"'Chris Madsen was a greater peace officer than Wyatt Earp - greater by far.' With these fighting words, Homer Croy launches into a fascinating story that has never before been told, the story of a great peace officer of the West who came to America from Denmark as a youth to fight Indians.".
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.
Some of the law officers who served the West during the last half of the nineteenth century drifted from one side of the law to the other and sold their talents to whichever side offered the most advantage. Others used their positions as cover for their criminal activities. The lawmen in this book were serious offenders against the laws they had at one time sworn to uphold. Their skills were honed in range wars and family feuds and polished along the cattle trails, in the saloons and banks, and on the trains of the West. Some of them did good work enforcing the law when that was their job. Others had equally successful careers on the other side of the law. More than one kicked out their lives at the end of ropes strung up by citizens who were outraged by their abuse of the trust that went along with the badge they wore. These are their stories.
Massacres, mayhem, and mischief fill the pages of Outlaw Tales of Oklahoma 2, with compelling legends of the Sooner State's most despicable desperadoes. Ride with horse thieves and cattle rustlers, duck the bullets of murderers, plot strategies with con artists, and hiss at lawmen turned outlaws.
Since the shocking news first broke in 1876 of the Seventh Cavalry’s disastrous defeat at the Little Big Horn, fascination with the battle—and with Lieutenant George Armstrong Custer—has never ceased. Widespread interest in the subject has spawned a vast outpouring of literature, which only increases with time. This two-volume bibliography of Custer literature is the first to be published in some twenty-five years and the most complete ever assembled. Drawing on years of research, Michael O’Keefe has compiled entries for roughly 3,000 books and 7,000 articles and pamphlets. Covering both nonfiction and fiction (but not juvenile literature), the bibliography focuses on events beginning with Custer’s tenure at West Point during the 1850s and ending with the massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890. Included within this span are Custer’s experiences in the Civil War and in Texas, the 1873 Yellowstone and 1874 Black Hills expeditions, the Great Sioux War of 1876–77, and the Seventh Cavalry’s pursuit of the Nez Perces in 1877. The literature on Custer, the Battle of the Little Big Horn, and the Seventh Cavalry touches the entire American saga of exploration, conflict, and settlement in the West, including virtually all Plains Indian tribes, the frontier army, railroading, mining, and trading. Hence this bibliography will be a valuable resource for a broad audience of historians, librarians, collectors, and Custer enthusiasts.
After just four weeks of training, Colonel Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders--a regiment of cowboys recruited into the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry--fought in Cuba during the Spanish-American War with the skill of seasoned regulars. The unit reflected the future president's character as a wealthy Ivy Leaguer who went west to experience frontier life. Most of the Rough Riders were seasoned cowhands from the Southwest, but Ivy League athletes, sons of millionaires and lawmen filled out the ranks. Roosevelt molded this diverse group into a cohesive, efficient fighting force and led them to victory on San Juan Hill. Told from the perspective of the men in the regiment, this book traces the history of the Rough Riders from conception to disbanding, and Roosevelt's transformation into an American hero.
A reassessment of the military's role in developing the Western territories moves beyond combat stories and stereotypes to focus on more non-martial accomplishments such as exploration, gathering scientific data, and building towns.
Massacres, mayhem, and mischief fill the pages of Outlaw Tales of Oklahoma 2, with compelling legends of the Sooner State's most despicable desperadoes. Ride with horse thieves and cattle rustlers, duck the bullets of murderers, plot strategies with con artists, and hiss at lawmen turned outlaws.