Till We Have Built Jerusalem

<p>The opening of the Kansas Territory to settlement in 1854 created the most violent place in America: “Bleeding Kansas” the newspapers of the day called it. Proslavery Missourians called Border Ruffians attacked settlers who demanded that the Territory enter the Union as a Free State: knifings the burning of barns and houses shootings and guerilla raids became commonplace. Ezra Middleton a newspaper reporter and arrival from slave-holding Missouri finds himself at the center of the conflict crossing paths with violent abolitionist John Brown; James Butler (Wild Bill) Hickok Union sharpshooter and spy; William Quantrill Confederate guerilla who massacred 200 unarmed and boys and burned Lawrence to the ground; and William (Buffalo Bill) Cody Pony Express rider Indian fighter and Union trooper; and the bitter rivals for power Charles Robinson and U.S. Senator James Lane. Middleton’s war ends when at the Battle of Westport the citizen-soldiers of the Kansas militia and the Union cavalry turn back a desperate Confederate invasion and end the Civil War in the West. Over time Middleton changes as persons and events transform him from indifferent observer to Free-State advocate to staunch abolitionist and finally to militiaman as he and his compatriots struggle to preserve the Union and build on the Kansas prairie a just and peaceful society.</p>