James Redpath, The Public Life of Captain John Brown

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[108] Indian trail, which, difficult enough to trace in the daylight, it was impossible for a stranger to find or follow at night. I rode on to a hamlet of half a dozen log houses, dignified with the name of the City of Palmyra; and there, at the cabin of a moderate pro-slavery man, rested till the following morning, when I found that my horse had been stolen, and that my host had suffered with me in the loss of an Indian pony. H. Clay Pate and his friend Coleman, the murderer, were supposed to be encamped in the neighborhood, and were with reason suspected of having committed this theft. After the battle of Black Jack, and not till then, the horses were discovered and returned.

I walked over to Prairie City,--a municipality which consisted of two log cabins and a well,--and from there, having told my errand, a messenger was instantly despatched to inform John Brown, Junior, of the approach and supposed design of the Federal troops. I remained in Prairie City several days, to ascertain and describe the condition of the country.

I found that, in this region, when men went out to plough, they always took their rifles with them, and always tilled in companies of from five to ten; for, whenever they attempted to perform their work separately, the Georgia and Alabama bandits, who were constantly hovering about, were sure to make a sudden descent on them, and carry off their horses and oxen. Every man went armed to the teeth. Guard was kept night and day. Whenever two men approached each other, they came up, pistol in hand, and the first salutation invariably was: Free State or Pro-Slave? or its