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Title: From "C." to "Col."
Description: This letter, dated September 21, 1861, is from "C." in St. Joseph, Missouri to "Col." C. reports that the Federal troops surrendered at the Battle of Lexington on September 20. He writes that "our country has been rob[b]ed by both parties . . . nearly evry body that is worth any thing has been rob[b]ed more or less, no matter what their politics are." He adds that people are "bitter" about the Platte Purchase, and predicts that fighting will ensue.
Date: September 21, 1861

Title: From Abelard Guthrie to James Henry Lane
Description: This letter, dated November 21, 1864, is from Abelard Guthrie in Quindaro, Kansas to James Henry Lane. Guthrie reports on the proceedings of a Supreme Court case to determine if Kansas has the right to tax land assigned to the Shawnee Indians. Guthrie argues that if the court exempts these areas from taxation, it will deprive "the counties of Douglass, Johnson, and Wyandot of about sixty thousand dollars of taxes which they sorely need."
Date: November 21, 1864

Title: Shawnee Indian Mission, Wyandotte County, Kansas
Description: Photograph of the Shawnee Indian Mission, where the Bogus Legislature met on May 30, 1855.
Object Type: Image
Date: July 6, 1940

Title: Court Martial Proceedings of Captain Lyman D. Rouell
Description: This military document includes proceedings of the general court martial of Lyman D. Rouell, Captain of the 2nd Colorado Volunteers, Company F. In this court martial held at the Headquarters District of the Border in Kansas City, Missouri, Captain Rouell pleads "not guilty" to: charges of drunkenness while on duty at Fort Lyon in the Colorado Territory and at Council Grove, Kansas; and for driving contraband stock into Kansas from Hickman Mills, Missouri. The official charges included "Conduct unbecoming an Officer and Gentlemen" and "Neglect of duty to the prejudices of good order and military discipline." The verdict is not extant. This document shows how some military units took advantage of General Ewing's General Order No. 11 by accumulating and selling property from abandoned counties.
Date: November 1863 - December 1863

Title: John Wadsworth (Mixed Blood) n.d.
Description: Portrait of John Wadsworth, a member of the Peoria Tribe, no date.
Object Type: Image
Date: n.d.

Title: Battle of Wilson's Creek
Description: This sketch, originally published in Harper's Weekly on August 31, 1861, depicts the Union retreat at the end of the Battle of Wilson's Creek on August 10, 1861, after Nathaniel Lyon's death and after Sigel's horses had been killed. The caption states: "General Siegel forcing his prisoners [Confederate and Native American] to draw off his cannon at the Battle of Springfield." Although Harper's Weekly describes this as the Battle of Springfield, this conflict has come to be known as the Battle of Wilson's Creek. The next skirmish in the area, Zagonyi's Charge, occured near Springfield, Missouri on October 25, 1861.
Object Type: Image
Date: August 31, 1861

Title: Mr. John Harris
Description: Carte de visite portrait of Sergeant John Harris, member of the 10th United States Cavalry Regiment. The 10th Cavalry and other black regiments (including the 9th Cavalry, the 24th Infantry, and the 25th Infantry) acquired the nickname of "Buffalo Soldiers" as a result of their exploits during the Indian Wars.
Object Type: Image

Title: Charles Bluejacket
Description: Photograph of Charles Bluejacket (1816-1897), Kansas member of the Shawnee Tribe. This is found in the 1906 publication of "Transactions of the Kansas Historical Society: Vol. IX.".
Object Type: Image
Date: n.d.

Title: Constitutional Convention, Topeka, Kansas Territory [Topeka]
Description: Wood engraving depicting the Topeka Constitutional Convention of December 15, 1855. At the convention, Free-Staters voted to adopt the Topeka Constitution for Kansas Territory, provisionally banning slavery in Kansas and allowing suffrage for "civilized" male Native Americans, but still excluded blacks from settling in the state. However, the constitution failed to gain the recognition of proslavery settlers and the federal government, including President Franklin Pierce, who declared the Topeka legislature to be illegal and treasonous.
Object Type: Image
Date: December 15, 1855

Title: From Fred to Dear Cousins
Description: This February 28, 1862 letter is from a soldier named Fred to his cousins. He reports that he just marched from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas with Company A, to Kansas City, Missouri, where they are guarding Fort Union against the Jayhawkers. He tells his cousins that the 2nd Battalion of his regiment "had a brush with the rebels at Independence," and adds that he may be marching to St. Louis soon.
Date: February 28, 1862

Title: Map Showing the Progress of the Public Surveys in Kansas and Nebraska
Description: This black-and-white map, signed by Mark W. Delahay, Surveyor General, was issued by the Surveyor General’s office in Leavenworth, Kansas on September 2, 1861. The map shows the progress of the public surveys in Kansas and Nebraska, and was produced to accompany the Surveyor General’s report of 1861.
Object Type: Map
Date: September 2, 1861

Civil War on the Western Border: The Missouri-Kansas Conflict, 1854-1865