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TJie Biiford Expedition to Kansas 43 tions on them. One had in large letters upon it : "The Supremacy of the White Race," and on the reverse side was : "Kansas, The Outpost." The second banner had the simple legend : "Kansas." The Montgomery company wore silk badges with the inscription : "Alabama for Kansas — North of j6° jo' . Bibles — not Rifles." From the church the battalion marched to the wharf and after speeches from Alpheus Baker and Henry W. Milliard the emigrants boarded the steamer Llessenger and departed for Mobile, followed by the cheers of five thousand people and the booming of cannon. A stop of two days was made in Mobile and an election of offi- cers was held. In Montgomery the party had been divided into four companies and Buford made General. The officers elected now were : B. F. Treadwell, Colonel ; Major L. F. Johnston, Quartermaster-General ; Captain E. R. Bell (of S. C), Adjutant-Gen- eral ; John W. Jones (Auburn, Ala.), Surgeon; Gordon, Brown, Andrews, Jernigan (of Ga.), Captains.' On April 11, the com- mand was marched to the bookstore of the Messrs. Mcllvaine, where each man was supplied with a Bible, and then to the wharf to embark on the steamer Florida for New Orleans. At New Or- leans a few additional emigrants were picked up and the battalion was divided for making the trip up the Mississippi in the steamers America and Oceatia. St. Louis was reached on April 23 and a stop was made for one day." The people of St. Louis rated Buford's enterprise very highly, and regarded him as the best friend of Kansas in the whole South.^ As the party was leaving St. Louis on the steamer Key- stone for Kansas City, a thief broke into a trunk belonging to Major Buford and stole from it $5,000. It was believed that one of the emigrants was the thief, but the money was not recovered.^ The next stop was made at Westport, where the men were equipped for settlement in Kansas, and on May 2 they passed over the line and scattered about the country seeking desirable locations for home- steads. The arrival of Buford with settlers from the South greatly en- couraged the pro-slavery leaders and alarmed the free-state men. ' Mobile Register. Also letters from members of the party to the Montgomery p-ipers. 2 While at St. Louis Buford addressed a communication to Col. Wm. Walker, pro- visional governor of " Kansas Territory," an organization attempted by Wyandotte In- dians previous to the white settlement, asking permission to settle a portion of his men, who should be carefully selected from the party, on the Wyandotte Reservation. The writer has a certified copy of this letter made by G. W. Martin, Secretary of the Kansas Historical Society. ^Letter from A. B., Jr., dated St. Louis, April 23, 1S56, to the Advertiser and State Gazette. ' St. Louis Herald, April 26, 1856.