Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company's military train
Creator: Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company
Date: between 1939 and 1945
This black and white photograph shows soldiers cleaning their weapons while traveling on an Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company's military train.

Francis Tomes and Sons to Thaddeus Hyatt, receipts
Date: August 22, 1856 - August 23, 1856
These two receipts, from Francis Tomes and Sons, New York, detail supplies acquired to benefit the free state cause. They include the prices of Bowie knives, Colt pistols, and other pieces pertaining to the use of firearms.

History of the 19th Kansas Cavalry--Indian War of 1868-69
Creator: Jenness, George B.
Date: 1869
This history of the 19th Kansas, written by the commander of Company F, George B. Jenness, is mainly composed of extracts from his diary. It includes details about where each company was raised, the names of the officers, organization and implementation of orders, the rigors of army life, and troop movements. Jenness' history also includes information about Samuel J. Crawford, the governor of Kansas, who resigned his position to assume command of the regiment on November 5, 1868. The document contains a copy of a letter from General Philip H. Sheridan to Governor Crawford about the need for calling up troops. Information on Native Americans, including interactions between troops and Native Americans, is also contained within this item. Jenness mentions captive chief including Satanta.

John Brown to William Hutchinson
Creator: Brown, John, 1800-1859
Date: August 3, 1858
From Moneka, Kansas, John wrote to William Hutchinson regarding his (Brown's) "Revolvers," which had been distributed on loan to others in Kansas. Brown had been spending some weeks near the Kansas-Missouri border, "on the claim upon which the whole sale murders [Marias des Cygnes Massacre, May 19, 1858] were committed," as a show of force to more would-be invaders.

John Wesley Carter to George L. Stearns
Creator: Carter, John Wesley, 1840-1929
Date: May 15, 1854
John Wesley Carter of Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, wrote George L. Stearns regarding the shipment of arms to Captain John Brown, who had requested the firearms in previous correspondence. Carter asked for confirmation of the delivery address and stated that he would ship them as soon as he received word from Stearns. A searchable, full-text version of this letter is available by clicking "Text Version" below.

John Wesley Carter to George L. Stearns
Creator: Carter, John Wesley, 1840-1929
Date: May 5, 1854
John Wesley Carter of Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, wrote to George Stearns regarding a receipt of purchase for revolvers that were requested by Captain John Brown. Carter asked for contact information for John Brown since his previous attempts at contact had failed. A searchable, full-text version of this letter is available by clicking "Text Version" below.

John Wesley Carter to George L. Stearns
Creator: Carter, John Wesley, 1840-1929
Date: May 01, 1854
Letter from John Wesley Carter in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts to George L. Stearns. The letter concerns the delivery of revolvers that were requested by Capt. Brown in previous correspondence. The revolvers were sold at a discount to Brown, who most likely used the arms to defend the Free State cause. A searchable, full-text version of this letter is available by clicking "Text Version" below.

Maude Elliott, School teacher, Finney County, Kansas
Date: Between 1900 and 1910
This photograph shows Maude Elliot shooting her handgun at a coyote that was too far away. She was able to hit him on the foot and he jumped high into the air and then fled. In her Maude Elliott explains how she had better luck hitting rattlesnakes. She was able to hit seven of them and the eighth she killed with the heel of her shoe. It was a small snake that had been slithering across the path of her front door.

Pocket Pistol from Fort Atkinson, 14FD305
Date: 1850-1854
This pocket pistol barrel and cylinder was recovered from Fort Atkinson in Ford County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2015. The diameter of the 5 shot pistol's barrel and cylinder is approximately .275" but too corroded to definitively state what was the pistol's caliber model. Fort Atkinson, occupied for only four years, was located along the Santa Fe Trail.

The captive Cheyennes
Creator: Lawrence Standard
Date: October 9, 1879
This article provides a first-hand account of Cheyenne history in the words of Wild Hog, a Cheyenne who along with about 350 other members of his tribe fled his reservation in Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) hoping to return to his native lands in the northern Great Plains. While crossing western Kansas, Wild Hog and other Cheyenne warriors killed about forty white settlers. This event was known as the last Indian raid in Kansas. Wild Hog and five other prisoners, including Young Man, Old Man, Run Fast, Frizzly Head, and Crow, were charged with first-degree murder but were eventually acquitted of all charges.

Three cowboys, Dodge City, Kansas
Creator: Charles H. M. Vancil & Norman McDonald
Date: Between 1884 and 1886
Two studio photographs of three businessmen dressed as cowboys in Dodge City, Kansas. The trio are wearing leather chaps and carrying Colt Single Action Army revolvers in their holsters. They are identified as Matt Draper, of York Draper Co.; Captain John Findlay; and Frank Connor, bookkeeper at the York Draper Co. Donated by Mrs. Merritt Beeson.

T.W. Carter to John Brown
Creator: Carter, T. W.
Date: May 25, 1857
This letter from T. W. Carter announced the shipment of 200 revolvers, etc., to John Brown, via Iowa City, and informed him that the bill for the same had been sent to George S. Stearns, as requested.

William Hutchinson to John Brown?
Creator: Hutchinson, William , 1823-1904
Date: ca. 1857
On the bottom of an incomplete listing of weapons distributed (e.g., Navy Revolvers), William Hutchinson wrote regarding his "earnest effort for you [John Brown?] in this place.