"But I Can Fire a Pistol"

"But I Can Fire a Pistol". . , "But remember this, I am a girl, but I can fire a pistol and if ever the time comes I will send some of you to the place where there is [sic] 'weeping and knashing of teeth'...." , Gene Campbell, in a letter to James Montgomery, January 4, 1859., Gene Campbell's anger testifies to the hatred and ill will prevalent during the pre-Civil War era called "Bleeding Kansas," and to her anguish over the violence - on this site - that ended the life of her fiancé, pro-slaver John Little., At daybreak, December 16, 1858, about 100 heavily armed "free-staters" invaded Fort Scott to liberate a companion jailed in the Free State Hotel (directly in front of you). They corralled hostages in front of the hotel. Shots erupted. A bullet pierced John Little's skull as he peered from the window above the door of his father's store (formerly the post headquarters, reconstructed ahead and to your left)., Violent acts like this, initiated by both free-staters and pro-slavers, symbolized the division of the nation soon to be at war., An artist envisioned the scene (above) in which free-state raiders force a hostage down the hotel steps as shooting erupts. James Montgomery (left), an ardent free-stater, led the Fort Scott raid. After Montgomery was chosen leader, fellow abolitionist John Brown (of later Harpers Ferry fame) declined to go on the raid.