Bates County
Episode 4 | 3m 6sVideo has Closed Captions
This episode of Missouri in Minutes explores the war-torn history of Bates County.
Rebuilt from the ashes of the Civil War, modern Bates County traces its roots back to the few who returned to start over and where a group of Black soldiers earned the right to fight as free men.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Missouri in Minutes is a local public television program presented by KMOS
Bates County
Episode 4 | 3m 6sVideo has Closed Captions
Rebuilt from the ashes of the Civil War, modern Bates County traces its roots back to the few who returned to start over and where a group of Black soldiers earned the right to fight as free men.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipThe Civil War disrupted this county in a large way.
The Battle of Island Mound battle site is about two and a half miles southwest of Butler.
This is where the first Kansas Infantry proved to everyone that they could stand in battle.
They did not back down.
They didn't retreat.
They fought.
They proved to everyone that day that they should be allowed to fight.
And it's not only important to Bates County, but I feel like it's important to the nation to know that they didn't back down.
They wanted to be seen.
They wanted to be heard.
And it's very important for all of us.
A year after that battle, we were issued order number 11.
Bates County, along with Jackson, Cass and Vernon were issued order number 11 by General Ewing, and that was a forcible depopulation of the county.
Bates County was actually the only county out of all of those counties that were completely depopulated.
They came in and gave the citizens 15 days to vacate the the land, and when they returned a few years later, everything had been burned down.
There was nothing to come home to.
About 30% of the population came back to the area and stayed after order number 11.
They were starting from scratch.
Everything had to be built brand new.
If you look at all of our communities, we are very, very similar.
We're kind of the typical small town area.
You all have your little Main Street.
It's because of those people that came in to rebuild that we have that now.
It's still our hub.
It's still where I would consider the heart of the community lies.
Bates County is a very strong, community minded area.
There have been families here for generations and they continue to live here.
Pass on the land and stay in this area.
The building we are currently in now was built in 1915 as a county poor farm.
So anyone that was in the county, that could not take care of themselves would come to this building and they would be taken care of as long as they helped take care of the building and the land.
I think that's just one thing that makes Bates County a great place to be.
Everyone that's here supports each other.
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Missouri in Minutes is a local public television program presented by KMOS