History: Sprint Arena & William Quantrill
The Rivalry Run 5K road race was held in Kansas City on Saturday, August 28. The referenced 'rivalry' is between Kansas and Missouri, and for the most part is good natured. The run started and ended in front of The Sprint Center Arena at 14th and Grand. Grand and 14th is a very appropriate spot to host a Ks/Mo Rivalry Run. For it was near that intersection that a building collapsed in 1863 that added ferocity to The Kansas/Missouri Border War that had been ongoing since 1854.
The building that collapsed was being used as a makeshift jail. On the afternoon of the collapse it held, among its captives, three sisters of Bloody Bill Anderson and two female cousins of Cole Younger. Anderson and Younger were members of William Quantrill's gang of bushwhackers. The women were being held because they were accused of hiding and aiding Missouri bushwhackers.
The collapse killed five. Among the dead were the two cousins of Cole Younger and one of Anderson's sisters. Another Anderson sister was crippled for life. The collapse occurred on August 13. Eight days later Quantrill and his raiders sacked Lawrence, Kansas killing over 150 civilian men and boys. The raid on Lawrence has been described as "...the most atrocious single event of the entire Civil War."
The Lawrence massacre had been planned prior to the jail collapse, but the collapse is thought to have added to the intensity of the violence visited on Lawrence by Quantrill. General Order #11 was issued 4 days after Lawrence. That order removed civilians from the three Missouri border county's near Kansas City. The thought being that with no civilians, there would be no help for the bushwhackers. However, by removing civilians from their homes and farms, it allowed Kansas Jayhawkers to burn and plunder the near vacant Missouri counties. It is a wonder the current Rivalry is mostly good-natured.
The building that collapsed was being used as a makeshift jail. On the afternoon of the collapse it held, among its captives, three sisters of Bloody Bill Anderson and two female cousins of Cole Younger. Anderson and Younger were members of William Quantrill's gang of bushwhackers. The women were being held because they were accused of hiding and aiding Missouri bushwhackers.
The collapse killed five. Among the dead were the two cousins of Cole Younger and one of Anderson's sisters. Another Anderson sister was crippled for life. The collapse occurred on August 13. Eight days later Quantrill and his raiders sacked Lawrence, Kansas killing over 150 civilian men and boys. The raid on Lawrence has been described as "...the most atrocious single event of the entire Civil War."
The Lawrence massacre had been planned prior to the jail collapse, but the collapse is thought to have added to the intensity of the violence visited on Lawrence by Quantrill. General Order #11 was issued 4 days after Lawrence. That order removed civilians from the three Missouri border county's near Kansas City. The thought being that with no civilians, there would be no help for the bushwhackers. However, by removing civilians from their homes and farms, it allowed Kansas Jayhawkers to burn and plunder the near vacant Missouri counties. It is a wonder the current Rivalry is mostly good-natured.
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