As a writer, Thompson became well known as a local colorist, his works ranging from local history to articles about archery. His first book, Hoosier Mosaics, published in 1875, was a collection of short stories illustrating the people and atmosphere of small Indiana towns. He followed it with a successful compilation of his published essays, The Witchery of Archery, which was well received for its wit and use of common language. At this same time, Thompson also published several collections of naturalistic poetry, though they weren’t well received at the time.

Thompson wrote the poem “To the South” that was reprinted in George Washington Cable’s influential and controversial essay, “The Freedmen’s Case in Equity” in 1885. This poem expressed Thompson’s reaction to the freeing of the slaves, and implied that some other Southerners were not as angry about the overturning of that institution as Northerners presumed.
Through the 1880s, Thompson moved into the realm of fiction. His early works featured the common thread of simple southern life, taken mostly from Thompson’s childhood. With his 1886 semi-autobiographical novel, A Banker of Bankersville, he returned to his Indiana roots. Arguably his most successful and well-known novel came with 1900’s, Alice of Old Vincennes. The novel vividly depicted Indiana during the Revolutionary War.
Thompson died shortly after its publication, on February 15, 1901, of pneumonia, at the age of 56.

When Thompson wrote The Witchery of Archery, he filled it with various stories, many of which were humorous. However, it also gave practical advice on the sport, such as the manufacturing of archery paraphernalia and how to use the equipment while hunting

The Witchery of Archery was accredited for returning the sport of archery to public interest. Some of this was due to rifles bringing back bad memories of the American Civil War.  By 1880, with the book less than two years old, patents relating to archery items greatly increased. More than any other book, The Witchery of Archery led to the increased interest in archery for the next half-century.
A year after The Witchery of Archery was published; Thompson was selected as the first president of the National Archery Association, largely due to the book.

     Notes of Interest

• In the United States, archery was practiced almost entirely by Native Americans until 1828, when the United Bowmen of Philadelphia was founded by Titian Ramsey Peale. That club became defunct in 1859, but archery was revived after the Civil War by Maurice and Will Thompson. They weren't allowed to own firearms because they had been Confederate soldiers, so they took up hunting with bow and arrow in Florida before settling in Crawfordsville, Indiana.

• In 1878, Maurice wrote a book, The Witchery of Archery, which inspired the formation of more than twenty archery clubs in less than a year. They met at Crawfordsville in 1879 to establish the National Archery Association, which held the first national tournament that year at White Stocking Park in Chicago.

• Called by his peers "The Father of Archery in America"

• Named in his honor, The National Archery Association’s highest honor, the Maurice Thompson Award, is bestowed on outstanding members of the archery community - Established in 1939