Some persons have become apologists for the James boys, trying to slough off their deeds as reprisals against a society that mistreated them. Some even rationalize the doings of Quantrill. But there has never been anyone trying to explain away the actions of one guerrilla leader of Missouri’s Civil War period – William Anderson, known to friend and foe alike as “Bloody Bill.” It was Anderson’s bunch that perpetrated the Centralia Massacre which was the highlight of his career marked by near barbarism.

AOWM – October 27