Kansas Chautauqua Timeline: 1856-1858
1856
 May
21—Sheriff Jones of Douglas County and his followers sack
Lawrence killing one person and burning the hotel and two free state
newspaper offices.
May 24—John Brown and followers murder five proslavery
men near Pottawatomie Creek (known as the Pottawatomie Massacre).
June 2—Battle of Black Jack, considered first regular
battle fought between free state and proslavery forces, takes place
in southeastern Douglas County.
July 4—Free State Legislature meets in Topeka and passes
a constitution in defiance of the pro-slavery territorial government
in Lecompton.
August 10, 15 & 16—Skirmishes at Fort Franklin,
Fort Saunders, and Fort Titus in Kansas.
August 24-26—Battle of Osawatomie on the banks of the
Marais des Cygnes between John Brown’s party and Missourians.
Brown’s son Frederick is among those killed.
Summer—Free State travel on the Missouri River blocked
by proslavery forces. The Lane Trail (named after James Lane, leader
of the antislavery Jayhawkers and one of Kansas’ first U.S.
senators) opens from Topeka through Nebraska City to Iowa. This
route allowed free state emigrants to bypass Missouri on their way
to Kansas. Lane was the first U.S. Senator from Kansas and leader
of the “Jayhawkers,” who aggressively fought the Missouri
Border Ruffians. This charismatic leader played a key role in bringing
Kansas into the Union as a free state. He was a strong supporter
of Lincoln.
1857
March 4-6—James Buchanan inaugurated President. Supreme
Court decides Dred Scott case. As a slave, Dred Scott was not a
citizen of the United States and could not bring suit in federal
courts on any matter. Scott had sued for his freedom on the grounds
that he had once lived in the Wisconsin Territory, where slavery
was prohibited.
December 21—Lecompton proslavery constitution drafted
at Lecompton. The constitution is adopted in an election in which
free state men refuse to vote. Later the proslavery men reject it
in a second election by not participating.
1858
April—James Montgomery, who was known for his unexpected
trips into Missouri to plunder and steal slaves, and his men fight
U.S. troops stationed at Fort Scott in the Battle of Paint Creek.
Federal troops returned to Fort Scott in 1857 and 1858 to suppress
turmoil in the area.
May 19—The Marais Des Cygnes River is the site of a
famous confrontation between proslavery and abolition forces. This
massacre of five free state men is the last significant display
of mob rule in Kansas.
June 5—Montgomery and his raiders try to burn down
the Western or Proslavery Hotel in Fort Scott.
December 16—John Brown attacks Fort Scott. Brown recruits
two white Harpers Ferry raiders.
December 21-February 1—Escorting eleven enslaved African
Americans, John Brown travels through Kansas on the Underground
Railroad.
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