Summer Violence

THE WAY WEST
By "The Cowboy" Jim Gray

The United States has suffered parodic bouts of civil unrest especially during the hot summer months. Tempers are easily ignited under extreme conditions. Unbearable heat can fester into senseless inhumanity toward others around us. Dissatisfaction is amplified, sometimes leading to infectious mob violence that at its height looks as if it will be the ruin of all in its path.

That was the perception when several mob actions spread across the country in 1873. At Fulton, Mo., near the center of the state, the arrest of mule thieves, Peter Kessler and his son, August, raised the ire of a number of Callaway County citizens.

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