Burnt District Monument Groundbreaking

Updated at November 02, 2007 13:06

A crowd of more than sixty individuals witnessed the groundbreaking on Saturday, Oct. 27 for the Burnt District Monument commemorating events which took place along the western Missouri border during the Civil War. The monument will stand on the front lawn of the Cass County Justice Center in Harrisonville and is a joint venture of the Cass County Historical Society and Cass County. The program featured reenactors to commemorate the suffering and turmoil endured by families living on the western Missouri border and displaced by Order #11 in 1863. More than 20,000 individuals in Jackson, Cass, Bates and Vernon Counties had to leave their homes and lost most of their possessions as a result of this action The monument will feature a 17-foot tall chimney to represent all that was left of most homesteads when settlers returned at the end of the war. These “Jennison’s Tombstones” as they were called after the Kansas Jayhawk commander “Doc” Jennison whose troops did much of the burning, were all the eye could see for miles. The site will also include a memorial brick reconciliation plaza, interpretive signs and plaques, native trees and sidewalks. The monument sign is made from a 100-year-old native eastern red cedar from the 700 block of East Pearl in Harrisonville. The tree was sawed into three sections, each 4” thick, 14” wide and 12’, 4” long. Fundraising is underway to ensure that the stories of those who suffered the devastation on the western Missouri border will not be forgotten.

Email this Article