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Title: From F.L. Pilla to Dear Brother
Description: F.L. Pilla writes a letter to his brother on September 21, 1863. Pilla writes about Quantrill's Raid on Lawrence, explaining that Lawrence is seven miles from his home in Eudora, Kansas. On the day of the Raid, he heard a rumor that Quantrill planned to target Eudora, and readied himself for a possible attack. The following day, he visited Lawrence and found "the best part of the City burned down" and "dead bodies laying around in all directions."
Object Type: Letter
Date: September 21, 1863

Title: Benjamin (Ben) Broomfield
Description: Charcoal portrait of Ben Broomfield with pullover shirt typical of the guerrillas, hat, and rifle. Ben Broomfield was with Quantrill and Bill Anderson, who "called him his own Indian." Broomfield was part Comanche. He took part in the Lawrence, Kansas, massacre on August 21, 1863. Facts don't correlate about his death. Broomfield was killed either in 1863 or 1864.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1893

Title: John McCorkle
Description: Charcoal portrait of John McCorkle in suit coat, shirt, tie, and hat. McCorkle, born December 12, 1838, in Andrew County, Missouri, moved to a farm near Westport around 1846. In April 1861 he enlisted in Company A of the Missouri State Guards, but in August 1862 he became part of Quantrill's guerrillas. In 1865, McCorkle surrendered at Newcastle, Kentucky, along with George Wigginton and a Confederate Captain Stone. They were paroled. Some years later, O. S. Barton helped McCorkle write his memoirs, "Three Years with Quantrell [sic]," published in 1914. McCorkle lived in Howard County, Missouri, until he died in 1918.
Object Type: Image

Title: James (Jim) Robert Cummins
Description: Charcoal portrait of James (Jim) Cummins (sometimes spelled Cummings) in suit coat and checked (?) shirt. Jim Cummins was a neighbor to the James family near Kearney, Missouri. He, along with Jesse James, Doc Rupe, Silas King, and Tom Smith joined the regular service of the Confederacy under Colonel Calhoun Thornton. Later he and Jesse joined the guerrillas. Jim was not at Lawrence, but was at the Centralia massacre, September 27, 1864. After the war, some believe he was at some point a member of the James-Younger gang. Cummins sometimes used the alias Jim Johnson. He periodically stayed at the Confederate Home near Higginsville, Missouri, until his death on July 9, 1929. He is buried in the Veterans Cemetery in Higginsville.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1893

Title: William Clarke Quantrill
Description: Charcoal portrait of William Clarke Quantrill in suit coat and tie. Captain William Clarke Quantrill was the most noted of all guerrilla leaders. His commission was as Captain of Cavalry Scouts for the Confederates. He led the raid or massacre on Lawrence, Kansas, on August 21, 1863. After the Battle of Westport in October 1864, Quantrill went to Kentucky where he was mortally wounded by Federal soldiers. He was taken to a hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, where he died June 6, 1865, at the age of 27.
Object Type: Image

Title: William Napoleon (Babe) Hudspeth
Description: Charcoal portrait drawing of William "Babe" Hudspeth in suit, vest, and tie. Hudspeth was one of four brothers from eastern Jackson County that rode with Quantrill and Bill Anderson. He participated in the raid on Lawrence, Kansas, (August 21, 1863) and the Centralia, Missouri, massacre (September 1864). After the Civil War he lived on his farm in Jackson County and bred horses. He died in 1907. (from "Babe Hudspeth: Missouri Guerrilla" by John Sickles in "Military Images," Jan/Feb 2007, Vol. 28, #4, pp. 30-33.")
Object Type: Image

Title: John Ross
Description: Charcoal portrait of John Ross in suit coat, shirt, and string tie. Ross was one of Quantrill's guerrillas and took part in the raid on Lawrence, Kansas, August 21, 1863. He was with Quantrill when Quantrill was mortally wounded in Kentucky. Ross, along with 14 others of Quantrill's band, surrendered to the U.S. Army at Samuel's Depot, Kentucky, July 25, 1865.
Object Type: Image

Title: Charles Sanders
Description: Charcoal portrait of Charles Sanders (Saunders) in suit coat, vest, shirt, and tie. Sanders served with Quantrill and was part of the raid on Lawrence, Kansas, August 21, 1863. While recuperating at the home of Mrs. Richard Kinney in Jackson County from wounds, Sanders was shot and killed in March 1865 by Captain J. W. Sheets' company of soldiers.
Object Type: Image

Title: Richard (Dick) Yeager
Description: Charcoal portrait of Richard (Dick) Yeager dressed in suit coat, shirt, and tie. Dick Yeager was a son of James B. Yeager, a judge who served in the state legislature for two years and as presiding judge of the Jackson County Court in 1840. James owned a freight business running the Santa Fe Trail, and before the war, Dick was in charge of one of his father's wagon trains. When his father's farm was raided, Dick joined Quantrill's guerrillas. He was part of Quantrill's raid on Lawrence, Kansas, August 21, 1863, and is also known for a daring raid in the vicinity of Council Grove, Kansas, on May 4, 1863. There are several versions of his death, which occurred around July or August 1864.
Object Type: Image

Title: Andrew (Andy) McGuire
Description: Charcoal portrait of Andrew McGuire in coat over a tab-closing shirt. McGuire was part of Quantrill's raid on Lawrence, Kansas, August 21, 1863, and Centralia, Missouri, September 27, 1864. He surrendered at Samuel's Depot, Kentucky, July 25, 1865. In May 1867, 14 men held up the bank in Richmond, Missouri. A warrant was issued for McGuire's arrest in connection with the robbery. He was arrested in St. Louis and taken to the Richmond city jail. On March 20, 1868, a mob of 15 stormed the jail and lynched McGuire along with James M. Devers.
Object Type: Image

Title: Sacking of Lawrence
Description: This print, originally published in O. N. Merrill's 1856 publication of "True history of the Kansas wars, and their origin, progress and incidents", depicts the Sack of Lawrence in 1856 by Douglas County sheriff Samuel J. Jones.
Object Type: Image
Date: 1856

Title: From George D. Bayard to Father
Description: This is a copy of an October 1, 1856 letter from George D. Bayard in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas to his father. Bayard tells his father that Kansas is overrun with invaders from Missouri who want to make it a slave state, and with northern emigrants who want to make it a free state. He criticizes Gov. John W. Geary for not taking a strong stand against slavery. He also mentions that troops from Lecompton are pursuing James Henry Lane and his men.
Date: October 1, 1856

Title: From Lewis A. Waterman to Dear Mother
Description: This letter, dated July 22, 1864, is from Lewis A. Waterman at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas to his mother in Providence, Rhode Island. Waterman reports that William Quantrill invaded Kansas with about 500 Bushwhackers. In retaliation, Col. Jennison crossed into Missouri with 700 troops and killed about 150 men. Waterman also tells his mother about daily life at Fort Leavenworth.
Date: July 22, 1864

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