William T. Anderson - Horse Trading and Outlawry

Horse Trading and Outlawry

After the Civil War began in 1861, the demand for horses increased, and Anderson transitioned from trading horses to stealing horses, reselling them as far away as New Mexico. He worked with his brother Jim, their friend Lee Griffith, and several accomplices strung along the Santa Fe Trail. In late 1861, Anderson traveled south with brother Jim and Judge Baker, in an apparent attempt to join the Confederate Army. Anderson had stated to a neighbor that he sought to fight for financial reasons, rather than loyalty to the Confederacy. However, the group was attacked by the Union's 6th Regiment Kansas Volunteer Cavalry in Vernon County, Missouri; the cavalry likely assumed they were Confederate guerrillas. The Anderson brothers escaped, but Baker was captured and spent four months in prison before returning to Kansas, professing loyalty to the Union. One way that he sought to prove his loyalty to the Union was by severing his ties with Anderson's sister Mary, his former lover.

Upon his return to Kansas, Anderson continued horse trafficking, but ranchers in the area soon became aware of his operations. In May 1862, Baker issued an arrest warrant for Griffith, whom Anderson helped hide. Some local citizens suspected that the Anderson family was assisting Griffith and traveled to their house to confront William C. Anderson. After hearing their accusations against his sons, he was incensed—he found Baker's involvement particularly infuriating. The next day, he traveled to the Council Grove courthouse with a gun, intending to force Baker to withdraw the warrant. As he entered the building, he was restrained by a constable and fatally shot by Baker. William Anderson buried his father, and was subsequently arrested for assisting Griffith. However, he was quickly released owing to a problem with the warrant, and fled to Agnes City, fearing that he would be lynched. There he met Baker, who temporarily placated him by providing a lawyer. Anderson remained in Agnes City until he learned that Baker would not be charged, as the judge's claim of self-defense had been accepted by legal authorities. Anderson was outraged and went to Missouri with his siblings. William and Jim Anderson then traveled southwest of Kansas City, robbing travelers to support themselves.

On July 2, 1862, William and Jim Anderson returned to Council Grove and sent an accomplice to Baker's house claiming to be a traveler seeking supplies. Baker and his brother-in-law brought the man to a store, where they were ambushed by the Anderson brothers. After a brief gunfight, Baker and his brother-in-law fled into the store's basement. The Andersons barricaded the door to the basement and lit the store on fire, killing Baker and his brother-in-law. They also burnt Baker's home and stole two of his horses before returning to Missouri on the Santa Fe Trail.

William and Jim Anderson soon formed a gang with a man named Bill Reed; in February 1863, the Lexington Weekly Union recorded that Reed was the leader of the gang. In his 2003 history of Civil War Missouri, Bruce Nichols stated that Reed led the gang until mid-July of that year. William Quantrill, a Confederate guerrilla leader, later claimed to have encountered them in July and rebuked them for robbing Confederate sympathizers; in their biography of Anderson, Albert Castel and Tom Goodrich speculate that this rebuke may have resulted in a deep resentment of Quantrill by Anderson. Anderson and his gang subsequently traveled east of Jackson County, Missouri, avoiding territory where Quantrill operated and continuing to support themselves by robbery. They also attacked Union soldiers, killing seven by early 1863.