Additional information
by Terrel L. Shields (Author)
Border Stories are stories of the history along the Arkansas-Indian Territory (Cherokee Nation) boundary from before 1890. Feuds, Utopian societies like the Harmonial Vegetarian Society, Civil War incidents, and post-war reparations and events are included. It includes stories of pre-war justice where the law was usually a group of local citizens rather than elected officials. The founding of Siloam Springs, horse racing, and the battle of Hico that wasn't also relate to histories rarely documented. Civil War stories include the killing of Jehu Chastain, General Blunt occupying and moving along the line road paralleling the state line, and the wartime history of Buck Brown, the partisan ranger, and the fate of his grist mill. The Fisher-Shannon feud, and its connection to Belle Starr is explored. The importance of grist mills in the region and a few names associated with them is explored. And a chapter is devoted to the way old bison (buffalo) trails were used by the native Americans and became the seed for the traces and trails which became our present-day road system. These are simple histories rarely known to even the residents of the area.
Author Biography
Terrel Shields has authored numerous short articles for genealogical and history publications such as the Talbot Library and Museum magazine (Colcord, Oklahoma), and the Benton County Pioneer (Bentonville, Arkansas), but this is his first attempt at a book of such stories. Although authored in his profession as a mineral appraiser (The Appraisal of Mineral Rights) this is his first historical-genealogical book. A native of Northwest Arkansas, living only ten miles from the Oklahoma border, and educated at Arkansas Tech University, he has had a long interest in history, be it recent or even the eons, being trained as a geologist and working across the Southwest of the nation.
