Author Emerson Hough traveled with lawman Pat Garrett and interviewed eyewitnesses when researching his account of a uniquely American criminal type—the frontier outlaw. Hough describes the circumstances that form outlaws, then provides vivid accounts of famous bandits and their pursuers. Chapters cover the career of John A. Murrell, a cunning criminal who masterminded a gang of hundreds of killers and thieves that ranged across the South before the Civil War; the life of sometimes lawman Wild Bill Hickock, including the story behind his nickname; a firsthand account of the killing of Billy the Kid; the history and methods of rustling cattle; the criminal tutelage of Jesse and Frank James and Cole Younger, all of whom rode with Confederate guerillas and participated in the bloodiest massacres in Midwestern history; and many other lesser known but equally sensational murders and robbers of the American borderlands.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
Hough lived during the time of the settling of the West (1857-1923) and knew several of the figures profiled in the numerous books both fiction and nonfiction he wrote on the subject. Though the exploits of Western bad men have been greatly exaggerated in novels and films, many of these guys were pretty nasty characters, killing and stealing without remorse. This 1906 title profiles many of the real baddies and the legendary lawmen who brought them to justice. The text is illustrated throughout; the book contains an updated introduction by historian Larry D. Underwood.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
Hough certainly shows no trace of a tendency to exaggeration, but on the contrary his book is distinguished by a scruplously careful modertion of statement. (New York Times )
The pages exhale the smell of blood and hemp. The realism is almost too raw for literature. (Literary Digest )
Historically exact [and] filled with shocks and thrills of no ordinary caliber. (Spectator )
The pages exhale the smell of blood and hemp. The realism is almost too raw for literature. (Literary Digest )
Historically exact [and] filled with shocks and thrills of no ordinary caliber. (Spectator )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great for any fan of westerns,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Story of the Outlaw - A Study of the Western Desperado (Kindle Edition)
This is the wild west at its worst- men who would do any immoral act for profit, or just for fun. At times their actions caused county-wide wars to break out during which dozens of men were killed. You'll read amazing stories in this book. There are chapters on Hickok, Plummer, Slade and Helm. The author was there at the time, and he quotes people who give first-hand accounts.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great First Person History,
By Joe Mullahey (Redondo Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Story of the Outlaw: A Study of the Western Desperado (Paperback)
Emerson Hough was a great Iowa writer who wrote about his own times, those of the Wild West! He keeps to the bare facts and was trying not to embellish his accounts of the outlaws. Even so, these stories are very vivid and colorful. I enjoy Hough's personal input on the subject of law and order (he thought the law, in his day, was ill-equipped to handle the "bad men") and it is interesting that he rode with Pat Garrett and others. I recommend this book to any western fan.
4 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bought this book so my elderly dad could try out my Kindle,
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This review is from: The Story of the Outlaw - A Study of the Western Desperado (Kindle Edition)
My dad enjoyed the book. And, he LOVES the Kindle. He reads it without his glasses on and is thrilled with the text sizes. He is very much into history, and read the book all day every day for three days. The buttons on the kindle are really in bad places. Several times he inadvertantly pressed the button and I had to get him back to the page he was reading. Now, question is, do I give him my one year old Kindle and buy me the upgraded one, or do I keep mine and buy him one????
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
ENERGY and action may be of two sorts, good or bad; this being as well as we can phrase it in human affairs. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
cow men, vigilante movement, town marshal Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, Billy the Kid, New Mexico, Jesse James, Boone Helm, Fort Stanton, Wild Bill, Ben Thompson, Dick Brewer, Henry Plummer, John Chisum, New Orleans, Fort Sumner, Indian Nations, Major Murphy, San Antonio, Charlie Bowdre, Grattan Dalton, Las Vegas, Lincoln County War, New York, Pat Garrett, Virginia City, Colonel Wood, Emmett Dalton New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Surprise Me!
ENERGY and action may be of two sorts, good or bad; this being as well as we can phrase it in human affairs. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
cow men, vigilante movement, town marshal Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, Billy the Kid, New Mexico, Jesse James, Boone Helm, Fort Stanton, Wild Bill, Ben Thompson, Dick Brewer, Henry Plummer, John Chisum, New Orleans, Fort Sumner, Indian Nations, Major Murphy, San Antonio, Charlie Bowdre, Grattan Dalton, Las Vegas, Lincoln County War, New York, Pat Garrett, Virginia City, Colonel Wood, Emmett Dalton New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 4
books:
4
books
cite this book:
- Roughing It (Signet Classics) by Mark Twain on page 139
- Las Vegas by Tom Campbell on page 221
- Rio Grande (Rivers of the World) by Raymond Johnson on page 204
- San Antonio by Nancy Haston Foster on page 328
- The Great American Outlaw: A Legacy of Fact and Fiction by Frank Richard Prassel in Back Matter
- Outlaws of New Mexico by Peter Hertzog in Back Matter
- Deadly Dozen: Twelve Forgotten Gunfighters of the Old West by Robert K. DeArment in Back Matter
- Ballots and Bullets: The Bloody County Seat Wars of Kansas by Robert K. DeArment in Back Matter
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