History

I visited with a train historian today. He had some interesting tales about the Mid Missouri area. We talked about the Centralia Massacre that occurred during the Civil War when unarmed Union men were taken off a train and executed by pro-Confederate guerrillas. The man's family lived near a train depot. His great uncle was a bushwacker or guerrilla, not the proudest moment in his family's history. The uncle was later shot in the back by some other guerrillas as they attempted to break free a man from the Boone County prison. The man's family also knew Jesse James. As a kid, the historian used to pretend he was a sheriff trying to capture Jesse James at a watering hole on his family's land. Later, he learned that Jesse had stopped at that watering hole because he had family north of the area. It's a small world.