Mack Samples latest book is "23 Shots: The 1894 Shootout at Boggs, W.Va."
The book is the true story of one of West Virginia's most notorious shootouts. It took place in the small town of Boggs, in Webster County in 1894.
The face-to-face gunfight inside a post office involved five men and more than a dozen innocent bystanders. The story begins several years earlier in Wise County, Virginia at the infamous Pound Gap Massacre.
Five people were ruthlessly gunned down in cold blood as a
result of infighting between different factions in the raging moonshine wars of the time.
Calvin and Henan Fleming were known far and wide for not only being experts with their guns, but also willing to frequently use them.
When convincing but circumstantial evidence was brought forth in their involvement in the Pound Gap Massacre, the brothers hid out but found increasing pressure to leave the area.
23 Shots chronicles the Fleming brothers journey to Boggs, their seemingly well-thought out integration back into society, and the persistent and dogged determination of three men that were determined to capture the Fleming boys, either dead or alive.
While 23 Shots is a novel, it is based on actual events. The two main shootouts in the story are based on historical records and oral history. The shootout that occurred at the Boggs post office on that cold winter day back in 1894 was as dramatic as the gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizonaâit just never got the notoriety.
Where to Get The Book ($9.95)
Order toll free from the West Virginia Book Co. 1-888-982-7472 or online at
wvbookco.com
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