On the night of January 18, 1958, the Ku Klux Klan drove into Robeson County, North Carolina, expecting to frighten the Lumbee people.

The plan was simple.

Hold a rally near Maxton.

Raise Klan banners.

Set up a public-address system.

Light the field.

Use the spectacle of robes, threats, and numbers to send a message that the Klan could enter Lumbee country and define the rules.

James “Catfish” Cole, a South Carolina Klan leader, had already helped create tension in the county.

Crosses had been burned near Lumbee homes.

The rally had been advertised publicly.

Local officials feared violence and tried to prevent the confrontation from getting out of control.

Cole went ahead anyway.

He expected supporters.

What he got was a crowd of hundreds of Lumbee men and other local Native people arriving to confront him.

The Klansmen were badly outnumbered.

The atmosphere tightened.

A single light bulb illuminating the field was shot out.

Gunfire erupted into the darkness.