On this postcard Republican representative Jeremiah Remington declared that his party was "holding the house, [and] have slept in chairs all night." The Republican (Douglass) House and the Populist (Dunsmore) House both claimed to be the legally elected House of Representatives. Consequently, both attempted to conduct business in Representative Hall, ignoring the presence of each other and spending day and night in the chambers to prevent the other side from gaining control. However, on February 13, 1893, the Populists barricaded the hall while the Republicans were away, preventing the Republican congressmen from re-entering the chambers. The Republican house responded by battering the hall doors with sledgehammers and posting armed guards to protect the hall. After a tense standoff, on February 25 the Kansas Supreme Court affirmed the validity of the Republican House, thus ending the Populist "war."

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