Ed and Lon Maxwell were two outlaws from Illinois who were as renowned and feared as the James Gang and the rest of the desperado gunslingers. But even though a manhunt for them became the largest in our country’s history, they’re relatively unknown.
Historian and professor emeritus at Western Illinois University, John. E. Hallwas hopes to shed light on these brothers in his new book, Dime Novel Desperadoes: The Notorious Maxwell Brothers. Chicago Public Radio’s Gabriel Spitzer recently caught up with Hallwas who says factors of the 19th Century led to the Maxwell Brothers life of crime.
Music Button: Elmer Bernstein, “Strange Funeral”, from the CD The Magnificent Seven, (Ryko)
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