According to author Del Cain, “The dime novel myth of the good guy lawman in the old west got a severe battering at the hands of real history.” Many of them were not always fighting men committed to upholding the law, as we have wanted to believe. We have faced the fact that lawmen like the brothers Earp and Masterson, and Pat Garrett, were not a lot better than the men they were supposed to control. Most books written about the powerful lawmen of the early west glorify these few well-known men who were often more interested in promoting their own fortunes than maintaining law and order.
The twelve good men in Lawmen of the Old West were seeking an honorable life, not fame. These were men who had learned the trick of not giving in to fear and had the skills and guns to accomplish the jobs that were set before them. Cain tells the real stories of tehse brave but nearly forgotten heroes with all the accurate information readers of history demand, but in a colorful style that brings those early days on the frontier to life
The twelve good men in Lawmen of the Old West were seeking an honorable life, not fame. These were men who had learned the trick of not giving in to fear and had the skills and guns to accomplish the jobs that were set before them. Cain tells the real stories of tehse brave but nearly forgotten heroes with all the accurate information readers of history demand, but in a colorful style that brings those early days on the frontier to life
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.
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.
