Missouri "border ruffians" murder five freesoilers near Marais des Cygnes in Kansas
Charles Hamilton leads a Missouri pro-slavery group into Kansas where they capture eleven free soil supporting Kansan men. At a remote spot near Marais des Cygnes, the Missourians attempt to execute their captives; five are killed. This was the final significant violence in Kansas before the outbreak of the Civil War but poet John Greenleaf Whittier will make sure that the event is remembered the following September when he he publishes his poem "Le Marais du Cygnes" in the AtlanticMonthly. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
Floyd B. Streeter, The Kaw: Heart of a Nation (Manchester, NH: Ayer Publishing, 1975), 69-72.