Infamous characters and sensational incidents abounded in the Ozarks immediately after the Civil War and well into the 20th century. The mining district around Joplin, Missouri, saw perhaps more murderous violence than any comparably populated area in the country. Gunplay erupted with alarming regularity, and spectators flocked to the drama of executions and lynchings.

From Wild Bill Hickok’s gunfight with a local troublemaker on the Springfield square in 1865 – “citizens of the town, aware of the bad blood between the two men, gaped eagerly from the shelter of buildings, like spectators at the Roman Coliseum anticipating a festival of violence” – to Bonnie and Clyde’s shootout with Joplin police in 1933, award-winning author Larry Wood examines the most infamous of these events.

Wood is a freelance writer specializing in the history of Missouri and the Ozarks, and is an honorary lifetime member of the Missouri Writers’ Guild. Among his 14 books is Ozarks Gunfights and Other Notorious Incidents.