[Sherman Logan]

In 1863, eight duly sworn and appointed law officers of the state government, acting with the authority of their nation's congress, executed a search of the homestead of one Henry Brooks.

It is quite debatable if this is an accurate characterization of the men who killed Willis (not Henry) Brooks and his son John. There were lots of armed men, deserters and the Home Guards chasing them, who were often more draft evaders than anything else, roaming around the South at the time. Many of them claimed to be working for the state or Confederate government, but any control was often loose at best. Many southerners of the time claimed Confederate cavalry and Home Guards were worse than even the Yankee stragglers.

One obvious example is Quantrill's Raiders over in MO and KS, but similar bands of outlaws/guerrilas were found all over the place.

While the post is an entertaining story, it plays fast and loose with a lot of the facts. Notably, the shootings in OK 40 years later had little if anything to do with the killing of Willis and John.

The real story is a good deal more interesting.

http://www.freestateofwinston.org/auntjenny.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooks%E2%80%93McFarland_Feud

[rockrr]

Thanks for the links - they make for interesting reading. I’m shocked that someone would embellish the truth ;’)