lead a stranger to consider his
personal safety in danger. I had ample material for entering at
once upon my professional duties, in chronicling the disordered and
threatening state of affairs.

On the day of my arrival, I met a gentleman I had known in the Rocky
Mountains, six months before. I knew his courage was beyond question,
having seen him in several disturbances incident to the Gold Regions;
but I was not aware which side of the great cause he had espoused.
After our first greetings, I ventured to ask how he stood.

"I am a Union man," was his emphatic response.

"What kind of a Union man are you?"

"I am this kind of a Union man," and he threw open his coat, and
showed me a huge revolver, strapped to his waist.

There were many loyal men in St. Louis, whose sympathies were evinced
in a similar manner. Revolvers were at a premium.

Some of the Secessionists ordered a quantity of revolvers from New
York, to be forwarded by express. To prevent interference by the Union
authorities, they caused the case to be directed to "Colonel Francis
P. Blair, Jr., care of ----." They thought Colonel Blair's name
would secure the property from seizure. The person in whose care the
revolvers were sent was a noted Secessionist, who dealt extensively in
fire-arms.

Colonel Blair learned of the shipment, and met the box at the station.
Fifty revolvers of the finest quality, bought and paid for by the
Secessionists, were distributed among the friends of Colonel Blair,
and were highly prized by the recipients.

CHAPTER II.

MISSOURI IN THE EARLY DAYS.

Apathy of the Border States.--The Missouri State Convention.--Sterling
Price a Union Man.--Plan to take the State out of the Union.--Capture
of Camp Jackson.--Energy of General Lyon.--Union Men organized.--An
Unfortunate Collision.--The Price-Harney Truce.--The Panic among the
Secessionists.--Their Hegira from St. Louis.--A Visit to the
State Capital.--Under the Rebel Flag.--Searching for Contraband
Articles.--An Introduction to Rebel Dignitaries.--Governor
Jackson.--Sterling Price.--Jeff. Thompson.--Activity at
Cairo.--Kentucky Neutrality.--The Rebels occupy Columbus.

The Border States were not prompt to follow the example of the States
on the Gulf and South Atlantic coast. Missouri and Kentucky were
loyal, if the voice of the majority is to be considered the voice of
the population. Many of the wealthier inhabitants were, at the
outset, as they have always b