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  What did Willie say? "On the Road Again!!" __Well,color us gone 'cause that's where we be! First, we're at "A Gunfight in Dixie" up yonder in Tennessee, then we're off to the "Ruckus in the Nations" over there in Injun Territory! Hope to see all y'all there!! Happy Trails,  P.S. Told'ja I'sa gonna be a' ketchin' up!
  Youngers Part II __In the mid-to-late 1850's the Younger home at Lee's Summit,  |
Missouri was to find itself positioned right in
the heart of the Kansas-Missouri Border War. Political hatreds are always
bitter, but none more so than this bloody struggle of neighbor against
neighbor.
__The upcoming question of admitting the Kansas Territory as a new state had focused on whether it should be a "Free" or "Slave State". The Federal Government decided, this time, to allow the voters within the Kansas Territory to decide the issue for themselves. __However, Washington, D.C.'s experiment blew up in their faces. Hordes of Abolitionists ran to the Kansas Territory from New England to stuff the ballot boxes, and ensure that Kansas would be a "Free" state. Many boxes of guns labeled as Bibles were shipped to them from the East. __Just across the border was Missouri, a "Slave" state. Conflict was not to be avoided....... __During the night of May 24 to the morning of May 25, 1856, John Brown lead a group of men in Kansas Territory on an attack at a proslavery settlement at Pottawatomie Creek. The group, which included four of Brown's sons, dragged five pro-slavery men from their homes and hacked them to  |
 death with broadswords. These actions, known as the Pottawatomie
Massacre are often regarded as the first shots of the Civil War. The
conflict rapidly escalated into a succession of atrocities committed by
both sides. __In short order, both sides formed various quasi-military groups of non-uniformed "Guerilla Fighters". Ultimately, the Kansas-Abolitionist fighters, commonly known as "Jayhawkers," would side with the Union, and the Missouri "Southern" fighters, commonly known as "Bushwhackers," would side with the Confederacy, in the upcoming so-called Civil War. __The "Jayhawkers" included many variations, such as James Henry |
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 Lanes's band of militants, who wore red gaiters, earning them the
nickname "Redlegs". Also the "Missouri State Militia", reestablished under
the Union occupation, acted as, and were considered as merely "Jayhawkers"
themselves.
__"Freebooters" was the name given to "Jayhawkers" as well as some Southern partisans, who merely used the conflict as an excuse for theft and murder. __"Jayhawkers" raided into Missouri to "rescue" slaves and take them to freedom in Kansas. Close scrutiny however, shows that the motivation for the majority was simple theft from wealthy Missourians (the origin of the word "jayhawker" seems to be a Nebraska word meaning "horsethief"). Slaves were appropriated to help carry the Nothing contained herein is meant to step on anyone's toes, nor
cause harm in any way. Please contact us with any concerns or problems and
we will see that it is dealt with.
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plunder back to Kansas. These slaves weren't asked
if they wanted to be rescued, most were kidnapped against their wills, and
dragged away from their homes and families.
__The abolitionists often treated the slaves as mere property, with no free will of their own, every bit as much as the actual slave owners. At one point these charming lovers of "freedom and botherhood for all" proposed banning all Negroes from Kansas, both free and slave, as a solution to the problem. Precious few white people in those days truly regarded negroes as people.  __The Younger family had managed to stay out of
the conflict until one night in 1861 at a neighbor's party. Being a
Southern Sympathizer's party, it was only natural that the local Missouri
State Militia unit, under Capt. Irvin Walley, would intrude. Capt. Walley,
although a
The Youngers Part III |
married
man, was particularly obnoxious in forcing his attentions upon the young
ladies present. One of the Younger girls refused to dance with him, and a
quarrel developed between him and her brother, Cole. Walley accused Cole
of being a "Bushwhacker", (a common "scare tactic") and when Cole denied
it, Walley called him a liar. This, he shouldn't have done, for with one
punch, Cole flattened him. Walley pulled his pistol, but friends stepped
in between, and shuffled the Youngers out.
__In a classic abuse of power move, Walley falsely accused Cole of being a spy, and had the entire Union Army, and Jayhawkers of every description, on the hunt for him. __Cole Younger would be "on the run" for the next 15 years......  Cassettes Reg. $9.95 on SALE $6.00!! Sept. Only!! When you order online type code-word MUSIC in notes section. We'll adjust price on this end. The Scyene Gazette www.oldscyene.com |
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