Sunday, February 15, 2015

THE GREAT LECOMPTON SHOOTOUT by JD McCALL


When using a historical setting as the backdrop for a novel, a certain amount of accuracy is important to the believability of the story, even if the plot itself is entirely fictional. Unless you're already an expert on the location and time you've chosen, some thorough research can keep you from looking foolish to your readers, some of whom are avid historians and bound to catch your mistakes. One of the rewarding things which can happen when you put in your due diligence is learning an interesting tidbit of information about your setting you were previously unaware of. This has happened to me many times over when researching the location of my latest western novel, South of Rising Sun, set in Kansas. Being a Kansas native for fifty-nine years, one would think I had already learned everything there is to know historically about the state I live in. But once I started researching the setting for my tale, I found out how completely lacking my Kansas history education had been in elementary and secondary school.

Even if they are not into westerns, nearly everyone over the age of forty has heard of the Gunfight at the OK Corral. They might even know of the Hickock-Tutt Gunfight in Springfield, Missouri or the Hyde Park Gunfight in Newton, Kansas (which I intend to write about in the future). But few people have heard of one of the largest gunfights ever to take place in the West, a politically motivated shootout in the now tiny city of Lecompton in Douglas County, Kansas. Lecompton was the first official territorial capital in Kansas’s long and often bloody struggle to determine whether it would enter the Union as a free state or a slave state in the latter half of the 1850s. This thriving city of almost five-thousand was the seat of the pro-slavery (at that time) territorial government and was expected to become the capital once statehood was conferred upon the Kansas territory.


In the fall of 1856, John W. Geary had the dubious honor of being the governor of territorial Kansas, one of six men to hold the title during its seven year history of existence. During Geary’s tenure, the self-appointed sheriff of Douglas County, Samuel J. Jones, resigned his post in December of 1856, the Douglas County board of commissioners promptly appointed one William T. Sherrard as the new sheriff under somewhat questionable legal authority. Governor Geary was to have signed papers granting Sherrard his commission but stalled, apparently feeling Sherrard’s pro-slavery leanings would conflict with his own free-state inclinations, despite Sherrard’s declaration he would “see that the laws were faithfully executed.” Geary continued to stall, then eventually refused outright, claiming several acquaintances had reported Sherrard was of dubious character and had been involved in several drunken altercations.

JOHN W. GEARY
For over a month, Sherrard went to great lengths to secure his commission by legal means, but each avenue led to disappointment. Thwarted in all his efforts, he apparently had enough, and on February 9, 1857, an armed Sherrard confronted Geary in Constitution Hall as he left a legislative meeting. The exact words exchanged are not agreed upon by historians, but the story goes that Sherrard chastised Geary for assailing his character and then spat on him, hoping to provoke the governor into an altercation so he would have reason to shoot Geary. Geary wisely refused to take the bait, but his supporters did not let the matter drop. They introduced resolutions in the house legislature condemning Sherrard's actions and nine days later held a town meeting over the matter on the lawn outside Constitution Hall.

CONSTITUTION HALL
At one point during the meeting, Sherrard was given the floor to rebut the resolutions and declared that "Any man who imputes anything dishonorable to me in that affair, is a liar and a coward, and I stand ready at all times to back up my words." After Sherrard left the podium, he returned to his place among the crowd and was immediately bombarded with hostile questions and comments. One member of the gathering, Joseph Sheppard, may have remarked that the resolutions were just and moved toward Sherrard. Sherrard responded to the alleged statement by yelling, "You are a God--damned liar, a coward and a scoundrel," after which he drew his pistol and began firing. Sheppard pulled his own pistol and fired back, but not before being wounded in the leg. When Sheppard's three rounds missed, he tried to club Sherrard with the butt of his pistol before the mayor and ex-sheriff Jones separated the two. By then, many in the crowd had drawn their own weapons and commenced shooting, with upwards of fifty shots being fired. Casualties from the melee might have been great had not several in the crowd retained the presence of mind to use their canes to whack the gun hands of many of the combatants when they attempted to shoot.

As it was, Sherrard, having exhausted the rounds in one pistol, drew another and moved in the direction of Geary's secretary, John A. W. Jones, who drew his own pistol in true Western fashion and plugged Sherrard squarely between the eyes. He collapsed and died two days later. Remarkably, Sherrard was the single fatality to result from the shootout, with Sheppard and a merchant from Lawrence, Kansas being the only other two known to have sustained wounds, barring the few sore wrists on some unlucky shooters.

It has been suggested that the whole affair was orchestrated so that Geary could prove the existence of a pro-slavery conspiracy to do him violence, and that he purposefully failed to use available military personnel to ensure altercations did not take place during the meeting. Any violence which did erupt was to have been proof of such a conspiracy, proof which the governor intended to use to his advantage against the pro-slavery faction. Unfortunately for Geary, his reputation was irreparably harmed by the circumstances surrounding Sherrard's death, and President Buchanan fired him on March 12th of that year, making him the final casualty of the "Great Shootout at Lecompton."

SOUTH OF RISING SUN AMAZON LINK:
http://www.amazon.com/South-Rising-Sun-J-D-McCall-ebook/dp/B00QD0D332

WEBSITE:
http://www.mccalljd.com/

LECOMPTON KANSAS LINK:
http://www.lecomptonkansas.com/

14 comments:

  1. It is the 'little known' facts that always draw me. I recently found out about a murder while researching one of the early women doctors in Colorado. (It was her father). So of course it's down the rabbit hole I go.

    Thank you for sharing this little known piece of Kansas history. I don't think anyone can ever get enough. Doris McCraw/Angela Raines

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    1. There are so many incidents like this that have faded into obscurity to the point one really has to dig deep to uncover them. But that's what makes the archaeological expedition into the past so much fun. Good luck with your latest "dig."

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  2. The lack of casualties shows you what excitement can do. But then as a young newspaper reporter I was frequently amazed at how two men could stand toe to toe, empty their pistols at each other and neither one of them be hurt,

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    1. I've read the same type of account, where people sitting at the table rose and fired on one another as they circled around it, with no one getting seriously injured. Probably back then, a couple of shots led to so much smoke it was hard to see the fellow on the other side. Makes you think that when they did land a shot it was dumb luck.

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  3. JD, this is fascinating history--I had never heard of it. So much history is being lost to future generations because there is just no time in the school calendar to get it all in, and the "powers that be" don't see history as an important subject any longer. It's really sad. I hope there will always be readers and writers and lovers of history to "go down the rabbit hole" as Doris says, and keep history alive through stories, academic writings and papers, and any other way we can think of.

    I really enjoyed this post and as always, am so glad to learn things about the old west. It's amazing how little we all know about our sister states' history.

    Cheryl

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    1. Cheryl, I am constantly amazed at the obscure bits of western history which people on this blog and others manage to dig up. It is amazing that many of these lesser known events even have any kind of written record. And if we don't occasionally unearth these stories, they will likely vanish from public consciousness in the years ahead. Glad you enjoyed the post.

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  4. Great post, JD, and your book sounds fascinating. I love the setting, pre Civil War Kansas Territory. So few know about what happened out here at that time, yet it had a huge impact on the nation. I'm a Kansan, as well as an author who uses Kansas history in fiction. Delighted to find a "soil" brother. :)

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    1. I have to wonder how many violent incidents actually happened in Kansas during the time leading up to the Civil War, as opposed to those which gained some form of notoriety in the form of newspaper accounts and are still remembered. Being Kansans, you and I both know how much of the Old West's history has its roots in Kansas. It's a fascinating place. Thanks for stopping by.

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  5. Thanks for the information about a little-known incident all related to the "Bleeding Kansas" issues in that region. Best wishes with your book. I look forward to reading it.

    Robyn Echols writing as Zina Abbott

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    1. Zina, I am delighted you enjoyed the article. I hope you will be similarly entertained by my book. And thanks for the best wishes!

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  6. That's a great photo of Lecompton. Where did you find it? Do you by chance know the year it was taken?

    Samuel J. Jones was elected by the K.T. legislature as the first sheriff of Douglas County. He was commissioned by acting K.T. Gov. Daniel Woodson on 27 Aug 1855 at the Shawnee Mission and was sworn into office on 3 Sept 1855. He served until his resignation which was 3rd Monday of October 1856 and was formally accepted on 15 Dec 1856, having served as Sheriff for 16 months. After the death of Sherrod he did serve as acting sheriff on a temporary basis. He left for NM Territory in Dec 1858.

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