Arriving at the Truth

Just completed the draft profile of a Missouri man who belonged to William L. “Bloody Bill” Anderson’s gang of guerrillas. Numerous sources have been investigated, and they yielded several interesting anecdotes about my subject, Lee McMurtry. The most dramatic is an account of McMurtry severe wounding during the raid on Fayette, Missouri, and was rescued by fellow guerrilla Jesse James — yes, the future outlaw. It’s the kind of story I would normally have no hesitation in making the lead of a profile. However, I’ve now learned that this account of Fayette, and the rest of the history of the guerrillas as told in this book, which was published in 1875, is highly inaccurate and very sympathetic to James and others who went on to lead a life of crime. So, I’ve decided to give this anecdote a small mention towards the end of the profile and endnote it accordingly, and use another interesting anecdote from a much more reliable source.

The larger question remains: How do you arrive at the truth? One answer is to seek out and find as many sources and references as possible, then analyze them to determine which information is, in probablity, the most accurate.