Bee Creek Massacre

Background

In late 1861, Southern bushwhacker Silas M. Gordon had been operating in Platte County, Missouri, for several months, prompting regional Federal military authorities to attempt his capture along with his followers. In November 1861, two Union soldiers were killed near the Bee Creek Bridge, located a few miles north of Weston, Missouri. This killing set the stage for subsequent Federal reprisals in the area.

The Capture

By mid-December 1861, elements of the 18th Missouri Infantry Regiment had seized the town of Platte City and captured three men who had served in the Confederate military: Black Triplett, Gabriel Close, and William Kuykendall. According to historical accounts, the three captives were either on furlough or had returned home after their enlistments had ended, raising questions about their status as active combatants at the time of capture.

The Executions

W. M. Paxton, a Platte County resident who documented the county's history, recorded that he personally approached the 18th Missouri's commanding officer, Colonel W. James Morgan, on behalf of Triplett's father, requesting permission for the father to speak with his son. Morgan reportedly responded, "Yes, God damn him! Let him say now what he pleases, for he will never see him alive again."

Morgan subsequently took Triplett and Close to a location near the Bee Creek Bridge. Triplett was made to stand and was shot. Close, whose arms were bound, attempted to flee toward a nearby creek bed but became mired in mud. A Federal soldier then bayoneted him to death. Following the killings, the letters "U.S." were scrawled in Triplett's blood on the bridge. The third prisoner, William Kuykendall, was not executed and was spared.

Aftermath

The event is documented in historical sources on the 18th Missouri Infantry Regiment and in Paxton's county history, which relied on eyewitness or contemporaneous local accounts.