I thought I should add a bit to this. According to a couple of older gentlemen in Camden Point, MO, the story is that Thornton and his men, and local families, were having a picnic when the Federals rushed them. The six killed that are mentioned in the story are buried in the graves in my posted photo.
Pure happenstance that I got the story and saw the graves. I didn't know how wide the trailer I was towing was, so had to pull off to measure - road work was being done and the sign said "severe lane width restrictions 10' 0"" so I pulled off at a little gas station to measure. The cannon on it drew the attention of the gentlemen, who came over to talk to me, and one got on his scooter and guided me to the markers. (and my trailer is 8' 10 3/4" wide). Then, instead of going directly back to the interstate, we kind of drove around thought the back country for a bit. Beautiful area.
