Download or read book The Outlaw Years written by Robert M. Coates and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 1986-01-01 with total page 702 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Natchez Trace is remarkable in American history for the legends and tales surrounding it. During the first half of the nineteenth century, travelers--traders, settlers, andøthe occasional war party or fugitive from justice--followed its course from the Appalachians to the lower Mississippi, from Knoxville to Natchez. In this vibrant and energetic account, the author has mined both history and legend for startling tales of the near-mythical thieves, cutthroats, and confidence men once reported to have stalked their unsuspecting victims along this frontier trail--the terrible Harpe brothers, who came to a satisfactorily bad end; Samuel Mason, a thief done in by other thieves; and John Murrell, whose reputed schemes threw the South into a paroxysm of fear. Robert M. Coates retells the stories of these and other "land pirates" in chilling and ominous detail, preserving for us the tales once whispered on the edges of the dark southern woods nearly two centuries ago.

Download or read book Six Guns and Saddle Leather written by Ramon Frederick Adams and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 1998-02-25 with total page 848 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Authoritative guide to everything in print about lawmen and the lawless—from Billy the Kid to the painted ladies of frontier cow towns. Nearly 2,500 entries, taken from newspapers, court records, and more.

Download or read book Deadly Dozen written by Robert K. DeArment and published by University of Oklahoma Press. This book was released on 2012-11-27 with total page 363 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Think gunfighter, and Wyatt Earp or Billy the Kid may come to mind, but what of Jim Moon? Joel Fowler? Zack Light? A host of other figures helped forge the gunfighter persona, but their stories have been lost to time. In a sequel to his Deadly Dozen, celebrated western historian Robert K. DeArment now offers more biographical portraits of lesser-known gunfighters—men who perhaps weren’t glorified in legend or song, but who were rightfully notorious in their day. DeArment has tracked down stories of gunmen from throughout the West—characters you won’t find in any of today’s western history encyclopedias but whose careers are colorfully described here. Photos of the men and telling quotations from primary sources make these characters come alive. In giving these men their due, DeArment takes readers back to the gunfighter culture spawned in part by the upheavals of the Civil War, to a time when deadly duels were part of the social fabric of frontier towns and the Code of the West was real. His vignettes offer telling insights into conditions on the frontier that created the gunfighters of legend. These overlooked shooters never won national headlines but made their own contributions to the blood and thunder of the Old West: people less than legends, but all the more fascinating because they were real. Readers who enjoyed DeArment’s Deadly Dozen will find this book equally captivating—as gripping as a showdown, twelve times over.

Download or read book Burs Under the Saddle written by Ramon Frederick Adams and published by University of Oklahoma Press. This book was released on 1989 with total page 628 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This immense book, by a noted bibliographer of the West, is beyond question the fairest, most complete and most learned evaluation of printed references to western outlaws to appear until now....It will stand for many years, solid as a rock amid the flooding maelstrom of western myth and legend, pointing up the truth about those men of the past who lived by their wits and their guns. It will be impossible for anyone studying that era and such men to do so without reference to this volume."—Los Angeles Times "Adams turns again to the books and histories of the western gunmen and outlaws and critically examines 425 titles, most of which rate as ’burs’ under his saddle. Ramon Adams’ plea is that the writers must stop compounding each other’s errors into legend. In this book, with great skill and without malice, he has pointed out past mistakes. His book should be in the essential baggage of every writer on western outlaws and on every library shelf."—American West "The value of this book to writers and historians of the badman tradition cannot be overestimated, for Adams has replaced rumors, myths, and falsehoods with documented historical facts. It is a book for all conscientious students of and writers on the American West; henceforth, any writer of ’authentic Western history’ who refuses to check with Adams should be, as the judge said to Billy the Kid in one legend, 'hanged by the neck until dead, dead, dead.'"—Southwest Review

Download or read book Encyclopedia of Western Gunfighters written by Bill O'Neal and published by University of Oklahoma Press. This book was released on 1979 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sifting factual information from among the lies, legends, and tall tales, the lives and battles of gunfighters on both sides of the law are presented in a who's who of the violent West

Download or read book The Better Brother written by Roy Bird and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 2011-07-15 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Years of painstaking research have uncovered more detail on Thomas Ward Custer, the younger brother of the legendary General George Custer. Historians are now coming to understand the full influence of Tom Custer on his brother and American life, from his heroic exploits during the Civil War to his legendary bravery during the Indian Wars, where he served under his brother as his aide-de-camp. Had Tom not been overshadowed by his more famous brother, he might well have become one of the more notable characters and military officers of the American West. Despite winning two Congressional Medals of Honor, his legendary feud with Rain-in-the-Face, the shooting scrape with “Wild Bill” Hickok, and many other fearsome exploits, Tom has taken a backseat to George in the American imagination. Only recently has his influence on the history of the United States become fully understood and appreciated by scholars. Author Roy Bird takes us inside the circle of Tom and Autie, whose close-knit relationship and intense rivalry in hunting, military skills, business, and even romance would span from their boyhood farm in Ohio to their heroic end at the Battle of Little Bighorn, where they were, as always, together. Bird’s The Better Brother is not only the story of two brothers whose incredible talents and healthy rivalry drove each other to greatness, but also a story at the center of American history.

Download or read book George and Maggie and the Red Light Saloon written by Rod Cook and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2003-10 with total page 122 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the true story of George and Maggie Wood, a young couple who in 1880, in a fledgling cowtown that sprang up from the dust of the old Chisholm Trail, built the "largest dance house in Kansas". [read that -- cat house.] In a formidable two-month trek through the dusty plains of Texas and the "Indian Nations," brash young cowboys drove the longhorns to the railhead at the Kansas state line. There they emerged at Caldwell, Kansas; primed for celebration in that wide-open cowtown fondly known to them as "The Queen of the Border." Wild, wooly and dangerous, in its futile effort to hold a lid on the cowboys' rampant and often times violent revelry, the town ran through 15 marshals in the six year period of the cattle drives between 1879 and 1885. Continuously besieged by murder and depravation, the town was locked in a love-hate alliance with the many dens that catered to the roughshod instincts of the hell-raising cowboys. Festering at the heart of this perpetual bedlam was the number-one attraction of the Border Queen; George and Maggie's Red Light Saloon, the wellspring of murder and violence; and the epitome of debauchery and just plain nasty wickedness.

Download or read book Frontier Manhattan written by Kevin G. W. Olson and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2015-11-06 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Isaac Goodnow and five fellow New Englanders arrived at the junction of the Kansas and Big Blue rivers in March of 1855, they pitched a tent and launched a town. Harassment and homesickness almost drove them back east, but they held their ground to establish an anti-slavery and educational stronghold: the town of Manhattan, Kansas. Kevin Olson's lively history of Manhattan's founding illuminates the divisive forces that had to be overcome amidst the turbulence of the Civil War era and the sheer drama of building a town from scratch on the Great Plains frontier. With an eye for vivid detail and reflecting a native's deep knowledge of the city, Olson chronicles the first four decades of Manhattan as it grew from tent to town. Although spared much of the Bleeding Kansas violence, Manhattan saw its share of shootouts and lynchings in its Wild West days. Olson evocatively recaptures those rough-and-tumble times and effectively describes the town's key social and economic transformations. He also highlights the emergence of a college town and "New England village" by 1866, followed by Manhattan's growth and modernization in the 1890s. Drawing on town records as well as the personal papers of boosters, Olson mirrors the history of Kansas through the lens of this one community by interweaving ecology, relations with Native Americans, agriculture, literature, architecture, social mores, politics, economic issues, and university origins to recreate a vibrant cross-section of town life. His account of Kansa Indian settlement Blue Earth Village shines a light on a prehistory that until now has been little covered; his retelling of the emigration of the New England settlers recalls one of the most compelling stories of the antebellum era; and his coverage of the 1860s surpasses that of most previous histories. Written for general readers while boasting an impressive depth of scholarship, Frontier Manhattan takes us on a journey into the past to shop at Higginbotham and Purcell's or enjoy a stay at the Manhattan House hotel with jovial mayor Andrew Mead. With its strong sense of place and personality, Olson's book is as engaging as it is informative in celebrating the origins and early life of this quintessential Kansas city.

Download or read book The Cowboy written by Charles W. Harris and published by University of Oklahoma Press. This book was released on 1976-07-15 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of America’s unique contributions to world culture, the cowboy has captured the imagination of people everywhere. In The Cowboy: Six-Shooters, Songs, and Sex, eight renowned western writers report on what the cowboys really were like and what they are like today. Contributors detail how the cowboys lived, loved, and died, how they fared when ranchers switched from running cattle to entertaining dudes, and how the media have depicted the cowboy.

Download or read book Costume Design in the Movies written by Elizabeth Leese and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2012-12-19 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Comprehensive, lavishly illustrated reference work provides biographical/career data for major designers (Adrian, Jean Louis, Edith Head, more). Updated to 1988, with over 400 new film credits. 177 illustrations. Index of 6,000 films.

Download or read book Outlaws on Horseback written by Harry Sinclair Drago and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 1998-01-01 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Outlaws on Horseback concentrates on the long, unbroken chain of crime that began in the late 1850s with the Missouri-Kansas border warfare and ended in Arkansas in 1921 with the killing of Henry Starr, the last of the authentic desperadoes. Harry Sinclair Drago shows links among the men and women who terrorized the Midwest while he squelches the most outlandish tales about them. The guerrilla warfare led by the evil William Quantrill was training for Frank and Jesse James and Cole and Jim Younger. Drago puts their bloody careers in perspective and tracks down the truth about Belle Starr the Bandit Queen, Cherokee Bill, Rose of the Cimarron, and the gangs, including the Daltons and Doolins, that infested the Oklahoma hills. The action moves from the sacking of Lawrence to the raid on Northfield to the shootout at Coffeyville.

Download or read book Psych a Doodle written by Sheri Robinette and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2012-07-01 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Psych-a-Doodle is a book full of crazy half-completed doodles. Finish a doodle by adding your own personal touch. Then turn the page over and read the Psych-a-Doodle evaluation and discover the hilarious results of your doodling! Psych-a-doodle is a whimsical way to express yourself and become more creative with each passing page. The Psych-a-doodle book is more than ingenious doodle play, pass it around, it's a fun way to discover silly things about your friends and family! Psych-a-Doodle is for fun only, we are not doctors or psychologists, just two geeks in a room with a strange sense of humor! Don't take it too seriously!

Download or read book Eisenhower written by Carlo D'Este and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2015-11-24 with total page 1272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The acclaimed biographer presents an intimate and comprehensive portrait of the legendary president and WWII general: “An excellent book.” —The Washington Post Book World Born into hardscrabble poverty in rural Kansas, the son of stern pacifists, Dwight David Eisenhower graduated from high school more likely to teach history than to make it. Yet he went on to become one of America’s most important military leaders. Then, on the wings of victory, the career soldier ascended to the nation’s highest political office. Casting new light on this profound evolution, Carlo D’Este chronicles the unlikely, dramatic rise of the supreme Allied commander. With full access to private papers and letters, D’Este has exposed for the first time the countless myths that have surrounded Eisenhower and his family for over fifty years. In this revealing biography, he identifies the complex and contradictory character behind Ike’s famous grin and air of calm self-assurance.

Download or read book The Truth about Wyatt Earp written by Richard E. Erwin and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2000-03 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Truth About Wyatt Earp is the result of extensive research done by the author, Richard E. Erwin. After retiring from his career as a Criminal Defense Lawyer, he took up the task of ferreting out the truth surrounding the life and times of Wyatt Earp. He presents here solid evidence, based on old newspaper accounts, public records, documents buried in museums, state and national archives and libraries and reports of other researchers, to substantiate his view of what he believes to be The Truth About Wyatt Earp. Did you know... That Wyatt Earp was once indicted for horse stealing (He was never convicted.)? That there were four witnesses who could have testified that Tom McLaury was armed at the commencement of the O.K. Corral fight? That both Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday spent more than two weeks in jail in the custody of John Behan while the hearing on the O.K. Corral shoot-out was going on? The truth comes out in this illuminating essay on one of the most fascinating characters in history.

Download or read book A Wyatt Earp Anthology written by Roy B. Young and published by University of North Texas Press. This book was released on 2019-08-15 with total page 937 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wyatt Earp is one of the most legendary figures of the nineteenth-century American West, notable for his role in the gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. Some see him as a hero lawman of the Wild West, whereas others see him as yet another outlaw, a pimp, and failed lawman. Roy B. Young, Gary L. Roberts, and Casey Tefertiller, all notable experts on Earp and the Wild West, present in A Wyatt Earp Anthology an authoritative account of his life, successes, and failures. The editors have curated an anthology of the very best work on Earp—more than sixty articles and excerpts from books—from a wide array of authors, selecting only the best written and factually documented pieces and omitting those full of suppositions or false material. Earp’s life is presented in chronological fashion, from his early years to Dodge City, Kansas; triumph and tragedy in Tombstone; and his later years throughout the West. Important figures in Earp’s life, such as Bat Masterson, the Clantons, the McLaurys, Doc Holliday, and John Ringo, are also covered. Wyatt Earp’s image in film and the myths surrounding his life, as well as controversies over interpretations and presentations of his life by various writers, also receive their due. Finally, an extensive epilogue by Gary L. Roberts explores Earp and frontier violence.

Download or read book Cattle Towns written by Robert Dykstra and published by Knopf. This book was released on 2013-07-10 with total page 459 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The mountain-top volleys from any scholarly set-to among social historians concerning the elusive roots of American democracy do reach our ears from time to time, and this rather formidable cannonade just may strike off some sparks, although it is hardly leisure reading. The author's efforts seem to have been spurred on by academics past and present (including historians Elkins and McKitrick) who have examined frontier communities and others more current and have concluded that democracy is a process of peaceful decision-making in a self-contained, homogeneous community. Dr. Dykstra, taking umbrage, has moved through the years 1867-1885 in five ""frankly ambitious frontier settlements,"" and has plowed up enough evidence in the social, political, economic, etc. areas to state with confidence that instead of the traditional view of conflict hindering progress, one should brace conflict with cooperation on an equal basis. Conflict, Dykstra insists was ""normal . . . inevitable . . . a format for community decision . . . change."" A shift in focus that just might--in an undoubtedly popular interpretation--cheer our chaotic days. A thorny, difficult book but worthy.

Download or read book Film Year Book written by and published by . This book was released on 1938 with total page 1294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: