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Marais des Cygnes Massacre State Historic SiteMarais des Cygnes Massacre State Historic SiteMarais des Cygnes Massacre State Historic Site

Marais des Cygnes Massacre

On May 19, 1858, proslavery men killed five free-state men and wounded five others in a ravine that is now listed as a National Historic Landmark. The massacre, which followed earlier guerrilla warfare activities, on both sides, shocked the nation and became a pivotal event in the "Bleeding Kansas" era. A few months later, abolitionist John Brown came to the site and constructed a fortified cabin. Walk the grounds of this site and learn more about the tensions during the era of territorial Kansas.

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