Thaw Her Out, Wake Her Up

Jay's mention of the Klan's presence in our county reminded me of several other times that our area has gained national prominence. It's never a good thing, either.

This area has always been a favorite place for outlaws and other nefarious characters to hide out, like Belle Starr and the James Gang. The Klan is actually more benign than most, at least nowadays. They even adopted a highway north of town a few years ago and they keep it looking pretty good, too. Strangely enough, no one ever believes me when I tell them about it. They always have to see the highway sign for themselves. Would I lie about a thing like that? I ask you.

In the eighties, there were Daddy Foo, Mrs. Foo, and their shootout on a bridge just south of town. I don't recall how they got themselves in that situation, but I do know it was their intention to commit suicide by police bullet. When, the police only shot them in the leg, Daddy Foo calmly shot Mama Foo and then turned his gun on himself. One of them lived, lingering in ICU for a long, long time. I also don't know which lunatic fringe group they represented, but I believe it was some self-styled religious sect. We've had some of those groups through the years.

Speaking of Survivalist Groups, the Covenant, Sword and Arm of the Lord (CSA) which was founded in San Antonio, Texas in 1971 was another wacko group that had a compound on the Arkansas-Missouri border. They called themselves "Christian Survivalists" and trained their members in urban warfare, riflery, pistolcraft, military tactics and Christian martial arts.

In 1985, the FBI raided the compound and seized weapons, bombs, an anti-tank rocket, and a large amount of cyanide, purportedly intended to poison the water supply of an unnamed city.

Our very own Asa! Hutchinson was a U.S. Attorney at that time, and he had the privilege of prosecuting some of them.

Our county can also boast of another wack-er-eccentric who was not dangerous. Just a little bent. I don't remember his name, but I do vividly remember what he did with his mom when she died. He put her in a freezer on the carport and defied anybody to take her out of it. His intention was to thaw her out and raise her from her icy sleep someday, when medical science was more advanced.

Of course, his stubborn refusal to bury her finally made its way to the national news, and he appeared on the Tom Snyder show. Tom was all ready to ridicule him and show him to be crazy, but as the interview wore on, it was obvious that Tom was beginning to wonder if the guy might be right. He stopped chuckling and started asking serious questions. I swear, the guy almost made a believer out of Tom because, doggone it, the guy did sound reasonable. With all the talk of cryogenics these days, I wonder if the he was just ahead of his time.