Histopolis Place-of-the-Day

Histopolis features a different cemetery, town, county or other place every day on the Place-of-The-Day.

Monday, November 22, 2010

The Histopolis Place-of-the-Day for Monday, November 22, 2010 is the Soldiers' Lot in Baxter Springs Cemetery, Spring Valley Township, Cherokee County, Kansas.

"Baxter Springs Soldiers’ Lot is located in the north-central portion of the city cemetery in Baxter Springs, Kansas, approximately 60 miles south of Fort Scott. The cemetery may have been in use before the city of Baxter Springs was incorporated in 1868.

"The city of Baxter Springs donated the 0.7-acre soldiers’ lot to the United States incrementally after the Civil War in 1869, 1875, 1877, and 1887. The earliest burials in the plot include 132 Union soldiers and officers killed on October 6, 1863, during the Battle of Baxter Springs. The battle, often referred to as the Baxter Springs Massacre, was just one of many murderous attacks on Kansas free-state citizens by the independent force of Confederate guerillas led by the ruthless border ruffian, William Clarke Quantrill.

"The federal government intended to remove the bodies of the men who died during the massacre to Springfield National Cemetery, but the citizens of Baxter Springs petitioned to keep them. As part of the arrangement to retain the burials, the city of Baxter Springs donated the tract of land to the government and agreed to keep the graves in good order."

Explore Soldiers' Lot on Histopolis now. If you have a place that you would like to see featured as the Histopolis Place-of-the-Day, contact the webmaster to suggest it.

November 2010

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Note: The first Place-of-the-Day was in September 2010