the events that led to the wakarusa war started on november 21, 1855. a free-stater named charles dow was shot and killed by pro-slavery settler franklin n. coleman. the two had been involved in a land dispute at a place called hickory point, south of lawrence. four hours after the shooting the property owner, jacob branson, recovered dow’s body. abolitionists then set fire to several pro-slavery cabins. when the (pro-slavery) douglas county sheriff, samuel jones, learned about what happened at hickory point, he led a posse to the area to restore order. but jones did not arrest coleman. instead, he arrested the property owner (and abolitionist leader) jacob branson. but while taking branson to jail, an abolitionist party stopped them and freed branson. the sheriff then assembled about 1,500 missouri border ruffians to put down what he called an insurrection. the missourians camped along the wakarusa river while they made plans to invade lawrence.