BLACK JACK — The Black Jack Battlefield just east of Baldwin City has been designated as a National Historic Landmark. The National Park Service said the battle marked escalating violence in ‘Bleeding Kansas’ and the beginning of John Brown’s war on slavery. The designation will raise the site’s profile among civil war aficionados and help attract grants, Black Jack Battlefield Trust vice president Kerry Altenbernd told the Lawrence Journal-World. The battle occurred June 2, 1856, when pro-slavery U.S. Marshal Henry Clay Pate tried to arrest abolitionist John Brown and his force. Brown captured Pate instead. Some historians said the battle should be called the first battle of the Civil War, which officially started about five years later.
Monday, Oct. 22, 8 a.m.
