ABOUT

 

 

The Baldknobbers were a vigilante group in the Ozark Mountains of southwest Missouri in the late 1800s.

 

After the Civil War, Between 1865 and 1885, Taney County reported there were 40 murders and not a single suspect was ever convicted. This led to the formation of the Baldknobbers by a man named Nathaniel N. Kinney, to put a stop to crime and corruption within the local government. 

 

On the night of April 15th 1885 in Forsyth Missouri, The Baldknobbers committed one of their first acts. 

"At exactly 10 o'clock, the Baldknobbers, seventy-five strong, galloped down the river and into the public square.  Every man was armed and masked.  Except when Capt. Kinney gave an order, not a word was spoken.  The orders were given in a ordinary tone of voice.  The Knobbers formed a hollow square around the jail.  Everything had been done so quietly that the prisoners, although awakened by the arrival of the troop, did not comprehend what was happening.  When the big hammers arrived, they learned right away.  With each blow of the sledgehammer, the prisoners within screamed for help.  Their crys heard all over the village, but no one dared leave his home. When the outer lock was knocked away, the prisoners, now weeping and screaming hysterically, crawled under their rough plank bunk and shrank back against the wall, as if that would save them. They were hauled out by the feet, kicking and clutching at the boards of their bunk. Once in the open air, they found two horses waiting for them. The voices of the prisoners begging for mercy were heard by the Forsyth people growing fainter as the procession rode away, and finally the sounds died out entirely." - Baldknobbers Chronicles of Vigilante Justice

 

The next morning, the citizens of Forsyth found the two men hanging from the same rope, with a note stating

 

"These are the first victims of the wrath of outraged citizens -MORE WILL FOLLOW- THE BALDKNOBBERS