On May 19, 1858, proslavery “border ruffians” led by Charles Hamilton rounded up a number of suspected antislavery men near the town of Trading Post in modern Linn County, Kansas. After releasing some of their prisoners, the Missourians marched 11 men into a secluded ravine and opened fire on them, killing five and seriously wounding five others before escaping back across the border into Missouri. Although attacks and reprisals continued until the outbreak of the Civil War, the Marais des Cygnes Massacre was the last major violent episode of the “Bleeding Kansas” period.
Charles Hamilton, a Georgia native who had moved to Kansas to help hold the territory for the proslavery forces, was, by 1858, a veteran of several skirmishes along the border. In May, antislavery forces led by James Montgomery besieged Hamilton’s fortified house, causing him to leave the territory, but he resolved to return and take revenge on his former neighbors. After rallying a party of 25 men in Missouri, Hamilton returned to the Marais des Cygnes River Valley, robbing and taking prisoner any men suspected of antislavery sentiments. Most were captured at their homes or while working their fields and had little opportunity to escape, but Eli Snyder, a blacksmith, fired on his attackers and, though wounded in the leg, managed to escape.
