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Marais des Cygnes Massacre

The nation was shocked by one of the last violent acts during Bleeding Kansas in 1858. A group of proslavery men kidnapped 10 free-state men, marched them to a remote area, and shot them in a ravine. Five of the men died in the massacre, the other five were injured. Outrage spread around the country, spurring written responses from John Brown and John Greenleaf Whittier, and helping secure Kansas’ fate as a free state.

The community of Trading Post, near the Missouri border, was situated amid proslavery and antislavery factions during the time of Kansas Territory. These sides had come to determine the state’s fate through a process called “popular sovereignty,” which allowed voters to choose whether Kansas would be free or allow slavery. The territory had earned the moniker, Bleeding Kansas, during a particularly violent time in 1856 with John Brown at the center of the fight.

By 1858 many settlers were weary of the violence and just wanted to live their lives, farming the rich, fertile land near the Marais des Cygnes River (probably named by early French traders for the migratory swans that landed there.) Some proslavery men, like Charles Hamilton, saw waning support for their cause. A veteran of the Mexican War, Hamilton assembled a group of Border Ruffians. He used his powers of speech, building fear and frenzy, to threaten the freestaters. James Montgomery was a freestater who organized the Jayhawkers in response to Hamilton’s Bloody Reds. Farmers in Linn County tended to side with the Jayhawkers. They feared the ongoing strife and formed their own defensive band.

On a sunny spring morning, May 19, 1858, as farmers were returning to their fields and Montgomery was out of the area, Hamilton’s Bloody Reds assembled on horseback. They captured freestater Patrick Ross as he headed toward his field. The Reds continued on their spree, stopping at the general store in Trading Post. There he captured John Campbell and plundered the store. The next captive was the Reverend Benjamin Read. These men were forced to march along the road ahead of the Reds. They captured William Stillwell, ransacked another farmstead and terrorized women and children, and continued on their path. Detachments were sent to kidnap the William Colpetzer and Amos Hall. In all 11 men were seized and marched northeasterly toward a ravine. There Hamilton lined up the captives.

“Gentlemen, if you are going to shoot us, take good aim” William Hairgrove said in defiance.

John F. Campbell, died

William Colpetzer, died
Michael Robinson, died
Patrick Ross, died
William Stillwell, died
William Hairgrove, wounded
Asa Hairgrove, wounded
Amos Hall, wounded
Reverend Benjamin Reed, wounded
Charles Snyder, wounded
Austin Hall, survived

The Kansas Legislature accepted the donation of the massacre site from the Pleasanton Post, Veterans of Foreign Wars on behalf the State of Kansas in 1941. The gift included the Hadsall house. The post provided funds for the restoration of the house in 1961. The Kansas Historical Society began administering the property as a state historic site in 1963. Marais des Cygnes Massacre State Historic Site was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, and as a National Historic Landmark in 1974. Interpretive signage provides the historical context for this drive-through site, open dawn to dusk.

"Le Marais du Cygne"
By John Greenleaf Whittier

A BLUSH as of roses
Where rose never grew!
Great drops on the bunch-grass,
But not of the dew!
A taint in the sweet air
For wild bees to shun!
A stain that shall never
Bleach out in the sun!

Back, steed of the prairies!
Sweet song-bird, fly back!
Wheel hither, bald vulture!
Gray wolf, call thy pack!
The foul human vultures
Have feasted and fled;
The wolves of the Border
Have crept from the dead

Not in vain on the dial
The shade moves along
To point the great contrasts
Of right and wrong;
Free homes and free altars
And fields of ripe food;
The reeds of the Swan's Marsh,
Whose bloom is of blood.

On the lintels of Kansas
That blood shall not dry;
Henceforth the Bad Angel
Shall harmless go by;
Henceforth to the sunset,
Unchecked on her way,
Shall Liberty follow
The march of the day.

Quick Facts

City: Trading Post
County: Linn
Significant People: John Brown, John Greenleaf Whittier, James Montgomery, Charles Hamilton
Architect: N/A
Style: N/A
State site: 1941
National Register of Historic Places: 1971
National Historic Landmark: 1974
Kansas Historical Marker #44 

Sources