Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1911-12-08
A Rifle Shot Rang Out In tho Air.

was known as the Ohio party, a body
Of about seventy-ive determined men
to represent the Buckeye state. just as
other companies had left other states.
many of them from the far east, to
Kansas.
The Ohio party in April, 1856. went
by rail to Louisville, and thence to st.
Louis by the steamboat Alva Adams.
There they resh1ppeo. taking the Polar
Star on the Mississippi. and steamed
up the Missouri to Kansas City,
thence overland to Lawrence, which
was one of the Free Soil towns OF the
border war days.
1t wasn't loEg until Irvine had a
speaking acquaintance with the man
who two years after planned and start
ed to carry out one of the ~nerviest, II
the most foolish, undertakings in the
history of the war, with which the
Buckeye follower had no sympathy,
however much he helped to back him
up in Kansas.
This man probably could tell, were
Le so minded, who 1t was who fired
an historic shot at Lawrence. One
Sam Jones, an avowed pr%o-slaver, a
come up from Missouri to make some
arrests. Jones had gone into a tent
at night and while there he cast his
own shadow on the wall of the tent.
1t was then that a rifle shot rang out
in the night air INT Jones measured
his length on the ground under the
canvas. Jones was not killed, but the
incident served to greatly excite the
two parties. each bent on beating the
other. Jones and his followers had
no trouble in getting assistance from
the United States cavalry quartered
In thai region. Many of the soldiers
openly sympathized with the pro-slav-
cry crowd and aided the latter In car
rying out their plans.
When Irvine was asked where be
was most of the time up to the day
south to free the slaves. he said that
he was in the saddle. He was In
most OF the skirmishes and bush.
whacking episodes Of the Kansas Dor.
der war. One Of the Ohio party es.
capped being hanged after the rope had
been drawn up two or three times
Irvine saw the burning of the Free
Soil hotel in Lawrence n he saw
from his saddle the advance Of 2,7OG
Missourians who had Invaded the ter.
ritory for the purpose Of running out
the Free Sellers. The advance of the
invaders could be seen from Law.
renee, making their way out of Frank
lin, a small village to the east. Some
- - hDC%e p,@re h,-.zL~St
some afoot, n who later were at
tackled by John Brown n a small
body of bushwhackers who went GU,
to give the slavery crowd battle.
Irvine says that he did not see the
fight It Osawatomie, but he knew
Cook and many of the others who
we're with Brown at Harper's ferry.
MI. Irvine afterward enlisted in the
Union army and subsequently followed
Sherman to the sea, and In his con.
nection he had an odd experience,
After the Kansas border troubles he
had gone to Colorado, where he was
offered a lieutenancy in the First Col
orado regiment, but chose to go to ST
Joseph, Mo. where he joined the Thir.
teenth Missouri regiment. There were
two Missouri regiments of the same
number, one recruited in Missouri and
he other in Cincinnati, each with,
out any knowledge of the other, and
when the matter was found out it was
he regiment that had been recruited
Il Missouri that had to give way, N
from this cause Irvine lost some OF
he credit of service in the Civil war.