6
saddlebag dispatches
T
HE KIMES BOYS—GEORGE, Matthew, and Roy—were known far and wide for their “outside the law” ways. Singer and composer Royal Kimes once told me something about his ancestors who rode the outlaw trail in Arkansas. While some people are reluctant to open the family closet and reveal a few skeletons, Royal is eager to talk about his distant kin. “George and Matthew Kimes once shot it out with the Sallisaw sheriff, killed him and got away. They were famous outlaws and very smart. They were men that wouldn't bend to the government and laws of the day.” He goes on to call them flamboyant, and adds, “If I was born back then, I might've done the same. I don't believe in compromise. I don't believe in giving up half of something to get something else.” He paused to gather his thoughts, then went on. “They had a mean streak in ‘em, but Uncle Roy was an awesome guy who'd do anything for you if he liked you. If he didn't, well….” A shrug finished the tale. “They were men and women living in tough times taking on tough ways. The Great Depression made them that way. But they respected lawmen and to a certain degree the law respected them.” Arkansas bred some other locally famous Great Depression outlaws, men of this breed who saw no other recourse except breaking the law to feed their families. After January 16, 1920, when the Volstead Act was enacted making the entire country "dry,"
the accepted money-making crop soon became moonshine. This occupation often turned these successful businessmen into outlaws in the eyes of the sheriff and his deputies. But it was a moneymaking proposition on both sides. The law would arrest them, lay on a big fine and break up their stills. Within a week or two, the boys were back in business with a new still in a new location. After a while, the law would raid them once more, smash the stills, drag them to court and the endless circle would continue. The Kimes Boys, Matt and George, actually began their crime sprees west of Arkansas in Oklahoma during this time. And bank robbing was in fashion during the Roaring Twenties. But they weren't alone, for it was the age of bootleggers, corrupt politicians and gangsters. Even cops and professional men like doctors and lawyers were corrupt. Morals were at an all-time low all over America. In the Ozarks, where poverty ran rampant, many young men turned into outlaws. Automobiles and machine guns made it possible to hit a bank, speed away, gunning down anyone who got in the way. It is written that the Kimes boys’ outlaw days began when they were young and they stole candy from a little country store in Arkansas. It seems Matthew was seven and George a bit older. Worse, the matter was settled by harried parents who offered the kindly storekeeper a case of eggs, and he gave each of the boys a package of gum. According to Michael Koch, author of The Kimes
