Border Wars

June 21, 2011

Continuing with the theme from last week's post about the Civil War, it's interesting that, for many, the War began in 1854 and not 1861. There were many bloody and violent skirmishes on the western border of Missouri between Kansas Free Staters and Missouri slaveholders during that time.

Many young men, not wanting to choose sides, decided to fight the war in their own way by raiding homes in both Kansas and Missouri. William Clark Quantrill put together a band of guerrilla fighters, one was Frank James. In his book The Devil Knows How to Ride, Edward Leslie gives a detailed and fascinating account of Quantrill's rise to notoriety. When George Todd took over Quantrill's band late in the war, one of Quantrill's fighters, William "Bloody Bill" Anderson, broke off and formed his own group. At the tender age of 16, Jesse James joined Anderson's group. Ted Yeatman's Frank and Jesse James: the story behind the legend is an excellent tale about the early years of Frank and Jesse James.

For many in Missouri, the war truly ended when Jesse James was assassinated by Robert Ford in 1882. There are also plenty of interesting sites to visit in the greater Kansas City area that are related to the history of the James's exploits.

Linda Tarantino
Interlibrary Loan Manager