I had assumed there was some truth to the quote in Spring's introduction to his history of Kansas that, "I know of no transaction in human history which has been covered up with such abundant lying...". Until reading Malin's "John Brown and the Legend of Fifty-Six", I had no idea just how heavily the truth was shrouded in the propaganda campaign being waged at the time and the myth-making that followed Harper's Ferry. Malin seems to have established beyond a reasonable doubt that the vicitms of the Pottowatomie Massacre were not as they tend to still get portrayed in some quarters: pro-slavery border ruffians that deserved what they got based on the their previous outrages on free-state settlers. Since the publication of Malin's work in 1942, has anyone since been able to poke holes in the conclusion Malin dervied from his amazingly detailed and thorough analysis of the available evidence? I would appreciate any suggestions you can provide on further reading regarding Malin's conclusions regarding the character of the victims and why they were targeted by Brown.