The Three York Brothers

General Summary

Summoned by a letter of some urgency, we took the train and a day's ride to Fort Scott in the newly ratified state of Kansas. There we found Col. Edward York whose brother, Dr. William York, had gone missing--who incidentally is also the brother of State Senator Alexander York. The Colonel, being a military man, had taken immediate matters into hand dispatching canvassers along the road to Independence, KS where the Doctor had been expected to turn up.   Speaking with the matron, Sister Marie discovered that the Doctor had spoken of a missing wagon he had loaned to a man name Longcore back in Independence. Word had reached him that the wagon had turned up at Osage Mission and he was keen to discover the fate of man he had loaned it to. With the Colonel's handling of the immediate area, the party set a quick pace towards Osage Mission with the intent of finding out if the missing Doctor had indeed arrived to inquire about the wagon.   During a crossing, Sister Marie inadvertently disturbed a murder of crows worrying away at a body in a shallow grave. Our own Doctor Mumple determined it to be the frozen body of a boy 8 or so years of age whose chest had been opened, organs removed, filled with silage, and then sewn up. Our native scout James determined the body had likely been there for a few months since the winter, but little else could be determined.   We felt it was our duty to return the exhumed body to someone's care rather than leave it for the beasts and crows, and so Dr. Mumple conveyed the sad remains to a nearby township. There we turned the body over to the local Trustee and Reverend who in turn would be summoning the county sheriff since they did not recognize the face. After leaving written testimony and taking a night's rest in a village barn, the party once again set off toward Osage Mission.