Kansas Jayhawks

intercollegiate sports teams of the University of Kansas

thumb|Broadside recruiting men for the Independent Kansas Jay-Hawkers, 1st Kansas Volunteer Cavalry. thumb|Burnt Wagons, California|Burned Wagons Point in [[Death Valley, where the Jayhawker group of 49ers killed their oxen, chopped the wagons, dried the meat, and set off westward on foot.]] Jayhawker is a term that came to prominence in Kansas Territory during the Bleeding Kansas period of the 1850s; it was adopted by militant bands affiliated with the free-state cause during the American Civil War. These groups were guerrillas who often clashed with pro-slavery groups from Missouri, known at