Desperadoes of the Ozarks - Paperback

by Larry Wood (Author)

The award-winning author of The Two Civil War Battles of Newtonia �mine[s] the rich vein of bad men�and succeeds because of solid research.� �Fred Pfitser, editor, Ozarks Mountaineer

This collection of events carries readers through an era of bootlegging, highway robbery, and vigilante courts. From the cow town of Baxter Springs, Kansas, to the booming mining camp of Granby, Missouri, the Ozarks were a magnet for lawlessness. Though some stories contain gory details, the author�s intention in narrating these events is not to pay tribute to the likes of the Tri-State Terror, Bloody Britton, or the Missouri Kid. Instead Larry Wood aspires to come to terms with the region�s violent past, learn from it, and move forward.

Among tales of desperate characters and brutal murders is a strengthening of law and order. As the area�s criminals wreak havoc, the Ozarks become the staging area for the last public hanging in the United States and the FBI�s first killing of a criminal. Each chapter is filled with the grisly excitement of flying bullets and mob lynchings as vengeance is dealt by the betrayed, but the book also captures the changes made to protect law-abiding citizens.

�Full of damnable acts, but they make for some darn interesting reading.� �HistoryNet

Back Jacket

"Larry Wood's twenty-one true stories of Ozarks' desperadoes and deeds between 1860 and 1950 are interesting without being sensationalized. He continues in yet another volume to mine the rich vein of bad men-and succeeds because of solid research, attention to detail, and a knack for intuitive tale-telling."
-Fred Pfitser, editor, Ozarks Mountaineer

Notorious characters and sensational incidents were teeming in the Ozarks immediately after the Civil War and for the next one hundred years. The towns of Joplin and Granby, Missouri, probably had more murderous violence than any comparably populated region in the country. In this selection of condensed historical events, gunplay erupts with alarming regularity, thousands of spectators flock to the drama of executions and lynchings, and vengeance and greed take their toll on the region.

Author Biography

Award-winning author Larry Wood is an avid writer with a strong passion for the history of the Civil War and the Ozarks. In addition to penning several books on these subjects, he has contributed articles to publications such as Show Me the Ozarks Magazine, the Ozarks Mountaineer, Missouri Life, and the Ozarks Reader.

Wood earned his BA in English from Missouri State University. After two years in the US Army, he returned to his alma mater and earned an MA in English. Wood was an English teacher in Joplin, Missouri, for more than twenty years before becoming a full-time freelance writer. He continues to teach a correspondence class for the Long Ridge Writers Group of West Redding, Connecticut.

Wood is a member of the Joplin Writers Guild, Missouri Writers' Guild, Ozarks Writers League, and Joplin Genealogy Society. When not busy writing or researching, the author enjoys genealogy, sports, and volunteering for Habitat for Humanity. Wood lives with his wife in Joplin.