I was texting back and forth with a good friend of mine the other day when she mentioned a book she was reading. Hippie War, Battle for the Harrisonville Square, also on Amazon. Huh. As it turns out, one of the officers murdered was her cousin’s husband. Ah. Then she started telling me some of what was in the book, she said the “woke” of today is the “hippies” of yesterday. Really? Tell me more. Now somethings already made sense, like ecology and earth day. The left worships the creation and not the creator. But the more she shared, the more I thought “I want to read this book”. She said it was a fast read, not a real in depth book. It’s not in depth like a history, science or medical book, but the guy did do a lot of research. It also doesn’t hurt that he was a local boy at the time this happened, 1972. See a big city writer did a book on the topic in 1974 a couple of years after it happened. His deep investigation seemed to involved going out and drinking and smoking pot with the Hippies. The towns people meanwhile had more than their fill of the mainstream media. The incident drew attention nation wide and as far away as Paris, as in France. The media including papers from the nearest big city, which was Kansas City, in lockstep portrayed the peaceful little town as backwards, unenlightened, cows roaming the streets, etc. The big city writer was a member of the “New Journalism” trend. That means as long as the story ends up in the same place, you can make up conversations, add or remove people or events all to make the story “better”. So in other words, pretty much like all the media today, though back then few were doing it. But big city writer was one of them that did.
I’m giving you teacup versions of some of this, I don’t want to spoil the book, but tell enough for you to see the similarities.
So what did happen? In 1972 the hippie movement was in full swing, and little Harrisonville a mainly agricultural bedroom city of Kansas City had an infestation. I’m not going to cover a lot in case you want to read the book, but to give you and idea the hippies had basically made the square a nightmare to go visit or shop. The square was full of merchants at the time, clothing, drug stores, a sears store, hardware, jewelry, soda fountains, lawyers, pretty much everything. In the center of it is the courthouse built in 1844. It’s beautiful. The hippies would play frisbee in the streets not allowing traffic to flow on the series of one way streets, they would cat call and make lewd comments to women and girls shopping, they hassled the old men that liked to sit in the sun on the park benches and visit, they had sex in the bushes around or near the courthouse. In general, the merchants and everyone else was more than a little tired of them. Any attempts to get them to try to fit into polite society (be respectful of others) was met with things like “it’s my right to be in the street” (blocking traffic so that it backs up and people can’t make their doctors appointment) or something along those lines. This can be seen today in the number of conservative speakers that show up on a college campus to share a different view point than that of the college indoctrination team (professors). They are shouted down, prevented from speaking even if they were paid to be there, as the little vermin cry it’s their first amendment right to bang garbage can lids to prevent some one else from speaking. Basically the hippies regarded anything they wanted to do as their right to do it. They also opposed the Viet Nam war, and were totally on board with the green agenda. They may not have known much of anything, but they proclaimed it very loudly.
Law enforcement, well, since the hippies hated them they tried to make law enforcement officers miserable at every turn. Law enforcement hated them right back. Then you add in pressure from the community for them to do something, it wasn’t safe for decent folks any more. And it wasn’t. Law enforcement started trying to crack down, which the hippies hated. The merchants really hated the hippies at this point.
So what happened? A hippie named Bucket O’Chum “snapped”. He took his M-1 carbine and killed two police officers, one of them being my friend’s cousin-in-law. She said he was one of the nicest guys you’d ever want to meet. The other officer had only been on the job a month and was only working that day because another officer had wanted to switch shifts. After he put several rounds into both officers who had been standing and talking to 3 other men on the square, he headed up the road a short walk to the County jail, just a block or so away. On the way he shot a man getting out of his truck to drop off some dry cleaning. That man later died. The sheriff and his family lived at the front of the jail. They were sitting down to supper. The sheriff heard the shots, and went outside. He was shot in the should and leg for his efforts, he made it back inside his home and got his wife to safety. Bucket O’Chum was seen trying to open the door to the old age home located near the county jail. In a great mercy, I believe it was either that day, or the day before the old age home (as I believe it was called in the book) had decided to keep it’s exterior doors locked because of the trouble the hippies were causing on the square. So after he couldn’t get in there, he went to the jail. After shooting the sheriff and being denied the opportunity to kill innocent elderly citizens he proceed to what I would argue should have been his step #1. He put the gun in his mouth and killed himself. In the doorway of the old age home.
In the aftermath, the media descended. Hard to believe isn’t it? That the media can descend any lower than they already are? /snark font
As I’ve said, the media was horribly unfair. The town clammed up, the hippies didn’t. The media has leaned left for years and this occasion was no different. The law enforcement felt like their hands were tied as they were being blamed for the whole mess. So they treaded lightly. And the hippies were there in full bloom. Continuing to hassle citizens, block roads etc after the 3 day curfew ended. And then, then an amazing thing happened. The people had enough. On a Friday night about 150 farmers, townsmen, merchants and just every day citizens met on the square that night. The patrolled the square and the hippies that decided to proclaim loudly they had a right to be there and act however they wanted were politely invited to leave. With an ax handle if need be. Hippies cruising the square in their cars were told to go away. Responses of “its my right to be here” got the driver a butt kicking. And I’m guessing some of those old farm boys know how to do that just fine. The citizens patrol lasted 3 nights, and then it was over. There was much soul searching which I won’t go into, a wonderful letter was written by a WWII veteran named John Leach about “Who’s Fault”, and it was good. He brought the parents of the hooligans into focus, and the fact these kids didn’t work. Yes, they lived at home off their parents. Some in their 20s.
Here’s an aerial photo of the path Bucket O’Chum took if you want to see how close together things are located.
So lets look at some of the ideology involved. The following are mostly quotes from the book, in italics. My comments aren’t.
I think it was within a week of the murders that the city leaders tried to have a meeting with the hippies. They tried to explain to the hippies why and which of their actions were the problems.
The city representatives spoke about the hippies’ vulgar language, urinating in the bushes, sex in cars, and blocking access to businesses on the square. The aldermen suggested that hippies should congregate somewhere other than the square. The notion that they should leave the square did not sit well with the hippies. Edwin Allen protested, “That’s being discriminatory! If we want to be there, we have a God-Given right.” Allen also claimed that anyone complaining about the hippies being bad for business was being, “discriminatory.” Alderman Hacker told the hippies, “If all of you were working you might have time to relate these experiences that are troublesome and not right. Why don’t you have a job?”
Shortly after the shooting, F. Russell Millin, chairman of the Missouri Law Enforcement Assistance Council, (the LEAC), reached out to Chief Davis and a couple of other aldermen and asked if they wanted his group to come to town and help calm things down with the hippies.
The “help” they sent was a psychologist and a doctor of economics and social studies.
Dr. Jan Roosa (who spoke to the hippies using “far out” or “out of sight”, typical hippie jargon of the time) His partner and good friend Dr. Frank “Gene” Wagner
Wagner, an academic liberal sporting longer hair, had led the first anti-war march in Kansas City nine years before.
Oh goodie, an absolutely neutral pair to carry on the negotiations!
They sure missed something. Their “outsider,” a professor of some reputation from UMKC,quoted Mao Tse Tung as one of the wisest men in history. He used one of Chairman Mao’s sayings as a guideline to achieve the desired goals of the community. After the meeting, Wagner was said to have held court outside the building, preaching to all who would listen regarding the criminality of the Vietnam war, the benefits of communism, and the ridiculousness of Christianity. To say that these views did not go over well with the audience would be an understatement.
By the end of the doctors time, even they were beginning to realize the hippies didn’t want to find solutions, they wanted to pitch a hissy fit and have everything go their way. The more things change…
I’m really beginning to dislike hippies. Generally, the talk centers around their wants, their rights, what’s wrong with the town, and what a bum rap their getting…They are so sure that only they have the right answer (to everything.) In many ways they are much more conservative than many of the adult members of the community.
Still not so much on the neutral I think.
The hippies gave a list of suggestions to the doctors for the community leaders to enact.
Hippie Demands
1.Openness with respect to black—white relations
2.A commitment to the peace movement
3.A knowledge of ecology and the problems of pollution
4.Recognition of the social-economic-political challenges that were taking place in the larger society
5.A reasonable explanation of our reason or “purpose” in being involved in the communities’ affairs.
Seriously? This is what the hippies think will fix things?
Suggestions
Jobs without restrictions regarding hairstyle and mode of dress. The community should come to realize that they stereotype all long-haired youth as revolutionaries, indigent and lazy when such is not the case.
Businesses, particularly those on the square should realize that it is not the presence of the “long hairs” on the square that is effecting [sic] business as much as it is changes in the economic structure of the community.
Training and screening of police. Insistence that the police get to know the “long hairs” and not apply a double standard toward them with respect to enforcement of the law, relative to other members of the community.
Schools should overcome the traditional approach to teaching and adopt courses which are more relevant to the age. One quotation by a member of the group was “how can they say that Columbus discovered America when he was met at the beach by Indians.” They requested the introduction of courses on ecology, law, justice, communication …[unreadable] … and economics into the school curriculum. They were quite interested in the techniques whereby a group negotiates for changes in the community.
They requested that the police not be armed with riot guns and that they refrain from making threatening comments to the “long hairs.” They commented that one of the police sergeants had threatened them with a “shoot-out” on the square.
So basically it doesn’t matter what the employer wants in an employee, the hippies will dress, behave and stink as they choose. And give them jobs anyway. Because that’s how the world works to the left. I notice they beat Lori Lightweight and Alvin Bragg in demanding police be disarmed. They wanted law enforcement’s hands tied down to the ineffective level. Much like you see antifa and blm attack peaceful conservative rally goers these days and the police don’t intervene.
The the doctors met with the community leaders.
Throughout their description of the meeting, the writers of the report continually reference how they intellectually bested the mayor and City Council members by using certain mental techniques, as well as never falling into “traps” that the council members would try to lure them. Traps such as agreeing that if the hippies just followed certain rules the situation would improve.
Yeah, the doctors are completely neutral…insert face palm here.
Here’s the list of things the community leaders wanted. Anything different from today? Just like today parents and many community leaders in sane cities don’t want CRT or gender grooming taught in schools, in 1972 community leaders had things they thought the hippies should do, or not as the case may be.
Show regard for other members of the community and not harass them regarding their conservative way of life. “You drive a car, and these damn hippies tell you your [sic] polluting the air.”
Not make opportunities for themselves by the use of threats to other members of the community.
Talk to the members of the council or members of the school board not to the young people of the town if the “street people” wished to bring about changes in the town. The mayor stated that he was an easy man to talk to and that the young adults had failed to avail themselves of his office.
The young adults should develop a self-respect, having done this, the responsible citizens would be willing to give them a chance … [unreadable] …not insist upon “starting at the top.” At least one member insisted that under no circumstances would he be willing to offer a job to the “gang on the square.” He viewed such a move as a sell-out. Others however said that they would provide some of the group with jobs.
Meet the norms of the jobs as defined by the employer; quite a few of the council members insisted that while they did not object to long hair, their customers did and as a result, it was impossible to provide them with jobs if they insisted upon dressing like a “bunch of hippies”.
Stop blocking traffic in the square, conduct themselves in an orderly fashion, not molest the young girls, and not block the steps to the courthouse.
There is nothing unreasonable in there.
When discussing the citizen’s vigilance committee:
The committee’s intention was not to seriously injure anyone. They simply wanted to make sure the hippies, particularly the 10 – 20 “hard core” leaders, were removed from the Harrisonville Square. Leach would later admit, “We realize that this wasn’t exactly the American way of doing things. But it was the last resort. We’d tried everything else, and it hadn’t worked.”
Summarizing the actions of the Vigilance Committee later, Sheriff Bill Gough said:
… the people had enough and put an end to it. There was a gathering of citizens – about 150 of them. They broke up the hanging around on the square. They did some harassing of their own. But I saw no violence. It’s been pretty peaceful since the people made their point. When people get enough of anything, they put an end to it. They’ve (the hippies) scattered. Some are still here but they don’t gather at the courthouse anymore.
I bolded a couple of things, not the author. And this is one of my points. When people have had enough, they figure something out. They communicate with each other, they gather information and they find a way. That’s why there is such an effort to shut down free speech. That’s why the covid lock downs were so important to them, to sever normal community relationships or weaken the bonds. Strong communities come together, then they work together.
Soon after the shootings and later in time, many of those involved were asked a version of that same question. Some local authorities seemed to believe that if something had been done more quickly, the situation would not have escalated to the point that it did. Sheriff Gough said, “My personal opinion is that it never would have happened if we hadn’t let it go so far.” G.M. Allen voiced a similar sentiment when asked how the city would handle a comparable situation in the future, answered “We might not let it go so long before trying to put it down. Most people had the idea that if we ignored it, it would go away.”
Both Sheriff Gough and G.M. Allen admitted that authorities should have acted earlier to quell the undesirable actions by the hippies on the square. In any situation of authority, it is always easier to stop behaviors when they first appear as opposed to trying to stop them after the violator has been allowed the freedom to take these actions for a longer period of time.
I heard a snippet of a podcast, listed below the 2:18 section on burn out. Yes, the evil that is in our country has gone on for a very long time. Demoncrats have been interfering in elections for years, the CIA, ATF and FIB are corrupt and anti-American.
Everyone knew before the elections Joe Biden was taking money from China, and Hunter’s laptop really was a thing. The swamp runs deep and wide. Yes, it’s gone on too long. I blame the media for this as there was only a few people telling the truth and Tucker Carlson was one of the most fearless. So FOX in an effort to out-do Inbev (they bought Anheuser-Busch, makers of the beer formerly known as Bud Light) decided to crash their own network and can Tucker. Most popular show on cable news, ever. But regardless of the mainstream media, we still have U.S. We have each other. And we, we can speak the truth. From today’s Daily Dose,
The first thing you must know before anything else applies: Truth demands chutzpah.
If what you are doing is the right thing to do, there will be others who will ridicule, taunt and attempt in every way to intimidate you. That is the way the world works.
If you can’t handle it, if you can’t ignore them as you would ignore flies on a camping trip, don’t imagine you can take a single step forward.
Only once you’ve passed the chutzpah test, only then can you begin to grow.
