Ozark Justice

by Dwight Milgrim

Overview

The year is 1938, and it's a beautiful Indian summer day in the Ozark Mountains. Yarnell Cates, his wife Thelma, and his father are returning home with a wagonload of stove wood when they discover the sheriff's car in their front yard. Sheriff J. D. Hawkins is there to arrest Yarnell on trumped-up charges concocted by the prosecuting attorney and his brother, the circuit judge. The charge is part of an ongoing feud between their families and the Cates.

In a twist of fate, Yarnell is forced to kill the sheriff in self-defense. This act incites the prosecuting attorney to form a posse with orders to burn down the Cates' home, slaughter their livestock, and shoot Yarnell on sight. A bounty of five hundred dollars is placed on Yarnell's head, later increased to fifteen hundred dollars, driving Yarnell and Thelma to seek refuge in a cave in the mountains. Throughout the winter, they endure harsh conditions while evading the men of Sycamore County in a desperate bid for survival.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781638292722
Publisher:	Austin Macauley
Publication date:	03/28/2024
Pages:	148
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.38(d)

About the Author

Kenneth Dwight Milgrim was raised on a farm in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. His family was not unlike the Cates family in this story. They raised cattle and hogs and planted a big garden every spring. They always kept a milk cow and butchered a beef and a couple of hogs each fall.

They cooked on a wood cook stove, pumped water from a hand dug well, and did most of their farming with a team of horses. Dwight based the dialog in this story on the way his family and neighbors talked as he was growing up in the 1950s. He is an amateur musician who has written several songs and poems, some of which are included here.