The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-11-28
KICKAPOO STORY.
How the Famous Old Cannon
Was Rescued.
Col. HI. Miles Moore Talks of It's
Experiences.
GOT FROM UNCLE SAM.
Instrument of War Stolen by
the Miss0urians.
Was in Turn Appropriated by
Col. Moore.

Among the veterans who were in To-
peka this week attending the meeting of
the Loyal Legion, was Colonel H. Miles
Moore, the Democratic war horse of
Leayenworth. For 25 years Colonel
Moore was secretary of the Democratic
state central committee. He was promi-
nent in the legislature away back i'll
1867 and has been three times a can
didate for attorney general. AT present
he is Judge of the city court of Leav-
enworth.
Colonel Moore is the man who is re-
sponsible for "Old Kickapoo" being. in
the collection of the state historical So
ciety. For the benefit of the younger
generation of kansans it might be well
to explain that "Old KickapoO" is neith-
er an Indian chief nor a stuffed ele-
plant, but cannon which played an
important part in the early history of
Kansas. 1t now reposes on the fourth
floor of the state house pointed across
the rotunda and trained on tie oil
painting of Peace. Its days of romance
and war are over for big piece OF
brass is broken out of one side.
Colonel Moore was one of the leaders
of a posse which took "Old Kickapoo"
from the Missourians. Later he rescued
it from a junk dealer.
The gun originally belonged in the
United States arsenal at Liberty, Mo-,
Colonel Moore told a State Journal re-
porter, but a crowd of Missourians
broke the arsenal open during the bor-
der troubles and brought it over into
Kansas and used it in an attack on
Lawrence. When they went back their
horses gave out, or something got the
matter, and they left the gun at Kicka-
poo. 1t is brass and was polished bright
in those days. [ saw it number of
times when 7 was in Kiclka 300 and 1
wanted to get possession of it and take
it to Leavenworth. One day in the
spring of 1857 friend told me that
the gun had been taken into a peach
orchard near Kickapoo. That night my
self and five or six other fellows went
to the orchard, hitched the gun behind
a wagon and started for LeaVenworth
with it. The other fellows got onto it
and a. crowd of them started after US.
and they gave us a lively chase. We
got away though and buried the gun in
an orchard near LeavenwOrth. But we
didn't dare leave it there, so we dug it.
up and sent it to Lawrence. and after
that we kept moving it from one place
to another. We were not afraid of the
Missourians, but we knew if the United
States officers found out that the gun
had been taken out of the Liberty arse
nal we couldn't hide it from them.
After things had quieted down we
brought it back to Leavenworth and
turned it over to the Turner'S for SAT-
keeping. A few years later the shaft in
one of the coal mines got clogged up
and somebody took the old gun down
the air shaft and fired it for some pur-
pose or other There wasn't any chance
for it to rebound and it burst. That's
what made that big hole in it.
After that somebody sold it to an old
German junk dealer. ] didn't know
anything about it till one day 1 hap
pened to look down an alley and saw the
old gun behid the junk dealers shop.
went down and asked MIN where ne
got it.
I bought him. he said.
How much?' I asked.
Twenty-Five tollar,' he said.
He had already broken up the gun
carriage, and said he was going to ship
the gun itself to Chicago as old brass.
told him he ought not to do that, as it
was a valuable old relic. l told him, too,
that whoever sold it to him had no right
to it and he couldn't hold it. I asked
him how much he would take foE~it, and
he said two hundred dollars. I thought
that was pretty high considering that
he had paid only twenty-five dollars for
it, but he wouldn't come down any.
IT telegraphed to Judge Adams, of the
State Historical society, about it, and
he replied that if the junk dealer would
the money to buy it for the State His
toricai society. I told the junk dealer
we would pay him his price, but when I
went to buy the gun l found he had
already shipped it to Chicago. He was
afraid we would. take the gun away
from him by law. He needn't have been
afraid, though. for we could show no
title 10 it. We had stolen it from the
Missourians, and they had stolen it from
the government, so none of us had
legal right to it. After considera BILE per-
suasion I got him to telegraph to Chi
cago about it. The gun had already
reached Chicago. but had not been I'M
loaded. We got it reshipped. and it never
stopped until it landed in the sta te
house in care of Judge Adams. That's
the story of Old Kiekapoo'
We used to have great times in those
early days" continued Colonel Moore.
reminiscently. Il used to go down to
Kiekapoo to try lawsuits, but in those
days we always went armed. [ remem-
Der once l was trying a suit in Kicka-
poo and was sitting with my back to an
open window. The lawyer on the other
side sat near me, and each of US kept
a revolver on the table in front of us
l felt something tickling the back of my
ear and looking around I looked right
down the barrel of an old musket yhicf
a drunken fellow had pol1ed through the
window and held to my head. The
musEet was cooked, but before he pulled
the trigger I knocked the muzzle uR
srd yanked the gun away from him
That was one of the incidents of prac-
ticing law in those days.