Owned by pro-slavery men, it was a rallying point for those who made raids on free-staters during the Bleeding Kansas period.

[1] The Paris Town Company was incorporated by a special act approved February 14, 1857, and consisted of James P. Fox, John H. Tate, I. T. Glover, and Luke Grimes.

[2] In the summer of 1858 one of the murderers of the Marais des Cygnes massacre, Charles Matlock, was arrested and taken to Paris, where he managed to escape his guard, never to be captured again.

[2] Paris lost an election to decide the location of the county seat to Mound City on November 8, 1859, in a 471–508 vote.

Fifty men were organized to march on Paris and J. H. Trego was sent with a team to obtain a cannon from Osawatomie.