William F. Creitz of Holton, who had served under Aaron Stevens as captain of a Kansas militia company, wrote Redpath regarding "the particulars of 'Old John Brown's' final departure from this territory." Brown and company, which included "eleven fugitives," reached Holton on January 27, 1859, and Creitz described the events that followed, to which he was an "eyewitness" and participant, including the Battle of the Spurs. Creitz's "article" was prepared "to assist you [Redpath] in your praiseworthy undertaking that of publishing the lives of those heroic men." Redpath published "Echoes of Harpers Ferry" in 1860, and Richard J. Hinton used this material in his "John Brown and His Men (1894).