[Personal Recollections of Pardee Butler by Pardee Butler]@TWC D-Link bookPersonal Recollections of Pardee Butler CHAPTER XIV 2/11
The Free State printing press of Mark Delahay was, during these troubles, destroyed. At Easton, a mob undertook to break up the election, but was driven off, and in the affray one of the attacking party named Cook was mortally wounded.
Then the _Kansas Pioneer_, published at Kickapoo, made an inflammatory appeal to the "Law and Order" party to rally and avenge Cook's death, and in an answer to this appeal the "Kickapoo Rangers" and Captain Dunn's company, from Leavenworth, in all about fifty men, turned out to go to Easton on this errand.
A number of gentlemen had gone from Leavenworth to Easton to attend the election, and had stayed over night, among whom were Captain R.P.Brown, a resident of Salt Creek Valley, near Leavenworth.
Captain B.was a man well esteemed in his neighborhood, and was a member-elect of the Legislature.
Captain Dunn and his company met these men returning to Leavenworth, and took them prisoners, carrying them back to Easton. Here they got up a sort of Lynch-law trial for Captain Brown, but the rabble composing Dunn's company, having maddened themselves with drink, broke into the room where the trial was going on, seized Captain Brown, who was unarmed and helpless, and tortured him with barbarity that has been supposed to be only possible among savages, and then threw the wounded and dying man into an open lumber wagon, in which they hauled him home to his wife, over the rough, frozen roads, in one of the coldest nights of that bitter cold January; stopping meantime at the drinking-houses by the way, they consumed seven hours in making the journey.
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