Caught Between Three Fires: Meet the Author

While most people along the Missouri-Kansas border know that something terrible went on years ago to make these two states such enormous rivals, few understand what really happened.

Saturday, September 8 at 10 a.m. at the Harrisonville Branch, Tom Rafiner, author of Caught Between Three Fires: Cass County, MO Chaos & Order No. 11, 1860-65, will discuss, in simple terms, the causes of the eleven year war on the border. Rafiner states  “Basically I will take the period 1854 to 1865 and break it up into understandable segments, based on material which I have used in writing my upcoming book”. Rafiner’s new book Cinders & Silence: A History of Missouri’s Burnt District will be released in 2013.

Pictures of some of the key players as well as a suggested reading list will be distributed during the presentation. On display will be the 1859 Harpers Weekly with the articles about John Brown’s trial and an original 1853 Sharps Rifle, known as a “Beechers Bible”, so people can see the “real deal.”

The program is free and open to the public.

For additional information please contact Cass County Public Library Genealogy
Branch at 816-884-6285.

– Jackie Polsgrove-Roberts, Genealogy Branch manager