True stories of the Show Me state’s most infamous crooks, culprits, and cutthroats.

Presents a collection of folklore, tall tales, and myths surrounding such characters as Belle Starr, Frank and Jesse James, and Wild Bill Hickok

These one hundred short stories are inspirational, humorous, and interesting for students or anyone interested in the people and events that figured in the life of Missouri, the Mother of the West. Learn things you didn't know about Jesse James, Walt Disney, Kit Carson, Bald Knobers, Ozarkers and prairie folks who gave us what we enjoy today. American Exceptionalism is proudly and laughingly on display in the pages of Tales From Missouri and the Heartland. This is a great gift for students, teachers, former Midwesterners, people in the military or travelers who enjoy light reading in the airport or on the plane. Every story is bound to make them think of another story just as good.

Series title from The History Press website.

This commemorative souvenir documents the origin and evolution of the oldest structure on the historic Independence Courthouse Square-the 1859 Jackson County Jail and Marshal's Home (and its 19th Century predecessors). "Captured" here is an in-depth study offering "skeleton keys" to "unlocking" history of the early lock downs, of those who defied frontier justice, and the systems and strongmen (and their overlooked wives) who tried to keep law and order in Jackson County, Missouri. A roster of ALL Jackson County Sheriffs AND Jackson County Marshals, and separate "rap sheet" of ALL legal hangings in Jackson County "caps" this first-ever comprehensive study spanning from 1826--when Jackson County was formed--to 1933 when the 1859 Jackson County Jail was decommissioned. David W. Jackson and Paul Kirkman have also explored how the site was adaptively re-used during the Great Depression of the 1930s; through World War II in the 1940s; and, how it was saved by the Jackson County Historical Society in 1958, and continues as a unique, cultural history museum, located at 217 North Main Street, Independence, Missouri.

For southwest Missouri, the Civil War was an unparalleled period of violence, sorrow and anger. As the torches burned the physical landscape, the depredations inflicted were also scorched upon the psyche of the people who lived through fires. Survey Carthage's battlefield for stubborn holdouts or hold vigil at the Kendrick House for innocent bystanders who were swept up into the stratagems of bushwhackers and guerrillas. Meet the Bloody Spikes, Rotten Johnny Reb and scores more figures from the region's past who continue to trouble its present.

Twelve timeless Ozarkian tales of those on the fringes of society, by a "stunningly original" American master (Associated Press). Daniel Woodrell is able to lend uncanny logic to harsh, even criminal behavior in this wrenching collection of stories. Desperation-both material and psychological -- motivates his characters. A husband cruelly avenges the killing of his wife's pet; an injured rapist is cared for by a young girl, until she reaches her breaking point; a disturbed veteran of Iraq is murdered for his erratic behavior; an outsider's house is set on fire by an angry neighbor. There is also the tenderness and loyalty of the vulnerable in these stories -- between spouses, parents and children, siblings, and comrades in arms-which brings the troubled, sorely tested cast of characters to vivid, relatable life. And, as ever, "the music coming from Woodrell's banjo cannot be confused with the sounds of any other writer"-Donald Harington, Atlanta Journal Constitution "Twelve timeless Ozarkian tales of those on the fringes of society, by a "stunningly original"-Associated Press, American master.

A bizarre story that could only happen in America, this is a vivid, eye-opening narrative about a murderer, the Midwestern culture that spawned him, and the Pope who saved his life.

"Examines the end of the vigilante era in Missouri, with focus on Laura Bullion, Ben Kirkpatrick, William Rudolph, and Ed O'Kelley, the man who murdered Robert Ford"--