Download or read book Gangster Tour of Texas written by T. Lindsay Baker and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2011-08-31 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bonnie and Clyde, Machine Gun Kelly, the Newton Boys, the Santa Claus Bank Robbers. . . . During the era of gangsters and organized crime, Texas hosted its fair share of guns and gambling, moonshine and morphine, ransom and robbery. The state’s crime wave hit such a level that in 1927 the Texas Bankers Association offered a reward of $5,000 for a dead bank robber; no reward was given for one captured alive. Veteran historian T. Lindsay Baker brings his considerable sleuthing skills to the dark side, leading readers on a fascinating tour of the most interesting and best preserved crime scenes in the Lone Star State. Gangster Tour of Texas traces a trail of crime that had its beginnings in 1918, when the Texas legislature outlawed alcohol, and persisted until 1957, when Texas Rangers closed down the infamous casinos of Galveston. Baker presents detailed maps, photographs of criminals, victims, and law officers, and pictures of the crime scenes as they appear today. Steeped in solid historical research, including personal visits by the author to every site described in the book, this volume offers entertaining and informative insights into a particularly lawless period in our nation’s history. Readers interested in true crime, regional history, or this unique aspect of heritage tourism will derive hours of enjoyment as they follow--on the road or from their armchairs--the trail of both cops and robbers in Gangster Tour of Texas. “Baker knows how to spin a yarn that keeps his readers engrossed; knows that it does history no harm to write it so folks will enjoy many illustrations, maps, and pictures of outlaws, lawmen, victims, witnesses, and crime scenes that accompany each story. Plus, his picture captions are as informative as his story narratives."--Bill Neal, author, Getting Away with Murder on the Texas Frontier
Download or read book 1960s Austin Gangsters written by Jesse Sublett and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2015-03-09 with total page 167 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Timmy Overton of Austin and Jerry Ray James of Odessa were football stars who traded athletics for lives of crime. The original rebels without causes, nihilists with Cadillacs and Elvis hair, the Overton gang and their associates formed a ragtag white trash mafia that bedazzled Austin law enforcement for most of the 1960s. Tied into a loose network of crooked lawyers, pimps and used car dealers who became known as the "traveling criminals," they burglarized banks and ran smuggling and prostitution rings all over Texas. Author Jesse Sublett presents a detailed account of these Austin miscreants, who rose to folk hero status despite their violent criminal acts.
Download or read book Texas True Crime Miscellany written by Clay Coppedge and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2021-07-26 with total page 117 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Outrageous acts of villainy have slowly drifted out of the national limelight and into the dustbin of Texas history. Consider the uproar over the 1879 shooting of actor Maurice Barrymore in Marshall and the 1949 murder of oil field legend Tex Thornton in Amarillo. The 1909 Coryell County Courthouse massacre committed by a sixteen-year-old girl remains just as shocking today. For the long-suffering associates of repeat offenders like Fort Worth's Flapper Bandit or Temple's International Man of Mystery, notoriety couldn't fade quickly enough. From the lawless days of the frontier to the rise of organized crime, Clay Coppedge sifts through eighteen obscure case files to chart the evolution of crime and punishment in the state.
Download or read book Old Riot New Ranger written by Bob Alexander and published by University of North Texas Press. This book was released on 2018-07-15 with total page 544 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Award-winning author Bob Alexander presents a biography of 20th-century Ranger Captain Jack Dean, who holds the distinction of being one of only five men to serve in both the Officer’s Corps of the Rangers and also as a President-appointed United States Marshal. Jack Dean’s service in Texas Ranger history occurred at a time when the institution was undergoing a philosophical revamping and restructuring, all hastened by America’s Civil Rights Movement, landmark decisions handed down by the United States Supreme Court, zooming advances in forensic technology, and focused efforts designed to diversify and professionalize the Rangers. His job choice caused him to circulate in the duplicitous underworld of dishonesty and criminality where twisted self-interest overrode compliance with societal norms. His biography is packed with true-crime calamities: double murders, single murders, negligent homicides, suicides, jailbreaks, manhunts, armed robberies and home invasions, kidnappings, public corruption, sexual assaults, illicit gambling, car-theft rings, dope smuggling, and arms trafficking.
Download or read book Firearms of the Texas Rangers written by Doug Dukes and published by University of North Texas Press. This book was released on 2020-08-14 with total page 645 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From their founding in the 1820s up to the modern age, the Texas Rangers have shown the ability to adapt and survive. Part of that survival depended on their use of firearms. The evolving technology of these weapons often determined the effectiveness of these early day Rangers. John Coffee “Jack” Hays and Samuel Walker would leave their mark on the Rangers by incorporating new technology which allowed them to alter tactics when confronting their adversaries. The Frontier Battalion was created at about the same time as the Colt Peacemaker and the Winchester 73—these were the guns that “won the West.” Firearms of the Texas Rangers, with more than 180 photographs, tells the history of the Texas Rangers primarily through the use of their firearms. Author Doug Dukes narrates famous episodes in Ranger history, including Jack Hays and the Paterson, the Walker Colt, the McCulloch Colt Revolver (smuggled through the Union blockade during the Civil War), and the Frontier Battalion and their use of the Colt Peacemaker and Winchester and Sharps carbines. Readers will delight in learning of Frank Hamer’s marksmanship with his Colt Single Action Army and his Remington, along with Captain J.W. McCormick and his two .45 Colt pistols, complete with photos. Whether it was a Ranger in 1844 with his Paterson on patrol for Indians north of San Antonio, or a Ranger in 2016 with his LaRue 7.62 rifle working the Rio Grande looking for smugglers and terrorists, the technology may have changed, but the gritty job of the Rangers has not.
Download or read book Tall Walls and High Fences written by Bob Alexander and published by University of North Texas Press. This book was released on 2020-10-15 with total page 601 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Texas has one of the world’s largest prison systems, in operation for more than 170 years and currently employing more than 28,000 people. Hundreds of thousands of people have been involved in the prison business in Texas: inmates, correctional officers, public officials, private industry representatives, and volunteers have all entered the secure facilities and experienced a different world. Previous books on Texas prisons have focused either on records and data of the prisons, personal memoirs by both inmates and correctional officers, or accounts of prison breaks. Tall Walls and High Fences is the first comprehensive history of Texas prisons, written by a former law enforcement officer and an officer of the Texas prisons. Bob Alexander and Richard K. Alford chronicle the significant events and transformation of the Texas prison system from its earliest times to the present day, paying special attention to the human side of the story. Incarceration policy evolved from isolation to hard labor to rodeo and educational opportunities, with reform measures becoming an ever-evolving quest. The complex job of the correctional officer has evolved as well—they must ensure custody and control over the inmate population at all times, in order to provide a proper environment conducive to safety and positive change. Alexander and Alford focus especially on the men and women who work with diligence and dedication at their jobs “inside the walls,” risking their lives and—in too many instances—giving their lives in a peculiar line of duty most would find unpalatable. Within these pages are stories of prison breaks, bloodhounds chasing escapees, and gunfights. Inside the walls are deadly confrontations, human trafficking, rape, clandestine consensual trysts, and tricks turned against correctional officers. Famous people and episodes in Texas prison history receive their due, from Texas Rangers apprehending and placing outlaws in prison to the famed gunfighter John Wesley Hardin’s time in and out of prison. Tall Walls and High Fences covers numerous convict escape attempts and successes, including the 1974 prison siege at Huntsville and the 2007 prisoner gunfight and escape at the Wynne Unit. Throughout this long history Alexander and Alford pay special tribute to the more than 75 correctional officers, lawmen, and civilians who lost their lives in the line of duty.
Download or read book The Texas Calaboose and Other Forgotten Jails written by William E. Moore and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2019-01-23 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A calaboose is, quite simply, a tiny jail. Designed to house prisoners only for a short time, a calaboose could be anything from an iron cage to a poured concrete blockhouse. Easily constructed and more affordable for small communities than a full-sized building, calabooses once dotted the rural landscape. Though a relic of a bygone era in law enforcement and no longer in use, many calabooses remain in communities throughout Texas, often hidden in plain sight. In The Texas Calaboose and Other Forgotten Jails, William E. Moore has compiled the first guidebook to extant calabooses in Texas. He explores the history of the calaboose, including its construction, use, and eventual decline, but the heart of the book is in the alphabetically arranged photo tour of calabooses across the state. Each entry is accompanied by a vignette describing the unique features of the calaboose at hand, any infamous or otherwise memorable occupants, and the state of the calaboose at present. Most have been long abandoned, but because many remain on city or town property, some have been repurposed into storage buildings or even government offices. In certain ways, these small jails encapsulate the history of outlying communities during a time of transition from the “Wild West” to the twentieth century. Some of the structures have been preserved and cared-for, but despite the stories they can tell, many more are endangered or have already been lost. This definitive guide to tiny Texas jails serves as a record of a unique and disappearing feature of our heritage.
Download or read book Portrait of Route 66 written by T. Lindsay Baker and published by University of Oklahoma Press. This book was released on 2016-09-20 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By the time Route 66 received its official numerical designation in 1926, picture postcards had become popular travel souvenirs. At the time, these postcards with colorful images served as advertisements for roadside businesses. While cherished by collectors, these postcard depictions do not always reflect reality. They often present instead a view enhanced for promotional purposes. Portrait of Route 66 lets us see for the first time the actual photographs from which the postcards were made, and in describing how the production process worked, introduces us to an extraordinary archival collection, adding new history to this iconic road. The Curt Teich Postcard Archives, held at the Lake County Discovery Museum in Wauconda, Illinois, contains one of the nation’s largest collections of Route 66 images, including thousands of job files for postcards produced by Curt Teich and Company of Chicago. T. Lindsay Baker combed these files to choose the best examples of postcards and their accompanying photographs not only to reflect well-known sites along the route but also to demonstrate the relationships between photographs and their resulting postcards. The photographs show the reality of the locations that customers sometimes wanted "improved" for aesthetic purposes in creating the postcards. Such alterations included removing utility poles or automobile traffic and rendering overcast skies partly cloudy. This book will interest historians of art and design as well as the worldwide audiences of Route 66 aficionados and postcard collectors. For its mining of an invaluable and little-known photographic archive and depiction of high-quality photographs that have not been seen before, Portrait of Route 66 will be irresistible to all who are interested in American history and culture.
Download or read book Top O Hill Terrace written by Vickie Bryant and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2012 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If the saga of Top O' Hill Casino becoming Arlington Baptist College were written as fiction, readers would dismiss it as improbable and impossible. The story of a tearoom evolving into the gambling hot spot of North Central Texas that was then acquired by a fiery gospel preacher, who foretold its transformation into a Baptist seminary and ultimately an accredited Bible college, is stranger than fiction yet absolutely true. The rich and famous enjoyed rubbing shoulders with the mysterious and notoriously infamous, and if large amounts of money were involved, so much the better. Stir in fabulous racehorses, flashy stage and screen stars, singers, dancers, well-known bandleaders and bands, and the tale becomes enthralling.
Download or read book We Did What written by Timothy B. Jay and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2016-11-28 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This provocative guide profiles behaviors considered shocking throughout American history, revealing the extent of changing social mores and cultural perceptions of appropriate conduct since the Colonial period. The notion of what is offensive has evolved over time. But what factors dictate decorum and why does it change? This fascinating work delves into the history of "inappropriate" behavior in the United States, providing an in-depth look at what has been considered improper conduct throughout American history—and how it came to be deemed as such. The detailed narrative considers the impact of religion, sexuality, popular culture, technology, and politics on social graces, and it features more than 150 entries on topics considered taboo in American cultural history. Organized alphabetically, topics include abortion, body odors, cannibalism, and voyeurism as well as modern-day examples like dumpster diving, breast feeding in public, and trolling. Each entry defines the behavior in question, provides an historical outline of the offensive behavior, and discusses its current status in American culture. Throughout the book, clear connections between offenses and social values illustrate the symbiotic relationship between popular opinion and acceptable behaviors of the time.
Download or read book Heaven s Harsh Tableland written by Paul H. Carlson and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2023-12-14 with total page 537 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Llano Estacado—dubbed by author Paul H. Carlson as “heaven’s harsh tableland”—covers some 48,000 square miles of western Texas and eastern New Mexico. In this new survey of the region, the story begins during prehistoric times and with descendants of the Comanche, Apache, and other Native American tribal groups. Other groups have also left their marks on the area: Spanish explorers, Comancheros and other traders, European settlers, farmers and ranchers, artists, and even athletes. Carlson, a veteran historian, aims to review “the Llano’s historic contours from its earliest foundations to its energetic present,” and in doing so, he skillfully narrates the story of the region up to the present time of modern agribusiness and urbanization. Throughout the ten chronologically arranged chapters, concise sidebars support the narrative, highlighting important and interesting topics such as the enigmatic origins of the region’s name, fascinating geological and paleontological facts, the arrival of humans, the natural history of bison, colorful “characters” in the history of the region, and many others. The resulting broad synthesis captures the entirety of the Llano Estacado, summarizing and interpreting its natural and human history in a single, carefully researched and clearly written volume. Heaven’s Harsh Tableland: A New History of the Llano Estacado will provide a helpful, enjoyable, and authoritative guide to the history and development of this important region.
Download or read book The Wisconsin Road Guide to Gangster Hot Spots written by Chad Lewis and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Put on your zoot suit and follow in the footsteps of America's most infamous gangsters as they turned Wisconsin into their personal criminal vacationland. Filled with deadly bank robberies, explosive shootouts, brutal gangland retaliations, and daring escapes, this book lets you uncover the grisly locations where the gangster history will never die.
Download or read book Amarillo Flights written by Paul V. Chaplo and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2021-08-16 with total page 403 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Visitors to Texas and New Mexico have marveled for centuries at the immensity of the Llano Estacado and the surprising contrast as, at the edges of the great mesa, the flat ground gives way suddenly to such spectacular formations as the Palo Duro and Caprock Canyons. In the introduction to Amarillo Flights, artist and naturalist Walt Davis chronicle the history of this region—what Paul Chaplo calls the “Llano Country”—and of those artists, mapmakers, and travelers who have tried in various ways to capture its spirit. Working in “the vast studio of the sky,” aerial photographer Chaplo has battled high winds, turbulence, dust, ice, near-miss bird strikes, wildfire smoke, and a host of aircraft problems to show the Llano Country from a place most of us will never be. Covering more than forty thousand square miles, he explores the incredible beauty and rich cultural history of the Panhandle and the surrounding landscapes, from canyons in New Mexico and Texas to hills and plains in Oklahoma. With the help of daring pilots, numerous aircraft, and a remarkably steady hand, Chaplo manages to capture in more than 100 striking photographs the shapes, textures, and colors of the rugged landforms that cannot be perceived fully from the ground. Sharing in his unique view from the southwestern sky, readers will experience from afar—and sometimes impossibly close—the sunlit canyons, storm-covered plains, and winding rivers cutting deep into the red earth that drew Chaplo to this region. For those who appreciate the Llano Estacado, Texas and Eastern New Mexico history, and landscape photography, this book provides a fresh and perception-challenging perspective.
Download or read book Traveling History With Bonnie and Clyde written by Robin Cole-Jett and published by . This book was released on 2022-02 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wanton criminals who forged a short but deadly path of destruction during the Great Depression, the exploits of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow continue to fascinate. With lives spent inside stolen cars while continuously evading law enforcement, their story creates a perfect backdrop for road trippers who seek authentic sites and experiences. This new, improved guide to actual locations frequented by Bonnie and Clyde takes the traveler throughout the American Southwest and Midwest, to places where murders, movies, and mayhem collide with the "gangster era," a brief but unique time in U.S. history. Readers can take road trips through Dallas and Fort Worth; through Louisiana; through Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas; and through all of Texas to discover the places where Bonnie and Clyde committed their crimes and faced off with the law. The tour through Dallas includes the site of a murder. The tour through Oklahoma includes banks that the couple robbed; the tour through Louisiana includes the ambush location.
Download or read book Gang of One written by Gary Mulgrew and published by Hodder. This book was released on 2012-01-24 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: GANG OF ONE is the remarkable true story of one man's journey from a Glasgow orphanage to a notorious gang-infested prison in Texas. Driven by his desire to return to his son in England and haunted by the increasingly frustrating search for his missing daughter, Gary Mulgrew attempts the impossible task of surviving the prison's gang culture. Told with wit and humanity, GANG OF ONE shows a man constantly confronted by the moral and physical challenges of prison life, where everyone is encouraged to turn their back and 'see nuthin''. Gary's choice - to walk away and let a man die, or intervene and lose the chance to get home - makes GANG OF ONE a book as unforgettable as it is enthralling.
Download or read book The Texas Calaboose and Other Forgotten Jails written by William E. Moore and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2018-12-20 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A calaboose is, quite simply, a tiny jail. Designed to house prisoners only for a short time, a calaboose could be anything from an iron cage to a poured concrete blockhouse. Easily constructed and more affordable for small communities than a full-sized building, calabooses once dotted the rural landscape. Though a relic of a bygone era in law enforcement and no longer in use, many calabooses remain in communities throughout Texas, often hidden in plain sight. In The Texas Calaboose and Other Forgotten Jails, William E. Moore has compiled the first guidebook to extant calabooses in Texas. He explores the history of the calaboose, including its construction, use, and eventual decline, but the heart of the book is in the alphabetically arranged photo tour of calabooses across the state. Each entry is accompanied by a vignette describing the unique features of the calaboose at hand, any infamous or otherwise memorable occupants, and the state of the calaboose at present. Most have been long abandoned, but because many remain on city or town property, some have been repurposed into storage buildings or even government offices. In certain ways, these small jails encapsulate the history of outlying communities during a time of transition from the “Wild West” to the twentieth century. Some of the structures have been preserved and cared-for, but despite the stories they can tell, many more are endangered or have already been lost. This definitive guide to tiny Texas jails serves as a record of a unique and disappearing feature of our heritage.
Download or read book Blood Aces written by Doug J. Swanson and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2015-07-28 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A rip-roaring saga of murder, money, and the making of Las Vegas They say in Vegas you can’t understand the town unless you understand Benny Binion—mob boss, casino owner, and creator of the World Series of Poker. Beginning as a Texas horse trader, Binion built a gambling empire in Depression-era Dallas. When the law chased him out of town, he loaded up suitcases with cash and headed for Vegas. The place would never be the same. Dramatic as any gangster movie, Blood Aces draws readers into the colorful world of notorious mobsters like Clyde Barrow and Bugsy Siegel. Given access to previously classified government documents, biographer Doug J. Swanson provides the definitive account of a great American antihero, a man whose rise from thugdom to prominence and power is unmatched in the history of American criminal justice.
