Lane, Kansas, is the present-day location in which the Pottawatomie Massacre occured, a pivotal event in the abolitionist cause preceding the Civil War in the United States. This was the location of the violent abolitionist event orchestrated by John Brown, a radical abolitionist, and very impactful character within the history of the Civil War, and general slavery in the United States. Lane, Kansas is a small town that lies along the banks of the Pottawatomie Creek on the eastern side of Kansas.