Product Description

Think gunfighter, and Wyatt Earp or Billy the Kid may come to mind, but what of Jim Moon? Joel Fowler? Zack Light? A host of other figures helped forge the gunfighter persona, but their stories have been lost to time. In a sequel to his Deadly Dozen, celebrated western historian Robert K. DeArment now offers more biographical portraits of lesser-known gunfighters--men who perhaps weren't glorified in legend or song, but who were rightfully notorious in their day.

DeArment has tracked down stories of gunmen from throughout the West--characters you won't find in any of today's western history encyclopedias but whose careers are colorfully described here. Photos of the men and telling quotations from primary sources make these characters come alive.

These overlooked shooters never won national headlines but made their own contributions to the blood and thunder of the Old West: people less than legends, but all the more fascinating because they were real. Readers who enjoyed DeArment's Deadly Dozen will find this book equally captivating--as gripping as a showdown, twelve times over.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #212742 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-30
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 351 pages

About the Author
Robert K. DeArment is the author of numerous books about law and order in the American West, including the original Deadly Dozen: Twelve Forgotten Gunfighters of the Old West and Ballots and Bullets: The Bloody County Seat Wars of Kansas.

Customer Reviews

Chronicling Now-Forgotten Wild West Pistoleers!
Noted author Robert DeArment serves up a second helping of Wild West gunmen in this 2007 book from the University of Oklahoma Press. As well researched as its predecessor, this volume brings to life long-forgotten gunslingers.

In describing the twelve men chronicled in this book, the term 'gunfighters' in the sub-title is a bit misleading. Gunfighter brings to mind Billy the Kid/John Wesley Hardin/Wild Bill Hickok stereotypes.

Zack Light and Joel Fowler, for example, were undoubtedly hard cases with short fuses. Others in the book don't really fit the 'gunfighter' stereotype; being simply typical westerners who had a skill with and no compunction in utilizing their guns or knives or fists when the need arose. Legendary pistoleer John Owens, for example, was a businessman/rancher turned lawman. Billionaire rancher Burk Burnett was a leading Fort Worth citizen forced to use his six-shooter on several occasions. Several gunfighters like Jesse Rascoe flitted back and forth between being wanted gunmen and peace officers! In many cases, alcohol placed a major role in turning decent men into heartless murderers.

DeArment did a marvelous job researching these men. His bibliography is over 20 pages long with 40+ pages of notes! Generally the narrative moves along in a fairly lively fashion.

Wild West enthusiasts should enjoy this book. It introduces them to individuals that perhaps typify the West better than Hickok, Masterson and the more celebrated gunmen. Recommended.

Well Researched Book for the Reader Interested in Old West History
This is a well researched book written by, who I consider, the best historian of the old West gunfighters, lawmen and bad men, having written books about Bat Masterson and Frank Canton, to name a couple. This is the author's second book on this topic of finding and researching lesser known gunfighters and I must say that, in my opinion, the first book is better. This may be because of the characters - these are not as interesting. I guess I would like to have some characters similar to the Hollywood version, but these don't fit that bill. Mostly, they come across as drunks who become dangeous when they have too much to drink. There are some notable exceptions, e.g. John Owens and Burk Burnett, but in the most place, these are not individuals who a person would be proud to be involved with. But, the book is well researched, as his others are, covering all the sources on a story. At more than one point, it comes across as being laborious, however. For example, he describes the vigilante hanging of one Joel Fowler over ten pages covering it through at least 8 different sources. Consequently, if you are not a person interested in Old West history, you may be bored with this book. Even if you are, you will find it to be tough reading at times. In spite of this, I give it a good rating because there are good stories in this book, including the gunfight between Les Dow and Zack Light. These little gems sprinkled throughout the book make it worth the read for the reader interested in the Old West.

A Subtle Glimpse Into the Old West
This is really an interesting book...first, the "gunfighters" depicted really broaden the use of that term. When we think of "gunfighers" we think of those men about whom book after book has been written. Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Billy the Kid, etc. However, if you define "gunfighter" as anybody who picks up a gun and uses it for right or wrong, well...you get a wider cross-section of humanity. This is shown in this book. Educated people, half-wits, serial killers, wannabes, etc. They are all here, and they are all "gunfighters". Just that point alone can really shake up one's definition of "gunfighter". The second thing is that the level of violence implied by the presence of these half-documented gunmen is rather high. We have been told again and again in recent years that the old west wasn't all THAT violent...but now, we get a glimpse into a world that might have been a lot more violent than we have been led to believe. For those two facts alone, this book is a real contribution. Also, it answers my questions about some of the more marginally-documented people that flit around the stories of their more famous colleagues. It is a good read, too!