Writing from the "Kansas Tribune" office in Topeka, Kansas Territory, Kagi wrote his father on January 30, 1857, that he planned to leave for Ohio via Nebraska City (the safest route and also where his father resided at that time) soon, perhaps by February 15. Apparently before he could mail that letter, on February 1 (note on back on first letter) he wrote that he would be delayed. Kagi was "shot" on Saturday, January 31, 1857, in an "affray" with Judge Rush Elmore in Tecumseh (see the "Kansas Tribune," Topeka, February 2, 1857).