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Blood on the prairie: When neighbors became killers near Fort Scott
(KODE & KSN) — The Four State region is rich with history, but like any land rich with history, locals and historians often worry there are some key pieces always at risk of being forgotten if generations are not communicating them.
The Marais De Cygne massacre is one of those points in history that historians say should not be forgotten and may not be well known to many Four State residents.
The famous saying 'those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it', if true about the Marais De Cygne massacre, makes it imperative the massacre is not forgotten, as it was the last major act of violence during the Bleeding Kansas period preceding the Civil War.
May 19, 1858, was the day. Georgia native Charles Hamilton had led his 'band 'O boys' of about 30 'border ruffians' across the border from Missouri into the Kansas Territory. The men captured 11 unarmed abolitionist free staters near Trading Post, Kan. The captured abolitionists did not know the extent of the danger they were in, as the majority of them knew Hamilton and had no reason to suspect he intended to do them harm.
Hamilton and his men led to group to a ravine, where Hamilton, said to have fired the first and last shot, ordered his men to open fire on the group. Five were killed, five were seriously injured, and one was able to escape without being injured or killed.
One of the wives of the captured men had followed the gang to the site and attempted to perform life-saving aid on the critically wounded and dead. Later on, more locals would come to assist her and to help with the transport of the dead and wounded.
Hamilton's motives behind the attack were mainly attributed to being run into Missouri by the controversial Union Colonel James Montgomery, a Jayhawker whose actions led Hamilton to hate him, and, in his anger, Hamilton sought revenge.
Historians say all 11 of the men captured and shot at were non-violent abolitionists. It is said the gang planned the shooting at a place called the Western Hotel, a place James Montgomery attempted and failed to burn down June 5 of that year.
The massacre shocked the nation, and was one of the largest publicized incidents that helped ignite the spark that would erupt into the Civil War. Today, historians say the massacre serves as a reminder that politically motivated small-scale violence and revenge practices can lead to a nation at war if its citizens are not careful.
Of the roughly 30 men involved in the massacre, only one was ever brought to justice for the crime. On a spring day in 1863, a Bates County, Missouri man named William Griffith was recognized and arrested for his involvement. Griffith was hanged for the crime on October 30, 1863.
Today, the massacre site remains open to the public as a state historical site. Those interested in visiting the site and its exhibits can visit the Kansas Historical Society website for more information.
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