4 * .
Conservative.
catisos of friction , the Drake coustitu-
tion , of unsavory memory , was then in
force in Missouri , and its attempted en
forcement begot many enmities and re
sentments which boded no good to a
peaceable settlement of some of the lo
cal state issues , growing out of the war.
Fortunate indeed would it have been
for Missouri , had her statesmen been
gifted with the spirit which led Ken
tucky at the close of the civil war to
forgive , and to bid her citizens of all
classes forgive and forget the bickerings
and differences of the past. On the
pages of American political history the
Drake constitution is a blotch.
Kincaid's Store and "Buckeye. "
At the edge of the timber where the
old stage road coming from Butler turns
southward toward Fort Scott and Ne
vada , was the farm house of William
Campbell , and in a corner of his yard
stood the store owned and conducted
by Joseph Kiucaid , now of Pleasauton ,
Kansas. That store was the only trad
ing-point in 1808 in all that region , in
cluding the western half of Bates
county. Its business was brisk and
rapidly growing , and Kincaid looked
about for a man to assist him. All his
goods were hauled by team and wagon
from Kansas City and Pleasant Hill ;
and it would take nearly all of one
man's time to attend to that work.
And , so , in looking about for an assist
ant he chose and employed well , to
prevent criticism , we will call that as
sistant "Buckeye. "
. Buckeye had been clerking for a mer
cantile firm at Mound City. He and
Mr. Kincaid were both old Union
soldiers , aud had served in the same
brigade , and their regiments (7th ( and
44th Ohio ) having been chummy , they
were personal friends. He had not
been long in his new field before there
were distinct niutterings of displeasure
because , forsooth , another "Abolition
soldier , and from Kansas at that , " had
been added to the population of the
community. No other cause of com
plaint was over heard except that the
employment was not given to one of
the young men who had recently come
out from Illinois. Vaughn was con
sulted by the malcontents , aud some of
them confided to an ex-Confederate ,
Peter Speece , their leader's "covert
threat : "If Joe Kincaid's team returns
some day without a driver , perhaps he'll
be able , after that , to take the hint. "
Between Buckeye and Captain Gentry
West and the latter's old comrades
there was a peculiar bond of sympathy.
Said the Captain one day , "Buckeye ,
where is your brother Murry ? " and
when told that Murry had been dead for
a year or more , the Captain's face took
on a look of sorrow and regret , and he
exclaimed , "I am awful sorry to hear
it. He was one of the brave men from
Kansas that I have longed to become
personally acquainted with. It was he
who , at the fight in ' (51 ( over on Walnut
creek , put the bullet through my body !
I learned that day to have very great
respect for him ! " The threat against
"Joe Kiiicaid's "
driver" occuring soon
after that conversation , and confided to
one of West's men , was not long in
reaching Buckeye's ears. On the fol
lowing night there was a meeting of a
dozen or more of the ex-Union soldiers
in Kiucaid's ware-room , aud definite
stops were then taken to organize a
post of the Grand Army of the Ke-
public. All haste was made , and the
next week the post was instituted at
Yankee school-house , which stood out
on the prairie near the Mound City
road , a mile west of the store. To the
copperhead mind , this meeting of the
ex-Union soldiers in the public schoolhouse -
house was an insult added to injury.
They htld a meeting in a quiet place
and appointed an executive committee
to notify the school director that if the
Grand Army should attempt to hold
another meeting in that building they
would be dispersed by force. I need
need not say that the regular meeting
was held in the same place and
promptly on time ; but there was ad
ded to the usual paraphernalia , a dozen
shot-guns and half-a-dozen Spencer
rifles. Of course they were not dis
persed , nor was any well defmed _ attempt
made to that end. When appealed to ,
to assist in carrying out the threat , one
of the ex-Confederates had thrown
consternation into the copperhead ranks
by emphatically declaring , "I guess
them Yanks have earned the right to
.meet when and where they please. At
any rate there is no fight between them
and us. If you men from Illinois want
them dispersed , we rebel soldiers that
know what that kind of a job means ,
are willm' you should have all the fun
and the credit. "
A week after the second meeting , as
Buckeye with a load of groceries was
approaching the river timber from the
north , he discovered a horseman and
several men on foot in the brush ahead
of him. He knew the horse. It be
longed to the chairman of that ex
ecutive committee. It was not yet sun
down , and if nothing should prevent ,
he could reach the store across the river
before dark. But , there ahead of him
was trouble of most serious import. He
turned out of the road and went into
camp. Sacks of flour were , as darkness
fell , lifted from the wagon and laid in
a circle under the wagon. His horses
were hobbled in a shallow ravine near
by. And all night long he kept his
vigil. But the cowards who expected
to way-lay and shoot him from their
covert , in the evening's shadows , could
find no courage to attack him on the
open prairie where , with Spencer and
Colt he waited for them. As he was
preparing his camp out there on the
Moudyville road , nearly a dozen others
exposed themselves to his vigilant eyes.
Waiting next morning , until the camp
ing immigrants on the Butler road
should again bo euroute , he drove across
to that highway , and falling in with the
half-dozen , moving wagons , proceeded
to the store unmolested.
But Biickeye was now in no mood to
defer a fight if one was necessary. He
had wronged no man had not harmed
nor attempted to harm any one. To be
hunted like a. wild beast was too much
for his patience. Henceforth the other
party might expect trouble. They had
not long to wait.
Yankee School-House Chosen for Regis
tration.
The supervisors of registration and
election had designated the Yankee
school-house as the place for register
ing the voters of Walnut township ,
and ordered that the national flag
should be hoisted for 80 days over
each place of registration prior to
opening the books on the first Mon
day in August. Accordingly the
township trustee , Clark Foster , raised
the Stars and Stripes over the schoolhouse -
house on the first day of July. On
the evening of the 3d the store was
closed , to be re-opened again on the
morning of the 5th. Kiucaid and his
assistant drove to Mound City to
celebrate the Fourth. Buckeye re
turned on horseback , reaching the
store at daylight on the 5th. As he
passed the sohool-house the old flag
was hanging , wet with dew , from the
staff. At 8 a. m. Captain Bainbridge
and Mr. Samuel Cope came excitedly
to the store and reported that the flog
had been taken down and carried
away. It had been done since day
break. A hasty consultation was held
and it was decided by the three
veterans to adopt heroic measures and
put them into effect at once. They
called Mr. William Campbell to the
gate. The old gentleman , than whom
there never was one more harmless or
peaceable , showed unmistakable signs
of fear and dread.
"Uncle William , " said Captain Bainbridge -
bridge , "some traitor has taken the flag
from , the Yankee school-house and car
ried it off. "
"I I told old Vaughn that he aud
them Illinois fools would get into
trouble if they did it , " stammered the
innocent old man.
"Well , if that flag is not in its place
over that sohool-house by half-past 10
this forenoon , " snapped Sam Cope , "we
will kill every d d Illinois copperhead
and old bush-whacker in this township
before we go to bed ! "
Had the old gentleman been endowed
with wings he could not have crossed
the road to the barn 150 yards away ,
more quickly ; nor , could one trained to
the movement have gotten the old mare