I have the honor to be
Your obedient servant,
WILSON SHANNON.
Gov. Shannon knew, as well as he knew his name was Wilson Shannon, that
this meant another invasion of Kansas Territory. There was no organized
militia in Kansas. Gen. Richardson did not live in Kansas; he lived in
Missouri, and it meant Missouri militia and not Kansas militia.
Moreover, the Governor knew, or at least ought to have known, what an
unreliable man this Sheriff Jones was. Jones was Postmaster at Westport,
and Shannon was living at Shawnee Mission, in the neighborhood of
Westport. And yet, without one moment's inquiry, he placed the issues of
life and death of this infant Territory in the hands of this lying
scoundrel.
There was a rallying of the clans of the blue lodges of Missouri. The
following appeal, sent by Brig. Gen. Eastin, editor of the _Leavenworth
Herald_, and commander of the second brigade, Kansas militia, must serve
as a sample of the dispatches that were scattered broadcast through the
border Missouri counties:
"TO ARMS! TO ARMS!"
It is expected that every lover of _law and order_ will
rally at Leavenworth on Saturday, December 1, 1855,
prepared to march at once to _the scene of rebellion_ to
put down the outlaws of Douglas county, who are committing
depredations upon persons and property, burning down houses
and declaring open hostility to the laws, and have forcibly
rescued a prisoner from the Sheriff.
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