This week on Retracing Our Roots, Heather Loftis, Sammy Raycraft, and Vincent Anderson kick off the show by discussing how local elections were conducted in small counties at the courthouse and how the process of tallying election results has evolved over the years in places like Baxter County.
Next, we’ll delve into what early settlers of Baxter County recalled from their childhoods between 1867 and the early 1900s. We’ll explore stories from the 1940 Early Settlers’ Personal Histories, covering topics such as cabin lighting, muleskinners, cutting cedar trees, and rafting logs down the Buffalo and White Rivers.
Lastly, we uncover the tragic murder of Hunter Wilson on December 18, 1893, and examine how justice failed to move swiftly for the citizens of this region. With the suspected perpetrators held in the Baxter County Jail in Mountain Home, on February 27, 1894, a group of 150-200 hooded men, also known as Bald Knobbers, gathered outside of Mountain Home, driven by a thirst for vengeance. That evening, as hundreds of citizens learned of the plan, many crowded the county square to witness the large band of men arriving two abreast on their horses & mules. As the vigilante group surrounded the jail with weapons drawn, a select few stormed inside while the prisoners begged for their lives. These hooded vigilantes were determined to exact their own form of justice on the two men chained to the jail floor. This grim tale of a citizen-led execution concludes with the two men being buried together in a wooden box in a pauper’s grave at the Mountain Home Cemetery.
