The Outlaw Josey Wales Was Not Far Fetched

[Wyatt]

I live in the Ozarks of Missouri.

There is usually a grain of truth to most legends and so it is with Josey Wales. More than a grain...more like a bushel basket. Josey Wales was based on a real man and one that was reputedly as tough, violent and vengeful as Wales. But, unlike the movie, the real man did not have as his driving force a vengeance for losing his family to murder by Union soldiers. But his family was rousted from their house and their homestead burned to the ground by Union soldiers.

The real Josey Wales was a Confederate guerilla fighter, a “bushwacker,” an associate of the bloody Quantrill Raiders, horse rustler, deadly shot, and killer of many. He was born William “Bill” Wilson in the Ozarks in Missouri of a well-to-do family. He grew into a very tall, dark and handsome man—6’2”, with jet black curly hair and sparkling crystal blue eyes. He was an amiable fellow, good-natured, clever, and skilled at playing the violin, so he was always in demand for weddings and parties. His nimble fingers were not only quick on the fiddle, however. They were quick on the trigger as well. He was a deadly shot and always had on both hips two .44-calibre six shooters. He was a sure-shot at a stand-still but also practiced assiduously shooting on the run from the back of his horse. Link To Article

This marker stands by the old courthouse on the square in Ozark, MO, not far from where I live.

My son has property within a few miles of Oldfield, MO

After the Civil War, Southwest Missouri was a devastated area characterized by a failing economy, high taxes, lawlessness, disorder, and a general breakdown of society, especially in small towns and rural regions.

When Nathaniel N. Kinney settled in Taney County, Missouri, in 1883, he found a deplorable state of affairs. Outlaws and renegades ruled, most of them holdovers from the bushwhackers and guerillas that rampaged through Missouri during the Civil War. After the war, the lack of even minimal law enforcement afforded outlaws free reign. Clans elected and controlled the local sheriff, whose authority was to subpoena jury panels. If outlaws or their relatives didn’t sit on the juries, they bribed those who did. As a result, although as many as forty murders occurred in Taney County between 1865 and 1885, not a single suspect was convicted. Taney County includes the towns of Branson, Forsyth, Hollister, Merriam Woods, Rockaway Beach, Table Rock, and Taneyville. Link To Article

Branson, MO is now the Disneyland of the Midwest.

Branson.com | Shows, Attractions, Lodging, and More!

 

[Wyatt]

The Ozarks region.

Springfield is the third largest city in Missouri, home of bass Pro Shops and O'Rielly Auto Parts.

Ozark is where the Baldknobber hanging took place.

Taney county, (Branson) borders Christian County, Ozark) to the south.

I lived in Ava, in Douglas County, (aka Booger County and for good reason) for 10 years.

Bentonville, Arkansas, (upper northwest corner of Arkansas) is the home of Walmart.

Nazi Dope, (methamphetamine) was reinvented in Reeds Spring, MO, around 15 miles south of me.

The Ozark mountains, (hills actually) are in the southern part of the Ozarks.

The land in the Ozarks doesn't grow much of anything besides grass for grazing and if you try to plow it, about all that you turn up is flint rock.

The woods have oak, hickory, black walnut, red cedar, dogwood and red bud trees.

 

[backlash]

My Grandson lives in Knob Noster.
My Mom's family came from Yellville AK.
I like that area and I could live there but never will for a number of reasons.

 

[Wyatt]

My Grandson lives in Knob Noster.
My Mom's family came from Yellville AK.
I like that area and I could live there but never will for a number of reasons.

Knob Noster is not too far east of KCMO.

Yellville is not too far from Flippin, AR where Ranger bass boats are made.

Southwest Missouri is a pretty good area to live.

My 700 sq ft apartment costs me $550 per month and you can still find land for around $2000 per acre.

Folks are pretty tame around Springfield, (third largest city in Missouri) however, the farther you get out in the country, the more you need to watch your P's and Q's.

When I lived in Douglas, (Booger) County, it was still being said that if you got your neighbor angry that there might just be a fire out at your place, and it was not an idle threat.

I helped a newcomer once who had done that and his five-strand barbed wire fence was cut from top to bottom about every 50 feet for a quarter mile.

 

[Camalot]

The book "Bloody Bill" is about Bloody Bill Anderson of whom Josie was riding with in the movie.

 

[Wyatt]

The book "Bloody Bill" is about Bloody Bill Anderson of whom Josie was riding with in the movie.

History is written by the victor.

I daresay that Mr. Anderson would be known by a different name had the outcome of the war of northern aggression been reversed.

 

[Wingnut]

Plenty of guerrillas & renegades on the Union side, operating out of Kansas... Bloody Kansas, as it was often called.

 

[joel]

The Outlaw Josey Wales is just a movie.​

I love Eastwood & Josey Wales, but in real life he would have died with his family. Then he would have been killed with the gatling gun, one scene the gun killed all the riders, but none of the horses.
Again I loved the western, but none of that stuff is real or we would be bored out of our minds.

 

[Wyatt]

The Outlaw Josey Wales is just a movie.​

I love Eastwood & Josey Wales, but in real life he would have died with his family. Then he would have been killed with the gatling gun, one scene the gun killed all the riders, but none of the horses.
Again I loved the western, but none of that stuff is real or we would be bored out of our minds.

The movie may have been Hollywood, but the story of the time in which it was set and loosely based upon, the Missouri/Kansas border from 1856-1865 was the real deal.

So, you have trouble believing that every horse in a hail of bullets would come away unscathed?

Or that a six-shot revolver would spit out twelve rounds and a carbine would never run out of ammunition in a running gun battle?

Are you the kind that watches movies and picks them apart for perceived inaccuracies rather than enjoying them?

If you want realism watch Rustler's Rhapsody sometime.



This is the best western movie I have seen in quite a while.