was ascertained
that they had not given up all arms, but still held
possession of a great number of bowie knives and pistols,
which were probably secreted while the search was going on
at Lexington. At Leavenworth City, Captain Clarkson, with
twenty-five men, went on board of the boat and demanded
the surrender of all the arms in the possession of the
Abolitionists. Like whipped dogs they sneaked up to
Clarkson and laid down their weapons to him.

The men thus robbed of their arms give the following version of the
matter: They say that at Lexington they were taken by surprise; that
their arms were not accessible to them, and that there was nothing to
do but to yield. But that a pledge was made to them, that if they
would give up their arms, they should be allowed to proceed peaceably
to Kansas. They furthermore state that at Kansas City Col. Buford came
aboard the boat, accompanied by a company of soldiers; that David R.
Atchison and Gen. B. F. Stringfellow came on board, and that after the
boat had left the landing these gentlemen informed them that they
would in no wise be allowed to enter the Territory; that after the
boat had stopped at Weston, they should be taken back to Alton; but
that if they would not accept this arrangement, "they should be hung,
every mother's son of them."

At various times the _Squatter Sovereign_ and _Leavenworth Herald_
report similar outrages. The latter paper reports, July 5th, the
sending back seventy-five emigrants that had come upon the steamer
Sultan. In reference to this occurrence, the _Squatter Sovereign_
makes the following remark:

We do not fully approve of sending these criminals back to
the East, to be reshipped to Kansas--if not through
Missouri, through Iowa and Nebraska. We think they should
meet a traitor's death; and the world could not censure us
if we, in self-protection, have to resort to such ultra
measures. We are of the opinion that if the citizens of
Leavenworth city, or Weston, would _hang_ one or two
boatloads of Abolitionists, it would do more towards
establishing peace in Kansas than all the speeches that
have been delivered in Congress during the present
session. _Let the experiment be tried_.

The Missouri River was thus blockaded against the incoming of
emigrants from the free States, and this created intense excitement
throughout the North. The result was, that the immigration to Kansas,
instead of being diminished, was largely increased; but it c