Independence has a time honored tradition of raising hell on the courthouse square. The most famous incident occurred when Jim Crow Chiles gang made a hard riding circle of the square, yelling and shooting. As they reached the last corner they were met by a wall of lead put up by the Marshals posse. By the 1940s the tradition became winding up the clock as teenagers celebrated by circling the square. When Independence was turned over to newly elected officials in the 1890s it was announced that the town would be cleaned up. Politicians promised that tramps would be removed from the square; electric lights would shine all night; and saloons were to be shut down on Sunday nights. The mayors request that saloons be closed on Sundays was ignored, even when drunk riders shot up the square after the election.
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 13:14:36 +0000
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