The American Narrative Episode 4: The Brooks-Baxter War

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3YXB2zzqrw

DISCLAIMER (0:00) – The following program contains descriptions of violence and suggestive topics that may not be appropriate for younger audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

Tim (0:10) – You’re listening to The American Narrative: Histories of a Nation, a podcast series by Discover America. I’m your host, Tim Murphy, alongside cohost Grant Shea. Welcome to episode four, and our second chapter discussing the volatile politics of Reconstruction.

Grant (0:23) – Looking forward to it, man. Ready to…you know how much I love Reconstruction, so, always on board for some volatility.

Tim (0:31) – It's such a fascinating topic. And like you said, it's so understudied and underappreciated from an academic standpoint. So it's really cool to dive into some of these stories and learn about how this moment in our nation's history was so pivotal and how it shaped our modern times.

Grant (0:47) – And I also just think even the term ‘Reconstruction’ like, it brings—it evokes all these ideas of rebirth, rebuilding. But it, you know, entails that something was lost, but now there's also something to be gained. I think it's just, you know, as we've talked about—it was the end of an era and the beginning of a new era, and so much opportunity was there. So, [it’s] interesting to learn about the stories that helped shape the following age that we aren’t taught enough about.

Tim (1:23) –Well, this next story certainly fits that bill. Today, we’re investigating the Brooks-Baxter War: a fierce political rivalry that plunged Arkansas into thirty days of anarchy.

Tim (1:33) – In January 1868, Arkansas reached a pivotal turning point in its post-Civil War history. After nearly three years of federal military occupation, a constitutional convention assembled in Little Rock, determined to facilitate the former Confederate state’s readmission into the Union. The convention was dominated by native Unionists, recently enfranchised Blacks, and a coalition of Republican “carpetbaggers,” including Minnesota attorney James Hinds; Justice John “Poker Jack” McClure of Ohio; and Thomas Bowen—a former Union general from Iowa who presided as convention president.

Tim (2:08) – And just a quick sidebar. Justice McClure, he'll be a recurring actor in this story, but he was nicknamed Poker Jack because he was court-martialed for playing cards while serving in the 57^th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. So if that doesn’t scream good character and integrity, I don’t know what does.

Grant (2:25) – I like that.

Tim (2:29) – Among the most influential and controversial carpetbaggers was Joseph Brooks—a boisterous Methodist minister from Cincinnati, Ohio, and former chaplain of the 56^th U.S. Colored Infantry Regiment. The self-proclaimed “Originator of Arkansas Radicalism,” Brooks was a tireless organizer for the Republican Party, espousing an uncompromising approach to Reconstruction. He championed egalitarian principles, advocated for full civil liberties among African Americans, and supported the confiscation and redistribution of Confederate-owned property to freedmen—a position considered dangerously extreme, even among Radical ranks. Yet, it was precisely this boldness that drew Black Arkansans to Brooks’s wing of the Republican Party.

James Hinds—the Chairman of the Committee on the Elective Franchise—shared similar convictions as Brooks. At the constitutional convention, he introduced articles that codified universal male suffrage, calling black enfranchisement an “indispensable instrument of self-protection,” given the pervasive racialized violence that afflicted the postwar South. When conservatives criticized that the convention unfairly excluded white Southerners from the political process, Hinds contended that “no man is disenfranchised by the provisions of this Constitution, unless he disenfranchised himself. The Constitution only proposes this: that those who have sought to destroy the government, and still seek to destroy it, and stab it at the vitals, shall be disenfranchised. It is not safe to allow this State to be ruled by men who have, by their past action and their present course, evinced themselves to be enemies of the government.”

But Democratic-Conservatives remained deeply dissatisfied with the purported authority of this constitutional assembly. The Arkansas Gazette editorialized that this illegitimate body had been "forced upon the state at the point of the bayonet, and has been created by Congress to register its edicts so that its policy may have the semblance of the sanction of the people.” The Gazette’s denunciations grew even more incendiary, ridiculing the convention as a “menagerie…of negroes and carpetbaggers…[a] bastard collection whose putridity stinks in the nostrils of all decency.”

While the constitutional delegates deliberated, Arkansas Democrats organized in Little Rock to countervail the influence of Northern Republicanism and “unite against the attendant dangers of negro suffrage.” Race unequivocally became the focal point of their campaign. They raised strong objections to policies promoting racial amalgamation, arguing that such initiatives would unfairly tax white property owners to finance “negro interests,” including integrated public schools and the legalization of interracial marriage. Party leaders resolved “…we are in favor of a White Man’s Government in a White Man’s country…[that] the prostitution of the ballot and the pollution of the source of power in a republic was the crown of evils.”

Grant (5:17) –  You know, I don't mean to interject, but it's just one of those situations that—I feel like this is one of those textbook examples of when you hear people try and make the assertion that the Civil War was about states’ rights or whatever. I mean, it's like…It's pretty clear what the concern is in the Reconstruction—like, what the primary concern is in this instance. Yes, it's the disenfranchised capital, it's property, it's ownership. I get that. But I mean, it's just—it shows the inherent inequality that was present where granting the right to vote to one group of people directly threatens the property interests of another. It goes to show that maybe the way that that property is distributed in and of itself isn't as equitable as it needs to be.

Tim (6:09) –  I mean, it's pretty explicit. It's right there in black and white, pun intended.

Grant (6:12) – Yeah.

Tim (6:14) – And it’s not exclusively voting rights. They’re going into people’s private lives, fighting against interracial marriage and integrated schools. Enfranchisement was certainly the focal point, but they wanted to suppress their way of life and how others interacted with them.

Tim (6:30) – The Democrats contended that the proposed constitution was illegal, since it would effectively disenfranchise many members of the white antebellum elite—a substantial portion of their political base. Democratic officials encouraged their constituents to boycott the ratification process and refrain from participating in government elections. However, this strategy of Democratic-Conservative abstention enabled Republicans to advance some of their most radical reforms.

The new Arkansas Constitution—adopted on February 11, 1868—embodied a significant shift in the state’s sociopolitical structure by codifying black enfranchisement policies while simultaneously disqualifying former Confederates until they “pledged allegiance to the civil and political equality of all men, and not to do anything to deprive any person, whatever their color, of their rights.” It was one of the harshest disenfranchisement provisions among any former Confederate state.

Tim (7:24) – So basically they had to take what’s considered an “Ironclad Oath”—pretty much pledge to adopt the republican process and refrain from interfering with said process.

Grant (7:36) – You know, the one thing I will say that I feel like—I don't know if this is, you know, just going off the rails or whatever, but—it's interesting to me that the requirement for them to regain their right to vote was their ability to swear an oath, make a…you know, it's almost like in today's day and age, there's—or in our current political climate in the country or, you know, whatever side of the aisle you're on—just the amount of cynicism there is around oaths and honor and loyalty. It's like, the value of oaths? It's just hard. I feel like right nowadays it's like, I don't…[If] a politician made an oath like that, I don't know how much weight I would give it.

Tim (8:22) –  Might as well be weightless.

Grant (8:24) – Exactly!

Tim (8:27) –  Beyond its sweeping changes to suffrage, the new constitution positioned the state government as the primary driver to modernize Arkansas’s infrastructure, promote economic development, and establish integrated welfare institutions. To support this new administrative framework and safeguard the achievements of Radical Reconstruction, the constitution dramatically expanded the governor’s executive authority—specifically his appointment powers—granting stewardship over a wide range of patronage positions and judicial offices, including all inferior court judges, prosecuting attorneys, and even the Chief Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court. This centralization of authority was intended to reinforce party loyalty and maintain Republican control over state politics.

While lawmakers arranged a referendum for the new state constitution, the Arkansas Republican Party fielded nominations for public office. Two principal candidates emerged in the gubernatorial race: James M. Johnson, a 36-year-old native Unionist from Madison County, and 35-year-old carpetbagger Powell Clayton.

Originally from Pennsylvania, Clayton had moved to the Kansas frontier in 1855, establishing himself as a civil engineer and surveyor. When the Civil War broke out, Clayton enlisted in the Union Army, initially serving as captain of the 1^st Kansas Infantry, later becoming lieutenant colonel of the 5^th Kansas Cavalry. He ultimately rose to the rank of brigadier general in the Seventh Army Corps.

Republican delegates remained deadlocked between the two candidates until Joseph Brooks—who chaired the state nominating convention—formally endorsed Clayton’s gubernatorial nomination. Johnson subsequently accepted the appointment for lieutenant governor.

On March 13, citizens across Arkansas voted on the new state constitution. However, like many civic elections during Reconstruction, the polling process was riddled with fraud and irregularities. General Alvan C. Gillem, commanding the Fourth Military District—which included Arkansas and Mississippi—reported that the total number of ballots collected outnumbered the state’s registered voters. Nevertheless, the constitution was ratified and Powell Clayton was declared governor-elect. On July 2, 1868—following Arkansas’s readmission to the Union—Clayton was officially inaugurated as the state’s ninth governor.

When Clayton assumed office, he appointed many Republican allies to prominent roles within the state government. Conspicuously excluded from these assignments was Joseph Brooks—Clayton’s strongest political competitor. Although Brooks’s endorsement had been integral to his election, Clayton did not want Brooks distinguished among party leadership. Naturally, Brooks’s exclusion bred personal resentment towards the governor and his allies who deliberately marginalized him from the Republican Party.

Native Unionists had expected Arkansas’s postwar government to reflect their interests, but these hopes were quickly dashed following Clayton’s inauguration. Instead of rewarding local supporters with key administrative appointments, Clayton filled these positions with fellow carpetbaggers—Northern transplants who were more concerned about personal advancement than state affairs. Frustrations mounted when incumbent leaders were accused of gerrymandering congressional districts to ensure political advantages for their own allies. This blatant betrayal caused a rift to develop between native Republicans and Clayton’s faction.

The discontent within the Republican Party was obvious, but it paled in comparison to the outright hostility that defined interactions between Democrats and Republicans in Arkansas and the broader Reconstruction South. Many Southern conservatives regarded Radical Republican policies as illegitimate impositions of Northern authority—a humiliating reminder of defeat and occupation. Democratic-Conservatives responded with vehement opposition, fiercely attacking Republican principles and undermining the credibility of prominent party figures, like James Hinds.

On March 27, 1868, the Van Buren Press published an article accusing Hinds of a “gross piece of immoral conduct”—specifically, an attempted sexual encounter with a black chambermaid who, according to the report, was actually a “cross-dressed negro boy.” This sensational allegation was portrayed as evidence of Hinds’s moral depravity and his “penchant for the negro.” Similar smear campaigns appeared across Arkansas, though largely disregarded by the public. When these fabricated scandals failed to gain traction, the Arkansas Gazette feigned incredulity: “Will gentlemen vote for these dogs? You may say these are slanders. If slanders, why not resort to the court or some other tribunal to disprove them…Why suffer these charges to hang over your miserable heads, you damnable curs?”

Grant (12:58) –  You know, it's interesting that they pretty much are saying, like, ‘If it is defamation, then go to court. Prove it.’ And it's—I feel like it's one of those things that, you know, maybe back in that day, it could be kind of more doable in the sense of, you know, there were less publications and less…But could you imagine if someone tried to make that argument with the volume of information that we receive today? That, ‘Oh, if every slander that's made against you is false, then you should be obligated to go to court.’ It's like, you would need like…Just the number of conspiracies and things that are floating around? It's fascinating like, oh, if…the prove me wrong instead of like, prove me right. Like it's just, you know, anybody can say anything. Yeah, it’s…I don't know how strong an argument that one is, but…

Tim (13:55) – Whatever the argument is, you lawyers would be in good business, nonetheless.

Tim (14:03) – But this antagonistic rhetoric did more than simply fan the flames of prejudice—it actively encouraged violence throughout the South. Paramilitary organizations, like the Ku Klux Klan, mobilized to restore white supremacy, systematically targeting African Americans and Republican officials who supported Reconstructionist policies. Open intimidation and political extremism became increasingly common as this counterrevolutionary movement gained momentum, and the phrase “character assassination” took on a far more tangible meaning.

One particularly brutal incident involving Joseph Brooks and James Hinds unfolded in Monroe County, Arkansas, on October 22, 1868. While traveling to a political rally supporting Ulysses S. Grant’s presidential campaign, the two Republican lawmakers crossed paths with George A. Clark—the secretary of the local Democratic Committee and a reputed Klansman. Concealing his identity, Clark provided Brooks and Hinds with directions to the event. As the pair proceeded on their way, the reactionary Democrat quietly retrieved his shotgun and, unprovokedly, unloaded both barrels into the unsuspecting men.

Hinds fell from his horse and collapsed on the roadside, while Brooks, though severely wounded, managed to stay mounted and escaped to seek help. According to an account published in the Morning Republican, passersby found Hinds “still alive and rational, but conscious of the fact that his wound was of such a serious nature that but a few moments more remained of his earthly career.” Hinds died later that day—the first U.S. congressman ever assassinated in office.

Grant (15:35) – Wow, the first one. Wow.

Tim (15:38) – The New York Times eulogized: “The assassination of Mr. HINDS brings, as we have said, the Southern murders close to our own doors. He falls a victim to that fell spirit of lawlessness and crime, which, encouraged by Democratic utterances, has produced a second revolution [in] the South, and is murdering scores of Northern men, our own brothers, for loyalty to the flag and the Government.”

The Monroe County coroner’s office convened a jury to investigate Hinds’s manner of death. After careful deliberation of the evidence, the jury reached the following verdict: “The said James Hinds came to his death by wounds inflicted on him by shot discharged from a double-barreled shotgun, in the hands of George A. Clark.” Despite these explicit findings, Clark was never arrested or prosecuted for the murder. According to the Morning Republican, Clark had “fled the country, leaving his family and escaping justice.”

Hinds’s political opponents rejected the coroner’s findings and instead blamed Radical Republicans for his murder. An editorial in the Arkansas Daily Gazette, dated October 24, claimed that the Republican Party had orchestrated Hinds’s assassination: “Information reached this city yesterday of the murder of James Hinds and the wounding of Brooks…in Monroe County. If true at all, we believe that the deed was perpetrated by the radicals themselves for effect on the presidential election...The announcement by the northern press that a "late loyal member of Congress has been assassinated while peaceably riding along the road" would undoubtedly have its effect among those not better informed...At all events, the only class that could possibly reap any benefit from such a deed would be the Clayton Government in Arkansas, and the radical party north…”

Tim (17:19) – So talk about conspiracy theories, huh?

Grant (17:21) – I was going to say, they were…That right there, I mean, that's the first thing—not the first thing, but—it just, it reminds me very much of the current conspiracy landscape, like…And I think it's one of those important historical reminders of just how narratives have always been spun to advance people's own interests. And, you know, the more time that passes, the easier it is for people to try to spin narratives the way they want to. I mean, it's…It goes to show that so many of the things that we encounter today—in connection with conspiracy theories and fake news, and stuff like that—it's stuff that humanity, that societies have always been dealing with, particularly American society.

Tim (18:17) – Yeah, and kind of branching off that, too—like in our modern day and age where we have all these analytics and we can kind of, you know, chart the past a little bit more effectively—there is some truth to that conspiracy theory a little bit with assassinations and attempted assassinations. Usually the party that is assassinated or is targeted usually has an upswell of support going into an election.

Grant (18:40) – Yeah.  And I was going to say, have you heard—recently too—that there was news that came out about Victor Orbán. He's running this big election coming up in Hungary, and I think it was Euro News and the Telegraph and a few other news outlets in Europe—potentially the New York Times, I don't remember which—but they asserted that they had proof that Russian—like Putin—they had contemplated the whole idea of staging like a, you know, fake assassination or something to try to help Orbán in the polls. And I'm not like…It's just mostly as you just said, like this, people—like the powers that be are very aware of that. They…to the point where it's even contemplated in, like, the current day and age of…Yeah. I mean, a martyr. Everybody loves a martyr because, you know, our greatest fear is death. Like that's, you know—bravery is overcoming that and…It's really interesting, like if you expand on that. Yeah.

Tim (19:50) – In response to the rampant violence, Clayton declared martial law in fourteen counties to eradicate Klan activity and protect voter registrars at the upcoming November elections. Clayton remarked: “The whole principle of the ballot is a free expression of the public will, and the use of a military force, either at the registration or election, is not desirable. While I shall use every effort in my power to afford a fair registration, and to secure to all a free expression of their will at the ballot box, it can only be accomplished by the citizens of the respective counties manifesting a disposition to sustain the laws and to protect the registrar in the performance of his duties. In those counties where the people are not disposed to allow the civil authorities to execute the laws or to have a military force organized in them, they cannot expect a force to be furnished for the purpose of enabling them to enjoy the privilege of an election.” 

With state militia guarding the ballots, Democratic turnout was greatly reduced, enabling Grant to secure victory in Arkansas. Martial law was eventually lifted in early 1869. This broader ‘Militia War’ is considered one of the most successful attempts at suppressing Klan activity in the South.

With Republicans in firm control of Arkansas affairs, Governor Clayton sought to improve the state’s inadequate infrastructure. He introduced hefty tax hikes and issued a series of controversial bonds meant to finance new roads and railways. However, many of these projects went unfinished, significantly deviated from their original plans, or completely overlapped with one another. Perhaps the most egregious example of bond misappropriation involved Republican legislator James L. Hodges, who embezzled state penitentiary funds to construct his own private residence. Hodges ultimately served jail time for the scandal.

Grant (21:33) – We talked about a lot of corrupt—like just the level of corruption during the Reconstruction period. Just wow.  You know, and it's again, those periods of great change and transition when there's no—when things are more in flux and the ground is mushier and less settled—that's when, you know, that there are more opportunities for exploitation. There are more—it's just that…Typically, during periods of great transition is when—those often correlate with periods of great, you know, corruption. They go kind of hand-in-hand. It's—but then, once everything settles, it becomes this more like deep-seated corrupt…Like it’d be really interesting to study like, just through historical lenses, like corruption, like as a theme. Like, what are the forms of corruption and how corruption works in different…Because you could argue like there'd be a stable dictatorship or…and [that’s] horribly corrupt for a very long time. But it's like, it's just—it's like the corruption is more consolidated. Less people have the—can partake in it kind of thing. Like, I don't know, but…

Tim (22:53) – That would be interesting to learn, definitely. I’d take that class.

Grant (22:57) – Yeah, right? Like a university class: History of Corruption. That’d be awesome, actually.

Tim (23:05) – During Clayton’s first two years as governor, Arkansas’s debt nearly tripled, inflation soared, and economic hardships remained persistent. Fiscal mismanagement, administrative incompetence, and outright corruption stoked political discontent among the Arkansas populace and fractured the state’s Republican coalition into three distinct factions.

First, there were the Regular Republicans, led by Governor Clayton. This group—largely carpetbaggers—dominated party machinery, occupied the majority of state offices, and enjoyed the backing of the national Republican organization. Opponents derisively labeled these Regulars as the “Minstrels,” implying that Clayton’s supporters were mere political performers seeking approval from federal authorities. This epithet gained traction after reports surfaced that one of the governor’s close associates had previously participated in a minstrel troupe, providing critics with convenient means to disparage the governor’s leadership.

The second group consisted of Reform Republicans—a coalition of disillusioned carpetbagger politicians and a sizeable black electorate under the leadership of Joseph Brooks. These Reformers were known as “Brindle-tails,” a nickname inspired by Brooks’s assertive personality and booming voice, which some likened to the bellow of a brindle-tailed bull. Although Brooks was an outspoken advocate for ubiquitous civil rights, he also endorsed re-enfranchisement for ex-Confederates—a deliberate departure from his original Radical platform meant to win over moderate Democrats and pre-war Whigs.

The Brindle-tails were closely aligned with the final group, Liberal Republicans, a faction predominantly composed of native unionists and scalawags—Southerners who supported Reconstruction policies. The Liberals advanced a populist agenda, advocating for universal male suffrage, political amnesty for former Confederates, and responsible economic reforms.

Both the Brindle-tails and Liberal Republicans were determined to end the so-called “Clayton dictatorship.” In this context, Lieutenant Governor Johnson—an Arkansas native who openly criticized Clayton’s patronage system and alleged abuses of power—emerged as a potential consensus candidate. For both factions, supporting Johnson’s succession was the most pragmatic and politically feasible strategy to dismantle Clayton’s dominance and guide Arkansas toward a more moderate political future.

The opportunity for change emerged in late 1870, when Governor Clayton announced his intention to run for U.S. Senate. Despite having two years left on his gubernatorial term, Clayton’s decision was driven by both longstanding personal ambition and political stratagem to consolidate Minstrel Republican power by controlling federal patronage appointments in Arkansas. Recognizing the advantage of removing Clayton from direct involvement in state affairs, the Brindle-tails, Liberal Republicans, and Democrats harmoniously endorsed Clayton’s candidacy.

On January 10, 1871, the Arkansas General Assembly voted almost unanimously to appoint Clayton to the vacant U.S. Senate seat; however, Clayton declined the nomination, aware that his departure would elevate Lieutenant Governor Johnson to the executive chair. Determined to prevent this transfer of power—and preclude any conservative influence—Clayton resolved to remove Johnson before relinquishing his own authority.

Minstrel Republicans launched a legal offensive against Johnson, first serving a writ of quo warranto that compelled him to defend his claim to the lieutenant governorship before the Pulaski County Circuit Court. Nearly three weeks later, the General Assembly introduced articles of impeachment against Johnson. The primary charge stemmed from Johnson’s decision, as President of the Senate, to administer the oath of office to Joseph Brooks—who was recently elected as a state senator—and subsequently recognize him on the Senate floor. Although Johnson’s actions fell entirely within the legal purview of his office, the Minstrels used this incident as a pretext for removal. The prosecution ultimately failed—Johnson escaped impeachment by a two-vote margin—but the legal spectacle and public scrutiny dealt a significant blow to his reputation.

Regular Republicans capitalized on Johnson’s political vulnerability. Governor Clayton appointed Johnson as Arkansas’s Secretary of State—a position that he reluctantly accepted—which enabled Ozra A. Hadley, a staunch Minstrel Republican, to assume the lieutenant governorship. In March 1871, the state legislature once again elected Clayton to the United States Senate. This time, Clayton accepted the nomination, and Hadley succeeded him as governor.

Though no longer a state official, Clayton remained a formidable leader among Arkansas Republicans by exercising control over federal funds and patronage appointments. Consequently, federal officeholders in Arkansas affiliated with the Brindle-tail faction—including Joseph Brooks himself, then serving as an Internal Revenue Assessor—were swiftly removed from their positions.

The expedient anti-Clayton coalition continued their opposition against the former governor, even after his appointment to the U.S. Senate. In April 1871, the Arkansas House of Representatives drafted articles of impeachment against Clayton, charging him with a variety of offenses, such as removing duly elected state officials from office, facilitating fraudulent elections, accepting bribes for state railroad bonds, and other acts of corruption. The most scandalous charge centered on Clayton’s involvement in the disputed U.S. House election for Arkansas’s third congressional district, which pitted incumbent Thomas Boles against John Edwards. Arkansas state law required that election results be certified by the Secretary of State—then Robert White—prior to the governor’s official proclamation of victory. Although Boles won by more than 2,000 votes, Clayton certified Edwards as the winner. He defended his decision by invalidating the results from several townships, asserting that duplicitous votes had inflated Boles’s total.

Grant (28:45) – Wow. That I think is worth just a pause of like, you know…I’d be lying if  I said that, you know—in recent discourse, we've had similar discussions like at the federal level over the last few years—but I was not aware that something like that happened in state government—in the states—and that, you know, what was being posited in the last few years in the presidential elections or in other federal [positions]…It's not novel. I thought it was novel kind of thing. It's really important to learn that in 1871 this happened.  I mean, it's just…You know, where we get to that last procedural, almost ministerial job or how it—how we have come become accustomed to looking at it, of certifying election results—is an important touch point in the process. It's one that, as we just pointed out, there is an example of it not just being a procedural, ministerial…Maybe that's how it's supposed to be, but you know, it's just, again, one of those fail safes or checks and balances that we need to—as Americans understanding our government and our history—be aware of as…You know, it's a check and a balance that's directly contingent upon the character of the person enforcing it.

Tim (30:19) – Yeah, those civic fail safes virtually disappear within a corrupt government, but that theme will reappear later on in this story.  

Tim (30:27) – In January 1872, the U.S. Senate Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Condition of the Late Insurrectionary States heard testimony about Clayton’s alleged violations and the disputed election between Boles and Edwards. The following month, after an extensive review, Boles replaced Edwards in the U.S. House of Representatives, thereby affirming the original vote count certified by Secretary White. Despite this reversal of elected officials, the Senate committee failed to indict Clayton, ruling that he had acted appropriately within the powers of the state executive office. Clayton was formally exonerated from any wrongdoing.

As the 1872 General Election approached, Liberal Republicans sought to organize a state affiliate party in Arkansas. However, their efforts were complicated by the established presence of Joseph Brooks’s Reform Party, which commanded much of the same political territory and constituents the Liberals hoped to claim. Both groups quickly realized the impracticality of running competing slates, as this would fracture the anti-Minstrel vote and dilute their collective influence. That May, Liberal Republicans and Brindle-tail Reformers coalesced to form a combination ticket challenging the Grant administration and institutional Republicans. Joseph Brooks was selected as their gubernatorial nominee, while Horace Greeley, the national Liberal Republican candidate, received their endorsement for the presidency.

On June 19, Arkansas Democrats gathered in Little Rock for their state convention. Facing a political landscape dominated by the Brindle-tail and Minstrel Republican factions, discouraged Democrats saw only dismal prospects to advance their Redeemer agenda. With little enthusiasm, they declined to nominate candidates for state office and entered into an alliance with anti-Minstrel Republicans, who promised to reserve an equitable share of patronage positions for Democrats in exchange for their electoral support. Though far from ideal, this arrangement provided conceivable means for conservatives to moderate Regular Republican rule.

Later that August, Minstrel Republicans urgently assembled to confront the formidable Brindle-tail coalition. Under Senator Clayton’s direction, party strategists felt compelled to nominate a candidate who could satisfy the expectations of Regular Republicans, but possessed enough conservative appeal to draw moderate Democrats away from Brooks. Although Governor Hadley was well-respected within Minstrel circles, his close ties to Clayton’s faction limited his broader viability. In his stead, the Minstrels selected Elisha Baxter as their nominee.

The former mayor of Batesville, Arkansas, Baxter was a lifelong Whig politician who had previously served in the Arkansas House of Representatives. Despite being a slaveowner, Baxter was an outspoken Unionist at the onset of the Civil War, viewing secession as “unjust to the federal government.” In May 1862, Baxter openly welcomed Union General Samuel Curtis and his occupying forces to Batesville; however, when federal forces withdrew, Confederate troops returned and sought retribution against Union sympathizers. Baxter attempted to flee, but was apprehended by Confederate Colonel Robert C. Newton near Patterson, Missouri. He was extradited to Little Rock and imprisoned for treason, though he later escaped and joined the Fourth Arkansas Mounted Union Infantry, rising to the rank of colonel. In 1864, Baxter was appointed to the Arkansas Supreme Court under the reorganized loyalist government and subsequently elected to the U.S. Senate by the legislature, although his seat was never confirmed. After the Civil War, Baxter settled in Little Rock, where he practiced law in partnership with James Hinds.

Grant (34:00) – What an interesting story, like this guy’s life. Just wow. The paradoxes, but just the arc, too. I mean, and I wonder, like…If he was in prison for treason, I assume the plan was to hang him or something, and he escaped. I mean…Wow.

Tim (34:25) – The Arkansas gubernatorial election of 1872 has been described as a “masterpiece of confusion” by contemporary scholars. Widespread irregularities plagued polling places throughout the state—names were inexplicably stricken from registration rolls and ballots were cast without proper verification. Furthermore, there were allegations that election officials in certain counties manipulated voter registration periods to advance the interests of their respective parties. As the Arkansas Daily Gazette observed: “It would be as great a farce of yesterday's election to designate it otherwise than a fraud. It was one of the worst ever yet perpetrated in the state. The city judges paid no attention to any registration either old or new, but permitted everybody to vote, and in many instances without question. Men were marched from one ward to another [voting] early and often.”

The certified vote returns placed Baxter ahead of Brooks by an official count of 41,681 to 38,415; however, the exclusion of ballots from four counties raised doubts about the legitimacy of these totals. As a result, Brooks contested the election’s outcome and appealed to the state legislature, which—under the provisions of the 1868 Constitution—possessed the authority to determine the final results of statewide elections. 

On January 6, 1873, state legislators meticulously canvassed the votes and ultimately upheld Baxter’s victory. Without delay, Baxter entered the Statehouse, where Chief Justice John McClure administered the oath of office. In his inaugural address, Baxter ensured honest administration, impartiality, and fairness throughout all branches of government. State delegates applauded the message, but given the contentious circumstances surrounding Baxter’s election, they seriously questioned his sincerity and ability to fulfill such promises.

Shortly after Baxter’s inauguration, the Liberal Republican Party formally petitioned the U.S. Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections to investigate the Arkansas election; however, their inquiry produced insufficient evidence to overturn the results. Undeterred, Judge William M. Harrison—who had been a State Supreme Court nominee on the Brindle-tail ticket—filed a Bill of Equity with the U.S. Circuit Court in Little Rock, alleging election fraud. The Brooks Campaign followed suit with a similar legal challenge. Judge Henry Clay Caldwell, who heard Harrison’s case, determined that federal courts lacked jurisdiction, and both lawsuits were dismissed. Still refusing to concede, Brooks again appealed to the Arkansas General Assembly for a recount; however, this request was denied by a vote of 63-9.

In June 1873, Arkansas Attorney General Thomas D.W. Yonley—himself a product of the Minstrel Republican faction—asked the state Supreme Court to issue a writ of quo warranto compelling Governor Baxter to legally justify his claim to office. Chief Justice McClure, who had officiated Baxter’s inauguration, had personal reasons to consider Yonley’s request. Soon after taking office, Governor Baxter, aiming to garner moderate political support, revoked the state printing contract from McClure’s newspaper, the Little Rock Daily Republican, and reassigned it to the more conservative Arkansas Weekly Gazette. Brindle-tails hoped that McClure could sway jurists in Brooks’s favor. But instead, the court ruled that it lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate the outcome of gubernatorial elections. The chief justice issued a scathing dissent and stubbornly refused to reconcile with Baxter, whom he now regarded as a usurper. On July 22, McClure published this quip in the Daily Republican: “That old song of Baxter being a friend to the people, and that he will make them prosperous and happy, is becoming stale. Tear off the mask and show him up to an outraged people in all his hideous deformity!” Pretty soon, more Minstrels would opine similar sentiments.

During his first year as governor, Baxter distanced himself from mainstream Republicanism and chartered a more independent approach to governance, notably dismantling the patronage network established by Clayton’s Minstrel faction. He appointed Democrats to the Election Commission, reorganized the state militia, and pushed to repeal the Confederate disenfranchisement clause in the Arkansas constitution. Simultaneously, Baxter appointed several dozen Republican legislators to patronage positions around the state, creating numerous vacancies in the General Assembly. A special election was scheduled for November 1873, but the Republican Party largely abstained from participation, allowing Democrats to win virtually all of the available seats, fundamentally shifting the balance of power within the statehouse.

A sense of betrayal echoed within the columns of the Daily Republican: “If Elisha Baxter flatters himself he is a power in the land, he can very easily be undeceived, and we will take great pleasure in helping to do it. It is bad enough to be sold out by a man like Elisha Baxter, but when it comes to be bullied by him, that is quite another thing and one which we, for one, will not submit to from any such source.”

In March 1874, Governor Baxter vetoed the Railroad Steel Bill—the centerpiece of Minstrel economic strategy. Had it passed, the bill would have relieved railroad companies of their existing debts by creating a new state tax to cover interest payments on bonds issued by the Clayton administration, effectively transferring the financial burden from private corporations to the public. Baxter vehemently opposed such a directive, even though many leading Republicans—such as Senator Clayton and Chief Justice McClure—were closely involved with Arkansas railroad companies, both as policymakers and beneficiaries; Clayton himself held $400,000 in railroad bonds.

Grant (40:08) - I feel bad interjecting because I don't really have much substance to add, but the one thing I was going to say is I do know because…Actually, the American bankruptcy code was born out of railroads in the country because the railroads incurred so much debt, and once they are built, they didn't like—there was so much financial corruption-related issues with railroad bonds and funding railroads, and once they were built, paying off the various entities that were involved in the construction, and then now the maintenance—that the U.S. bankruptcy code is actually born out of the failure of our government to figure out how to discharge…You know, like, there was an incentive to build these railroads just for the public good and for economics, but from a profit perspective, they like—it didn't add up. So it's just something interesting that, if you ever hear someone file a Chapter 11 bankruptcy or Chapter 13, you know, all the different—Chapter 7, like, that's all—the whole U.S. bankruptcy code is because of this issue with railroad bonds and railroads becoming…It created a whole field of law in U.S. jurisprudence and the federal code because this was such a mess. And this is such a good example—like a good concrete, substantive example—that I wasn't aware of. Like, I know about it as a theme, but just…It's like almost a light bulb going off in my head of: Exhibit A. Like, this is just, man. Really interesting.

Tim (41:47) – And say what you will about Elisha Baxter, but for the Republican Party to say, ‘Let’s offload this high-interest corporate debt onto our constituents.’ Like, wow.

Grant (41:58) – What?

Tim (41:59) – Talk about a lack of regard for the public welfare.

Grant (42:02) – That’s absurd.

Tim (42:04) – And it kind of makes sense, too, when you're thinking about it. Because a lot of those Regular Republicans, again, they were carpetbaggers. Like, they didn't have a stake in Arkansas other than personal gain, political power. You know, Clayton having $400,000 in bonds—he wants to, you know, offload as much of that interest debt as possible and reap the benefits of the infrastructure that's being built.

Grant (42:25) – Yeah. Greed, opportunism, and then, you know, the pursuit of wealth and capital, and we see it play out when companies need to be bailed out. I mean, that's just…Wow, wow. It's like, it's just the same things happening again and again. And as you said, I mean, you're just going to shift corporate debt onto the taxpayers? Like, great. Thanks, man. Like…wow.

Tim (42:54) – For Baxter, this bill represented an exploitation of state credit. He argued that issuing new bonds to benefit private railroad interests violated the constitutional protections against reckless public indebtedness. Beyond his refusal to authorize new bonds, Baxter also declined to honor financial obligations incurred by the Clayton administration—effectively repudiating the Minstrels’ progressive economic policy.

Baxter’s decision to revoke the state’s railroad bonds caused widespread disillusionment among the Minstrel coalition, prompting many members to realign themselves with Joseph Brooks and the Brindle-tails. Consequently, Governor Baxter started to receive increased support from scalawags, native Unionists, and Democrat-Conservatives. This exigent realignment fundamentally transformed Arkansas’s political demography.

In early April 1874, Senator Clayton and his colleague, Senator Stephen Dorsey, traveled to Little Rock with the explicit objective of unseating Governor Baxter, whom they considered untrustworthy to the Republican cause. Clayton publicly accused Baxter of corruption, alleging that he employed bribery and intimidation tactics to influence the 1872 election. He further asserted that Baxter had issued fraudulent credentials to several legislators who were not lawfully elected. According to Clayton, "Brooks was fairly elected in 1872; and kept out of office by fraud.”

On April 15, William G. Whipple—a former U.S. attorney for Arkansas’s eastern district and personal counsel to Joseph Brooks—petitioned Pulaski County Circuit Judge John Whytock to revive Brooks’s long-dormant ouster suit against Governor Baxter. The complaint, initially filed several months prior, had been demurred by Baxter’s attorneys and remained inactive due to the perceived lack of legal merit. However, Judge Whytock voided the demurrer, thereby asserting his court’s jurisdiction over the matter. The circumstances of this decision were highly questionable, since the State Supreme Court’s ruling was effectively reversed by the lower circuit court. Additionally, neither Baxter nor his legal counsel were present for the proceedings, contrary to the requirements of Arkansas law. Within minutes, Judge Whytock interpreted the relevant statutes to declare Joseph Brooks—not Elisha Baxter—the legal governor of Arkansas. He promptly issued a writ transferring control of the governor’s office to Brooks and awarded him $2,000 in damages. Chief Justice McClure subsequently administered the oath of office to Joseph Brooks in a private ceremony.

Grant (45:21) -  So much for…What was the point of even having an election?

Tim (45:27) – What’s the point of having judicial hierarchy?

Tim (45:34) – A coup unfolded following Judge Whytock’s ruling. Brooks, accompanied by twenty armed supporters, marched to the Arkansas Capitol Building in downtown Little Rock, where the county sheriff served Governor Baxter with the writ of ouster. Despite Baxter’s heated objections, Brooks forcibly gained control over the state capitol. Unable to muster any meaningful resistance, Baxter vacated his office under protest. Meanwhile, former Union General Robert F. Catterson—the newly-appointed leader of the Brindle-tail militia—broke into the State House Armory and secured hundreds of weapons for Brooks's cause. By late afternoon, nearly 300 men had assembled to support Brooks.

After seizing the capitol, Brooks issued the following statement, as published in the Memphis Daily Appeal on April 17: “No one man in the State has felt the power of ballot-box-stuffers and political thimble-riggers to the extent I have. I say to you that, so far as in me lies, the ballot box and election machinery of the State shall never again be made an engine of fraud and oppression as it was in 1872. This is a republican form of government, where the voice of the people should rule. And so far as I am concerned, it shall rule from this time henceforth, and so long as I occupy the executive chair, every man shall have the free and undisturbed right to vote as to him shall seem best, and that vote once cast shall be counted as the man who cast it intended it should be. Effort, no doubt, will be made by designing men to convey the impression that it is the duty of the people to rally to the standard of a man who no doubt will claim he is governor of Arkansas, that you all know was not elected, and who has no more right or claim to the office than any one of you have that was not a candidate, for the purpose of placing that man again in the executive office. I say frankly to you that all such attempts will lead to strife and bloodshed, for I shall resist and suppress the action of all mobs that may assemble together under the banner or at the call of Elisha Baxter.”

Grant (47:27) -  It’s just crazy. I mean, the chaos, just the procedural…I don't even know. It's like, I don't know how...How much time passed between the, like—like, it almost seems like so much time, like in this interim, there's just a—there's a gap. Like, I don't even know who I would…And I was so—when you said that there was a coup—I was like, I'm not surprised. Of course there's going to be violence if the people don't feel heard or the legitimacy is crashing. Like…

Tim (48:06) – The election ended in November 1872, and this is taking place in April 1874. So about 18 months has gone by.

Grant (48:15) – That is wild. That is wild to me. Like 18 months is a long time. Wow.

Tim (48:21) – Baxter found refuge at St. Johns’ Military Academy, where he organized the state militia under Major General Robert Newton—the same Robert Newton who had captured Baxter during the Civil War in Missouri.

Grant (48:34) – That, you know, I think that’s—I think through the stories that, Tim, we’ve covered in the last few episodes, especially—like that one guy up in Vermont who led the raid—I think when you view these individual stories, and just these individual people, and how incredibly 180 their ideologies, their roles, their circumstances were, it’s a testament to just how much change was happening during that period. I mean, like…these are the kinds of things that you don’t see in most historical decades. Like it’s just…I mean, wow. Just wow.   

Tim (49:21) – Baxter declared martial law in Pulaski County, appointing former Confederate Brigadier General Thomas P. Dockery as military governor. In a subsequent telegram to President Grant, Baxter claimed that the capitol had been “overrun by desperadoes and revolutionaries” and requested federal intervention to uphold his legitimacy.

On the evening of April 16, Baxter—accompanied by two hundred armed supporters—relocated his headquarters to the Anthony House, a hotel situated three blocks from the State Capitol. Brooks, in turn, entrenched himself in the Statehouse and appointed ex-Confederate Brigadier General James F. Fagan as adjutant commander of his militia. 

Just as Baxter had attempted to contact federal authorities, Brooks’s political supporters dispatched numerous telegrams to Washington affirming the Brindle-tail’s claim to office. Senators Clayton and Dorsey even made personal appearances before President Grant, lending their support to Brooks’s cause.

U.S. Attorney General George H. Williams informed both parties that the Grant administration would remain neutral during the conflict, expressly forbidding the distribution of federal armaments to either faction. After issuing this proclamation of neutrality, President Grant instructed Colonel Thomas E. Rose—who commanded federal troops in Little Rock—to abstain from participating in the dispute except to prevent armed conflict. Colonel Rose promptly moved his forces to City Hall on Markham Street, about halfway between Baxter’s headquarters and the Statehouse, effectively partitioning the two belligerent camps.  

Unable to obtain possession of the federal arsenal, both factions sought out alternative sources. Baxter’s Minstrels ransacked gun stores around Little Rock and sent agents to Texas to purchase additional weapons. Meanwhile, Brooks dispatched George W. McDiarmid—the Pulaski County Clerk and his top aide—to St. Louis to acquire firearms and ammunition, while other operatives traveled to Fayetteville to requisition the Arkansas Industrial University armory. Through these efforts, Brooks managed to secure 2,000 Springfield rifles, 13,000 rounds of ammunition, and two six-pounder artillery pieces.

On April 21, Baxter’s militia received sizeable reinforcements—300 African American troops led by Hercules King Cannon White, a Confederate veteran with a turbulent past.

Grant (51:34) – Is his middle name King Cannon?

Tim (51:36) – Yes. His two middle names is King Cannon.

Tim (51:39) – Hercules King Cannon White. Wow. I didn’t know if that was, like, a nickname. I was just like…

Tim (51:47) – That is his legal name.

Grant (51:49) – His government name. Yeah, wow…that’s crazy.

Tim (51:53) – White’s military career began in 1861 as a member of the Second Kentucky Infantry; however, he was promptly discharged since he was only fifteen years old at the time. Undeterred, the young rebel eagerly reenlisted with the First Kentucky Cavalry, but was subsequently captured by Union forces in Louisville on November 26, 1862. After a brief confinement in Vicksburg, Mississippi, White was released and eventually joined General John Hunt Morgan’s Cavalry Brigade.

Tim (52:23) – And if you remember from our St. Albans talk, Bennett Henderson Young—the guy who organized the raid—was part of that brigade.  

Grant (52:29) – That was the…wow. The St. Albans Raid, I mean it’s—it’s the same players, the same…I mean, wow.

Tim (52:40) – You know what I love about researching these topics? It’s that there’s always a connection tying everything together.

Grant (52:46) – Well, you know what I think it is?  I think that just goes to show that the level to which you are—it goes to show like how good of a job you're doing in covering these different moments and the different aspects of them, because everything is related. If you look—if you think about it deeply enough, I mean, and like, just to see this [instance]—like the characters are overlapping. Like, it just means that these are the pivotal moments in history that were actually happening that we might not learn about. But these are the movers and shakers. These are the forces that are what we need to be learning about. I mean, it's awesome.

Tim (53:27) – After surviving Morgan’s Great Raid into Ohio, White joined Davison’s Hyenas—a notorious guerrilla band that terrorized the Kentucky countryside. On December 23, 1864, the Hyenas attacked the steamship Morning Star—a raid that earned White a two-year prison sentence for his actions. Following his release in 1868, White moved to Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and became an attorney.

Tim (53:51) – What’s with all these ex-Confederates becoming attorneys?

Grant (53:55) – A lot of attorneys, yeah. You know, you think someone who  took up arms against the government, how is it such a seamless transition into the legal profession? Like, yeah, I guess would one, like—if you took up arms  as a Confederate soldier…Are there any, like, examples of Confederate soldiers reenlisting in the Union Army? I mean, there was that guy in New Orleans. He was a Confederate general who ended up defending the Union governor down there or something. I forget the details of it, but…

Tim (54:30) – Yeah, Longstreet.

Grant (54:31) – Longstreet. Not just anybody, like…

Tim (54:34) – So he was part of the state militia.

Grant (54:36) – Oh, okay.

Tim (54:37) – He served in the state militia. He wasn’t actually involved in the federal army to any extent. But he was given, like, federal appointments, so he did serve in certain patronage positions.

Grant (54:50) – It’s like, there’s nothing sacred, like…Wow. Wow.

Tim (55:00) – King White led his troops—and their accompanying brass band—in a military parade through Little Rock, ending at the Anthony House. By the time the procession reached Baxter’s headquarters, the crowd had grown to more than 1,300 men. They beckoned Baxter to the balcony, pressing him to authorize an assault on the Statehouse. White reportedly exclaimed: “Furnish us simply with the means. Give us the authority. Pronounce the order and I will guarantee you, sir, that in 25 minutes from the time the order is written, Joseph Brooks will either be in Hell or the archives.” The masses cheered in support. Baxter responded by counselling the militiamen to “be patient and quiet and conduct [yourselves] orderly, and in due time the proper order would be given them to assert the rights of the people.” At the end of Baxter’s speech, the band played “Red, White, and Blue.” 

Amid mounting tensions, regulars from the Sixteenth U.S. Infantry deployed along Markham Street while Colonel Rose approached White, whom he believed might incite a riot. What happened next remains unclear. During the confrontation, a shot rang out, triggering a barrage of gunfire between Baxter’s militia and Brooks’s supporters barricaded inside the nearby Metropolitan Hotel. Bedlam prevailed for nearly thirty minutes until Rose’s soldiers reestablished order. The street skirmish resulted in several injuries, but only one man—David Fulton Shall, a prominent real estate dealer—was killed while standing in the window of the Anthony House.

The events surrounding the Little Rock Street Fight remain hotly contested, with significant discrepancies among eyewitness accounts. Some suggest that Rose’s horse inadvertently collided with White’s musicians, causing a commotion that escalated into gunfire. The Cincinnati Commercial posited a different version, reporting that Rose’s pistol accidentally discharged, which prompted federal officers to shoot at White. Another alternate report from the St. Louis Democrat claimed that White’s men fired at Colonel Rose without warning, wounding innocent civilians on the street instead.

Grant (56:53) – A lot of different takes.

Tim (56:56) – A lot of different takes.  I just think, if you could just imagine in your head, just real quick—just some guy's horse just running into a guy with a tuba, just toppling him over while he’s playing “Red, White, and Blue.” Just have that track playing in your head. Just…

Grant (57:17) – That’s funny. That’s hilarious.

Tim (57:20) – According to the Nashville Union and American: “Colonel King White, in his speech to the colored troops, said he would capture the Statehouse without regard for Governor Baxter, the Federal troops, or the devil. Colonel Rose mounted his horse at City Hall, rode down to the crowd and ordered King White to stop that noise. White replied, “Damn you, I command these troops.” There upon White’s troops immediately commenced firing at Colonel Rose, evidently attempting his assassination, but resulting in killing David Shall and wounding W.A. Crawford, one of Baxter’s officers, both in the Anthony House…Colonel Rose is unhurt, and behaved with greatest coolness, while the organized mob, which did the firing, dropped their guns and scattered as fast as the citizens who were in the streets in the vicinity of the Anthony House.”

The contradictions of subjective testimony were well-encapsulated in the April 22^nd edition of the New York Herald: “At half-past five o’clock, a band was heard performing in front of the Baxter headquarters…Great enthusiasm prevailed among the men under arms…Colonel Rose rode inside the lines at this juncture. He asked what the demonstration meant, and informed the commanders that they must move above the corner of the street on which they had assembled. While he was speaking, his horse commenced to prance and knock over a bandsman. A gun was fired at him, then came several other shots in quick succession, and immediately afterwards there was a general rattle of musketry, all the Baxter men firing in whatever direction their weapons pointed at the moment. The wildest excitement prevailed, the spectators rushing in all directions.

A SECOND ACCOUNT – Colonel Rose rode up to Colonel White and said something to him about making a hostile demonstration, when someone in the upper windows of a building FIRED A SHOT INTO THE BAXTER CROWD which was eagerly followed by others from the direction of the [Brooks] crowd standing in the street near the Metropolitan Hotel. This action caused the Baxter men to return the fire. The colored troops rapidly retreated from the streets. The firing was very lively for a few minutes, the Baxter men running up the street and the others giving way…Since dark, the men have been marched back to their quarters and the excitement is about over.

EYEWITNESS: “Colonel Rose, post commandant, rode up abruptly to Colonel White, through the latter’s band, his horse knocking down several members of it. He asked Colonel White if he intended to advance his troops any further, and received a negative reply. A few hot words followed, when Colonel Rose pulled his pistol, cocked it, and struck at White, who threw up his right hand which struck and fired off the pistol in the air. Colonel Rose’s orderly took a pop at White immediately and then commenced firing. Colonel Rose turned and ran up the street to City Hall and formed his men across the street as previously telegraphed. Most of the firing from the Brooks’ side was from the Metropolitan Hotel windows, and a crowd below on the pavement, and was aimed at the Anthony House.“

Tim (1:00:04) – So just that one article had three widely different interpretations of what happened.

Grant (1:00:10) – Yeah, like—you know,  like, fortunately we have cameras now and it's like, okay, there's some…But then you think about, like, the way you can edit camera footage now with AI. And it's like, are we ever going to—I think it just…Talk about the name that you chose for the pod—Histories of a Nation. Like narratives, plural. Histories, plural. I mean, I think it's part of the human programming that we're just always going to have—no matter what technology we have, no matter, like—there will just always be…It's like, it's—I mean, but this is so different that it's like, how do you even make..? I don't know. I don’t know.

Tim (1:00:56) – Out of all the periodicals, the Little Rock Daily Republican provided arguably the most accurate synopsis: “Just how the firing commenced is impossible to say, but a few seconds after White's reply to Col. Rose, a shot was fired at the colonel, when there ensued a scene of the wildest panic.”

Grant (1:01:14) – You know, the one thing it does seem like, okay, I'm confident about is somebody shot at Colonel Rose. Seems like they're all—everybody's kind of—at some point, somewhere, somebody took a shot at him. But that's it. And I like how this one just pretty much says, ‘We honestly…’

Tim (1:01:31) – Like, we don't have the facts. This is just what happened.

Tim (1:01:37) – The outbreak of violence intensified Baxter’s calls for federal intervention. The New York Tribune editorialized the incessant nature of these requests: “ELISHA BAXTER – Phoebus what a name! And yet, those seem to be the rhythmic symbols that flow from the brazen flare of Fame’s sounding trump. Elisha Baxter! Mellow and mellifluous name! Billowy, beautiful Baxter! Three times a day, with a patriotism that knows no bounds, and a zeal that knows no discretion, the sudden and unaccountable Baxter telegraphs to the President from Little Rock, that grim visaged war is wrinkling up his front in Arkansas, and that various people of bellicose dispositions are mounting barbed steeds to fright the souls of fearful adversaries and incidentally hinder Elisha Baxter from exercising the functions of Governor, and he asked aid; in fact, makes requisition for aid, to suppress the insurrection and prevent domestic violence. Receiving no reply, Elisha Baxter continuously and persistently harnesses the unhappy lightning to swift flying conundrums asking the President if he has received the other dispatches, till the President of the United States, to whom the signature has become a horrid nightmare, exclaims: “Is there—is there no rest from Elisha Baxter?” Still the tired lightning drags the unfilled requisition; still the signature of Elisha Baxter bumps the poles from Little Rock to Washington.”

Grant (1:02:59) – Now that’s a lot of…

Tim (1:03:01) – It’s just a very fun—told you, I got some very fun quotes today.

Grant (1:03:06) – I love it. I love it.

Tim (1:03:11) – President Grant eventually conveyed a permissive, yet irresolute response: “I heartily approve any adjustment peaceably of the pending difficulties in Arkansas by means of the Legislative Assembly, the Courts, or otherwise, and I will give all the assistance and protection I can under the Constitution and laws of the United States to such modes of adjustment. I hope that the military forces on both sides will now disband.”

While no ringing endorsement, Baxter leveraged Grant’s message to summon an extraordinary session of the Arkansas State Legislature to resolve the gubernatorial dispute. As previously mentioned, the power dynamics within the General Assembly had shifted towards the Democrats following the 1873 special election, and a Democratic majority would likely validate Baxter’s claim to office. The proposed assemblage was scheduled for May 11, with Baxter pledging to “abide by the decision of the Legislature.” In the meantime, both camps continued to prepare for further conflict.

Major General Newton recognized that Baxter’s legislative influence required discreet reinforcement through superior financial resources and military strength. While supervising Baxter’s troops in Little Rock, Newton ordered King White to maintain an active force in Pine Bluff, Jefferson County, and ensure that “the state revenue in [the] hands of [the] Collector is not removed.” Acting on these orders, King White declared martial law in Jefferson County on April 25 and commandeered the Pine Bluff Court House.

Following this armed requisition, pro-Brooks forces—many of whom were African American—began to organize under Joseph L. Murphy. As this opposition materialized, Newton authorized King White to mobilize his troops and destroy the rival faction. And it’s important to note that, around this time, the political allegiances became more obviously delineated. Black Arkansans increasingly supported Brooks, while white Democrats rallied behind Baxter.

On April 30, King White seized the steamboat Belle of Texas and transported 150 militiamen to New Gascony—about sixteen miles downriver from Pine Bluff—where Murphy’s recruits were encamped. The Brooks militia was poorly supplied, with most men carrying “two to four rounds of powder and birdshot,” whereas King White’s mounted troops were equipped with modern Springfield and Enfield rifles.

The ensuing skirmish—the largest engagement of the Brooks-Baxter War—was decidedly lopsided. King White’s men easily overwhelmed Murphy’s command, killing nine and wounding twenty to thirty others, while sustaining only nine casualties themselves. The Minstrels captured around sixty prisoners, including Murphy and his second-in-command, Captain J.F. Van De Sande. In the days following his victory, King White led his militia on a series of punitive expeditions against Brooks’s remaining supporters in the region.

In Little Rock, tensions remained high as the armed political camps became more entrenched. Sentries grew increasingly aggressive, shooting at anyone who approached their lines without permission. Horace V. Redfield, a correspondent for the Cincinnati Commercial, casually documented one particular instance of hostility: “A Brooks man in the middle of the street fired his pistol twice, and then fell dead, his brains splattering over the pavement…He was a Brooks negro who had ventured too far beyond his lines and got picked off.” Baxter supporters even unearthed and refurbished a 64-pounder Civil War cannon—affectionately nicknamed “Lady Baxter”—which they aimed conspicuously at the Statehouse to intimidate Brooks’s men.  

Grant (1:06:31) – This is wild. I mean, it just—how long it’s going and, like, how many different, like…I wonder—I’m curious how it’s all going—who’s going to be the winner.  

Tim (1:06:47) – On May 3, in Argenta (now North Little Rock), an inbound train from Memphis, Tennessee—carrying Arkansas Supreme Court Justices John E. Bennett and Elhanan J. Searle—was hijacked by a group of fifteen to twenty armed Baxter supporters under Captain James Williams. The assailants, aware of Bennett and Searles’s sympathies toward Brooks, detained the judges, intending to preclude a judicial endorsement of the Brindle-tail’s authority. The judges were then forced to complete a grueling, 24-mile overnight hike to Benton, Arkansas, where they were held hostage by General William Crawford and fifty militiamen.

Grant (1:07:24) – Wow.

Tim (1:07:26) – Just when you thought it couldn’t get any crazier.

Tim (1:07:30) – For several days, their whereabouts were unknown to the public. However, Judge Bennett managed to send a letter to Colonel Rose, urgently appealing for help. Upon receiving the message, Rose dispatched a company of infantry and cavalry toward Benton.

A writ of habeas corpus demanding the jurists’ release was entrusted to Henry Oliver, the Pulaski County Sheriff and a staunch Brooks supporter. Oliver served the writ to Baxter’s militia commander, Major General Newton, who denied any knowledge of the missing men. When initial efforts to locate Bennett and Searle proved unsuccessful, an exasperated Oliver proposed that Baxter himself be imprisoned until the justices were returned. The sheriff’s suggestion was swiftly rejected. 

With federal troops scouring the countryside, the Minstrels had to act fast. According to contemporary reports, General Crawford issued Lieutenant T.A. Summerhill explicit orders to execute the hostages should Brooks’s men attempt a rescue. However, Summerhill, concerned about potential criminal liability, refused to comply. After discussing the situation with the detained judges—and purportedly motivated by a monetary reward—Summerhill agreed to facilitate their escape from Crawford’s camp. On May 6, the two judges arrived safely back in Little Rock, escorted by the Saline County Sheriff and several other prominent citizens. Upon their return, the Arkansas Daily Gazette crowed: "The lost is found. Bennett and Searle have turned up. They have been on a trip to the country for the benefit of their health.”

Grant (1:08:56) – And the fact that they travel twenty miles overnight, like that's just—the branches of the Arkansas government are in collapse, and the checks and balances in the Arkansas government are not checking and balancing at all. I mean, it's almost like what…I wonder what made Arkansas so unique in the sense of just the dysfunction. I guess there was rampant dysfunction in the South, but just like, this is—I don't even know how things are getting done, like infrastructure projects, like…

Tim (1:09:34) – Well, they weren't getting done under the Clayton administration.

Grant (1:09:38) – Yeah.

Tim (1:09:42) – That same day in Fayetteville, a Brindle-tail militia under Colonel A.S. Fowler raided the armory at Arkansas Industrial University, confiscating its entire weapons cache. These armaments were loaded onto a flatboat bound for Brooks’s army in Little Rock. Upon learning of this audacious action, Baxter dispatched the steamboat Hallie—along with a forty-man militia company under Captain Sam Houston—to intercept the shipment. The operation commenced on May 8, around 3:30 a.m.

Around 6 a.m., Brooks discovered Baxter’s plot and sent six companies—roughly two hundred men under Colonel John Brooker—to prevent the Hallie from disrupting the scheduled arms delivery. By 8 a.m., Brooker’s force had reached Palarm Creek, a modest station located sixteen miles upriver from Little Rock. Upon arriving, Brooker’s scouts spotted the Hallie loading lumber approximately three miles downstream. Armed with this intelligence, Brooker’s men concealed themselves along the wooded riverbank, preparing to ambush the unsuspecting steamboat as it advanced upriver.

By mid-morning, the Hallie drew alongside Brooker’s position. A Brindle-tail officer emerged and ordered the vessel’s commanding officer to return to Little Rock, which Captain Houston firmly rejected. In response, Brooker’s men opened fire from the shore, striking several crew members and killing 23-year-old Frank Timms. Houston’s men frantically scrambled below deck for protection. During the barrage, a stray bullet pierced the supply pipe connecting the boiler to the engine, effectively disabling the ship. The haplessly Hallie floated downriver and eventually ran aground. The gunfire continued for another ten to fifteen minutes, after which Baxter’s men abandoned the boat and disappeared into the surrounding woods.

The Battle of Palarm left six Baxter men dead—including Captain Houston—and another six wounded. Sources vary on Brooks’s casualties, but at least four men were injured. According to the Daily Republican: “The boat was riddled with bullets from stern to stern and the decks and barricades bespattered with blood…On the starboard side the boat was pierced with hundreds of bullets, barricades of two-inch plank being shot through and through, and bales of cotton splashed with blood…In the pilot house was found one of the pilot’s shoes covered with blood, which had been shot and afterward cut from his foot.”

It was becoming increasingly obvious that federal intervention was required to resolve Arkansas’s escalating political crisis, despite President Grant’s policy of noninterference. Under pressure from both Democrats and Republicans, Grant had to weigh the immediate need for stability in Arkansas against the broader consequences concerning national politics. He had already deployed federal troops in Little Rock to maintain the status quo—a move that favored Brooks. Yet, if Grant wished to openly endorse the Brindle-tails, he would need to recognize the Republican-controlled State Supreme Court as the official arbiter of the conflict. But Grant was not prepared to take that definitive step. After all, Baxter had been elected on the same ticket as Grant in the 1872 Election. To endorse Brooks over Baxter would potentially cast doubt on Grant’s own electoral victory in Arkansas and substantiate concerns about corruption within the Republican Party. Conversely, affirming Baxter risked weakening the party’s standing in Arkansas. Most troubling of all, allowing the violence and instability to continue unchecked would damage Grant’s own credibility and make the federal government appear powerless or unwilling to restore order.

Grant (1:13:01) –  Man, a lot of different risks and utilities to weigh, and it's just really trying to find the least worst alternative. Like, not just stuck between a rock and a hard place. He's stuck between a rock, a hard, a harder, and a harder place. That's a tricky situation. That's the one thing, you know…Ulysses S. Grant—we always talk about him as a general and then as president, just like…There was—just the amount of dysfunction, like in that period. I don't know. I mean, he probably could have done a better job, but like, it's just—it's hard. It was hard. Like, because you think Lincoln, right? Consistently ranked as like one of the best presidents. Then you have Johnson, who came after him—he was one of the worst, if you look up historical ranks. Then it's like, man…That would've just been such a hard time to govern. Like, not, I guess, you know, comparing it to Lincoln’s as well, but just—that's tricky. That's just some tricky, tricky stuff to have to figure out. I don't know. I'm looking forward to seeing how he ended up deciding it, but it's just—I don't know how, you know, if you're in that position, where you'd end up, you know, like…I don't know if there is a right decision.

Tim (1:14:27) – Yeah, it's a very difficult position, especially since, you know, Baxter was the, you know, Republican nominee for the governor's position, and you couldn't have projected that he would've changed his platform so much during his tenure. You had Brooks who was the anti-Grant candidate.

Grant (1:14:47) – Yeah.

Tim (1:14:48) – And then, you know, if you do nothing—if you just let this continue to play out—it's just going to keep on devolving more and more into chaos. So, yeah, it's a very difficult situation.

Grant (1:15:00) – And that's why I feel like letting it play out might be the one thing he can't do, because that could spread. I feel—you know, I'm just thinking about it like, in the context of the time. Because, you know, the Civil War had just ended. Like, I can't even begin to imagine how unstable that period must’ve [been]. Just how much everyone must have just been concerned with—whether it's even like a real stability or a false stability—just some sense of stability as in the absence of war they had been living through. I mean…Oh God, it was just crazy.

Tim (1:15:42) – Northern newspapers expressed mounting frustration with Grant’s indecision. The Cleveland Daily Herald’s coverage exemplified this pervasive sense of discontent: “It is a scandal which affects the whole country and brings reproach on our political institutions...The condition of affairs in Arkansas at the present moment is more characteristic of a Mexican or Central American State than of a State of the American Republic.”

Tim (1:16:06) – A little bigoted, but, I mean, it conveys its point.

Grant (1:16:08) – I was going to say,  it's really interesting that they're making—they're…Do they not realize that there was just a civil war in the country? And now they're going to be patronizing toward like…I mean it's just—it’s a very privileged take, kind of thing. Like, ‘Oh, we're more or less five years after our civil war. We can start telling other people how they need to govern their countries.’ I mean, what? It's that American paternalism. That's like such a good example of it in the sense of…That it's like—you can't throw stones in a glass house.

Tim (1:16:56) – I like that. Yeah, that is a great point. That is American paternalism to a ‘T.’

Grant (1:17:02) – Yeah, like on steroids.

Tim (1:17:07) – Looking to expedite a democratic resolution, Attorney General Williams arranged meetings between representatives from the two waring gubernatorial factions. Representing Baxter were Uriah M. Rose—who would later help establish the American Bar Association—ex-Confederate general Albert Pike, and former U.S. senator Robert W. Johnson. Senators Powell Clayton and Stephen Dorsey advocated on Brooks’s behalf. After lengthy negotiations, both parties agreed to resolve the electoral dispute through a special session of the Arkansas General Assembly. The legislature was scheduled to convene on the fourth Monday of May in a neutral, demilitarized State House, where lawmakers would examine the legality of the 1872 gubernatorial election and issue a formal determination of its outcome.

However, Baxter rejected this compromise, refusing to concede any share of executive authority with Brooks. He maintained that a special session was unnecessary, since he had already summoned the Arkansas General Assembly to meet on May 11.

Baxter's decision put Grant in a difficult position. His administration had already acknowledged the Arkansas General Assembly as the proper authority to settle the dispute. Should Baxter independently convene the Democrat-dominated legislature, he would virtually guarantee their endorsement, leaving Regular Republicans with little room to maneuver. Seeking to prevent further conflict, Grant offered Baxter a new compromise—one that removed the legislative requirement to investigate how the 1872 election was administered. Baxter accepted Grant’s offer, though he continued to summon the legislature for May 11.

Having bolstered his political foothold in Washington, Baxter strengthened his military presence in Little Rock. On May 10, King White arrived with a detachment of one hundred cavalrymen in Argenta, where they encountered members of Brooks’s militia unloading guns and supplies from the steamboat Danville. Sensing an imminent confrontation, King White’s men established defensive positions around the Fort Smith Railroad Shops along the Cairo and Fulton Railroad. The Brindle-tails responded by crossing the Arkansas River and charging the Minstrel lines. During the assault, railroad employees still working inside the shops were forced to “lay on the floor to avoid the bullets.” The engagement resulted in one fatality and two wounded among Brooks’s troops, while four of Baxter’s supporters were injured. The skirmish only ended when federal troops intervened and separated the opposing sides.

“That Pine Bluff bummer, H. King White, who has been ‘spoiling for a fight’ ever since he pitched into a half-armed and half-organized body of colored men in Jefferson County, had a beautiful opportunity [to] brush with Governor Brooks’ forces yesterday morning near Argenta,” the Daily Republican reported. “Governor Brooks’ forces were over the river, threw out skirmishing parties around and through Argenta, and then waited over three hours, giving the Baxter gang a fine and open field and a flat-rate invitation to ‘go in.’ The United States troops watched the fun for three or four hours, and then crossed over—much to the relief of the Baxterians.”

On May 11, when Governor Baxter convened the Arkansas State Legislature, the session failed to achieve quorum and was unable to conduct official business. In response, President Grant telegraphed Baxter asking him to adjourn the legislature for ten days, giving representatives from the Brooks faction sufficient time to arrive. Also, in the interest of peace, both Baxter and Brooks were instructed to immediately demobilize their militias. Baxter expressed a willingness to comply, as published in the Omaha Daily Bee: “I am in favor of their adjourning as long as they please, until every supposed Brooks adhering is present. With this understanding I will disband my troops in proportion as Brooks disbands his; but for the meeting of the legislature at the usual place, Mr. Brooks must go as far away from it west as I am east, and deposit the State arms in the State Armory, and let the State House and public buildings be turned over at once to J.M. Johnson, Secretary of State, to whom, under law, they belong.” Brooks, however, refused to disband his troops or recognize to any legislative meeting except under the terms originally proposed by Attorney General Williams.

On May 12, the steamboat Robert Semple landed above the Baring Cross Bridge—the key Arkansas River crossing for the Cairo and Fulton Railroad—carrying fresh volunteers for Baxter. Anticipating their arrival, Brooks ordered his followers to surround the boat and cut off these reinforcements. Baxter quickly dispatched two militia companies to protect the disembarking volunteers. The Brindle-tails entrenched themselves in Civil War-era rifle pits by Union Station, while Baxter’s infantry—led by Thomas J. Churchill and William D. Blocher—formed defensive lines along Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh streets. Meanwhile, King White’s cavalry secured the high ground around the state penitentiary and deaf-mute asylum. Skirmishers were deployed by each side and firing commenced.

For nearly three hours, “the firing…was very heavy, rendering the streets unsafe for pedestrians and frightening families whose houses were struck by bullets.” Both factions steadily reinforced their ranks as the fight intensified. The conflict reached a violent climax when Blocher, leading two Minstrel companies, advanced up Fifth Street and clashed with a contingent of Brooks’s supporters. Blocher managed to drive the Brindle-tails back several city blocks, but this advantage was short-lived. Bolstered by fresh reinforcements from the State House, the Brooks militia regrouped and counterattacked, forcing Baxter’s forces to retreat back to Fifth Street. Amidst the chaos, a company of United States soldiers intervened, marching between the two contending groups and abruptly ending the engagement. Each camp returned to their respective grounds. It was reported that two men were injured on the Baxter side, while Brooks suffered eight killed or wounded.

Tim (1:22:50) – So it was just street fight, after street fight, after street fight in this war.

Grant (1:22:54) –  And it's just funny that the federal troops just keep coming in and breaking it up, breaking it up. It's like they haven't gone so far as to attack the federal troops yet, but they're just—they're beefing hard.

Tim (1:23:05) – Yeah, and they don’t want to attack those federal troops, either, because they have a certain level of immunity. And if they’re a casualty of this war, whoever’s the offending party will feel the full wrath of the federal government.

Grant (1:23:16) – Yeah, so they’re walking a fine line. Yeah.

Tim (1:23:21) – On May 13, the Arkansas General Assembly reached its quorum within Baxter's lines, with forty-four house delegates and fourteen state senators present. Since the Speaker of the House and President pro tempore of the Senate were absent—being that they were both Brooks supporters—James H. Berry and J. G. Frierson were appointed to serve as their respective replacements.

Around the same time, the Arkansas Supreme Court agreed to review Judge Whytock’s controversial decision in the Brooks case. In a decisive three-to-one vote, the justices upheld the legality of Baxter’s election, thereby reinforcing the Minstrel’s gubernatorial claim. Additionally, the bar of the Pulaski County Circuit Court issued a concurrent resolution asserting that the judicial proceedings against Baxter were inherently prejudicial, since the Supreme Court had already determined that the circuit court lacked jurisdiction in the matter. Consequently, Judge Whytock's ruling was invalidated. The next day, the legislature formally recognized Baxter as the lawful governor of Arkansas. On May 15, President Grant and Attorney General Williams accepted the Assembly’s decision and indicated that the federal government would support efforts to suppress any remaining resistance.

Elisha Baxter was officially reinstated as governor on May 20. In commemoration of this political victory, the “Lady Baxter” cannon was fired in a public ceremony; however, the cannoneer was badly injured during the demonstration, making him the last casualty of the war.

Grant (1:24:45) – The Lady Baxter. Oh, she had a mean final bite. That’s crazy.

Tim (1:24:54) – The exact casualty figures from the Brooks-Baxter War remain unknown. On May 17, 1874, the Daily Gazette estimated that at least twenty individuals were killed and twice as many wounded. Eleven days later, the same publication reported that seven Baxter men were killed and approximately twenty wounded, while losses among Brooks’s supporters had probably been three times more. Modern scholarship estimates that total casualties statewide may have exceeded two hundred.

Grant (1:25:21) – Wow.  How has this not been…This is so juicy. Like, I want to—I wish I had been taught about the [Brooks-Baxter War]. Like, wow.

Tim (1:25:33) – This is something. And like I said in our last episode, this has been likened as America’s Second Civil War, just tactically confined to Arkansas.

Grant (1:25:42) – Well, I mean—I think it’s a microcosm  for the different political forces that were at work in that time, too. Like, when you set the stage at the beginning for all the different kind of political figures and movements and different groups that they were trying to curry favor with or win over constituencies,  I mean—it seems like a very good microcosm for what was happening nationally. And there was that one little bit when you were talking about, you know, what was the decision to be made by the Grant administration. And it was really—maybe it was a newspaper article, but—something just saying that, you know, this has national ramifications and so this needs to be resolved like somehow, you know. And to the point where I guess the federal government is less involved with who ends up or doesn't—isn't as invested in: ‘You guys figure it out. Make sure you do it in a way that at least there's some semblance of legitimacy. Clean up your mess, but you got to figure it out.’ Because [if] this starts spreading, we're going to have a whole new—like, this could have devolved into something really bad if it started spreading and, you know, then it could have even spread up north if you think about it. Like there could have been—like this could have been a disaster for post-Civil War, for Reconstruction, really.

Tim (1:27:15) – On May 16, 1874, the Arkansas General Assembly passed a motion calling for a new constitutional convention. The proposal received overwhelming support in a statewide referendum on June 30, with 80,250 voters in favor and only 8,607 opposed. The convention assembled in Little Rock two weeks later, with Democratic delegates holding a decisive majority. During the proceedings, representatives reversed many Republican reforms—particularly those restricting the political rights of former Confederates—laying the groundwork for the Democratic Party’s renewed dominance in state politics. The new constitution was completed and adopted on September 7. Arkansas citizens subsequently ratified it by nearly a three-to-one margin on October 13. In the November elections that followed, Augustus H. Garland— a former member of the Confederate Congress—was elected to the governorship, succeeding Elisha Baxter, who unceremoniously left office after serving only half of its four-year term.

In June 1874, the U.S. House of Representatives established a special congressional committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the Brooks-Baxter War. The “Poland Committee”—named after its chairman and Vermont Representative Luke P. Poland—consisted of five members: three Republicans—including Poland, Henry Scudder of New York, and Jasper D. Ward of Illinois—and two Democrats, Milton Sayler of Ohio and Joseph Sloss of Alabama.

On February 6, 1875, the Poland Committee submitted its majority report to Congress. It was unanimously acknowledged that Joseph Brooks had been wrongfully denied the governor’s office in 1872, and several members expressed reservations about the legality of the 1874 constitutional convention. Nevertheless, the committee ultimately validated the results of Arkansas’s constitutional referendum, noting that the new constitution had received broad public support and adhered to republican principles. The report further affirmed that Garland—the victor of the 1874 November election—was Arkansas’s legitimate governor. Given the passage of time and new political realities, the committee determined that any remediation for Brooks was no longer viable. In contrast, the minority report authored by Congressman Ward argued that the 1868 Arkansas Constitution had been unlawfully supplanted. Therefore, Brooks remained Arkansas’s legitimate governor and called for federal intervention to enforce his claim.

Fearing that Arkansas newly-adopted state constitution would set a precedent for like-minded Southern Democrats, President Grant sided with Ward’s minority report. By recognizing Brooks as the rightful governor, Grant sought to restore Republican influence in a region where the progress of Reconstruction was quickly diminishing. He brought the issue before Congress, framing his position as a matter of national importance. However, Grant’s stance fielded widespread condemnation from northern newspapers and fellow lawmakers, who argued that such interference could dangerously inflame sectional tensions. Even within Grant’s own cabinet, there was apprehension that the president’s actions might signal a return of military intervention. Grant responded by clarifying that he only intended to seek congressional guidance and did not endorse the use of force. Ultimately, the Republican-controlled House adopted the Poland Committee’s majority report, which accepted Arkansas’s new constitution and confirmed Governor Garland’s authority. No further federal intervention would follow.

The Brooks-Baxter War—and its resultant constitutional reforms—marked the end of Reconstruction in Arkansas. The Republican Party’s influence sharply declined while state Democrats reestablished dominance, monopolizing the governorship for the next ninety years.

Grant (1:30:51) – Ninety years.  What happened in ten-to-fifteen years set the foundation for ninety years in that state. And you realize, it’s all because they exhausted every and any and all legal, procedural arguments, and then they changed the constitution. There was this final, little ‘Oh, we could make our fork in the road—left or right,’ and then they…I mean, it’s just, wow. That is such a testament to the importance and volatility of the Reconstruction Era. This is like, I think, emblematic, iconic. If you want to think about Reconstruction, think about the Brooks-Baxter War. Like, that is…just wow, I mean…

Tim (1:31:43) – And it’s kind of a cautionary tale, too, about how political infighting can devolve and just grow so far out of proportion. Like, all this started because Powell Clayton denied Joseph Brooks a patronage position. And then Brooks had the splinter group, and then…

Grant (1:31:59) – And all that infighting lead to the Democrats and the end of…Because, it’s like, they accomplished [nothing]—like, you know, just wasted opportunity because of greed and infighting and ego and…I mean, wow. Just wow.

Tim (1:32:17) – I mean, it’s a testament to ‘A house divided cannot stand.’

Grant (1:32:21) – Very true.

Tim (1:32:22) – The Republicans couldn’t stand together, so they fell apart. And then the Democrats assumed control.

Grant (1:32:27) – Yes, yes.

Tim (1:32:30) – The Brooks-Baxter War may have ended in 1874, but the turbulence of Arkansas politics was far from over. For our Patreon community, we’ve put together an exclusive bonus episode covering one of the most heinous political assassinations in American history—a cold-blooded case that remains unsolved to this day. It’s a blend of true crime and historical intrigue that you don’t want to miss. This special content is scheduled to release Memorial Day weekend, so there’s still plenty of time to become a member. Head over to discoveramericablog.com, click on the Patreon tab, and subscribe to the channel.

Meanwhile, the American Narrative will continue its journey through obscure Reconstruction-era “wars.” In episode five, we turn our attention to North Carolina, where an aggressive militia war against the Ku Klux Klan reshapes the state’s future in monumental, yet unprecedented ways. Join us for the next chapter of The American Narrative: Histories of a Nation.

SOURCES

1. Atkinson, James H. “The Arkansas Gubernatorial Campaign and Election of 1872.” The Arkansas Historical Quarterly 1, no. 4 (1942): 307–21.

2. Atkinson, James H. “The Brooks-Baxter Contest.” The Arkansas Historical Quarterly 4, no. 2 (1945): 124–49.

3. Darrow, William B. “The Killing of Congressman James Hinds.” The Arkansas Historical Quarterly 74, no. 1 (2015): 18–55.

4. Kraemer, Michael William. "Divisions Between Arkansans in the Brooks-Baxter War." (2012).

5. Ledbetter, Cal. “The Constitution of 1868: Conqueror’s Constitution or Constitutional Continuity?” The Arkansas Historical Quarterly 44, no. 1 (1985): 16–41.

6. Stafford, Logan Scott. "Judicial Coup d'Etat: Mandamus, Quo Warranto and the Origin Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Arkansas." UALR LJ 20 (1997): 891.

7. Swinney, Everette. “United States v. Powell Clayton: Use of the Federal Enforcement Acts in Arkansas.” The Arkansas Historical Quarterly 26, no. 2 (1967): 143–54.

8. The True Merits of the Controversy in Arkansas, for the Consideration of Honest Men. Pike and Johnson. 1874.

9. Woodward, Earl F. “The Brooks and Baxter War in Arkansas, 1872-1874.” The Arkansas Historical Quarterly 30, no. 4 (1971): 315–36.

LINKS

-          https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/brooks-baxter-war-2276/

-          https://www.vintagebentonville.com/the-brooks---baxter-war-1874.html#gsc.tab=0