Our Arklahoma Heritage: A Civil War legacy built on legend and lore defines the story of "Wild Bill" Heffington

In the shadows of Mount Magazine, the legend of William Jasper “Wild Bill” Heffington still stirs debate

. A Confederate soldier turned Unionist guerrilla, Heffington’s life was marked by shifting allegiances, frontier justice, and a violent death that remains shrouded in mystery.

Born in 1830 in Wayne County, Tennessee, Heffington entered the world as William J. McBride, the son of Louisa McBride and reputedly Henry Heffington. He moved with his mother to Yell County in 1842.

Around 1860, he adopted the Heffington surname--a symbolic break from his past and a name that would soon become infamous.

Heffington married Elizabeth Tennessee Britt in 1850, and together they had six children: Calvin Franklin, Nancy Levinia, Lorenzo, Elizabeth, Mariamnia, and Willie T.C.—the youngest, born after his death and named in his honor.

His military career began with the Confederate Seventeenth Arkansas Infantry Regiment, Company F, later merged into the Twenty-first Arkansas Infantry, Company E1. He rose to second lieutenant but was discharged in May 1862.

Disillusioned, he returned to Yell County and formed a band of partisan rangers who operated from Mount Magazine, targeting Confederate interests and earning the nickname “Wild Bill.”

In early 1863, Heffington led over 100 men--many from Franklin, Logan, and Yell counties--to Fayetteville to enlist in the Union’s First Arkansas Infantry Regiment. He was commissioned captain of Company I. Though present during the April 18 Battle of Fayetteville, his unit was unarmed and did not engage.

Afterward, Heffington returned to his mountain stronghold, where he repelled a Confederate assault in June with a force of roughly 125 men.

Confederate authorities placed a $15,000 bounty on his head. Union Lt. Col. A. W. Bishop described him as “a cool, daring, intelligent woodsman,” while others saw him as a rogue who preyed on both sides. The Arkansas Gazette labeled his band “jayhawkers” who terrorized the region with robbery and violence.

The circumstances of Heffington’s death remain contested. Some accounts report he was captured and hanged by Confederate guerrillas while crossing the Arkansas River near Mulberry on August 15, 1863. Others suggest he was killed in action near Crawfordsville, Arkansas, that same year.

His burial site is unknown.

Elizabeth Heffington lived until 1928, raising their children alone. Willie T.C., born in 1864, carried his father’s name and memory into the next century.

Today, Heffington’s legacy remains complex.

Was he a principled Unionist, a disillusioned Confederate, or a self-serving opportunist?

His story reflects the fractured loyalties and brutal realities of Civil War Arkansas--a place where survival often blurred the lines between heroism and outlawry.