I have read just about every book on the Missouri guerrillas i can get my hands on.. There is two things that i can not look past without question any longer.. I noticed in many books based on Quantrill that there seems to be possible inaccuracies in regards to two gentleman.. Sam Hildebrand and John Thrailkill.. Both are cast as Quantrill guerrillas or in Sam Hildebrands case a member briefly..

I have read Missouri Rebels Remembered by John and James Farley ( a great well researched book) and Other Missouri Guerrillas by Larry Wood (another great read about some noted forgotten guerrillas) and both, in regard to Quantrill, do not mention a captaincy under Quantrill for Thrailkill.. Many authors also mention that Thrailkill became a guerrilla because of a fiancee that was traumatized by federals and died and so he sought revenge.. Which we know now is a fabricated story but still persists..

So am i missing something? Is there evidence that i have missed in regards to these gentleman and their possible interaction with Quantrill? Sam Hildebrand was in the lower southeast section of Missouri.. so any meeting with Quantrill would have to be maybe in winter quarters somewhere such as Arkansas or Texas..

Thraillkill would have met Quantrill maybe by happenstance in the summer of "64 but he was in no way a captain under Quantrill or took orders from him.. But again, am i missing something..? I dont think i am and this is just Quantrill myth that seems to persist.. Is there any evidence to the contrary?