Can It Happen Again?

The riot seals the fate of convicted killers Joe Palmer, William McHugh, and the accused Avondale murderers. People want vengeance, and all these men will leave the jail dead, although Allen Ingalls has one final life to take, and he will leave haunting questions about how many people he murdered before the Taylor family after he is gone. While Berner does prison time, Palmer gets the dubious distinction of being the last man hanged in Cincinnati. Some politicians will suffer retribution at the ballot boxes, but by 1886, many of the people most directly responsible for the bad decisions, lack of leadership, and incompetence that left such a horrific death toll will come together in a banquet, where they will all seem to agree that it is no longer too soon to recall the National Guard Massacre with lighthearted humor.