From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Aug. 21, 1913:

• “Lawrence today turned back in the history of the city fifty years, listened to the retelling of the stories of the bloodiest event in Kansas History, and paid tribute to the heroes of that day…. It was just such a morning as this, fifty years ago, bright and clear and the sun causing the temperature to run high, and yet how different was Lawrence this morning. Here fifty years ago maddened horsemen galloped about the streets, revolvers flashed death to the citizens who were found by the invaders, the sky was clouded with smoke from the ruins of the city’s homes and business houses, the dead and wounded filled the streets, all was sorrow and anguish and death and destruction. One hundred and forty-three of the town’s best citizens were stricken down, nearly two hundred homes and business houses were fired and destroyed…. The marauders plundered and murdered and burned, unmoved by pleas for mercy, the last bit of humanity seemed to have departed from their hearts…. The Lawrence of today recalled these scenes, these outrages and the heartaches and sorrows of the pioneers who began the building of what is one of the most beautiful cities of the state of Kansas. Lawrence recalled their spirit of determination and perseverance that appeared on the very next day of the raid when the re-building of Lawrence began. Then on through the years the builders have kept at work until now a city of 15,000 happy, contented people looks backward and views with pride the accomplishments of its ancestors.”
• “The Lawrence of today suspended business this afternoon to pay tribute to the fallen at the final meeting of the occasion which was held in the Bowersock Theater…. Many a survivor of the raid had come hundreds of miles to be in Lawrence once again…. Some of them were only children then and but faintly remember the day but others saw it all and can never forget that picture of crime and suffering…. This morning motor cars awaited the visitors and carried them to the Oak Hill cemetery where the victims of the massacre are buried. Impressive services were held around the monument at the cemetery, the graves of the victims had been marked and decorated. It was the most touching feature of the entire observance…. Last night at the Bowersock Theater the visiting survivors met together and held a reunion at which they lived that day over again in their minds. It was many an interesting story that was told at this gathering last night, many a story of narrow escape, of terror and murder and destruction. These people were here on that day, they saw the guerrillas sweep the city, they saw it afterward, a heap of cinders and ashes with the bodies of their relatives and friends and neighbors strewn about the streets where they had been shot down. To them the occasion last night was long to be remembered. They saw persons there whom they had not seen for years and it made their hearts glad and their spirits lighter than they had been for some time. They were commemorating a sad occasion in their lives, but there was much joy in the reunion last night.”