Download or read book Hell s Half Acre written by Susan Jonusas and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2022-05-26 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A suspense filled tale of murder on the American frontier—shedding new light on a family of serial killers in Kansas, whose horrifying crimes gripped the attention of a nation still reeling from war. In 1873 the people of Labette County, Kansas made a grisly discovery. Buried by a trailside cabin beneath an orchard of young apple trees were the remains of countless bodies. Below the cabin itself was a cellar stained with blood. The Benders, the family of four who once resided on the property were nowhere to be found. The discovery sent the local community and national newspapers into a frenzy that continued for decades, sparking an epic manhunt for the Benders. The idea that a family of seemingly respectable homesteaders—one among the thousands relocating farther west in search of land and opportunity after the Civil War—were capable of operating "a human slaughter pen" appalled and fascinated the nation. But who the Benders really were, why they committed such a vicious killing spree and whether justice ever caught up to them is a mystery that remains unsolved to this day. Set against the backdrop of postbellum America, Hell’s Half-Acre explores the environment capable of allowing such horrors to take place. Drawing on extensive original archival material, Susan Jonusas introduces us to a fascinating cast of characters, many of whom have been previously missing from the story. Among them are the families of the victims, the hapless detectives who lost the trail, and the fugitives that helped the murderers escape. Hell’s Half-Acre is a journey into the turbulent heart of nineteenth century America, a place where modernity stalks across the landscape, violently displacing existing populations and building new ones. It is a world where folklore can quickly become fact and an entire family of criminals can slip through a community’s fingers, only to reappear in the most unexpected of places.

Download or read book Hell s Half Acre written by Richard F. Selcer and published by TCU Press. This book was released on 1991 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Includes material on Luke Short, Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Sam Bass, and Butch Cassiday.

Download or read book Hell s Half Acre written by William W. Johnstone and published by Pinnacle Books. This book was released on 2017-01-31 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this Western series debut,Fort Worth is the deadliest place on the Texas frontier. Good thing the new sheriff isn’t afraid to die—or kill. “Stay the hell out of Fort Worth.” Those were the last words uttered by the boomtown’s last sheriff. Rail-thin and half starved, desperate cowpuncher Jess Casey ignores the travel advice. Instead, Casey not only enters Fort Worth, he takes the dead man’s job. Now it’s up to him to keep the peace in a body-riddled slice of heaven known as Hell’s Half Acre—home of notorious outlaws like Kurt Koenig and his merciless gang. For Koenig, the only good lawman is a dead one, and he puts a pretty price on Casey’s head. For Casey, that means war. Against him are the frontier’s fastest draw and a host of murderous triggers. On his side are decades of rock-hard Texas living, a couple of ne’er-do-well deputies, and the good sense to do all his talking behind the barrel of a fast-blazing gun . . .

Download or read book Hell s Half Acre written by Will Christopher Baer and published by MacAdam/Cage Publishing. This book was released on 2004 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Short-story writer and novelist Baer goes for the gory in this follow-up to "Kiss Me, Judas" and "Penny Dreadful." Phineas Poe stumbles his way to San Francisco in search of ex-lover Jude who is under the spell of a wealthy sociopath, who's helping her play out a revenge fantasy.

Download or read book Hell s Half Acre written by Nicholas Nicastro and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2015-11-10 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Welcome to the bloody end of bleeding Kansas… Based on true events, this unforgettable novel tells the story of the Bloody Benders, a family of grifters and thieves running an isolated feed store on the Kansas plains, boarding travelers along the Great Osage Trail. Beautiful Kate Bender was mysterious and well-versed in the dark arts; Ma and Pa were quiet and foreboding, speaking in guttural tones; and young John Bender was thought to be insane. On land soaked with the blood of conflict, the Benders made their home. And one by one, prairie travelers began to disappear… Rooted in history, this is a vivid tale of the Benders’ origins, and how they became some of the most horrific figures in early post-Civil War America. This gruesome Western thriller is perfect for lovers of Sweeney Todd, and fans of John Harwood and Sarah Raynes.

Download or read book Cold Blooded written by William W. Johnstone and published by Pinnacle Books. This book was released on 2017-04-25 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: USA Today bestselling author: A sheriff fights back when terror takes over his Texas town . . . Bestselling Western writers William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone introduce lawman Jess Casey, a rode-hard, stubborn Texas cowboy with a knack for laying down the law—with a very fast gun . . . One day to live. Seven days to die. Sheriff Jess Carey and his oddball band of sidekicks have pulled off the impossible, taming Hell's Half Acre, the most lawless town in Texas, infamous for murder, mayhem, prostitution, and every random act of bloodshed imaginable. Now the no-good politicians in Austin have decided it's cheaper to dump hordes of criminals on Jess Carey's town than to hang 'em. In one dreadful week it seems as if the gates of Hell have burst open. Freed outlaws, gunslingers, bandits, rapists, desperados, drifters, and miscreants are roaming Hell's Half Acre—and Jess and his deputies are running out of bullets fast. As the fighting rages, some ruthless, powerful men see their chance to kill Sheriff Jess Carey and take the town for their own . . .

Download or read book A Half Acre of Hell written by Avis D. Schorer and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Kiss Me Judas written by Will Christopher Baer and published by MacAdam/Cage Publishing. This book was released on 2004 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first installment of the Phineas Poe trilogy. An unwitting police officer fsalls in love with a beautiful but deadly tremptress who steals his kidney and leaves him alone and empty.

Download or read book Wicked Albuquerque written by Cody Polston and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2017 with total page 1 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Albuquerque's early lawless reputation rivaled that of Dodge City and Tombstone. Its red-light district was known as Hell's Half Acre. Brothel owner Lizzy McGrath once had a local church demolished to build her new bordello. Milt Yarberry, the town's first marshal, was hanged for murder. And the controversial Elfego Baca, who had the gall to face Pancho Villa, survived a thirty-six-hour gunfight unscathed. Author Cody Polston presents the tales of those who slipped through the cracks of morality.

Download or read book Jim Courtright of Fort Worth written by Robert K. DeArment and published by TCU Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Timothy Isaiah "Longhair Jim" Courtright operated on both sides of the law and became a legend in his lifetime and after his death. One of the most colorful characters from the wild and woolly days of Fort Worth's Hell's Half Acre, Courtright was at various times city marshal, deputy sheriff, deputy U.S. marshal, private detective, hired killer, and racketeer. Today, he is almost forgotten, either as a gunfighter or a lawman, except in Fort Worth. Little is known about Courtright's early life, though he apparently served in the Union army during the Civil War. But when he arrived in the West, Courtright seemed to attract trouble. He was involved in a shootout during the 1886 railroad strikes and was accused of murder in New Mexico. Deputies were sent to Fort Worth to escort him to New Mexico to stand trial. His escape from them, complete with guns hidden under a restaurant table, is one of Fort Worth's most colorful stories. Finally, he was killed in a shootout that he apparently provoked with gambler and gunman Luke Short. To this day nobody is sure what provoked that feud, but Courtright was honored with the longest funeral procession Fort Worth had ever seen. The myth of Courtright as legendary gunfighter was built in two previous biographies--one by a novelist and the other by a Franciscan priest. After exhaustive research into contemporary newspapers and other accounts and close study of the previous two books, historian Robert K. DeArment deconstructs the myth of Longhair Jim and reconstructs the gunfighter as a real human being, complex, flawed, often courageous, usually both honorable and dishonorable. This book is a must for all those interested in the legends of the West, its lawmen, and its outlaws.

Download or read book Penny Dreadful written by Will Christopher Baer and published by MacAdam/Cage Publishing. This book was released on 2004 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The second installment of the Phineas Poe trilogy. Poe searches the dark and gothic urban underground for the object of his obsession, a violent beauty he can't live without and gets involved in a violent game of kill or be killed.

Download or read book Fort Worth Characters written by Richard F. Selcer and published by University of North Texas Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fort Worth history is far more than the handful of familiar names that every true-blue Fort Worther hears growing up: leaders such as Amon Carter, B. B. Paddock, J. Frank Norris, and William McDonald. Their names are indexed in the history books for ready reference. But the drama that is Fort Worth history contains other, less famous characters who played important roles, like Judge James Swayne, Madam Mary Porter, and Marshal Sam Farmer: well known enough in their day but since forgotten. Others, like Al Hayne, lived their lives in the shadows until one, spectacular moment of heroism. Then there are the lawmen, Jim Courtright, Jeff Daggett, and Thomas Finch. They wore badges, but did not always represent the best of law and order. These seven plus five others are gathered together between the covers of this book. Each has a story that deserves to be told. If they did not all make history, they certainly lived in historic times. The jury is still out on whether they shaped their times or merely reflected those times. Either way, their stories add new perspectives to the familiar Fort Worth story, revealing how the law worked in the old days and what life was like for persons of color and for women living in a man's world. As the old TV show used to say, "There are a million stories in the 'Naked City.'" There may not be quite as many stories in Cowtown, but there are plenty waiting to be told--enough for future volumes of Fort Worth Characters. But this is a good starting point.

Download or read book Gentleman Rogue written by Matt Braun and published by St. Martin's Paperbacks. This book was released on 2013-07-30 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Old Texas would give way to new-- but not without a fight... They called it Hell's Half Acre: a violent sinkhole of dance halls and brothels, gaming dives and busthead saloons. To some citizens of Fort Worth, the only hope for Hell's Half Acre was to reform it. To others, it was a gold mine. And for one man, a shootist and gambler named Luke Short, it was a place to make a stand. Short wants to run an honest game with straight odds and build a future in Fort Worth. But plenty of people want to see him stone-cold dead. Now Short has no choice but to stake his claim, from behind the barrel of a loaded gun...

Download or read book A History of Fort Worth in Black White written by Richard F. Selcer and published by University of North Texas Press. This book was released on 2015-12-15 with total page 617 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A History of Fort Worth in Black & White fills a long-empty niche on the Fort Worth bookshelf: a scholarly history of the city's black community that starts at the beginning with Ripley Arnold and the early settlers, and comes down to today with our current battles over education, housing, and representation in city affairs. The book's sidebars on some noted and some not-so-noted African Americans make it appealing as a school text as well as a book for the general reader. Using a wealth of primary sources, Richard Selcer dispels several enduring myths, for instance the mistaken belief that Camp Bowie trained only white soldiers, and the spurious claim that Fort Worth managed to avoid the racial violence that plagued other American cities in the twentieth century. Selcer arrives at some surprisingly frank conclusions that will challenge current politically correct notions.

Download or read book George T Ruby written by Carl H. Moneyhon and published by Texas Christian University Press. This book was released on 2020 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This is the biography of George T. Ruby, an African American statesman who was active in Texas politics and fought for equal rights for black freedmen in Reconstruction Texas"--

Download or read book Conifer Country written by Michael Edward Kauffmann and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book West of the Creek written by David Bowser and published by Maverick Books. This book was released on 2010 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hidden and long-forgotten stories of frontier San Antonio