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Title: From Frederick Starr to Dear Father
Description: This letter was written on March 31, 1855, by Frederick Starr in Weston, Missouri, to his father. Starr describes the election fraud that took place at the Kansas legislative elections on March 30, calling it “a high handed outrage.” He says that hundreds of armed, pro-slavery Missourians came into Kansas to disrupt the election, and that more than 800 illegal votes were cast in Leavenworth, Kansas. Starr asks his father to publish the information in his letter in the Albany Evening Journal, without mentioning his name.
Date: March 31, 1855

Title: From James H. Moss to A.W. Doniphan
Description: On October 3, 1863, James H. Moss writes from Liberty, Missouri to Col. A.W. Doniphan. Moss describes his recent efforts to restore order in Clay and Platte Counties, Missouri by raising a local military force. He writes that the newspapers have been publishing "reckless" lies about his activities, and urges Doniphan not to believe what he reads. Moss asks Doniphan to explain the situation to Gov. Gamble, adding, "We have had perfect quiet in Clay and Platte for five days and nights past."
Date: October 3, 1863

Title: A Letter from the Original Members of the Leavenworth Association, K.T. to Jefferson Davis
Description: This pamphlet, dated March 13, 1855, is entitled “A Letter from the Original Members of the Leavenworth Association, K.T. to Hon. Jefferson Davis, Secretary of the War Department.” The pamphlet voices the Association’s concerns about Executive Document No. 50 of the 2nd Session of the 33rd Congress, regarding the military Indian reservation at Fort Leavenworth. The pamphlet was printed by Finch & O’Gorman in Weston, Missouri, and is signed by 26 Association members.
Object Type: Pamphlet
Date: March 13, 1855

Title: From Frederick Starr to Unknown
Description: This is an excerpt from a letter written on December 1, 1854 by Frederick Starr to an unknown recipient. Starr describes a recent “outrage on the ballot box” during elections in Kansas, when “Some 1200 or 1400 Missourians armed with bowie-knives & revolvers took the polls.” Starr says that many free-soilers were unable to reach the polls at all, and declares that “Big times are coming.” He adds that circumstances in Weston, Missouri “look dark.”
Date: December 1, 1854

Title: From Frederick Starr to My Dear Father
Description: On March 19, 1855, Frederick Starr writes from Weston, Missouri to his father. Starr transcribes a recent article from the local newspaper “Liberty Platform,” in which he is accused of being a “political priest” in charge of a “gang” of abolitionists. Starr believes the article makes unjust and false statements about him, but admits “it may be the impression which has fixed itself upon the minds of the fire eating part of the community. If so I would not have it otherwise.” The article also describes the nomination of Gen. Whitfield as the Kansas Territory delegate to Congress.
Date: March 19, 1855

Title: Leavenworth City, Kansas Territory
Description: Depiction of the city of Leavenworth, Kansas in 1856. Missourians from Weston, Missouri and residents of Fort Leavenworth founded the city in the fall of 1854.
Object Type: Image
Date: n.d.

Title: New Sectional Map of Kansas
Description: This color map, drafted in 1859 by Robert L. Ream, was published by Stevenson and Morris of St. Louis, and printed by A. Janicke and Co. of St. Louis. The map is entitled “New Sectional Map of Kansas,” and was compiled from the field notes in the Surveyor General’s office.
Object Type: Map
Date: 1859

Title: Sectional Map of the Territory of Kansas
Description: This color map, entitled “Sectional Map of the Territory of Kansas,” was compiled from the field notes in the Surveyor General’s office. It was published in 1857 by John Halsall in St. Louis.
Object Type: Map
Date: 1857

Title: From James Henry Lane to E.M. Stanton
Description: This letter, dated February 8, 1862, is from James Henry Lane to E.M. Stanton, Secretary of War, in Washington, D.C. Writing from Leavenworth, Kansas, Lane states that he supports the proposal to extend the Platte County Rail Road from Weston, Missouri to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He urges Stanton to offer his support, arguing that the extension would help the government transport army supplies and troops.
Date: February 8, 1862

Title: Map Showing the Progress of the Public Surveys in the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska
Description: This black-and-white map, signed by J. Calhoun, Surveyor General, was issued by the Surveyor General’s office in Lecompton, Kansas Territory in October 1857. The map shows the progress of the public surveys in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, and was produced to accompany the Surveyor General’s 1857 annual report.
Date: October 1857

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