because Lucius Mills insisted on the invalids being moved, and because they were a drag on the fighting men": and Henry Thompson affirmed that "he, Oliver, Owen and Salmon had had enough of Kansas. They did not wish to fight any more. They felt they had suffered enough; that the service which they had been called upon to perform at Pottawatomie squared them with duty. They were, they thought, entitled to leave further work to other hands. They were sick of the fighting and trouble."[169]
These statements show that there were violent actions somewhere, about something long after Black Jack; and that the invalids impeded the movements of the "fighting" men. But where this fighting took place, or what it was about, history is silent. Salmon Brown could tell all about the occurrences of these fifty days if he were disposed to do so. There is ample evidence, however, of the fact that the Browns led a stormy life during the days they are reported "unaccounted for."[170] The friendly mantle which the night spread over their actions, at the time, has not been lifted, but the actors therein have told enough to show that what they did do, was done at the peril of their lives; and was of such a character that at least one of the party, Lucius Mills, refused to take any part in it. For this, Mills lost caste with Brown "because he had no desire to fight, but played nurse and doctor while the others did the fighting."[171] But since there was no fighting anywhere in Kansas, we must conclude that they used the term "fighting" as a convenience, or as a witticism, and that it really means stealing horses; and that the Browns, while in hiding from the world at large, were still carrying on the business they commenced in the bloody tragedy on the Pottawatomie. Further evidence that they were horse thieves, appears in an incident which occurred when they were en route home, as related by Salmon Brown. He says:[172]
"We other four bought a double buggy and harness from the Oberlin people, on credit at Tabor, drove to Iowa City, sold the horses, sent back the money to pay for the wagon, and all four went home. The horses for the double buggy we came by thus: we heard on the way through Nebraska, that some pro-slavery men were after us. Oliver, who was always a dare-devil, and William Thompson ambushed these men, deliberately turning aside for that purpose. The men, ordered off their horses, took it for a regular hold-up in force, and surrendered their animals. Oliver and William immediately jumped on and lit out for Tabor. It was these horses that took us across Iowa." The need of converting pro-slavery animals into good anti-slavery stock, was thus urgent with the Brown sons in peaceful placid Nebraska as it had been in bleeding Kansas.
This incident bears all the characteristics of the daring professional at work. It is not probable that two lone Kansas pro-slavery men followed John Brown, who had become the Terror of the Territory, up into Free-State Nebraska. It is much more probable that the Browns held up two unsuspecting, unarmed, citizens of Nebraska, and took their horses. And, having taken them in this manner, it follows, more than logically, that they also stole the buggy and harness, to complete the outfit; for it would be quite impossible that two irresponsible young strangers, traveling through a country, could thus buy a "double buggy and harness on credit."
The Browns profited by their operations in Kansas. They did not grow rich during the short period of their outlawry, but they became prosperous in comparison with what their circumstances were before they became robbers. It will be remembered that Salmon Brown, when he was a homebuilder, was very poor. Mr. Villard has been quoted as saying that Brown and his sons "arrived in Kansas in all but destitute condition, with but sixty cents between them, to find the settlement in great distress." And Redpath said of Brown, when he met him in his camp May 30, 1856, "He was poorly clad, and his toes protruded from his boots." In contrast with these commercial ratings we have a report on Brown, as he appeared in Nebraska about August 1, 1856:[173]
The Captain was riding a splendid horse and was in plain white summer clothing. He wore a large straw hat and was closely shaven. Everything about him was scrupulously clean. He made a great impression on several of the company, who, without knowing him, at once declared that he must be a distinguished man in disguise.
As a result of their "fighting," and of their "pressing to close quarters," the Browns were quite independent when they left the Territory. "School was out." Also, the "toad" had got out from under the harrow. They could now go wherever they wished, and they concluded to give up "their struggle to make Kansas a Free-State" and to return to their home in New York. At Nebraska City, when Brown changed his mind about going east and decided to return to Kansas, he bought horses for himself and Frederick, who was to accompany him, and sent the remainder of the party on their way to the States.[174] When he arrived at Osawatomie, about August 20th, he had, as stated by Bondi, "a spick and span four mule team, the wagon loaded with provisions; besides he was well supplied with money."[175] In poverty and on foot, the Browns entered the valley of the Pottawatomie May 23, 1856; seventy days thereafter, they left the Territory, in independent circumstances.
During the latter part of July and the first days of August. 1856, some incidents occurred in Kansas which are interrelated. The pro-slavery men living in the vicinity of "New Georgia," near Osawatomie, built a "block-house" for the protection of pro-slavery settlers from Free-State aggressions. Following this, John Brown and his band of Free-State aggressors suddenly left the Territory. August 5th, Captain Cracklin, with the Stubbs Rifles, routed the Georgians at New Georgia and burned their block-house; also, upon receipt of this intelligence, at Nebraska City, Brown changed his mind about going east, and returned to Kansas to raid the Osawatomie district. The first of these incidents, the building of the block-house, was a pro-slavery demonstration in Brown's territory. It was notice to him that further stealing from pro-slavery settlers would be unsafe in that neighborhood; it was also a challenge to John Brown to fight, if he chose to accept it as such. That the leaving of the Browns was not a premeditation, but the result of a "sudden impulse," appears from a statement made by Mr. Adair to Mr. T. H. Hand in a letter dated July 17, 1856: "Bro. J. B. and unmarried sons expect to leave the territory immediately."[176] Also, from the further fact that at the time they left, William Thompson, brother of Henry Thompson, was due to arrive in Kansas to join the Brown colony. They met him near the Nebraska line and took him back east with them.[177]