Memories from the Homestead: The Roark villain, Wash Gibbs, real or fictional?

Out here at Low Gap, just down the hill east of Inspiration Point, I've got once again an awesome morning view. A few moments ago, I helped out with a test run of the Vigilante Zipliner from the tower, and as I was looking out over the Roark while flying a hundred and fifty feet above ground, I got to thinking about that no good Wash Gibbs, Harold Bell Wright's bad man in "The Shepherd of the Hills."

Wright made it clear in several interviews that the Gibbs character was completely from his imagination, and no living individual served as an inspiration. But Charles A. Vining, who was remembered as Fiddlin' Jake in Wright's story, brought up something quite interesting in his 1947 interview with Bruce Trimble, and I feel it's time for this to be shared.

Yes, the Gibbs character in the storyline was fictional, but Vining pointed out that the name came from a neighbor that he remembered up on north Roark, Mr. Gibbs May. I've talked with a few of the May family descendants in recent years while researching the Garber and Gretna communities, and they were a large family. 

My great-grandfather Calvin Jones knew the May family quite well as they cut railroad ties together, since that line of work brought a nicer income in those tough years after homesteading.

Charles Vining was asked by Bruce Trimble the following: "What sort of a character was Wash Gibbs?" Vining replied, "Oh, Wash really wasn't such a bad guy, in real life he was Gibbs May, a wild and reckless gambling feller. He was a great race horse man, and rode the finest ball-hornet stallion in these parts. The horse was named Cannon-Ball. That horse was the best race horse in Missouri and Arkansas. He was the father of all the ball hornet horses in this country."

Trimble asked, "What's a ball hornet horse?" Vining replied, "Well, they was a fine chestnut sorrel, with a white face and white stocking."

After finding this interview and recently connecting the dots, I soon realized that George Washington Gibbs May was the father of Rufus May, the young man who cut railroad ties with my great-grandfather Calvin.

Hang with me here as I take y'all down another rabbit hole; there's some neat details here. George Washington Gibbs May was from north of here up in Laclede County. He was born May 8, 1835, to Oliver and Anna (Weeks) May. In 1861 Gibbs married Hester Ann Peters in Morgan, Missouri, south of Lebanon. 

He served as a Union Soldier in the Civil War, enlisting at Marshfield on July 15, 1864, serving in Company D of the 16th Missouri Calvary. He was discharged almost a year later, June 30, 1865.

Gibbs and Hester would have nine children together: eight sons and one daughter. In birth order let me list them for you: William - born 1862; John - born 1864; Siles - born 1866; George - born 1869; Lee - born 1871; Alex - born 1875; Albert - born 1876; Rufus - born 1877; and Ellen, born 1883.

Hester would pass away at age 42 in December 1886, and was laid to rest at the Stults Cemetery just south of the present-day Reeds Spring Junction. Ellen was only three.

Of their nine children, three of the boys died between the ages of 17 and 21, and Lee died at the age of 31 in 1902.

In 1890, Gibbs had registered for his veteran’s pension, and I don't have any other records on him at all otherwise. He would pass away at the age of 58 on November 17, 1893. He was buried next to his wife.

Charles Vining would have had an excellent memory of the May family. He was thirteen when Gibbs passed, and he also worked with Albert and Rufus in the years during railroad construction from the tunnel at Reeds Spring coming down the west fork of Roark. Rufus and his family would later relocate to Idaho.

The Stults Cemetery where many of the May family members are buried is located on Keystone Road near Reeds Spring Junction. 

Well, now you know where the Wash Gibbs character name comes from. The perspective that Charles Vining gave during those late 1940s interviews was quite valuable, as he had worked for Lizzie McDaniel and the Trimbles. He along with Tommy Walden were among just a few at that time who knew the real folks that inspired Wright's best-seller.

We have several fine young men here who portray Wash Gibbs in the Shepherd of the Hills Outdoor Drama and watching their work is a highlight of the performance. The Shepherd of the Hills Outdoor Drama returns for season 66 on Tuesday May 5, 2026. For the full schedule, visit theshepherdofthehills.com .

Happy trails, everyone!