Just before Christmas, 1858, John Brown "liberated" eleven slaves in Missouri. He hid them in a covered wagon and circled north on the underground railway toward Nebraska and freedom. En route a Negro baby was born. Late in January they reached Albert Fuller's cabin on Straight creek, a mile and a half south of this marker. Here a Federal posse barred their way. Both sides sent for reinforcements. Help for Brown arrived first, Topeka abolitionists leaving in the midst of Sunday church.
Declaring he would not be turned "from the path of the Lord," Brown, though still outnumbered, crossed the creek in spite of high water and the enemy entrenched on the other side. Demoralized by his audacity, the posse mounted and spurred away — thus giving a name to the bloodless battle. This was Brown's exit from Kansas. In December, 1859, he was hanged for his treasonable attack at Harper's Ferry.
This sign marks the site of Eureka, a trading center on the Parallel Road which ran from Atchison to the Pike's Peak gold fields.
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