Here's to you, Lawrence Fucking Kansas

Today is kind of a big day in our town's history. On this day in 1863, men from Missouri under the leadership of William Quantrill rode into Lawrence, Kansas before dawn. By the time they left hours later, most of the town was on fire, each building torched to drive out any men hiding inside. Approximately 180 men and boys had been murdered, many in front of their wives, mothers, and children. The town had been looted for supplies. Who knows how many women were sexually assaulted.

The number of dead was a large percentage of the town's population. That percentage translated to today's population would be around 8,000 people. There in the morning and dead by noon.

Not all of the men and boys in town died, of course. The main target of the massacre, Jim Lane, eluded the Border Ruffians by hiding in a cornfield. Another man hid in his well, knowing he was a sitting duck if the raiders thought to look there. According to legend, young men were hastily shaved and dressed in their mothers' or sisters' clothes. Women threw themselves in front of their beloved husbands to shield them from the raiders' weapons. But they were easily tossed aside and made to watch as their husbands were summarily executed. In an infuriating post-raid comment, Quantrill described the "feistiness" of Lawrence women. As if he expected our women to just stand idly by and do nothing as their town was destroyed and their men slaughtered?

By noon, Lawrencians had begun the process of rebuilding, with the first task being to identify and bury the dead. Witnesses describe digging through piles of rubble to find nails so coffins could be hastily built. Under the hot August sun, the stench of death and fire was unlike anything even seasoned farmers could have imagined.

So why did all of this happen? Ask a Kansan (like this one) and you'll hear a heroic tale of unarmed, peace-loving people who simply wanted to live free in a free state. Ask a Missourian and you'll hear some tripe about retaliation for an earlier raid conducted by Jim Lane's red-legs, aka Jayhawkers. The real history goes back to the formation of Kansas as a state, when the people living here wanted to join the union as a free state while people living just across the border in southern Missouri relied too much on slavery for their economy and were not thrilled about having yet another free state neighbor. In the years while Kansans were trying to pass a Constitution that would earn the state entry into the union, Missourian Bushwhackers (or Border Ruffians) came into the territory and tried to make sure our elections went the way they wanted. (They succeeded on the first Kansas Constitution, which meant the true Kansans just had to vote again.) Eventually, the people in Kansas started returning the favor with incursions into Missouri that weren't so nice. This included one raid on Osceola, Missouri in 1861 that left 8 people dead. (The raid for which Missourians now try to claim the Lawrence massacre was retaliation for. 2 years later. Uh-huh.)

Missourians have to ignore all the greater history and cling to that silly retaliation (not revenge!) claim because deep down in places they don't talk about at their Missouri parties, they know the ultimate cause they were fighting for was less just than ours. You'll also still hear Missourians challenge that Kansans weren't all that noble because our reasons for opposing slavery weren't totally based on moral disapproval of owning people. To which I have to respond, does it really matter why one opposes slavery?

But I admit that I am biased. While I acknowledge Jim Lane's red legs did bad things, I still maintain in a two-sided guerilla warfare situation, the side working for the abolition of slavery has the eternal moral upper hand. And nothing justified or could justify what was done to the civilian population of Lawrence on that August morning 150 years ago.

Ultimately, what we should focus on, what the take-away should be, is that this catastrophic massacre made this town stronger. It informs our traditions and heritage. To this day, we proudly proclaim our heritage, in the name of one of our high schools (Free State High) and the most beloved local hot spot (Free State Brewing Co, because without beer, things do not seem to go as well), where John Brown ale is a popular offering.

People living in Lawrence today, 150 years later, still feel joined together by the legacy of that day. Maybe it's because there are still buildings downtown that have bullet holes and fire damage. Or because around town, we all know which houses were built after that awful day, when so little of the town remained standing. We pass by the Eldridge Hotel, knowing the story of the small child who was trapped inside and died when that building burned. Our cemeteries are filled with markers of those who died that day. And many of our residents are part of families whose roots in Lawrence predate the massacre, so the tales of that day aren't just part of the local lore, but their specific family history.

So this is why Kansans today still give a little fist pump when we see the scene from "The Outlaw Josey Wales" when the feisty grandmother declares, "We're Jayhawkers and proud of it," as she declines to buy any molasses from Missouri. It's why we still chuckle when Marge points out to Grandpa Simpson that his flag only has 49 stars and he insists, "I'll be deep in the cold, cold ground before I recognize Missourah!" And why before those Missouri chickens turned tail and ran to a different conference, the KU-Mizzou rivalry was bar none the fiercest in sports. Sure, it's all in good fun, but deep down, we Kansans are still well aware that they burned our town down. When Missourians see today as a day to "celebrate" (which they do: see twitter and this bar, celebrating Missouri's "most decisive road victory"), they make it hard for us to fully forgive and forget.

You can't shake a stick in this town without finding some evidence of our unity, our tradition, and our deep pride at living in a town whose people stood for something. Those Missouri ruffians may have won that day, but Lawrence (and abolitionists everywhere) won in the end. The town that rose back up from the ashes of that day is better and stronger than it was before its character was so thoroughly tested. So its very fitting that this week's special brew at Free State is called Phoenix Rising, a "red, fiery-hued lager" named after one mythical bird to celebrate the spirit of another mythical bird.

Jayhawks, wherever you are, remember to raise your glass tonight (preferably a glass filled with Free State beer) and say a toast to the town that could not be stopped on its way to becoming the very best town in the nation. Free State Forever.