150th Anniversary of the Marais Des Cygnes Massacre

Floor Speech

150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MARAIS DES CYGNES MASSACRE -- (Senate - June 12, 2008)

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, last month in Kansas, I was able to be present for the commemoration of an important, but little known, event in American history. 150 years ago, May 19, 1858, a little defile in Kansas near Mine Creek was the site of one of the incidents that led up to the Civil War; the massacre of free State settlers by proslavery men.

The Marais des Cygnes Massacre is considered the last significant act of violence in Bleeding Kansas before the final cataclysm of civil war engulfed the Nation. On May 19, 1858, 30 men led by Charles Hamilton, a southern proslavery leader, crossed into Kansas from Missouri. Once there, they captured 11 free State men, none of whom was armed and none of whom had engaged in violence. Many of them knew Hamilton and didn't suspect he meant to harm them. These prisoners were led into a defile, where Hamilton ordered them shot and fired the first bullet himself. Five men were killed.

Hamilton's gang went back to Missouri, and only one man was ever brought to justice. William Griffith of Bates County, MO, was arrested in the spring of 1863 and hanged on October 30 of that year.

The incident horrified the Nation, and inspired John Greenleaf Whittier to write a poem on the murder, ``Le Marais du Cygnes,'' which appeared in the September 1858 Atlantic Monthly. The incident and the poem strengthened the resolve of the antislavery cause around the Nation.

In 1941 the Kansas Legislature authorized acceptance of the massacre site, including Hadsall's house, as a gift to the State from the Pleasanton Post, Veterans of Foreign Wars. In 1961 it provided funds for the restoration of the building, and in 1963 the entire property was turned over to the Kansas State Historical Society for administration. A museum was established in the upper floor of the building in 1964. The Kansas Historical Society has done great work in administering the site since 1963. Just recently Riley Albert Hinds, a young man from Pleasanton, did some work for an Eagle Scout project that was very important for the restoration of this site, and contributed greatly to the existing historical research on Marais des Cygnes.

From 1854 to 1861 Kansas was the scene of a bitter struggle to determine whether the territory should enter the Union as a free or a slave State. We
paid greatly as a Nation for the ``original sin'' of slavery in terms of blood and treasure, and there is still much healing that needs to take place. Part of our greatness as a Nation is our ability to acknowledge both the good parts and the bad parts of our history, and to make amends for injustices of the past.

Keeping alive our historical memory is a key to understanding ourselves as a Nation and as people. Communicating the rich history of our Nation to every generation is of the utmost importance. Knowing and learning from our history is one of the keys to maintaining a healthy, democratic society.

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