BENTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, BENTONVILLE, ARKANSAS. HEADQUARTERS OF THE "QUANTRILL SPECIAL COLLECTIONS RESEARCH!"
Read this article in full at: http://josieqscr.blogspot.com/p/why-josephine.html
In mid July, 1863, General Thomas Ewing sent soldiers of the 9th and 11th Kansas Cavalries to round up the female family members of Quantrill's guerrillas and any women giving food and information to the guerrillas and jail them in a delapidated building at 1409 Grand Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri.
On August 13, creaks and snaps were being heard and the building would eventually come crashing down upon the prisoners! Screams and chaos ensued!
Amidst the panic, Josephine Anderson was heard crying and pleading for someone to take the bricks off of her head! Then..........her voice fell silent. Four women, including Josephine, would die in the collapse! Blame for these deaths are placed squarely upon the Union for two reasons. One...it is believed that the building was purposely weakend by Union soldiers and they were later overheard bragging about their deed! Two...the building was in very bad shape structurally and should have never been used in the first place. Therefore, negligence was shown in the safety of the prisoners! This event is what, some say, pushed Quantrill and his men over the edge and burned absolute revenge and vengeance into Bill Anderson.
