294 The Thirty-fourth Star

"THE THIRTY-FOURTH STAR' A Newly Discovered Essay by Governor John Alexander Martin

Edited by Ernst F. Tonsing, Ph.D.

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On August 7, 1999, Ms. Virginia Tonsing of Kansas City, Kansas, brought to light seven typewritten, double-spaced sheets plus a cover page with handwritten title, held together with two five-point brads at the top. While there is no name on the document, the calligraphy of the title and revisions in the composition indicate that it was the work of her great grandfather, Colonel John A. Martin, who had purchased the proslavery newspaper, The Squatter Sovereign of Atchison, Kansas, and, who had changed its name and become editor of the Freedom's Champion. As a teenager, Martin was Secretary of the Wyandotte Convention at which the constitution of Kansas was written. In his early twenties he served heroically in the Civil War, and, in 1884, he was sworn in as tenth Governor of the State of Kansas. There is no indication as to the document's purpose. The patriotic tone and the celebration of the history of Kansas suggest that it was composed for a holiday, such as the January 29th anniversary of the state's admittance to the Union. It may have been an editorial or a speech written for some occasion that did not require the very lengthy essays typical of Victorian commemorations. As a speech it would have taken only about fifteen minutes to deliver. Nor is there a date on the document. Paragraph three mentions that it was written three hundred seventy years after the explorations of Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, but this is misleading. If Coronado reached the area which was to become the state in 1541, then the date of the work would be 1911, twelve years after the date of the death of the governor in 1889! Mention of the "change of guard" in leadership of the state from pioneers to those born within its territory seems to indicate its genesis during the late seventh or early eighth decades of the nineteenth century, or, possibly, during Martin's two terms as governor.

Noteworthy is the style of the work. It is evocative, with fine descriptions of the state and its inhabitants. Surprisingly comprehensive within its short length, and filled with alliteration and lyrical turns of phrases, its author reveals a thoughtful reading of poetry as well as history. Comparison with other writings of John A. Martin shows it to be of one piece with his other works, and adds further support to his authorship. The recitation of the glories of Kansas and the promise of its citizens builds throughout the essay to a passionate climax, one that would have aroused feelings of great devotion to the thirty-fourth state. The document is reproduced as close to the original as possible, but with strikeovers, spacing and joined words corrected. The capitalization and punctuation, typical of the nineteenth century, is also copied, even when it is not consistent within the same paragraph. There is some indication that the document was at least a second draft in that several false starts were typed out with "x" letters. Behind the strikeovers one can read trial thoughts. Since the document is not thoroughly edited, it might have been a podium copy rather than one being prepared for publication. In all, however, the variants are few, and the work was composed fluently with considerable elegance. Years as editor of one of the state's leading newspapers made of John A. Martin a splendid crafter of words.

THE THIRTY-FOURTH STAR. As far as the eye could see stretched the monotonous landscape. No tree shielded the parched grass from the rays of the sun. No friendly cliff intercepted the heated breaths of the southland. No sound broke the stillness, save the unmusical bark of the prairie dog; while all around to an unbroken horizon, lay the drowsy, wearisome prairie. How different was this land to that of which Coronado had dreamed. No cities had closed their gates. No people had fled in terror from his troops. No gold, no silver, no treasure had awaited this lusty Spaniard. Treeless, trackless, windswept, and sunbaked, it lay before him as a desert in the tropic sun. The seven cities of Cibola had already fallen before him, when news had come from the north of this region of Quivira. Here, it was said, people lived in palaces, rivers were leagues wide, while gold and silver abounded in enormous quantities. The exploits of Cortez in Mexico, and Pizzaro in Peru, Coronado had hoped to repeat in Quivira. Crossing the staked plains, he had forded the river now known as the Arkansas, and with his little band of followers, had reached the fabled Quivira, on the banks of the Osage. As he stood in the midst of this endless prairie, with the sun beating unmercifully on his head, his visions of Quivira faded. His imagined cities, towns, rivers, gold and silver, were replaced by trackless plains. Disgusted, downcast, and broken spirited, he turned his face to the southland, his expedition considered a failure by himself and by his countrymen. But in this region, which this doughty Spaniard explored three hundred and seventy years ago, by the help of time, patience, and toil, was to arise a fairer and firmer

commonwealth than could the Montezumas or the Incas boast. Here, on this desert, was to arise a state, whose duty would be to save a / nation in the greatest crises of all history. Here, on the ruins of the fabled Quivira, was to have its foundation, the State of Kansas. Quivira, this region discarded by Coronado, was a part of Louisiana. In the early part of the Eighteenth century, it was claimed by Spain, because of discovery, and by France, because of exploration. In the treaty of J 763, France relinquished all her claims to Spain, who in 1800 deeded back the whole region, with the express stipulation, that no part should ever be sold to the United States. In 1803, France, under the leadership of Napoleon, sold all to our nation. With the Louisiana Purchase, Quivira became the territory of the United States. But Spain, disputing the sale of this territory by France, erected outposts within its boundaries, which she stolidly held until 1806, when Zebulon Pike, with a small band of followers, tore down the flag of Spanish oppression floating over the territory. That event marked a new era in the history of the United States. When that flag was lowered, and the emblem of Castile and Aragon was replaced by the Stars and Stripes, it meant, that the English people should rule the western continent, and that the sturdy, robust Anglo-Saxon had won the prize of a three-hundred year struggle. Upon the ruins of the fabled Quivira, the Stars and Stripes now first floated over Louisiana, dedicating forever that new territory to liberty and justice. Upon the first entrance of Louisiana, the one question was, "shall it be slave or free?" Greater and greater became the agitation, until in 1820 it became a National issue. In the Missouri Compromise, which split Louisiana in halves, a north and a south, we firstfindQuivirafigureing[sic] in the battle of slavery. Thirty-six thirty was the dividing line of the slave and free territory, and thirty-six thirty was the southern boundary of Kansas. /For over a generation the Missouri Compromise quieted the slavery factions of the south; but the acquisition of more territory again brought up the old question, and slavery again became the National issue. The Wilmot Proviso was the notorious bill which was the undoing of all the good that the Compromise of 1820 had accomplished. For four years it was debated in Congress, when in 1850, Clay, fearful lest the rising contentions would prove disastrous to the country, proposed a compromise. The eminent union savers, who proposed, and carried through Congress the compromise of 1850, fully believed that it would drive the question of slavery, forever out of National legislation. But the drowsy syrups of Compromise had been swallowed in vain. Slavery, so recently banned from Legislative halls, returned again, almost before the applause greeting its exit had died away. While the Legislators were congratulating themselves, the notorious Kansas-Nebraska bill stalked into the midst of that august assemblage. The debate which followed, has few equals in history. The bill repealed the Missouri Compromise, and established Squatter Sovereignity in the territory west of the Mississippi. Town meetings, conventions, and State Legislatures, denounced its passage as infamous, and severely criticised its repeal of the Compromise of 1820, while the establishment of Squatter Sovereignity, had a decidedly pro-slavery aspect to the people of the north. But the bill, although infamous in principle, performed a service for the country, in, that on the site of the fabled Quivira, it staked off the territory of Kansas. Situated in the heart of

the Union, substantially unhistoried, and with no meddlesome past to mar the trial, Kansas became the courtroom in which Squatter Sovereignty was to be tried as a Union saving expedient. With the passage of this bill, virtually began the great Civil War. There was at that time no secession, nor any declaration of war, but every body predicted and knew that the outcome of the battle in Kansas, would i determine the policy of the Union, and the fate of slavery. Thither hurried partisans of the north and of the south,~representatives of incompatable [sic] civilizations,~to take a hand in the impending struggle. Missouri, knowing what the verdict of this territory meant to either cause, rushed hundreds of slave holders across the border, and captured the polls by violence, and murder. The Free-state men of the north, in order to overcome the depredations of the Missourians, established Immigrant Aid Bureaus, which immediately began an exodus to Kansas. It was a crosspurposed and diversified migration—hirelings, adventurers, reformers, philanthropists, and patriots,-representing peoples from Maine to the Rio Grande. Drought, disease, and death followed these early settlers, causing hundreds to return, but those who remained were strong in their beliefs, and determined to wage the battle to the bitter end. For the first three years the cause of freedom suffered. Armed invasions from the Missouri border, aided the Pro-slavery people in their licentious acts. They dominated the elections; destroyed the free-state newspapers; burned the homes of the free-state men; murdered their occupants; sacked and burned cities, and made the life of the freesoiler a veritable burden. By these unlawful methods, the first Territorial Legislature was made unanimously pro-slavery. Upon its first meeting, it furnished the territory with a most brutal and shameless slave code. According to it, nothing could be written or printed in the territory against slavery, while the bringing of a New York Tribune into that region was made a penitentiary offence. Besides the Territorial Legislature, the Government at Washington was fully committed to the extension of slavery. All the officers were radical on the subject, for it was the one point on which all elections and appointments were determined. In the face of these difficulties, which at times seemed insurmount-/able, under the despotism of the law of the border ruffians, and with no protection, except their own strength, these Free-State men of Kansas kept up the great battle for freedom. They were prosecuting squatter sovereignty, while the Nation, realizing the significance of the conflict, awaited the outcome with marked interest. Twice the Free-soilers, rallying to a cause noble and just, elected Constitutional Conventions to formulate a free-state constitution for Kansas. But the government at Washington, dominated by slavery factions, and without regarding the consequences, laid the petitions of the Kansas Patriots on the table, and turned a deaf ear to the voice of this virgin state. The Slavery factions, emboldened by government aid to their cause, and by succor from the Missouri border, twice elected Constitutional Conventions to fasten the yoke of slavery on the sunflower state. But twice the Free-statemen, realizing the high and noble cause dependent on them, concentrated their strength, rejected the infamous bills, and relegated the Leavenworth and Lecompton documents to history.

When the Lecompton Constitution fell before the onrushing Free-soilers, their eyes were opened to their own strength. For the first time they realized that they were masters of the situation. For three years they had waged the bitter war in "Bleeding Kansas." The two sections of the country had become separate nations. But Kansas, by a majority of over ten-thousand, had raised her voice against slavery, and the south knew then that hers had become a losing fight. Shet had learned at last that neither force, violence, pillage, or murder, could conquer a people steeped in their convictions of justice and right. She knew now the verdict that the Kansas patriots were going to present. In 1858, the free-state men by armed forces, and increased numbers, /captured the polls, and for the third time elected a Free-state Constitutional Convention. In this assembly, the great Wyandotte Constitution took form, was ratified by the people, approved by Congress, and Kansas became a free state. For a moment there was a lull. Then a shout of jubilation arose from the victorious state, a shout that heralded the death of slavery, forever. The echo of that shout was heard amid the roar of battle in the great Civil War. The Free-state men of Kansas, that little feeble territory on the western frontier, had handed their verdict to the states of the Union, a verdict that struck the death blow at slavery, killed Squatter Sovereignty, and pointed out the way of justice and right for the States of the Union to follow. Thus came Kansas, a commonwealth with a history which has no parallel among the states; with a history unique in purpose and spirit; with a history unrivalled in achievements in war and peace. Here, on these treeless, trackless plains discarded by Coronado; on this land of desolation where Pike first raised the Stars and Stripes; on this great American Desert of the geographers, was inaugurated that great civil strife which freed a race, and in the end established morefirmly,"this government, of the people, for the people, and by the people, that should not perish from the earth." The explorers of Quivira found gray, monotonous plains, stretching to a horizon unbroken, unmitigated by the habitation of man, barren, vapid, intolerable to the eye. Today no fairer landscape stretches to the sun. Nothing bold or sublime in it. No towering peak. No sparkling waterfall. No gloomy gorge holds the heart in awe. Only the beauty of hearty, ordered line, of well tilled field, peaceful, and smiling in the Kansas sunshine. But the sun that smiles on us today is the same as looked down on our forefathers. Just the same as in olden days, it gilds the dawn, and sets in cloudless splendor. The same air that inspired our forefathers breathes / on us today. Fresh and invigorating as the ether of creation, it inspires and exalts us, and impels our hearts with faith and courage. Now as then, now as always, the man who faces a Kansas dawn knows no doubts, no fears, no trepidations. For him, the fu[t]ure holds no terrors, the past no regrets. But the men who made Kansas are passing away. The reins of power are slipping from the hands of age, into the hands of a generation born in Kansas, Bone of the Kansas bone, flesh of the Kansas flesh. At best these early pioneers brought with them but a

divided allegiance. But this new generation, cradled and nourished on the bosom of Kansas, knows no other mother; they have no past but hers; they ask no other future. They are strong with the brawn and vigor of the new land. They are brave with the blood of martyrs, and pioneers. They take up the reins of power under the Thirty-Fourth Star of that flag, upon whose far flung glory the sun never sets, and here, on these plains of Kansas, where the Stars and Stripes first floated over Louisiana, they shall rear the grandest Commonwealth this world has ever seen, since the morning stars first sang together, and their children's children will shout in the future, as do their sons today, "To be a Kansan is greater than to be a king!"