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It is amazing the variety of images that appear everyday with people holding a Thompson.

With a little research on the images a huge amount of information can be discovered. What

follows are several cases in point.

The photo shown to the left is of a man

named Glen Young. Glen was brought into

Williamson County, Ill., to help clean it up

from bootleggers, in Nov. 1923. Williamson

Co. was a notorious haven for the Berger

and Shelton gangs that made even Chicago

gangs look tame. At times during their

reign they engaged in gun fights using ar-

mored vehicles and even airplanes drop-

ping bombs.

Young was a prohibition agent who used

the KKK (of all people) to raid and destroy

the bootlegging operations in the area.

To put is simply NO ONE liked him, not the

city or county police nor the Berger and

Shelton gangs (which joined forces to fight

him).

Young was reputed to be a good shot and he

did create a lot of trouble for the gangs. So

on Jan. 24, 1925, a shot was fired to lure

Young to respond to the local hotel lobby.

Young had his two pearl handle 1911s with

him when he entered along with some of his KKK friends. Chief Deputy Ora Thomas entered

after Young drew his revolver and fired at Young. Young was hit in the side and chest. Young

managed to fire three rounds out of one of his 1911s, shooting Thomas once through the head

and shooting another associate of Thomas's, named Edward Forbes twice through the head.

This is then followed by several rounds being fired from various places outside the hotel into

the lobby. After all was said and done, four people were dead, with no one convicted or indicted

and the National Guard being called in.

There are several good books on Williamson County during the 1920s. I recommend reading

some of them. Reality is scarier than fiction.