Quantrill's
Raid The Lawrence Massacre
Battle of Lawrence
Self guided tour
Lawrence Convention and Visitors
Bureau
734 Vermont, Suite 101
Lawrence, Kansas 66044
(888) 529-5267 |
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When the Kansas Territory was opened to settlement in
1854, abolitionists from New England rushed to the area in an effort to
keep the territory from becoming pro slavery. Lawrence, Kansas was founded
by the anti-slavery Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Society which was formed
in 1854 and aided many emigrants to Kansas and Nebraska. Lawrence wasn't
just a destination, but also a center from which the emigrants proceed.
Lawrence grew into an important stop on the Underground
Railroad and Kansas Jayhawkers fought several times with pro slavery Bushwhackers
from Missouri. One significant local clash was in 1856. Others were further
south and involved people like John Brown and his family in places like
Osawatomie.
The conflict intensified when the the start of the Civil
War, when Kansas became a free state
The most famous of these battles was on August 21, 1863,
when William Quantrill (a former Lawrence school teacher) lead 400 Missouri
men into Lawrence. They were intent on burning every house and killing
every man. Around 200 men were killed that day.
The stops on the Quantrill's Lawrence Raid tour tell many
of stories of the events on that day. The 90 minute to 2 hour tour begins
at the Miller Farm, near where the first person was killed and ends at
Oak Hill Cemetery.
| The Lawrence Convention and Visitor's Bureau has prepared
a self guided tour of the sites involved in Quantrill's Lawrence Raid (the
battle of Lawrence). A potion of that tour is reproduced here, but you
are urged to contact the for the complete guide.
Click on the map or the partial guide below if you wish
to print the main section of the tour.
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Pioneer Cemetery on the University of Kansas campus near the Lied was
opened in 1854 and has
contained the graves of many of those who died in Kansas' pro
slavery / anti-slavery clashes.
The dead from the Quantrill's Raid were first buried here. Although
most of the graves were later moved
to other cemeteries, at least four gravestones from victims of Quantrill's
Raid remain.
743 Indiana was a boarding house at the time of Quantrill's Raid. It
was spared when Emily Hoyt, the
landlady, successfully plead that it was her only source of income.
Her son was hiding in the cupola.
This house at 1205 Rhode Island is one of several in East Lawrence
that survived the raid
Quantrill's Raiders killed their first victim, Reverend Snyder, while
he milked a cow at a farm
next to the Miller House at 1111 E. 19th Street.
This monument to the victims of Quantrill's raid is in Oak Hill Cemetery.
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