this leavenworth is probably the most progressive constitution and that it gave african-americans voting rights. kansas'fourth and final constitution was signed by president jay-z can -- james buchanan, literally on his way out of office. it enters the union january 20 9, 18 61 as a free state. this is a letter composed by the famous militant abolitionist of the kansas territory, john brown senior. it is known as john brown's parallels. it was published in january of 1859. this letter was written with the intent for to be published in a lawrence newspaper.

it was basically john brown paralleling two incidents in bleeding kansas and justifying his actions in missouri. two plantations were attacked by john brown and his sons and followers. one slave master was murdered. and john brown in this letter says that in may of 1858 11 or 12 free statement were taken prisoner and herded down into a ravine and shot down by proslavery men. this became known as the infamous massacre. five of those men died. in this parallel, john brown is saying after the death of this one slave master, "hell has

stirred from beneath." the president of united states james buchanan issued a reward for the capture of john brown for the death, the murder of this slave master in missouri. john brown argues that nothing is been done to bring these proslavery men who slaughter these five free statement at the massacre justice. that's why it is known as john brown's parallels. abraham lincoln said no other territory had a history like kansas. the state historical society, to see these documents in person, that they have survived 150 plus years is remarkable. the constitutions that have survived. the documents that are still here.

and the state historical society does a great job of putting these documents online. so you can access this territorial documents from a computer anywhere in the world. >> all weekend, american history tv is joining our cost medications cable partners to showcase the history of topeka kansas. to learn more about the cities on our tour am a visit c-span.org. we continue with a look at the history of topeka. this is american history tv on c-span three. >> i came to know charles curtis after i moved to topeka. i am resident historian of the cemetery where he is buried. i came to know more of his story. the more i found out, the more fascinating or realized he was.

-- and realize how under told his story is. he is reduced to a trivia question. the only vice president of american indian lineage or ancestry. he deserves more than that. i have done some curtis research for the last 20 years. it has got more serious. his journey has become more remarkable to me in the last couple of years. i realize exactly what he did. he is born in north topeka 1860. he's born during the territorial period. he is kaw, french, and white dissent. his father is a white man, oren curtis. he comes originally -- his ancestors are passengers on the mayflower. a lot of hay is made of that when he is a candidate.

he has the indian on one side, pilgrims on the other. it is a great pr piece. what makes him so remarkable, i think, is the fact that he is a mixed blood growing up in a time that makes that very difficult and he somehow, i think by pure force of his personality, makes that an advantage. i know that one historian says he played the indian card when it worked, and he played the white card when it worked. that might be true but i think it oversimplifies his experience and i think it is a little unfair to him. i think he chose the white man's world. he's said that. that is his words. because of his experiences. it is unfortunate that society forced that choice on him, and it most certainly did. charles curtis' family operated the ferry that went from north

topeka to the south side of the kansas river and was ferrying passengers on the oregon trail. he does not come from a poor family. they are always working but they are people of means. his mother has an allotment of land as a part of her mixed indian heritage. so we always has means. when his mother dies when he is only three years old, he goes to live with his indian grandmother on the reservation at council grove. by then the kaw had been removed to council grove so he goes and lives with them. he grows up with an indian identity. he talks about his childhood as being idyllic. he was a little boy riding ponies and fishing and hunting.

is a great life. the turning point came in 1868. he is only eight years old. the cheyenne uncharacteristically come pretty far east to attack the kaw. this is not a pitched battle. it turns into a standoff. but it is an incredible show of force to the cheyenne. charles curtis is selected to walk 60 miles to topeka to alert the authorities that the cheyenne have attacked them. some accounts say he came with his uncle, but charles spoke english, he spoke french, and kaw. he comes to topeka and tells governor crawford the cheyenne have attacked and i think a lot of this is due to the influence of his grandmothers, but his white grandmother in topeka says that is enough. you are coming to live with us and have a civilized life.

his indian grandmother agreed. when the indians, when the kaw tribe is being removed to the indian nation or indian territory, what is now oklahoma, he really wants to go with them. that is 1873. he is 13. his french and indian grandmother says no. you have to make something of your life. if you come with us, you can't do that. you have to stay with your white grandmother and get an education and make something of yourself. i don't think you and -- you can overestimate the impact those two women had on his life. he comes to topeka. he attends topeka high school. he does not graduate. it was only a two-year program so it is not unusual for people not to a graduated. but he worked. he had one horse and buggy and he borrowed or rented another horse and he basically runs a taxi service.

he is running the legislators and attorneys around the capital and he becomes interested in the practice of law. he reads for the law, as was not uncommon for that point, and that is how he passed the bar. curtis had decades of legislative experience. he was in congress, he was the first republican senate majority leader, he was to some people -- some newspaper editors of the day said curtis was the most powerful man in washington as senate majority leader. he did not rule from the front. he ruled from the back. he set by the door. he knew every man in their intimately. he knew what they wanted. he knew their children's names. he knew what motivated him. -- them. he was a master of compromise and getting things done and almost never rose to speak

himself. in the 1928 presidential campaign curtis was hoping to get the top spot. he was campaigning for president, not second-place. when the convention met in kansas city that year, he was very disappointed and made it known that he was disappointed not to be chosen as president. during that campaign, because he was probably already senate majority leader and a really big deal, almost all of the newspapers make him a mythic figure. this rise from the teepee to washington. whether or not he lives in one i am not sure. it is the indian background. it was turned into such a colorful story. no one could mat