re: Long time lurker, first time caller

Wouldn't surprise me. Going back thru family history, from the mid 1800s I was surprised to see how few families there were to choose from in that area. If she ain't good enough for her family, she ain't good enough for ours

My kin were on the losing side of the Battle at Mingo Swamp.

Your hands are nice, but for my older eyes it was the font size. Thanks & good luck on both your upcoming tests

There's a book called 'Lost family, lost cause' that gives some insight to the McKee clan & the unfortunate position many Missourians faced at that time.

A mass grave is located at Greenbrier Cemetary between Arab & Advance for the 28 men that died in the massacre. According to military records, McKee & his men were surprised & surrounded. Knowing the odds weren't in their favor, they surrendered and then were executed.

The farmer that provided shelter for McKee & his troop was shot & killed while holding his infant grandson on his porch. The little boy died as well.

There are lots of things I've learned in the past year researching my roots. Pretty surprised by how my grandparents & great grandparents decided to bury this dark part of history and move on without some stories slipping thru.

There's a marker on CR624 next to Hwy 51 in Bollinger County marking the spot of the massacre that was placed in 2005 or so. Both my folks (and their's) were raised within three miles of here. My parents were born in the early 30s and I can't believe that somewhere somehow this part of our history was erased. I guess it was just too painful to recant.

Oh, I've heard of it. My family is intimately involved in it and has farms on a couple of the ditches in Stoddard and Scott counties. I have a map of it hanging in my home office.

Before we put some of that land into WRP, we deer hunted between Zalma and Marble Hill, and a friend used to own a large tract on the Castor River near Gipsy that had an antebellum farm house on it.

That's a great area of the country.

Never bowled there. The only thing we did in Marble Hill was eat at a little restaurant on the main drag-I think it was called "Mom's"-and when I came of age, there was a bar toward Glenallen on MO 34 that we'd drink a beer or two in. Otherwise, we were at the deer camp sitting around the fire.

Some of the best memories of my life were made in that neck of the woods.

Welcome

Yep, what wasn't wet was pretty hilly woods between there.

I've been taking my dad around to old homesteads & remote cemetaries getting coordinates for family history & gravesites while his mind is still somewhat working. Lots of pretty places around Zalma.

Good to know there are other OBers connected to the area. I come from the Cato & Abernathy line on my mom's side. German on my dad's. Having more distant cousins wouldn't surprise me at all.