Larry; I appreciate your offer of help. I write history that has been fleshed out with enough fiction to make a story. I am interested in any history up to and including the time of the Civil War in the border areas of Arkansas and Missouri. Let's say from around Batesville, Arkansas to about Springfield, or Rolla, Missouri. These areas were the hardest hit by the bushwhackers that roamed this area. Any details of such people as Bill Dark, a bushwhacker from the Fox, AR. area,or Morgan Cochran of around Rapp's Barrens (Mountain Home) or any other bushwhackers, southern guerillas, or union guerillas, would be welcome. My next book will be set in an area from northern Marion County, north of Yellville, over to Fort Smith, including Carrollton, and maybe as far north as Forsythe, Missouri. I am not interested in writing about events or persons who have already been extensively written about. Also I don't spend a lot of time on regular army units. My first book (Blessed Are The Peacemakers, 2001) was about a Confederate soldier who lost a leg in battle and ended up fighting bushwhackers is what is now Baxter County. Any help you could give me would be appreciated. The third book down the line (Paths of Judgement) will include the part about James Black and the development of the Bowie knife.