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Title: From Lucie Davis to John Pigg
Description: This letter, dated September 15, 1864, is from Lucie Davis in Clay County, Missouri to John Pigg. Davis tells Pigg that her mother died after a long illness. She also tells him that Louis Vandiver was moved from a prison in St. Joseph, Missouri to one in St. Louis. Davis predicts that “The bushwhackers are about to take this country,” and adds that they robbed the mail in Clay County and had a fight near Fredericksburg.
Date: September 15, 1864

Title: From R.R. Boone to Dear Father
Description: R.R. Boone writes a letter from Buchanan County, Missouri to his father on September 12, 1858. Boone reacts to news of guerrilla warfare in Kansas, proclaiming "I am a great mind some times to gather my Rifle and gow & skalp some of these infernal theaving abolitionist." He criticizes both political parties and voices anger that the government has not put a stop to the violence in Kansas.
Date: September 12, 1858

Title: From M. Jeff Thompson to Robert M. Stewart
Description: On November 27, 1860, Col. M. Jeff Thompson writes a dispatch from the Headquarters of the 4th Military District in St. Joseph, Missouri to Missouri Gov. R.M Stewart. Thompson suggests that Stewart send troops to guard the Missouri River to prevent the escape of guerrilla attackers and prevent further invasions. Thompson also states that Major F.W. Smith has 200 troops ready for orders.
Date: November 27, 1860

Title: Union Men and Their Sufferings in North-Western Missouri
Description: This 1864 pamphlet, entitled “Union Men and Their Sufferings in North-Western Missouri,” was written by Major J.M. Bassett, former Provost Marshal-General of the Northwest District of Missouri. Bassett provides a “glance at the history of the Rebellion in Northwest Missouri,” admitting “it may be that my hatred for rebels is too intense, my sympathy for loyal men too strong, to make every sentence I write acceptable to all.” The pamphlet, which features several black-and-white illustrations, was published by the Press of Wynkcop, Hallenbeck, and Thomas in New York, with proceeds from its sale given to The Ladies’ Aid Society of St. Joseph, Missouri.
Date: 1864

Title: General Orders, No. 38
Description: Maj. Gen. Samuel Curtis issued General Order No. 38 from the Department of the Missouri Headquarters in St. Louis on May 22, 1863. The order details the proceedings of recent Military Commissions in St. Joseph, St. Louis, and Springfield, Missouri, where citizens were tried for war crimes, including consorting with guerrillas and bushwhackers, killing United States soldiers from the Seventh Cavalry Regiment Missouri Volunteers, and encouraging rebellion against the government. The order was signed by Assistant Adjutant General A.V. Colburn.
Date: May 22, 1863

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