Shotguns and Stagecoaches
Shotguns and Stagecoaches

Author: John Boessenecker

Publisher: Macmillan + ORM

Published: 2018-10-30

Total Pages: 390

ISBN-13: 1250184908

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The true stories of the Wild West heroes who guarded the iconic Wells Fargo stagecoaches and trains, battling colorful thieves, vicious highwaymen, and robbers armed with explosives. The phrase "riding shotgun" was no teenage game to the men who guarded stagecoaches and trains the Western frontier. Armed with sawed-off, double-barreled shotguns and an occasional revolver, these express messengers guarded valuable cargo through lawless terrain. They were tough, fighting men who risked their lives every time they climbed into the front boot of a Concord coach. Boessenecker introduces soon-to-be iconic personalities like "Chips" Hodgkins, an express rider known for his white mule and his ability to outrace his competitors, and Henry Johnson, the first Wells Fargo detective. Their lives weren't just one shootout after another—their encounters with desperadoes were won just as often with quick wits and memorized-by-heart knowledge of the land. The highway robbers also get their due. It wouldn't be a book about the Wild West without Black Bart, the most infamous stagecoach robber of all time, and Butch Cassidy's gang, America's most legendary train robbers. Through the Gold Rush and the early days of delivery with horses and saddlebags, to the heyday of stagecoaches and huge shipments of gold, and finally the rise of the railroad and the robbers who concocted unheard-of schemes to loot trains, Wells Fargo always had courageous men to protect its treasure. Their unforgettable bravery and ingenuity make this book a thrilling read.

Shotguns and Stagecoaches
Shotguns and Stagecoaches

Author: John Boessenecker

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books

Published: 2018-10-30

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 1250184886

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The true stories of the Wild West heroes who guarded the iconic Wells Fargo stagecoaches and trains, battling colorful thieves, vicious highwaymen, and robbers armed with explosives. The phrase "riding shotgun" was no teenage game to the men who guarded stagecoaches and trains the Western frontier. Armed with sawed-off, double-barreled shotguns and an occasional revolver, these express messengers guarded valuable cargo through lawless terrain. They were tough, fighting men who risked their lives every time they climbed into the front boot of a Concord coach. Boessenecker introduces soon-to-be iconic personalities like "Chips" Hodgkins, an express rider known for his white mule and his ability to outrace his competitors, and Henry Johnson, the first Wells Fargo detective. Their lives weren't just one shootout after another—their encounters with desperadoes were won just as often with quick wits and memorized-by-heart knowledge of the land. The highway robbers also get their due. It wouldn't be a book about the Wild West without Black Bart, the most infamous stagecoach robber of all time, and Butch Cassidy's gang, America's most legendary train robbers. Through the Gold Rush and the early days of delivery with horses and saddlebags, to the heyday of stagecoaches and huge shipments of gold, and finally the rise of the railroad and the robbers who concocted unheard-of schemes to loot trains, Wells Fargo always had courageous men to protect its treasure. Their unforgettable bravery and ingenuity make this book a thrilling read.

Assault on the Deadwood Stage
Assault on the Deadwood Stage

Author: Robert K. DeArment

Publisher:

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780806141824

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In the 1870s, Deadwood was a thriving--and largely lawless--boomtown. And as any fan of western history and films knows, stagecoach robberies were a regular feature of life in this fabled region of Dakota Territory. Now, for the first time, Robert K. DeArment tells the story of the "good guys and bad guys" behind these violent crimes: the road agents who wreaked havoc on Deadwood's roadways and the shotgun messengers who battled to protect stagecoach passengers and their valuable cargo. DeArment shows in dramatic detail how for two years gangs of robbers ruled the road, perpetrating holdups and killings, until lawmen and stage-company and railroad agents finally brought an end to the mayhem. The characters populating this violent tale include such legendary figures as Wild Bill Hickok and the famous railroad detective James L. "Whispering" Smith, a formidable opponent of bandits. We also get to know the men who operated the stages, the lawmen and company men who ran and defended the coaches, and the outlaws who fought against them. DeArment tells where these men came from and what became of them after the outlawry ended. He ends his account in the 1880s with Buffalo Bill's Wild West show and its spectacular rendition of a shotgun robbery, featuring an actual Deadwood stagecoach. After nearly a century and a half, the Deadwood stage continues to command our attention.

Stagecoach
Stagecoach

Author: A. Richard Mansir

Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 36

ISBN-13:

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Recounts the history of the stagecoach in America from the early days of the Republic to the westward expansion, using illustrations, historical documents, maps, and fictional diary entries.

The Great Understander
The Great Understander

Author: Oliver Roberts De La Fontaine

Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing

Published: 2018-03-12

Total Pages: 466

ISBN-13: 1789121019

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This is the true life story of Oliver Roberts de La Fontaine, who was the last of the Wells Fargo Shotgun express messengers. Taken from his notes and journals, the book tells of his days in the early West as a rancher, miner, saloon keeper, gambler, and lawman, including his adventures of coming into contact with stage robbers and other lawless persons in California and Nevada. Later in life, Roberts de la Fontaine came to “The Walter Method,” referring to its promulgator—and compiler of this book—William W. Walter as the “Great Understander.” “In arranging and compiling this true-life story, especial care has been taken to preserve the original wording of the narrative. No attempt has been made to embellish, enlarge or exaggerate the many thrilling experiences related by Mr. de La Fontaine. On the contrary, it is known to me that many of the experiences were far more dangerous and thrilling than explained in the diary, but Mr. de La Fontaine was as modest and good as he was brave and fearless.”