Vol. 23: Murder on the Largo: Henry Coleman and New Mexico’s Last Frontier

Published: October, 2024  Pages: 240  Features: 27 b&w illus. Map. Notes. Bib. Index.

In western New Mexico in 1905 there rode a notorious outlaw from the Mexican border named Henry Coleman. With a Colt .45 strapped to his hip, Coleman (alias Street Hudspeth from the well-to-do Texas family) came to be either despised as a deceitful rustler and ruthless murderer or admired as a man of honor and great courage, a popular and charismatic cowman who was fast with a gun. No one seemed indifferent. more... about Murder on the Largo: Henry Coleman and New Mexico’s Last Frontier

Vol. 22: The Colfax County War: Violence and Corruption in Territorial New Mexico

Published: June, 2024  Pages: 256  Features: 54 b&w illus. 2 maps. Notes. Bib. Index.

When New Mexico became part of the United States, the territory contained 295 land grants, the largest of these being the Maxwell Land Grant. The size and boundaries of the grant were disputed, with some believing that much of the land was public domain. Settlers on this land were fought not only by the land grant owners but also by a group of corrupt politicians and lawyers— known as the Santa Fe Ring (most notably Thomas Catron and Stephen Elkins)—who tried to use the situation for personal profit and land acquisition. more... about The Colfax County War: Violence and Corruption in Territorial New Mexico

Vol. 21: The Cornett-Whitley Gang: Violence Unleashed in Texas

Published: July, 2019  Pages: 320  Features: 19 b&w illus. Notes. Bib. Index.

During the late 1880s, the Cornett-Whitley gang rose on the Texas scene with a daring train robbery at McNeil Station, only miles from the capital of Texas. In the frenzy that followed the robbery, the media castigated both lawmen and government officials, at times lauded the outlaws, and indulged in trial by media. At Flatonia the gang tortured the passengers and indulged in an orgy of violence that earned them international recognition and infamy. Private enterprises, such as Wells Fargo, the railroads, and numerous banks, joined forces with law enforcement to combat them. Lawmen from cities and counties combined with federal marshals and the Texas Rangers to further cement what would become the “brotherhood of the badge.” These efforts succeeded in tracking down and killing or capturing a good number of the gang members. more... about The Cornett-Whitley Gang: Violence Unleashed in Texas

Vol. 20: Ben Thompson: Portrait of a Gunfighter

Published: August, 2018  Pages: 688  Features: 47 b&w illus. 3 maps. Notes. Bib. Index.

Ben Thompson was a remarkable man, and few Texans can claim to have crowded more excitement, danger, drama, and tragedy into their lives than he did. He was an Indian fighter, Texas Ranger, Confederate cavalryman, mercenary for a foreign emperor, hired gun for a railroad, an elected lawman, professional gambler, and the victor of numerous gunfights. more... about Ben Thompson: Portrait of a Gunfighter

Vol. 19: They Called Him Buckskin Frank: The Life and Adventures of Nashville Franklyn Leslie

Published: June, 2018  Pages: 272  Features: 31 b&w illus. 2 maps. Notes. Bib. Index.

Nashville Franklyn “Buckskin Frank” Leslie was a man of mystery during his lifetime. His reputation has rested on two gunfights—both in storied Tombstone, Arizona—but he was much more than a deadly gunfighter. Jack DeMattos and Chuck Parsons have combined their research efforts to help solve the questions of where Leslie came from and how he died. more... about They Called Him Buckskin Frank: The Life and Adventures of Nashville Franklyn Leslie

Vol. 18: Captain Jack Helm: A Victim of Texas Reconstruction Violence

Published: March, 2018  Pages: 336  Features: 35 b&w illus. Map. Notes. Bib. Index.

In Captain Jack Helm, Chuck Parsons explores the life of John Jackson “Jack” Helm, whose main claim to fame has been that he was a victim of man-killer John Wesley Hardin. That he was, but he was much more in his violence-filled lifetime during Reconstruction Texas. First as a deputy sheriff, then county sheriff, and finally captain of the notorious Texas State Police, he developed a reputation as a violent and ruthless man-hunter. He arrested many suspected lawbreakers, but often his prisoner was killed before reaching a jail for “attempting to escape.” This horrific tendency ultimately brought about his downfall. Helm’s aggressive enforcement of his version of “law and order” resulted in a deadly confrontation with two of his enemies in the midst of the Sutton-Taylor Feud. more... about Captain Jack Helm: A Victim of Texas Reconstruction Violence

Vol. 17: Death on the Lonely Llano Estacado: The Assassination of J. W. Jarrott, a Forgotten Hero

Published: July, 2017  Pages: 240  Features: 29 b&w illus. 3 maps. Notes. Bib. Index.

In the winter of 1901, James W. Jarrott led a band of twenty-five homesteader families toward the Llano Estacado in far West Texas, newly opened for settlement by a populist Texas legislature. But frontier cattlemen who had been pasturing their herds on the unfenced prairie land were enraged by the encroachment of these “nesters.” In August 1902 a famous hired assassin, Jim Miller, ambushed and murdered J. W. Jarrott. Who hired Miller? This crime has never been solved, until now. more... about Death on the Lonely Llano Estacado: The Assassination of J. W. Jarrott, a Forgotten Hero

Vol. 16: The Notorious Luke Short: Sporting Man of the Wild West

Published: June, 2015  Pages: 352  Features: 55 b&w photos. Notes. Bib. Index.

Luke Short perfected his skills as a gambler in locations that included Leadville, Tombstone, Dodge City, and Fort Worth. In 1883, in what became known as the “Dodge City War,” he banded together with Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and others to protect his ownership interests in the Long Branch Saloon—an event commemorated by the famous “Dodge City Peace Commission” photograph. more... about The Notorious Luke Short: Sporting Man of the Wild West

• Co-Founders Best Book Award from Westerners International, September 2016

Vol. 15: The Horrell Wars: Feuding in Texas and New Mexico

Published: June, 2014  Pages: 240  Features: 16 b&w photos. 1 map. Notes. Bib. Index.

For decades the Horrell brothers of Lampasas, Texas, have been portrayed as ruthless killers and outlaws, but author David Johnson paints a different picture of these controversial men. The Horrells were ranchers, but some thought that they built their herds by rustling. Their initial confrontation with the State Police at Lampasas in 1873 marked the most disastrous shootout in Reconstruction history. The brothers and loyal friends then fled to New Mexico, where they became entangled in what would later evolve into the violent Lincoln County War. The brothers returned to Texas, where in time they became involved in the Horrell-Higgins War. The family was nearly wiped out following the feud when two of the brothers were killed by a mob. Only one member of the family, Sam, Jr., lived to old age and died of natural causes. more... about The Horrell Wars: Feuding in Texas and New Mexico

Vol. 14: A Lawless Breed: John Wesley Hardin, Texas Reconstruction, and Violence in the Wild West

Published: February, 2014  Pages: 512  Features: 83 b&w photos. 3 maps. Notes. Bib. Index.

John Wesley Hardin’s name spread terror in much of Texas in the years following the Civil War as the most wanted fugitive with a $4000 reward on his head. A Texas Ranger wrote that he killed men just to see them kick. Hardin began his killing career in the late 1860s and remained a wanted man until his capture in 1877 by Texas Rangers and Florida law officials. He certainly killed twenty men; some credited him with killing forty or more. more... about A Lawless Breed: John Wesley Hardin, Texas Reconstruction, and Violence in the Wild West

Vol. 13: He Rode with Butch and Sundance: The Story of Harvey "Kid Curry" Logan

Published: August, 2012  Pages: 464  Features: 50 b&w photos. Map. Notes. Bib. Index.

Pinned down by a posse, the wounded outlaw’s companions urged him to escape through the gulch. “Don’t wait for me,” he replied, “I’m all in and might as well end it right here.” Placing his revolver to his right temple, he pulled the trigger for the last time, thus ending the life of the notorious “Kid Curry” of the Wild Bunch. more... about He Rode with Butch and Sundance: The Story of Harvey "Kid Curry" Logan

Vol. 12: The McLaurys in Tombstone, Arizona: An O.K. Corral Obituary

Published: June, 2012  Pages: 416  Features: 22 b&w illus. 3 maps. Notes. Bib. Index.

On a chilly October afternoon in 1881, two brothers named Tom and Frank McLaury were gunned down on the streets of Tombstone, Arizona, by the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday. The deadly event became known as the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, and in a quirk of fate, the brothers’ names became well-known, but only as bad men and outlaws. Did they deserve that reputation? more... about The McLaurys in Tombstone, Arizona: An O.K. Corral Obituary

Vol. 11: Vengeance Is Mine: The Scandalous Love Triangle That Triggered the Boyce-Sneed Feud

Published: July, 2011  Pages: 336  Features: 36 b&w photos. 1 map. Notes. Bib. Index.

Almost half a century after the Boyce-Sneed feud in West Texas erupted in bloodshed in 1912, two Texas historians attempted to write about the affair. But no one would talk to them. Lewis Nordyke abandoned the idea, and C. L. Sonnichsen, another chronicler of Texas feuds, wrote that it was “too soon to talk about the Boyce-Sneed affair.” Not until the 1990s did the whole story emerge, when descendants of the feuding families finally called a truce, opened the family archives, and shared family legends. And what a tale it proved to be–a classic saga of passion, violence, and revenge, of retribution but never redemption. more... about Vengeance Is Mine: The Scandalous Love Triangle That Triggered the Boyce-Sneed Feud

Vol. 10: Bloody Bill Longley: The Mythology of a Gunfighter, Second Edition

Published: March, 2011 

William Preston “Bill” Longley (1851-1878), though born into a strong Christian family, turned bad during Reconstruction in Texas, much like other young boys of that time, including the deadly John Wesley Hardin. He went on a murderous rampage over the last few years of his life, shotgunning Wilson Anderson in retribution for Anderson’s killing of a relative; killing George Thomas in McLennan County; and shooting William “Lou” Shroyer in a running gunfight. Longley even killed the Reverend William R. Lay while Lay was milking a cow. Once he was arrested in 1877, and subsequently sentenced to hang, his name became known statewide as an outlaw and a murderer. Through a series of “autobiographical” letters written from jail while awaiting the hangman, Longley created and reveled in his self-centered image as a fearsome, deadly gunfighter—the equal, if not the superior, of the vaunted Hardin. more... about Bloody Bill Longley: The Mythology of a Gunfighter, Second Edition

Vol. 9: The Johnson-Sims Feud: Romeo and Juliet, West Texas Style

Published: July, 2012  Pages: 224  Features: 60 b&w illus. Notes. Bib. Index.

The Johnson and Sims families were pioneer ranchers, settling in the same region—Lampasas and Burnet counties—in the dangerous years just before the Civil War. After the war two couples from the next generation, Billy and Nannie Johnson and Dave and Laura Belle Sims, established large ranches—forty or more sections each—in adjoining counties, Scurry and Kent, in West Texas. more... about The Johnson-Sims Feud: Romeo and Juliet, West Texas Style

Vol. 8: The Deadliest Outlaws: The Ketchum Gang and the Wild Bunch, Second Edition

Published: July, 2012  Pages: 592  Features: 59 b&w illus. 6 Maps. Notes. Bib. Index.

After Tom Ketchum had been sentenced to death for attempting to hold up a railway train, his attorneys argued that the penalty was “cruel and unusual” for the offense charged. The appeal failed and he became the first individual—and the last—ever to be executed for a crime of this sort. He was hanged in 1901; in a macabre ending to his life of crime, his head was torn away by the rope as he fell from the gallows. more... about The Deadliest Outlaws: The Ketchum Gang and the Wild Bunch, Second Edition

Vol. 7: The Sutton-Taylor Feud: The Deadliest Blood Feud in Texas

Published: July, 2013  Pages: 400  Features: 46 b&w illus. 1 map. 7 apps. Notes. Bib. Index.

New in Paperback: The Sutton-Taylor Feud in Texas began shortly after the Civil War ended and continued into the 1890s. William E. Sutton was the only Sutton involved, but he had many friends to wage warfare against the large Taylor family and their deadly supporter, John Wesley Hardin. Mobs formed in Comanche County in retaliation for John Wesley Hardin’s killing of a Brown County deputy sheriff. One mob “liberated” three prisoners from the DeWitt County jail, thoughtfully hanging them close to the cemetery for the convenience of their relatives. An ambush party killed James Cox, slashing his throat from ear to ear—as if the buckshot in him was not sufficient. A doctor and his son were called from their home and brutally shot down. Texas Rangers attempted to quell the violence, but when they were called away, the killing began again. more... about The Sutton-Taylor Feud: The Deadliest Blood Feud in Texas

• Second place for Best Book of 2009 by Westerners International

Vol. 6: John Ringo, King of the Cowboys: His Life and Times from the Hoo Doo War to Tombstone, Second Edition

Published: April, 2017  Pages: 384  Features: 22 b&w illus. 2 maps. Notes. Bib. Index.

Western gunman John Ringo is most well-known for his role in Tombstone for backing the Cowboys against the Earps. In his youth he became embroiled in the blood feud turbulence of post-Reconstruction Texas and the Mason County “Hoo Doo” War, then shot it out with Victorio’s raiders during a deadly confrontation in New Mexico before going to Tombstone in territorial Arizona. There Ringo championed the largely Democratic ranchers against the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday, finally being part of the posse that hounded these fugitives from Arizona. In the end, Ringo died mysteriously in the Arizona desert, his death welcomed by some, mourned by others, wrongly claimed by a few. more... about John Ringo, King of the Cowboys: His Life and Times from the Hoo Doo War to Tombstone, Second Edition

Vol. 5: Murder on the White Sands: The Disappearance of Albert and Henry Fountain

Published: May, 2007  Pages: 272  Features: 32 b&w illus. 1 map. Notes. Bib. Index.

On a cold February evening in 1896, prominent attorney Col. Albert Jennings Fountain and his eight-year-old son Henry disappeared near the White Sands of New Mexico. The governor called in both the Pinkerton Agency and Pat Garrett, killer of Billy the Kid, to investigate. The evidence pointed at three men, former deputies William McNew, James Gililland, and Oliver Lee. These three men, however, were very close to powerful ex-judge, lawyer, and politician Albert B. Fall, said by some to be the mastermind behind the plot to kill Fountain. more... about Murder on the White Sands: The Disappearance of Albert and Henry Fountain

• Best Book of the Year, Wild West Historical Association, 2008

Vol. 4: The Mason County "Hoo Doo" War, 1874-1902

Published: February, 2006  Pages: 360  Features: 24 b/w illus. 2 maps. Notes. Bib. Index.

In 1874 the Hoo Doo War erupted in the Texas Hill Country of Mason County. The feud began with the rise of the mob under Sheriff John Clark, but it was not until the premeditated murder of rancher Timothy Williamson in 1875, a murder orchestrated by Sheriff Clark, that the violence escalated out of control. His death drew former Texas Ranger Scott Cooley to the region seeking justice, and when the courts failed, he began a vendetta to avenge his friend. more... about The Mason County "Hoo Doo" War, 1874-1902

Vol. 3: Life of the Marlows: A True Story of Frontier Life of Early Days

Published: September, 2004  Pages: 272  Features: 11 b&w photos. 2 maps. Notes. Bib. Index.

The story of the five Marlow brothers and their tribulations in late nineteenth-century Texas is the stuff of Old West legend (and served to inspire the John Wayne movie, The Sons of Katie Elder). Violent, full of intrigue, with characters of amazing heroism and deplorable cowardice, their story was first related by William Rathmell in Life of the Marlows, a little book published in 1892, shortly after the events it described in Young County, Texas. more... about Life of the Marlows: A True Story of Frontier Life of Early Days

Vol. 2: Where I Come From

Published: September, 2003  Pages: 280  Features: 43 photos.

In 1999 Bryan Woolley of the Dallas Morning News set out to record the stories of ordinary people in North Texas, to tell about their lives, especially their past, and how they became who they became. These stories were published in a column entitled “Where I Come From,” which ran in the Sunday newspaper from May 1999 to December 2000, to great reader acclaim. Now, for the first time in book form, the best of those stories is gathered herein with photos of each storyteller. more... about Where I Come From

Vol. 1: The Santa Claus Bank Robbery

Published: September, 1999  Pages: 272  Features: 5 b&w photos.

A chronicle at once grim and hilarious… a choice bit for collectors of Americana.” —Book-of-the-Month-Club News more... about The Santa Claus Bank Robbery