TRADING POST, now known as Pleasanton, Kansas is one of the earliest Settlements and lies on the Military Road.
Its proximity to Missouri was convenient for pro-slavery forces.
TRADING POST LINN CO. KANSAS
In the spring of 1858, James Montgomery raided Trading Post, striking a popular pro-slavery "watering-hole." All the barrels of sod-corn whiskey were emptied into the dirt, This act triggered Hamilton's rage and the result may have been the Marais des Cygnes Massacre.
The bloodiest single incident in the Kansas-Missouri border struggles, 1854-1861, occurred May 19, 1858, when about 30 Proslavery Missourians seized 11 Kansas Free-State men near Trading Post and marched them to a ravine 225 yards northwest. Lining up their prisoners, they shot them down, killing five and wounding five others. One escaped injury by faking death. Northerners were horrified, and John Greenleaf Whittier immortalized the fallen in a poem, "Le Marais du Cygne."
MARAIS DES CYGNES MASSACRE
A few weeks after the massacre John Brown arrived here and built a two-story log "Fort", about 14 x 18 feet, which he occupied with a few men through the summer. In December he made a raid into Missouri in which 11 slaves were liberated and one man was killed. Brown's famous "Parallels," dated January 3, 1859 at Trading Post pointed out that "hell is stirred from beneath" because of his raid while no comparable action had been taken to find and punish the Marais des Cygnes murderers.
JOHN BROWN PARALLELS
A Brown follower , Charles C. Hadsall, bought this property in 1858. Later, adjacent to the site of the fort, he built the stone house which stands here today. The building and grounds were presented to the State of Kansas in 1941 by Pleasanton Post, Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Because of it's location, Trading Post was the site of much activity during these turbulent years. Following the Battle of Westport, as Union troops chased General Sterling Price's Confederate soldiers south, a small battle took place at Trading Post.
A monument honoring victims of the Marais des Cygnes Massacre was erected at Trading Post in 1888. The remains of four of the victims were buried there.
The Trading Post museum complex is located beside the cemetery.
Trading Post Museum Hours
9 - 5 Mondays through Saturdays
11:15 - 5 Sundays
Open March 1 through November 1
One of the finest genealogy libraries in the area is housed here. You can explore period rooms, exhibits, and an authentic country store.
Linn County Museum Hours
Tuesdays and Thursdays 9-4
Saturdays and Sundays 1-5
June thru September open daily 1-5, except Mondays
Goodrich, a village of Linn county, is situated in the northwestern portion, about 17 miles northwest of Mound City, the county seat. It is a station on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas R. R.,it was a money order post office and telegraph station, and in 1910 had a population of 90.
As always have fun be safe and
HAPPY............................................WAYMARKING