August 29, 1872

The Black Hawk War, a Reconstruction-era political and racial conflict in Mississippi County, began when Republican “carpetbagger” Charles B. Fitzpatrick, who had been appointed Mississippi County registrar, met Sheriff J. B. Murray on the porch of the post office in Osceola (Mississippi County). Fitzpatrick offered to shake hands with Murray, but Murray struck at Fitzpatrick with his fists. (One account says Murray was wearing brass knuckles.) Fitzpatrick shot Murray in the abdomen, mortally wounding him.