The author has delicately described his many personal experiences and happenings during his eighty-nine exciting years. His childhood, meeting the girl, his War II articles, and later years.
Book Two of Once Upon A Time in the Past, subtitled: "The Legend Of The Logan Boys", depicts the turning point in the Logan boys lives when they leaves Arizona to Kansas and take jobs on a railroad and Mr. Howard Floyd Cade, a mean, cruel railroad boss deprives them of their rights, driving the brothers on the other side of the law; their first crime when they rob and kills the railroad boss and his five-men escort to take back hard-earned money they made working on the rails that he'd illegally withheld from their pay. After that, which they'd vowed to never break the law again, they rode The Outlaw Trail . . .
Gunneson City Sheriff “Doc” Cyrus Wells Shores (1844-1934)—nicknamed after the doctor who delivered him in Hicksville, Detroit in 1844—became well-known as a Colorado lawman for bringing down local criminals without parading his authority or a display of guns. Born in the village of Hicksville, about thirty miles from Detroit, Michigan, “Doc” Shores moved to Montana as a young man via a steamer and paid passage by hunting game along the route. Prospecting and hunting in Montana, he then worked in Wyoming hauling ties for the railroad, and later drove cattle up from Texas. After many experiences with Indians, blizzards, and rustlers in Kansas, Shores took his wife Agnes and settled in Gunnison, Colorado, where he served as the sheriff of Gunnison County when it was still "wild" and became noted as the lawman who captured Alfred Packer, the infamous "Colorado Cannibal." During his lengthy career, “Doc” Shores also served as a deputy U.S. Marshal, a railroad detective, and as chief of police for Salt Lake City, Utah—and he rode with Tom Horn when Horn was still on the right side of the law. First published in 1962 and edited by Wilson Rockwell, Memoirs of a Lawman are “Doc” Shores’ gripping, as previously unpublished memoirs, spanning his life from his early days on the Western frontier, his appointments as Sheriff, and later Federal Marshall.
In Bullet for a Ranger, the latest novel in the Texas Ranger Jim Blawcyzk series, Jim is locked in a jail cell in the town of Quitaque, accused of murdering a saloon woman while in a drunken rage. Even though the idea of the happily married, loyal family man, non-drinking and church-going Blawcyzk being involved with a saloon entertainer, then killing her, is extremely far-fetched, the evidence against the Ranger Lieutenant is so strong even he has to admit he stands a good chance of being convicted. Worse, Jim has no recollection of the night or the events in question. His only sure ally is the priest from the local Catholic mission, and even the good padre has his doubts about Blawcyzk's innocence. Hoped-for help from one of his fellow Rangers has failed to materialize, and the date for Blawcyzk's trial is fast approaching. Somehow, Jim must figure out who is really the woman's killer, or face a quick hanging. Solving the mystery from his cell is proving to be an almost insurmountable task.
The stories of Louis L’Amour are built around the dramatic moments when men and women cast their fears, doubts, and pasts behind them and plunge into the unknown—into split-second decisions with life-and-death consequences. Nowhere is that more evident than in this quintessential collection of stories set on the American frontier. Here L’Amour takes us across a bold, beautifully rendered landscape where old scores haunt new lives, the wrong choice leaves unwitting victims, and strangers may come to trust—or kill—one another. Fugitives, visionaries, fortune seekers, drifters, and young women trying to build homes on a lawless frontier, the characters in these pulse-pounding stories are vintage L’Amour. Together in this vivid, rollicking collection, they bring to life the spirit of adventure and confirm Louis L’Amour’s place in the pantheon of American writers.
When Gloriana comes to Arizona to visit her tenderfoot brother Jim, trouble is rampant. The notorious Hash Knife Outfit of rustlers and gunmen are stealing the ranchers' cattle and terrorizing the beautiful valley. Guns will blaze and blood will run hot and red before Goloriana and her brother have a chance to become true and valiant citizens of the frontier Wild West...
This is the amazing story of Ben Johnson, the cowboy who grew up in the tall grass prairie of Oklahoma, rode to Hollywood in a boxcar full of horses and became an Oscar-winning actor. Johnson co-starred in some of Hollywood's greatest Western movies of all time, alongside John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Steve McQueen, Marlon Brando, Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Burt Reynolds, Alan Ladd, and many more. Known as "Son" to his family and friends, Johnson was the son of a three-time world champion rodeo cowboy also named Ben Johnson. Dividing his time between the world of movies and the world of rodeo, "Son" Johnson became one of the greatest rodeo cowboys of all time, winning the 1953 RCA World Championship for team roping. A man of principle who believed in the value of "honesty, realism and respect," Johnson managed to forge a successful career in the film industry without becoming a part of the excesses of Hollywood. He often paid dearly for his integrity, enduring a blacklist by famed Western director John Ford for refusing to allow Ford to verbally abuse him. Johnson's career lasted more than 50 years, with many highs and lows, but through it all he always stayed true to the cowboy code. When he won his Oscar for The Last Picture Show in 1972, Johnson took the stage and, in his typical "aw shucks" way, said, "This couldn't have happened to a nicer fella." The Nicest Fella is a must read for fans of Ben Johnson, rodeo fans, Western movie buffs, Hollywood fanatics, and anyone who still believes in the American dream! With 30 pages of never-before-seen photographs from the Johnson family collection and a complete filmography.