In the limestone hollows of Boxley Valley along the Buffalo River in Newton County, daily life in the 1890s centered on small farms carved from rocky soil, grist mills that ground corn into meal, and the production of whiskey. Federal officials monitored legal barrels while hidden stills in remote coves supplied mountain families with an essential trade good. On November 29, 1893, a dispute at one of those stills near Boxley ended in murder and set in motion events that led