Hello, listeners, just a quick heads up.

There is some swearing in this episode.

This is damn interesting.

Headphones recommend it.

The 7th of May, 1931, was a hot, dusty day in the mountain town of Corbin, Kentucky.

Alongside a dirt road, a service station manager named Matt Stewart stood on a ladder

painting a cement railroad wall.

His application of a fresh coat of paint was gradually obscuring the sign that had been painted

there previously.

Stuart paused when he heard an automobile approaching at high speed, or what counted for high

speed in 1931. It was coming from the north, from the swath of backcountry known among

locals as Hell's Half Acre. The area was so named for its primary exports, bootleg booze, bullets, and

bodies. The neighborhood was also commonly referred to as the asshole of creation.

Stewart probably squinted through the dust at the approaching car, and he probably wiped sweat from his brow with the

back of a paint-flect wrist. He probably knew that the driver would be armed, angry,

and about to skid to a stop nearby. Stewart set down his paintbrush and picked up his

pistol. The car skidded to a stop nearby.

But it was not an armed man that emerged.

It was three armed men.

Well, you son of a bitch, the driver shouted at the painter.

I see you done it again.

The driver of the car had been using this particular railroad wall to advertise his service

...