610. Oskaloosa, Jefferson County (KS063)

Well, this courthouse is amazingly uninspired.  It’s so boring that I can’t even think of any criticism to level at it because its only real crime is being bland, plain, and nondescript.  I tried to come up with something to say about it, but yeah, I got nuthin’. That said, it’s my sixth Jefferson county (or county equivalent), so there’s that…

The cache, like in Holton, was another tip of the cap to abolition and Bleeding Kansas.  I pulled off to the side of the road at a historical marker devoted to the Battle of Hickory Point.  To sum up (sure, you can read the marker, but what’s the fun in that?), a force of jayhawkers (Free-state Kansans) trapped a pro-slavery force in buildings of a nearby town.  After the jayhawkers failed to dislodge their foe, they sent off for artillery which arrived the next day.  The shelling didn’t dislodge the entrenched force, so an attempt was made to burn down one of the buildings.  Eventually the pro-slavery forces asked to parley, and a compromise was reached where they gave up their plunder and non-residents left the county.  There was also mention of a painter who I had never heard of, but apparently was a bit of a thing.  He was born on his family’s farm near the location.  Even more importantly, in a nearby tree was a duck taped jar.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy.  I got going soon enough, bound for the source of the aforementioned artillery…