Sign of the Apocalypse Drawing Near

KU is playing MU Saturday, November 24. What would normally be a routine rivalry football game is now much more important, since KU is ranked number 2 in the nation and MU is number 4. The chance at playing for the national championship is on the line.

One of my good friends, Ted, unfortunately went to MU. He and I have exchanged some emails about the origins of the Jayhawk, and since I thought some of the stuff was interesting, I'm editing and posting some of my comments here:

1. During the Civil War, the Jayhawkers of Kansas were basically the functional equivalent of the Bushwackers of Missouri.
2. In the 1861 Osceola massacre, led by a guy who was later elected to the U. S. Senate representing Kansas, James Lane, nine men were basically murdered; however, at least the initial invasion of the town came as part of a legitimate warfare after the Battle of Wilson’s Creek and the Battle of Dry Wood Creek.
3. In Quantrill’s Raid, in 1863 of Lawrence, Kansas, somewhere probably between 185 and 200 men and boys were murdered. Wikipedia describes the attack as a “four-hour session of pillaging, systematic execution of most of the male population, arson, and other mayhem.” That, to my eye, does not sound legitimate, thus justifying the villainous reputation of one William Quantrill.
4. In retaliation after Quantrill's raid, and in order to eliminate the hiding places of the Quantrill terrorists, General Ewing, the Union general in charge of Kansas City and the surrounding area, issued Order No. 11, which basically ordered the forceful eviction of all rural people around Kansas City and the torching of their farms and homes. Order No. 11 was devastatingly effective at depopulating and destroying several Missouri counties. The biggest reason, I believe, that it is not more widely known is that the Union won and the Missouri Confederates lost. That, plus the fact that the wanton destruction was of property, not people. Cf. William Quantrill.
5. Churchill wrote that “history is written by the victors.” That concept is quite true, in comparing Quantrill to the Jayhawkers. We won, they lost; deal with it.
6. Since the victors do get to write history, I humbly suggest that the Tigerettes prepare to go in hiding beginning on Sunday, November 25, 2007.