A strong willed, independent woman, all Ella Mayfield wanted was to help her widowed mother and siblings survive during the Civil War. Invasions by Union soldiers and Kansas Jawhawkers into Vernon Co. Missouri forced Ella to join a Bushwhacker band. Brave and daring, Ella dressed like a man, was a crack shot and superb horseman. Her dangerous exploits are legendary while she served as a spy and faught to protect her home near Montevallo, Mo.