Saint Joseph, Missouri, was the most northern southern city in the United States at the outset of the War of the Rebellion.  As neighborhoods and families were torn apart by sympathies to opposing sides, fierce tension brought the establishment of martial law to the city which lasted until the end of the war. Today more than 300 Union and Confederate veterans lie in close proximity on Mount Mora Cemetery’s shady hillsides.  No fences, no divisions separate the graves. Walking tours related to various periods in St. Joseph’s history are available upon request.  The Civil War Walking Tour acquaints the visitor with William Faunstock Ridenbaugh, first newspaper editor and southern sympathizer, M. Jeff Thompson who came to be known as the Swamp Fox, Captain John C. Landis, General James Craig, the Ashton family slave, Sallie Alice Travis who is buried in the Ashton family plot, William Halley and Thomas Jefferson Brown who both rode with Quantrill, Governor Willard Prebble Hall, Missouri’s governor under unusual circumstances, and many others.
Article by: Suzanne Lehr, who is a Research Associate with the St. Joseph’s Musuem in St. Joseph.