Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1855-12-19

VIII remember the exciting news published in
our last, IN relation to Il civil war in Kansas
! and that Gov. SHANNON had been compelled to
call on the President Tor U. S. Troops to as
sist in quelling the rebellion. Since then the
true version Of the affair has been received,
and it now appears that the disturbance was
begun by the shooting in cold blood of a young
man named Dow by one Coleman, at Hickory
Point, place twelve miles south of Lawrence.
Tho young man having got into some alterca-
ton with party of border ruffians at a black
smith shop, left them, when the opportunity
was taken by Coleman to shoot him in the
back. The murderer fed to Lecompton and
] put himself under the protection of Gov.
Shannon, probably with the lie in his mouth
which has been telegraphed through the whole
cOuntry-that attempt had been made to
drive him from his claim, (Which, by the way,
| he had stolen from another man;) that he Shot
! Dow in self-defense, and that subsequently his
house had been burned and his family dispersed.
Gov. Shannon orders Jones, the sham Sher-
if tor Douglas County-who is also, it seems,
Postmaster Of Wcstport, No, where doubtless
he lives, to arrest Mr. Branson, and to oblige
him to give securities to keep the peace--the
| only offanse committed by Branson being that
! Dow had been lodger in his house, and that
Coleman seems to have stood in fear of his tes-
timony. AS this sham Sheriff was carrying Of
Branson, he and his posse of fifteen armed
men were intercepted by party of fifteen OF
Branson's neighbors, who released him from
arrest; of which circumstance advantage ap-
roarS 20 Iava baar, Cb,rDD,, ie-t,,
warrants against Mr.. Pomeroy and a number
of other leading free-state men of Lawrence,
who We're accused of having been concerned in
this rescue. As Jones, sham Sheriff, gave out
that Shannon was ready to back him with ssten
thousand men, and the people Of Lawrence
did not choose to allow their town TO be enter
ed by that or any other number of border ruff
fans, who under pretense of putting down re-
sistance to the law, might rob, burn and mur-
der at discretion, they mustered with their
Sharp'S rifles, which fact being communicated
to Gov. Shannon he forthwith calls upon the
MissDnriaus for aid, and telegraphs to the Pre-
sident that Lawrence is in rebellion! All sorts
of extrayagant stories are spread through the
Union, and the border ruffians muster in force
under Shannon's standard. Their invading
march, however, is speedily arrested by 200
Sharps rifles and five pieces Of cannon, warn
ed by which these valiant volunteers think it
best to wait for regulars from Fort Leaven-
worth. Such is the whole story as it is stated
by the special correspondent of the n. Y. Tri-
btRe, in the Territory, for whose accuracy in
this and in every other matter that paper can
fully youch, and who. in this instance, is con-
frned by every other respectable authority
The conclusion that must force Itself on the
mind Of every candid man, after perusine this
intelligence, and the dispatches sent by the.
E'border ruffians themselves, is that this collis-
sion had been coneocted By Gov. Shannon as
ameans, to use their own languages, Of sss1s jagq-
ing tt5 people Of Kaasas' "a conclusion ahun-
dainty confirmed in the conduct of Jones, the
sham Sheriff, in making tue arrest of SIR
Branson, for, instead of proceeding directly
with his prisoner to the proper place, he went
out Of hisway to otherhouses, boasting of what
he and posse would doifthey met any ofthe
free-state men, and using violent and outrage
oEs language. 1t is also confirmed by the de-
''help,'' one Of which, to the Louisville Court
CT, an Administration paper, is as follows:
sicur hHa3rsI men from jackson County, |
Missouri, are now en- route for Douglas Coun- |
". Kansas Territory. St. Joseph and Weston, |
IN Missouri, are requested each to furaish tic
same nrHJsr Of men. The peOpis Of Kansas
are 10 be sa!ugGfcI al all kaSaris -
Thus, the design of the ruiiians is apparent, |
and if President PIERCE had desired to queI
the difficulty. instead of telegraphing to VII |
thority to ssbaek him up,'' ne would have
dropped word OF caution to the miserable
dough-iace, reminding him that there was a
possibility Of bis carrying the joke little too
far. for it would seem that the men of Law
renee, who signed the pledge of union and of
mutual support on the stock of Sharp's |
rife, instead of writing desk. are not formed |
of the same material with the inhabitants of
Greytown, and that in order to ..subjugate'' |
them, something more will have to be done
than the battering down Of couple Of chick |
en-coops, and the wounding of two or three
lame ganders.
By our latest mails, we learn that there are
700 men under arms in Lawrence, and 318 Mis-
soarians at Waukesa Creek, some seven miles |
distant. Squads of Missourians were on their
way, armed with rifles. and one band had ab-
stracted three pieces of cannon from the Clay |
county Arsenal. They had baggage wagons
and stores, and were swearing violently, that
they would burn Lawrence, and kill all the |
ID abolitionists. Probably when they get
glimpse of the muzzles of q few hundred of /
Sharp's rifles, they will change their tune
Gov Shannon's pathetic stories of outrages
committed, houses burned, women and chill