Legends of the Old West - VIGILANTES Ep. 3 | “Baldknobbers: Faces Like Devils”

Episode Date: November 27, 2024

As the violence begins to subside in Taney County, it ramped up in neighboring Douglas and Christian counties. The Baldknobbers in those counties wear terrifying masks during nighttime raids on their ...perceived enemies. But after a pair of murders in front of multiple witnesses, a county sheriff succeeds in stopping the vigilante leaders, and the vigilante movement finally collapses.   Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join   Apple users join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes, bingeable seasons and bonus episodes. Click the Black Barrel+ banner on Apple to get started with a 3-day free trial. On YouTube, subscribe to LEGENDS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: hit “Join” on the Legends YouTube homepage.  For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:01:35 that may not be suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised. On March 11, 1887, 52-year-old James Edens had just drifted off to sleep in his one-room cabin near the town of Chadwick in Christian County, Missouri. It was about 10 o'clock at night, and Edens was exhausted. His daughter Melvina and her husband Charles Green had a new baby as well as a three-year-old child. The Greens were staying with James and his wife so they could help care for the baby, while also nursing Melvina back to health from the measles. Their son William Edens was also there with his wife, who were both asleep. William jolted awake when he heard yelling outside. He sprang out of bed and shouted to his father. James Edens jumped out of bed. He felt for his
Starting point is 00:02:46 pistol in the pocket of his coat that he had left hanging over his bed, but it wasn't there. In a panic, he turned to his wife, who already had the weapon in hand and gave it to him. Someone on the outside fired three shots into the window on the western side of the house. After that, the two doors on either side of the house crashed open. Eight or nine men surged into the house. They wore terrifying masks, a tactic that prompted at least one person to say they had faces like devils. And the masks confirmed what James Edens already suspected. The intruders were bald-knobber vigilantes. Three of them seized James Edens and tried to take away his gun. Edens shook off two of his assailants and raised his pistol.
Starting point is 00:03:35 He fired one round, which struck a bald-knobber in the leg. At the same time, Edens saw the glint of an axe flying toward his head. He managed to turn his head just enough to avoid taking the full force of the axe, and he suffered only a glancing blow. But then someone fired a shot that hit him in the neck and knocked him out. When 52-year-old James Eden fell to the floor, that was the last he knew of the events in his cabin that night. He would awaken the next day to learn the tragic news of deaths and injuries, but it
Starting point is 00:04:10 was those events that finally led to the downfall of the vigilante groups. The vigilantes could no longer pretend to be righteous defenders of the law and Christian morality. Public opinion turned against them, naming them murderers and outlaws. The leaders of the bald knobbers, Nathaniel Kinney in Taney County, David Walker in Christian County, and his brother Joseph Walker in Douglas County,
Starting point is 00:04:36 would all come under fire. Two of the three and several others would pay the ultimate price. And the situation in Southern Missouri would get much worse before it got better. From Black Barrel Media, this is Legends of the Old West. I'm your host, Chris Wimmer. In this season, we're telling the story
Starting point is 00:05:02 of Missouri's vigilante wars, which were instigated by a terrifying group called the Bald Knobbers. This is episode 3, Faces Like Devils. The Bald Knobbers in Douglas and Christian counties shared some basic traits with the original organization in Taney County. They used the same semi-military style of organization, with a captain on top and several companies or legions based in various parts of the county. They also used an oath for new members that very closely resembled the one Nathaniel Kenny
Starting point is 00:05:44 had created in Taney County. In Douglas and Christian counties, members had to swear to a lot of rules, including participation in physical violence against their own families if necessary. They also had to agree to wear the terrifying devil masks the groups had adopted. Good estimates of the strength of the Christian County bald knobbers are hard to come by, but evidence suggests there were anywhere between 200 and 800 men involved. Like most large groups, there's usually a smaller group of hardcore members who do most
Starting point is 00:06:18 of the damage. In Christian County, that smaller group was the Legion that was led by Dave Walker, the founder of the vigilante chapter in the county. Walker was a farmer like just about everybody else in Christian County, Missouri. In 1883, he noticed big changes happening around him. That year, the Springfield and Southern Railroad Company completed a feeder line into Christian County. The railroad used the city of Chadwick as a shipping center from which to purchase and ship wooden rail ties it needed elsewhere. The county's immense forests helped
Starting point is 00:06:57 the company meet its demand for timber. Within a few years, locals started making a lot of extra money cutting down oak or hickory for railroad ties. With so much money suddenly passing through Chadwick, vice industries sprang up, just like they did with the California Gold Rush. Saloons and gambling houses popped up all over town. Men could drink hard liquor and gamble in establishments, which locals called blind tigers. The Bald Knobs thought the money being lost at the establishments should be going to the men's families instead, and they called saloon keepers agents of the devil.
Starting point is 00:07:36 Two of the saloon keepers were John Rhodes and Russell McCauley. They owned a bar in Chadwick, and on the evening of November 9th, 1886, Dave Walker and his legion of around 40 bald knobbers burst into their saloon. Rhodes and McCauley exchanged a few shots with the vigilantes, but they were outnumbered. They managed to get away and eventually left town, but that night, the vigilantes poured into the saloon, broke all the furniture and mirrors, and dumped out every bottle of beer and whiskey. Their actions were meant to scare other saloons into closing, but it didn't work. Two nights later, another party of about 100 men rode into Chadwick to destroy more establishments. But as the Baldnobbers started to pry open a whiskey barrel in front of a saloon, several
Starting point is 00:08:27 citizens began firing at them from adjacent buildings. A gun battle erupted in the middle of Chadwick, and the two sides fired more than 100 shots at each other. Finally, the vigilantes galloped out of town ahead of a hail of bullets. And surprisingly, only one vigilante was seriously wounded. That was the largest citizens' resistance to date in the two northern counties. To be sure, some residents of Christian and Douglas counties hated the vigilantes. They correctly assessed the vigilantes as nosy, vindictive, and dangerous.
Starting point is 00:09:02 But resistance was never as organized or as vocal as it was in Taney County. Those who spoke out against the bald knobbers in the northern counties were putting themselves at high risk, with no guarantee of backup from friends or neighbors. But there was a vocal minority, and one of the most vocal was William Edens. About a year before the vigilantes attacked his father's cabin, he bravely spoke out against the hypocrisy and dangers of the group. Edens specifically condemned the actions
Starting point is 00:09:34 of the leader in Christian County, Dave Walker, and his son, William Walker. And similar to Taney County the previous year, it all started with an incident at church. In the spring of 1886, around the same time that Missouri Adjutant General James Jameson was trying to broker a peace agreement in Taney County, 22-year-old William Edens lived with his brother-in-law, John Evans, near Chadwick in Christian County. One night, bald knobbers led by Dave Walker showed up at the home in search of Evans.
Starting point is 00:10:13 Supposedly, Evans had disturbed a Sunday worship service by showing up at the church drunk. The vigilantes wanted to punish him for his lapse in moral judgment. The exact details are lost to history, but the story that survives is this. William Edens tried to protect his brother-in-law, John Evans, and he stepped between Evans and the vigilantes who had started whipping him. As a result, Edens took four bad whippings himself before vigilante leader Dave Walker yelled at his men to stop. The attack embarrassed and angered William Edens. Afterward, he hated the Bald Knobs and spoke out against them whenever he could. On one occasion, he boasted publicly that if the Knight Riders ever came back, they would have to return again in the morning to count their dead in the light of day.
Starting point is 00:11:08 When the Bald Knobs heard about the threat, leaders Dave Walker and his son William led a group of vigilantes to William Eden's home. They dragged him out of the house and stripped him. Then they tied him to an oak tree and beat him bloody with sticks and switches. Then, they tied him to an oak tree and beat him bloody with sticks and switches. When they finished, they laughed and mocked him. In the months following the assaults on William Edens and John Evans, there were assaults on homesteader Edwin Helms and his wife and six children, then an attack on polygamist Green Walker, and then night riding raids and whippings of other homesteaders like Hugh Ratliff.
Starting point is 00:11:45 On March 11, 1887, about a year after the attack on Edens and Evans, things came full circle for William Edens. Earlier that day, William had visited a town called Sparta in Christian County. He seemed undaunted by the violence and publicly antagonized and insulted the vigilantes. The insults quickly reached the ears of William Walker, son of Dave Walker and his father's chief lieutenant in the vigilante group. Walker vowed revenge on Edens for the slander. That night, seven adults and two children were crowded into the one-room cabin that belonged to William Eden's parents. William and his wife were there, William's parents were there, and William's sister, Melvina, was there with her husband, her three-year-old child, and their baby.
Starting point is 00:12:36 At about the same time everyone in the crowded house was settling down to bed, Dave Walker and a group of about 30 bald knobbers started a meeting no more than a couple miles away. It was a cold night, and the men were outside, standing around a huge bonfire. Before long, more than half the group decided they weren't interested in doing anything that night, and they went home. The other half decided to follow Dave Walker to the house of an alleged moonshiner. They planned to pour out his liquor and maybe whip him if he put up a fight.
Starting point is 00:13:10 But as they walked along the railroad tracks toward the moonshiner's house, they realized they were close to William Eden's house. They changed their destination and then discovered William wasn't home. By that time, they were excited by the prospect of starting trouble, and they decided to see if William was at his father's house, about a quarter mile away. Eight to ten vigilantes burst into James Eden's cabin. They shot 52-year-old James in the neck,
Starting point is 00:13:41 and he fell to the floor unconscious. The vigilantes ordered William Eden to put up his hands. He complied and the vigilantes shot him twice. He fell down badly wounded, but alive. Another vigilante shot Melvina's husband, Charles Green in the side of the head. Melvina had been in bed with her three-year-old and her two-month-old baby,
Starting point is 00:14:04 but with her husband and brother shot, she jumped out of bed. One of the vigilantes raised his gun to shoot her, but she threw up a hand and deflected the muzzle of the weapon. When the gun discharged, the bullet tore off the tip of her little finger on her left hand. The blast from the weapon caught her dress on fire, but Melvina fought her assailant and managed to pull the mask partly off of his face. In the confusion of the ordeal, she wasn't sure who the man was, but later, accounts said he was probably William Walker.
Starting point is 00:14:39 After that final confrontation, the vigilantes fled the cabin. Melvina turned back to face the horrible reality that her husband and her brother were mortally wounded. Both men died a few minutes later. No one else in the house was harmed, thankfully, but Melvina's father James was still unconscious on the floor and bleeding from the gunshot wound to his neck. For many businesses, the holiday season can be both an exciting and stressful time. With so many balls in the air, one thing you definitely want to know you can rely on is how you're selling your products. And with Shopify, you can rest easy knowing it's the home of the number one checkout on the planet. Nobody does selling better than Shopify, And when it comes to successful brands
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Starting point is 00:16:35 That's right Newton. With a Bronco in Bronco Sport, gravity has met its match. Huh, maybe that apple hit me a little harder than I thought. Yeah, you should get that checked out. With standard 4x4 capability, Broncos keep going up and up. Now get up to $6,000 in rebates on eligible 2024 Bronco family models. Visit your Toronto area Ford store or ford.ca. James Edens survived, but he woke up the next day to learn the vigilantes had murdered his
Starting point is 00:17:07 son and his son-in-law. When news of the killings reached Christian County Sheriff Zachariah Johnson, he decided enough was enough. In 1873, Sheriff Johnson had moved to the Ozark region from Indiana. He became active in county politics and in 1886, received an appointment from Governor John Marmaduke to fill the office of sheriff in Christian County. Johnson was eager to show that he was the right pick for the job, and he quickly interviewed Melvina and the wife of William Edens.
Starting point is 00:17:40 He learned it was probably William Walker who led the attack. Sheriff Johnson also learned of many other attacks, and he quickly arrested three members who were lower on the Baldknapper hierarchy. They wouldn't talk, but then Johnson caught a break. Acting on a tip from an anonymous source, he managed to locate and arrest a vigilante named Joe Inman. Johnson interrogated Inman, and Inman eventually made a full confession. He gave the sheriff a list of all the names he could remember from that night. Sheriff Johnson quickly apprehended nearly all of the vigilantes, who had either attended the meeting or had taken part in the killings, or both. Johnson knew that the original bald knobbers had broken into the Taney County Jail multiple times,
Starting point is 00:18:33 so he immediately moved Joe Inman to the Greene County Jail in Springfield for his own protection. By March 18th, the sheriff had about 25 vigilantes in custody in his own jail in the town of Ozark. One of the 25 was the overall leader, Dave Walker, and Sheriff Johnson was nervous. The Christian County Jail was a small building and somewhat run down.
Starting point is 00:18:57 It was not designed to hold so many prisoners at the same time. A day earlier, on March 17, reports of gunfire near Ozark panicked residents who were already in a heightened state of fear. People assumed that a bald-knobber rescue party was approaching their town. Soon, dozens of armed citizens assembled at the courthouse to repel the anticipated rescue party. Wild rumors circulated. One man ran into town and reported that 20 men had died in fighting between vigilantes
Starting point is 00:19:29 and regular citizens at Sparta. It turned out that the gunshots had nothing to do with vigilante activity. It was a poorly timed wedding celebration in which friends serenaded a newly married couple with dozens of gunshots fired into the sky. Still, Sheriff Johnson had legitimate concerns about the security of the prisoners. On March 19th, Johnson and two deputies took 15 vigilante prisoners to Springfield by train and placed them in the Green County Jail for greater security. Hopefully, Joe Inman had been moved out of the Greene County Jail by that time.
Starting point is 00:20:08 Otherwise, it would have been a volatile situation, with 15 vigilantes in the same jail as the man who had ratted them out. For Sheriff Johnson, he felt pretty good about the amount of evidence and testimony he was gathering about the Baldknabers who killed Charles Green and William Edens. He was able to use the information that Joe Inman gave him to get others to talk about what had happened that night. The only vigilante of note who was still at large was William Walker. The sheriff really wanted to find him and hold him accountable. He was the top lieutenant to his father, Dave Walker,
Starting point is 00:20:45 and he had played a prominent role in the Edens' green killings. The county government and Governor Marmaduke together put up a reward of $300 for the capture of William Walker. The problem was, nobody knew the hiding places of the Ozarks better than William Walker, except maybe his father Dave Walker. Dave Walker was not about to rat out his son, so Sheriff Johnson formed a subtle plan to get Dave Walker to reveal the possible hiding spots. During William Walker's raid on the Edens cabin, he had suffered a gunshot wound to the leg.
Starting point is 00:21:24 Before Dave Walker was arrested, he had smuggled his son into Douglas County, where he could hide with his relatives and recuperate. He was staying with his uncle, Joseph Walker, until he recovered. Joseph Walker founded the Douglas County chapter of the Bald Knobers, and he and other members of the Walker family would easily hear of any effort to search for William. But Sheriff Johnson did have one card to play. Johnson had arrested a vigilante named William Newton in connection with the Edens Green killings. William Newton had a brother named Joe.
Starting point is 00:21:58 And before you ask, yes, every man in Missouri was named either William or Joe, all of them. Joe Newton was also a vigilante, but there was no evidence that he was involved in the killings. Sheriff Johnson knew that Joe wanted to help his incarcerated brother in any way he could, and Joe became the key to the sheriff's plan. First, Joe Newton visited his brother in jail and convinced him to testify for the state. Next, Joe paid a visit to Dave Walker in jail. Joe convinced Dave Walker that he wanted to help William Walker get far away from southwest
Starting point is 00:22:36 Missouri to avoid capture. Dave Walker agreed and told Joe Newton where he could find his fugitive son William. About two weeks after the killings, Joe Newton traveled to Joseph Walker's home in Douglas County in a wagon. Newton learned that William Walker had already fled Missouri. Joseph Walker said his nephew William was hiding at another uncle's house in Arkansas. Walker offered to guide Newton to the house in Arkansas, and the two Joes set off southward. When Joe Newton and Joseph Walker arrived at the house in Arkansas, they found William Walker still hobbling around on crutches because of his wounded leg. With him was an outlaw friend who had recently escaped from jail in Springfield. Newton persuaded both fugitives to accompany him across the border to West Plains, Missouri.
Starting point is 00:23:34 Newton explained, from West Plains, they could catch a train to Jonesboro, Arkansas. From there, they could disappear into the hill country of Northeast Arkansas. The two fugitives agreed, and they followed Newton to West Plains. On the way, Joe Newton and William Walker discussed the Edens Green killings. According to Newton, Walker said he blamed the botched raid on the inexperience of some of his men, whom he called Tinderfoots. And Walker said that when Melvina attacked him and tore off part of his mask, he would have quote, killed her dead as hell if she hadn't lifted her hand in time to deflect
Starting point is 00:24:14 his pistol. When the men arrived at their destination, they decided to camp for the night outside of town. Joe Newton made an excuse to go into West Plains, and he sent a telegram to Sheriff Johnson. The sheriff and his deputies rushed to West Plains and arrested William Walker and his outlaw companion. The lawman also arrested Joe Newton, but that was just for show to keep the other two from
Starting point is 00:24:39 suspecting his role in their capture. Testimony from people like Joe Newton was going to be needed in spades in order to bring down the bald knobbers in Christian and Douglas counties. It had been incredibly difficult to convict the vigilantes due to lack of evidence, lack of witnesses, and witness intimidation. But in a case where two innocent men were murdered in front of their families, the law was going to pull out all the stops to convict the killers. Christian County Sheriff Zachariah Johnson made sure a grand jury heard all the evidence it needed to indict Dave Walker and his son William Walker for murder. It wasn't easy because of the bald knobbers' oath of silence and the fact that they wore hoods for everything they did, including the murders at the Edens' home.
Starting point is 00:25:28 But eventually, Sheriff Johnson received testimony from lower-level vigilantes who were willing to talk about their activities. At a special session of the Circuit Court held the following month, the grand jury indicted 16 individuals whom they held responsible for the deaths of William Edens and Charles Green. Dave Walker and William Walker were at the top of the bill. Light up Black Friday with Freedom Mobile and get 50 gigs to use in Canada, the U.S., and Mexico for just $35 a month for 18 months.
Starting point is 00:26:03 Plus, get a one-time gift of 5 gigs of Rome Beyond Data. Condition supply details at freedommobile.ca. Two freshly cracked eggs any way you like them. Three strips of naturally smoked bacon and a side of toast. Only $6 at A&W's in Ontario. Experience A&W's classic breakfast on now. Dine in only until 11 a.m. About 25 vigilantes ended up going to trial for a variety of charges in late August 1888. Crowds descended on the town of Ozark where the trials took place. The flood of people quickly exceeded the town's capacity to handle them all, and Ozark's few hotel rooms were soon
Starting point is 00:26:45 triple-booked. The rest of the visitors camped on the outskirts of town in wagons or tents. The criminal cases were staggered, as different combinations of vigilantes were tried for whippings and other forms of harassment. Some vigilantes pled to lesser charges to avoid trial, and others found ways to escape and flee the region. By the second week of September, there were only nine vigilantes left in the jail, but they included the big ones, Dave Walker and his son William Walker. When Dave Walker saw who remained in the jail, he reportedly said to the others,
Starting point is 00:27:21 Well, boys, you see now whose necks are to be broken. With that realization, a couple of the others who remained in jail decided to switch sides and testify for the prosecution. The legal process dragged out for months until the spring of 1889. On April 12, three vigilantes pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received prison sentences. The last four, Dave Walker, William Walker, and an uncle-nephew pair named Matthews, were convicted of first-degree murder and received death sentences.
Starting point is 00:27:57 The judgment had been passed, but it wasn't final. The appeals process was just beginning. While the four condemned men sat in the county jail in Ozark, the local government decided to build a new jail, in large part because it knew the bald knobbers might try to break them out. More than 100 men in the community were deputized to serve as guards at the jail. But for good reason, they were far more concerned with serve as guards at the jail. But for good reason, they were far more concerned with people who were outside the jail rather than inside. When the uncle and nephew named Matthews learned their appeals had been denied, they decided to make a break for it. In a scheme that was similar to the famous escape from Alcatraz
Starting point is 00:28:40 70 years later, the Matthews men used soap to make imprints of a stolen set of guard keys. They used a pocket knife to chisel mortar from a spot in a brick wall that was hidden behind firewood. They successfully broke out of jail and went on the run, but the uncle didn't do well as a fugitive and he eventually turned himself in. The nephew ran to Oklahoma territory,
Starting point is 00:29:06 where he gave himself a new identity and lived the rest of his life as a free man. Meanwhile, Dave Walker's case worked its way up to the Supreme Court and resulted in no change of verdict. The death sentence stood. But in a somewhat surprising move, a large percentage of the public in Douglas, Christian and Taney counties wrote to the governor of Missouri and other officials. The people asked for clemency for the prisoners. The citizens argued that the prisoners had shown generally good behavior until they seemed to get caught up in the vigilante fervor. Clemency might help heal the bad feelings in southern Missouri, and simply speaking,
Starting point is 00:29:48 communities could start fresh. But the governor declined to intervene. At about 9.30 on the morning of May 10, 1889, Dave Walker, William Walker, and John Matthews were led to a specially built scaffold. Similar to their trials, hordes of onlookers, journalists, and family members crowded the area to watch the spectacle. They would be treated to a grotesque sight.
Starting point is 00:30:19 Dave Walker had asked Sheriff Zachariah Johnson to be the one to hang him. Walker didn't want to be executed by a stranger. Reluctantly, Johnson agreed. The three condemned men made speeches, prayed, and said their farewells to their families. They were lined up next to each other on the scaffold with hoods over their heads,
Starting point is 00:30:40 and they would all hang at the same time. Sheriff Johnson pulled the lever and the trap door under the prisoners feet opened. John Matthews neck broke cleanly and he died immediately, but it was far worse for the walkers. Sheriff Johnson had either misjudged the length of their ropes or miscalculated how far the ropes would stretch. Dave Walker dropped through the trap door and then dangled with his feet touching the ground as he desperately tried to pull himself up.
Starting point is 00:31:11 William Walker's rope unraveled and he fell to his knees, moaning in agony and spitting blood into his hood. While William suffered, the sheriff and his deputies completed the awful task of rehanging Dave Walker. The second attempt worked, and then they turned their attention back to William. Sadly, William's ordeal was nowhere near done. The lawman tried to hang William a second time,
Starting point is 00:31:37 but William's noose spun him around and then slipped off his head. He crashed to the ground, groaning in pain and begging God to end his suffering. The sheriff and his deputies hoisted William through the trap door and sat him on the scaffold. He sat there, fully aware of the doctors who were pronouncing his father and John Matthews dead, which added to his psychological torment.
Starting point is 00:32:03 At about 10.15 a.m., 25 minutes after the execution started, Sheriff Johnson re-tied William's rope and tried to hang him for a third time. The process failed again. The young man's neck didn't break when he dropped through the trap door, and he took 16 minutes to strangle to death. and he took 16 minutes to strangle to death.
Starting point is 00:32:33 The executions and the strong prison sentences for many of the bald nobbers effectively ended vigilante activities in Christian and Douglas counties. In Taney County, the end was much less defined. Violent activity had largely subsided in late 1887 with the guilty verdict of George Middleton, who had murdered Sam Snap. But there was one highly symbolic bookend to the vigilante activity in Taney County. Back in 1886, Nathaniel Kenney, the founder of the Baldknobbers, had shot and killed Andrew Cogburn. Andrew's friend, Sam Snap, had witnessed the killing but had been unable to gain justice
Starting point is 00:33:11 against Nathaniel Kenney. A short time later, five anti-Bald Knobbers got together for a card game. Two of the players were Billy Miles and Matt Snap, who was presumably a relative of Sam Snap. Miles and Matt Snapp, who was presumably a relative of Sam Snapp. The two men decided that the loser of the game would be responsible for killing Nathaniel Kinney. Two years later, in August 1888, Miles made good on his lost bet, although by that time it wasn't entirely because of the deaths of Andrew Cogburn and Sam Snap.
Starting point is 00:33:45 Miles also blamed Kinney for a divorce scandal. Miles was friends with a woman in Forsyth who was suing her husband for divorce. Kinney had taken the side of the husband, who did not want to pay his wife alimony. Miles found Kinney in the general store that was owned by the husband. Miles picked a fight, and Kinney ordered Miles to get out. Kinney appeared to reach for a pistol, and Miles shot Kinney dead. Billy Miles turned himself in. While he was out on bail awaiting trial, he and his brother attended an Independence Day picnic in July 1889, two months after
Starting point is 00:34:27 the terrible executions of Dave and William Walker. During the festivities, the Miles brothers were ambushed by Taney County Sheriff Galba Branson, a bald knobber, and a private detective named Ed Funk. As a last gasp of the bald knobbers, the vigilantes had allegedly paid the sheriff and the detective to avenge their fallen leader. Unfortunately for the lawmen, the Miles boys were better shots. The lawmen and the brothers exchanged gunfire at the picnic, and both lawmen died on the spot.
Starting point is 00:35:01 A year later, in 1890, Billy Miles was acquitted for killing Nathaniel Kenney after more than 80 witnesses provided evidence that said Kenny was essentially asking for it, and Miles was defending himself. It doesn't appear as though the Miles brothers faced any kind of punishment for the shootout with the sheriff and the detective, which likely means it was viewed as a clear case of self-defense. With that, the events that are sometimes called the vigilante wars of southern Missouri were done. Over the course of four years, 13 people died during the conflict. Dozens suffered beatings, whippings, or other forms of harassment, and who knows how many were forced off their land and run out of the region.
Starting point is 00:35:46 At the height of their influence, the Bald Knobs numbered roughly 900 men, located primarily in Taney, Douglas, and Christian counties. They were easily one of the largest vigilante organizations in the U.S. in the 1800s, and for a while, the Bald Knobbers were viewed as folk heroes who dispensed justice when the legal system seemed to fail. But their brand of justice quickly spiraled out of control and did more harm than good in southern Missouri. Next time on Legends of the Old West, we'll be back in the new year with new episodes that are the origin story of legendary Lakota leader Sitting Bull and the raids and battles in Minnesota and North Dakota in the early 1860s that became known as the Dakota Uprising. and the episodes. Sign up now through the link in the show notes or on our website BlackBarrellMedia.com.
Starting point is 00:37:08 This series was researched and written by Julia Bricklin. Original music by Rob Valier. I'm your host and producer Chris Wimmer. If you enjoyed the show, please leave us a rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening. Check out our website blackbarrowmedia.com for more details and join us on social media or at Old West podcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. And all of our episodes are on YouTube. Just search for legends of the Old West podcast. Thanks for listening.

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