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 Battle of Black Jack - Baldwin City, Kansas Posted by:  iconions
N 38° 45.837 W 095° 07.848
15S E 314869 N 4292738
These markers commemorate the Battle of Black Jack fought between Freestate and Proslavery forces on June 2, 1855. It is located at the junction of E 2000th Road and N 175th Road in the Robert Hall Pearson Park.
Waymark Code: WMWB6C
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 08/06/2017
Views: 4
The Battle of Black Jack took place on June 2, 1856, when anti-slavery forces, led by the noted abolitionist John Brown, attacked the encampment of Henry C. Pate near Baldwin City, Kansas. The battle is cited as one incident of "Bleeding Kansas" and a contributing factor leading up to the American Civil War of 1861 to 1865.
n 1854, the U.S. Congress had passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act which stipulated that the residents of these territories would decide whether they wished to enter the Union as a slave or free state. This doctrine became known as popular sovereignty. Organized groups from the North sent thousands of abolitionist supporters to Kansas in an attempt to tip the balance in favor of free state advocates, to counter settlement from pro-slavery supporters from Missouri. As a result, pro- and anti-slavery groups had frequent clashes culminating in the Battle of Black Jack.
On May 21, 1856, Henry C. Pate participated with a posse of 750 pro-slavery forces in the sacking of Lawrence, which destroyed the Free State Hotel, two abolitionist newspaper offices and their printing presses. They also looted throughout the village. The next day, Congressman Preston Brooks from South Carolina physically attacked Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts in the Senate chambers with a cane. He continued hitting after the senator was bleeding and unconscious. After that, a band of men, led by John Brown and comrade Captain Shore, executed five proslavery men with broadswords at Pottawatomie Creek. Brown's men let Jerome Glanville and James Harris return home to the cabin of Harris. This incident became known as the Pottawatomie massacre. Following the massacre, three anti-slavery men were taken prisoner, including two of John Brown's sons.
On June 2, 1856 Brown and 29 others met Henry Pate and fought the battle of Black Jack. This started after Brown's two sons were captured and held prisoner by Pate. The five-hour battle went in Brown's favor and Pate and 22 of his followers were captured and held for ransom. Brown agreed to release them as long as they released Brown's sons.
On June 2, 1856 Brown and 29 others met Henry Pate and fought the battle of Black Jack. This started after Brown's two sons were captured and held prisoner by Pate. The five-hour battle went in Brown's favor and Pate and 22 of his followers were captured and held for ransom. Brown agreed to release them as long as they released Brown's sons.
Some historians, including Clay Thomas of the Baldwin Historical Society, consider the Battle of Black Jack to be the first true battle of the American Civil War, even though no army representing the Union or the Confederacy was involved. The event that is cited as the beginning of the war is the attack on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, by Confederate troops on April 12, 1861.The site of the battle is located near U.S. Highway 56, about three miles (5 km) east of Baldwin City, and is near the designated area of the Robert Hall Pearson Memorial Park[1] by the state of Kansas in honor of one of Brown and Shore's fighters who gave a handwritten account of the battle. Signs are placed throughout the battle site pointed out where the battle started and ended. Efforts are underway to preserve both the Pearson Memorial Park and the Ivan Boyd Prairie Preserve across the road.
In 1970, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of Baldwin City, Baker University professor and playwright Don Mueller (not to be confused with the baseball player of the same name) and Phyllis E. Braun, Business Manager, produced a musical play entitled The Ballad Of Black Jack to tell the story of the events that led up to the battle. The Ballad Of Black Jack played as part of the city's Maple Leaf Festival from 1970–83 and again from 2001-05. It also played in nearby Lawrence in 1986 and in 2006 and 2007 as a part of Lawrence's Civil War On The Western Frontier program.
In 2012 the National Park Service decided to designate the battlefield a National Historic Landmark.
- Wikipedia Entry
The first battle in Kansas between anti- and pro-slavery forces was fought on June 2,1856 at Black Jack Creek, three miles east of present-day Baldwin City, Douglas County, Kansas. It was prelude to the bloody conflict called the Civil War. The battlefield covers 20.27 acres, consisting of a section of Black Jack Creek, prairie to the south that contains Santa Fe Trail ruts, and a wooded area further south and west. The area was surveyed in January 1856 by the U.S. Land Surveys for the Territory of Kansas. The surveyor's field notes describe the countryside as being a high rolling prairie of first quality with several ravine courses; elms, sycamores and black jack oaks grew along the stream with Indian trails going northeast and southwest.
Today Black Jack Battlefield looks much as it did in 1856. The fragile prairie remains, and the Santa Fe Trail ruts are still there. Not many Black Jack oaks are left, but there are sycamores and elms along the ravines. The County has grown from 8,637 in 1860 to 99,968 in 2000. The site of the Black Jack Battlefield includes 1) Black Jack Park containing the creek, 2) the Ivan Boyd Prairie Preserve containing Santa Fe Trail ruts, and 3) the Robert Hall Pearson Memorial Park.
Black Jack Park is a two-acre roadside park one-half mile west of the old Black Jack townsite at the junction of U.S. Highway 56 and E2000. The road into Black Jack Park turns onto a half circle under a canopy of trees. At the east end of this drive stands a 40 by 60 foot log cabin built of native white oak trees. The cabin was built in 1969 and funded by the Douglas County Board of Commissioners. The entrance faces west with a door in the middle, flanked by windows on either side. The north wall of the building includes a large fireplace of native stone. There is one window on the south end. The one-room cabin is used for gatherings (Santa Fe Trail Historical Society, Maple Leaf Festival meetings, and nature talks) and contains displays of historical items. An outhouse is attached to the outside east wall. A flagpole at the northwest end of the cabin came from the Black Jack schoolhouse.
Across the drive from the cabin are three historical markers. The first marker is titled "The Battle of Black Jack" and briefly gives the highlights of the battle. This marker was the first to be erected by the Kansas State Historical Society in a campaign by the Kansas State Chamber of Commerce to memorialize the many historic points of interest in Kansas. Next to it is another marker dedicated in 1984 to the memory of Amelia J. Betts. It contains the following script: "Black Jack Park. South of This Park are 18 Acres of Virgin Prairie. Purchased 1967 by Douglas County From Russell Hays for a Permanent Prairie Preserve and Historic Site. Evidence of Santa Fe Trail Plainly Visible. Original Site of DAR Marker Was Near Pioneer Town of Black Jack One-Half Mile East." The third marker is made of granite and states: "Santa Fe Trail 1822-1872 Marked by the Daughters of the American Revolution and the state of Kansas 1906." This DAR marker was first placed on the H.H. Hays farm. When Highway 50 (now 56) was widened and paved in 1938, the marker was moved to the grove of Black Jack oak trees owned by Russell Hays adjacent to the ruts of the Santa Fe Trail.
At the south end of the half circle drive, a wooden foot bridge crosses what is left of Black Jack Creek and leads south to a path up the hill and the prairie beyond. Here the imprints of the Santa Fe Trail ruts can be clearly seen. Two markers appear at the top of the hill: a wooden sign saying "WAGON RUTS SANTA FE TRAIL" and a sandstone marker. The stone was placed in the early 1960s by Russell Hays and inscribed with "Grindstone Creek - 40 Rods - Sibley Survey 1825."
The Ivan Boyd Prairie Preserve is named after Ivan Boyd, who was a professor emeritus of biology at Baker University. Very few tall grass prairies are even in existence today, but this one on the Black Jack Battleground, which is open to the public, has never been cultivated. With no excessive cutting, burning or grazing it has over 125 species of native grasses and wildflowers in bloom throughout the year.
The Robert Hall Pearson Memorial Park is located two-tenths of a mile south on County Road E2000 at the junction of E2000 and N175. Its .27 acres of wooded land was given to Douglas County in 1970 by Mr. and Mrs. Dana Cavender and Mr. and Mrs. James W. Cavender in memory of an ancestor, Robert Hall Pearson, who took part in the Battle of Black Jack. James Cavender's home, south of this area, was built in 1889.
The park is enclosed by cyclone fences on the east, south and west including a gate on the east. The north side is fenced with barbed wire. A wooden sign inside the park lists the names of 48 men who participated in the battle including Captain Samuel Shore, August Bondi, and Captain John Brown with his five sons. A granite stone marker at the site displays the words "Battle of Black Jack First Battle Between Free and Slave States Fought on These Grounds June 2,1856." Originally, this stone marker was placed across the road at the south end of the prairie on the John Hays corner (E2000 and N175). On July 4, 1970, it was moved to the Robert Hall Pearson Memorial Park because "it was located on the right-of-way," in danger of being damaged and creating maintenance problems. At the base on the south side of this stone are the words: "Stone first set on land donated by Floyd and Fannie Kalb. Stone set 7/4/70 on land donated by D.P. Cavender." Beside this large granite marker is a small one which states "ERECTED 1913 BY POST 40 GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC WOMEN'S RELIEF CORPS #102 DEEDED TO KANSAS 1917" to explain that the large stone should be credited to the Women's Relief Corps. A shelter with five picnic tables is located in the southeast corner and a barbecue pit built in memory of Wilma Workman, 1900-1980 on the southwest corner. An outhouse is located on the northwest end of the park.
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