CHAPTER XII.

A PENNSYLVANIA LAWYER PEDDLES BEEF; BUT TURNS OUT A HERO!

I was one day riding in a buggy with a Dr. F., of Weston, from Fort Leavenworth to Weston. The mud in the roads could be measured by the foot. Soundings had to be taken by us as we drove along. While in the midst of our troubles, a spectacle presented itself. A queer-looking, dried-up little man on horseback, with a child in his arms, was plodding his weary way towards the Fort. He was followed by a female, also on horseback, with a child in her arms! I could not help smiling at the sight. I concluded that such people had an object before them in life! They were surely in search of something-"the bubble reputation " in a quagmire in Kansas. asked Dr. F. who they were, as I observed that he recognized them with an inclination of the head. The Dr. was surprised that I was not acquainted with the "Prince of Traitors, McCrea !" "Is that McCrea ?" replied I. "O, doctor, you give me too much credit for intimacy with the sayings and doings, and the heroes of the Free State movement." Well," replied the doctor, "I must acknowledge that there is little to be laid to your charge, and I think that I understand you better than the most of them at Weston." But this

I

is digressing. I had heard of McCrea, but I had never seen him before. The hero of my imagination had now dwindled into a pigmy, and that pigmy in a plight! First impressions, first impressions, said I— alas, alas! I perceived that philosophy was about to fail me, and I tried to ransack my brain for historical personages whose personal appearance bore no resemblance to the nature of their actions. I had read Homer, and I had a dim recollection of a hero mentioned by him, "Whose little body encased a mighty mind." This reminiscence had the magic effect to take the child out of McCrea's arms, remove himself from off the jaded, drabbled horse; it stripped him of his mean clothing, it trimmed his hair and his beard, it arrayed him in the "Toga virilis," or the manly gown of the ancient Romans, gave him the dignity of a Senator (I mean a Roman Senator), the boldness of Demosthenes when he harangued against tyrannyfinally, it put a pistol in his pocket to defend the liberty of speech!

Every Squatter meeting which might be called in the neighborhood of Leavenworth, McCrea would be

at.

Squatter Sovereignty meant something in his vocabulary, whatever it did not mean at Washington. McCrea was forever tacking provisos and amendments to the Squatter laws and resolutions, to the great annoyance of the pro-slavery catspaws of the wire-working "Self-Defensives." These suggestions were always designed to secure fair play to the Free State settlers. There were many Free State men in the neighborhood, and McCrea knew it; but very few of them pur

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man.

GOOSE VERSUS BEEF.

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sued any aggressive policy-they were afraid of bloodshed! But McCrea feared nothing in the shape of a His enemies gnashed on him with their teeth. He was branded as the "Prince of Traitors, or Abolitionists"—"The Agent of the Emigrant Aid Society," and so on. McCrea had to do something for a living, as a matter of course. He was a lawyer; but as there was no law in his neighborhood, there was, of course, nothing for him to do in that line. He stuck up his "shingle," "McCrea's Law Office;" but this was to keep up appearances merely, and to establish a reputation for the harvest in the "good time coming." Should anybody now have called at the office of the "Juris Consult," his wife would have told the person that her husband had gone out to "peddle beef!" Fresh meat was quite a luxury, I can tell my readers. As a beef-peddler, McCrea was decidedly popular ! He drove his wagon over to Kickapoo City, about six miles from Fort Leavenworth. The cry of "Beef, beef!" spread like fire on a prairie through the town. Men, women and children were seen fleeing from their houses, as if they were fleeing from the yawning earth at the time of an earthquake! The wagon was surrounded. Part of the beef was sold, and all were crying for their share, when one came up who cared more for the "goose" than he did for beef, and cried “Abolitionist." McCrea told all hands to leave the cart, threw the cloth over the beef, and closed the sale! They besought him in vain. His principles had been assailed, they could have no more beef. He drove off amid the yells of the crowd!

But McCrea did not give himself up altogether to beef-peddling.

Squatter meetings were looked out for as eagerly by him as ever cat watched for mouse. When the "spirit" of the "Self-Defensives" came up to trouble the waters, McCrea let no man get before him, to step in! A great movement was set on foot at Leavenworth, which was designed to cut off all hopes from the Free State men. McCrea, the evil genius, was the first on the ground. Many resolutions and noisy debates were offered, and held. McCrea moved, and had the good fortune to have seconded, a resolution, the exact import of which I am not now able to give; but, no doubt, it was on his darling subject-protection to Free State squatters. It nettled the crowd excessively. Malcolm Clark, a very good fellow when not crossed in his plans, rushed on McCrea, in fury, with a club in hand! McCrea retreated as far as I understand the law in Pennsylvania requires, in order to justify the last resource, armed self-defence-drew his pistol, and shot Clark dead! The crowd rushed on McCrea, who dashed into the Missouri river; the mob seized him; preparations were making to hang him, when the dragoons from the garrison rescued him, and put him in the guard-house, at the Fort. McCrea, after some months' confinement, awaiting trial, escaped.

CHAPTER XIII.

SPIRITUAL THINGS AT KICKAPOO CITY.

My letters of appointment gave me Fort Leavenworth and parts adjacent as my field of labor. I will speak of Leavenworth City in another chapter. Kickapoo City lies adjacent to Fort Leavenworth-improvements were earlier made at this point than at Leavenworth. The population was as large in number for a long time. I found my prospects better at this place than at Leav enworth. The first newspaper in the Territory was published close by the town limits "The Kansas Pioneer,” still issued from Kickapoo City. In addition to all these things, it was nearer to Weston, where my wife boarded. I could easily walk the two or three miles which intervened between the two places, and preach on Sunday.

The first sermon which was ever preached to the whites on this ground, I delivered, at the old log-house called the "Roman Catholic Mission of the Kickapoo Indians." The files of "The Kansas Pioneer" will show this, as this fact was very emphatically stated by the editor, in a number of the paper.

There was quite a large number of persons present. The subject of my sermon was: What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul." This text suggested a train of argument