This letter, written from Lawrence, Kansas Territory, by Samuel C. Smith, is addressed to Reverend Thomas W. Higginson of Worcester, Massachusetts. The letter begins with several small matters regarding aid for Kansas Territory and then turns quickly to the most recent events in the struggle between proslavery and free state forces. Apparently, thirty two of the free state prisoners held by U. S. troops at Tecumseh had managed to escape, and Smith rather sarcastically comments that the troops had done a favor to "Uncle Sam" by relieving the government of the cost of supporting all those prisoners. The author also writes of [Thaddeus] Hyatt's presence in the territory and George Washington Brown, who was editor of the "Herald of Freedom" in Lawrence, Kansas Territory. Smith wrote that Col. Eldridge and Thomas Eldridge had complaints filed against them, stating that "nature never designed them for distributions of charity." The letter concludes with information regarding land sales in Leavenworth and the founding of a new city, Quindaro, Kansas Territory. In general, Smith's writing style is quite humorous, as well as informative.