Reviews for Bald Knobbers; Vigilantes on the Ozarks Frontier

The average rating for Bald Knobbers; Vigilantes on the Ozarks Frontier based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-05-06 00:00:00 Sheena Robinson When I was a teenager I was reading every book I could find in our library that was on mountain people. Ihad in fact become fascinated by their lives, and that fascination has never left. One of the librarians in Paso Robles, Ca had introduced me to these books, and I believe her name was Virginia Scott. I have a feeling that she introduced me first to "The Shepherd of the Hills," maybe because she was religious, and maybe because it was popular in her day and still was. After reading my first book, I kept going up to the front desk to ask her where I could find more like it. Later on I found my own books, one titled "Tobacco Road" which my mother took out of my hands. This is one that I must have found on my own. When I first read it I was all for vigilantes. I remember how they would warn wrongdoers first by putting a bundle of sticks at their front door. Finding one would mean you had better change your behavior or else. Then several years ago I searched for this book,found it and another one on the subject and bought them. When I read it this time, I learned that the vigilantes had overstepped their bounds, and now they had to be subdued. So much for viligantes. One year when my sister and niece came to visit me in Oklahoma where I live now, we took a trip to Kirbyville, Missouri where the Bald Knobbers had first congregated. They just happened to have a Bald Knobbers play in the small town, and it was fun to watch amateur actors. I came home with a tee-shirt that had a Bald Knobber with a dark hood over his head. Looks like a gunny sack to me. Then we found the mountain where they met, Snapp Bald. We couldn't drive up it because the owner was not friendly, so we were told. Then we found the little church where they also met. After that we drove on to West Plains, MO because when I was 16 my uncle and grandmother had taken me there to visit relatives. At that time in my life it was so exciting to be able to see the Ozark Mountains that I had been reading about, and now I live in them.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-07-15 00:00:00 Rud Ferd You might think that in the 1880s the Ozarks of South Missouri were a peaceful backwater. You'd be wrong. Homesteaders were taking advantage of Federal law to take up lands bypassed by earlier migrations or abandoned during the Civil War. Bitterness from the Bushwhacking days of the war lingered. Crime, ranging from moonshining, horse-stealing, to homicide, was on the upswing. In the midst of this Nathaniel McKinney, a Union veteran and bare-knuckle boxer, stepped in and organized the Bald Knobbers. They were a vigilante movement dedicated to driving out anyone they identified as a criminal by any means necessary. The Bald Knobbers made their mark by lynching suspected criminals and intimidating others. They were noted for the elaborate devil-mask disguises they wore. As was so often the case, the vigilantes soon considered any opposition to their reign to be the same as criminal activity. Throughout S. Central Missouri the Bald Knobbers and their foes waged a covert war of assassination, threats, lynchings, and gun battles. Hartman & Ingenthron document the events in excellent detail with impartiality. A timeline of events is included along with numerous maps & illustrations. Though some might say this is more Southern than Western history, one can argue these categories are not entirely separate. I highly recommend Bald Knobbers for anyone looking into Ozark history.