Actually, the problem was 40 years earlier. When David Guitar was an old man, he was interviewed by the University Missourian, Feb 9, 1911. The reporter wrote, " At the outbreak of the Civil war Mr Guitar was given a commission as captain in the Confederate Army by Governor Gamble. He enlisted at Independence KS His brother was a general in the Confederate Army. " We know this to be false. Either the reporter was wrong or Mr. Guitar was wrong. Mr. Guitar died 11 months later of dementia. It's possible that his sentences were all jumbled.
Perhaps, someone has better access to the University Missourian and would be willing to browse the subsequent dates to find letters from family disavowing the statements in the article. However, it's possible they did not want to reveal Mr. Guitar's declining health and dementia.
Importantly, the University Missourian got Mr. Guitar's Union Service right when they published this obit in Jan 2, 1912. The family revealed his dementia as cause of death.
Unfortunately, when Walter Williams published in 1913 his History of Northeast Missouri Vol 2, he must have used the 1911 article. After all, his book was probably already mostly written and in production when Guitar's obit appeared in 1912.
Williams' book became the standard source for the region, since the earlier history of the area was generally unavailable. The Missouri Secretary of State used this book to create a card for confederate service.
Mr. Williams error is somewhat forgivable. After all, he had no reason to believe that the Feb 1911 interview of Mr. Guitar was incorrect.
What drives me crazy is the author of the Ghost Tales of Missouri who admits that the stories in her book series are mostly fiction. It appears she invented the tale of Guitar hiding confederates and using secret tunnels. The man who invented "Confederate Hill" also drives me crazy. Luckily, the author of the application to the National Register of Historic Places acknowledges that the man invented the name.