Captain Grimes — John T. Wayne

Mark Twain! Here is an icon of American literature, a national monument if you count all the national forests in Missouri which are dedicated to him, yet to date there is little written until now of his Civil War escapades with the Ralls County Rangers, or his career as a riverboat pilot from Hannibal. Saddled with a war nobody wanted except for a few powerful and wealthy families, two characters did not mature one bit and that is what makes Captain Grimes Unreconstructed such a treasure. From spying to stealing river boats and blowing up ironclads, the career of Captain Grimes would be considered a valiant one if you were fighting for the south. The Yankee's wanted his head on a platter, and in 1864 they captured the Confederate mail runner for a sixth time, but fate intervened and the Union was forced to release him. Several more attempts were made on his life, but he lived to be old and seasoned. He retired as a park ranger from Missouri and well, you know what happened to Mark Twain.