Marais des Cygnes Massacre
On May 19, 1858, proslavery men killed five free-state men and wounded five others in a ravine that is now listed as a National Historic Landmark. The massacre, which followed earlier guerrilla warfare activities, on both sides, shocked the nation and became a pivotal event in the "Bleeding Kansas" era. A few months later, abolitionist John Brown came to the site and constructed a fortified cabin. Walk the grounds of this site and learn more about the tensions during the era of territorial Kansas.
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