Page "Jayhawker" Paragraph 5

While the “ Bleeding Kansas ” era is generally regarded as beginning in 1856, the earliest documented uses of the term " jayhawker " during the Kansas troubles were in the late 1850s, after the issue of slavery in Kansas had essentially been decided in favor of the Free State cause.

The earliest dated mention of the name comes from the autobiography of August Bondi, who came to Kansas in 1855.

Bondi claimed that he observed General James Lane addressing his forces as Jayhawkers in December 1857.

Another early reference to the term ( as applied to the Kansas troubles ) emerging at that time is provided in the retrospective account of Kansas newspaperman John McReynolds.

McReynolds reportedly picked up the term from Pat Devlin, a Free State partisan described as " nothing more nor less than a dangerous bully.

" In mid-1858, McReynolds asked Devlin where he had acquired two fine horses that he had recently brought into the town of Osawatomie.

Devlin replied that he " got them as the Jayhawk gets its birds in Ireland ," which he explained as follows: " In Ireland a bird, which is called the Jayhawk, flies about after dark, seeking the roosts and nests of smaller birds, and not only robs nests of eggs, but frequently kills the birds.

" McReynolds understood Devlin had acquired his horses in the same manner the Jayhawk got its prey, and used the term in a Southern Kansas Herald newspaper column to describe a case of theft in the ongoing partisan violence.

The term was quickly picked up by other newspapers, and " Jayhawkers " soon came to denote the militants and thieves affiliated with the Free State cause.