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A Dynasty of Western Outlaws
The organized gangs of robbers and killers who roamed the Midwest and Southwest from the 1860s to the 1930s went to the same school and were succored by each other's notoriety. So Paul I. Wellman makes a case for "the contagious nature of crime." William Quantrill and his guerrillas established a criminal tradition that was to link the James, Dalton, Doolin, Jennings, and Cook gangs; Belle and Henry Starr; Pretty Boy Floyd; and others in "a long and crooked train of unbroken personal connections."
384 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1961
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About the author
Paul I. Wellman
75 books19 followersPaul Iselin Wellman, newspaperman, writer of popular history, novelist and screenwriter, is best known for his books set in the Great Plains of the United States and Kansas. In addition to his books several Hollywood movies , Cheyenne, The Walls of Jericho, Jubal, Apache, The Comancheros, and The Iron Mistress are based on his novels.
Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Wel...
http://www.washburn.edu/reference/cks...
Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Wel...
http://www.washburn.edu/reference/cks...
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 12, 2021
A good book that traces the lineage of a branch of western outlaws all the way from the Civil War antics of William Quantrill to Pretty Boy Floyd in the 1930s. In some cases, this lineage is genetic--The Youngers and the Daltons were related by blood--and in other cases, the lineage is by direct association and in the 'leaning the trade of crime' in criminal gangs. For example, even when the law managed to catch up with thugs like the Youngers and the Daltons, these families had nonetheless managed to train a generation of regional outlaws in the art of robbery and hold-ups, and stray members of these gangs eventually formed other up-and-coming gangs who in turn plagued a new generation of decent citizens.
Even when these criminals were imprisoned, they would still give tips about how to commit robberies or ideas for future thefts to fellow inmates, who would then put these ideas to use when they were released. By this means, a dangerous criminal could meet up with a petty criminal who was in for only a short time and become the corrupting mentor who would steer the petty criminal into more ambitious and uglier crimes at a later date.
In many of the cases Wellman relates, the lawmen were outgunned--a LOT of lawmen are killed in the course of this book--or are hampered by inadequate laws, and many of the criminals are released after a trivial numbers of years in prison only to commit more crimes. Scarcely a single thug ever reformed. It's a good exemplar of the fact that the law and lawmen (either then or now) have no clue how to deal with sociopaths or understand their psychology. The book is also a terrific argument for capital punishment, which is the only way to actually stop the chain of criminal transmission whether you believe it's genetic or cultural, or a mixture of both.
This sort of lineal account is absolutely necessary to understand the full cost of crimes committed against society, but there is scarcely a social scientist today who has the courage to research and publish a longitudinal study of this sort because it goes against the prejudices of our elites. The latter does not have the slightest understanding of sociopaths or their behavior at all, and our elites actually resist learning about the psychology and genetics of sociopathic behavior because this knowledge would destroy their twaddle-laden childish illusions.
Available at Open Library:
https://openlibrary.org/works/OL14488...
Even when these criminals were imprisoned, they would still give tips about how to commit robberies or ideas for future thefts to fellow inmates, who would then put these ideas to use when they were released. By this means, a dangerous criminal could meet up with a petty criminal who was in for only a short time and become the corrupting mentor who would steer the petty criminal into more ambitious and uglier crimes at a later date.
In many of the cases Wellman relates, the lawmen were outgunned--a LOT of lawmen are killed in the course of this book--or are hampered by inadequate laws, and many of the criminals are released after a trivial numbers of years in prison only to commit more crimes. Scarcely a single thug ever reformed. It's a good exemplar of the fact that the law and lawmen (either then or now) have no clue how to deal with sociopaths or understand their psychology. The book is also a terrific argument for capital punishment, which is the only way to actually stop the chain of criminal transmission whether you believe it's genetic or cultural, or a mixture of both.
This sort of lineal account is absolutely necessary to understand the full cost of crimes committed against society, but there is scarcely a social scientist today who has the courage to research and publish a longitudinal study of this sort because it goes against the prejudices of our elites. The latter does not have the slightest understanding of sociopaths or their behavior at all, and our elites actually resist learning about the psychology and genetics of sociopathic behavior because this knowledge would destroy their twaddle-laden childish illusions.
Available at Open Library:
https://openlibrary.org/works/OL14488...
September 27, 2021
This 1961 history follows a chain of outlaws from Quantrill's Confederate Civil War guerilla gang to the 1934 FBI shooting of Pretty Boy Floyd.
It is an amazing story. Frank and Jesse James rode with Quantrill in the Civil War while he slaughtered and terrorized Union supporters. The Younger Brothers, Jim, Bob and Cole, also rode with him.
After the war the James Gang and the Younger Gang marauded throughout the Midwest and West. They pioneered train robberies and perfected the day time bank robbery. As they were killed off, the Dalton Gang started up. Louis Dalton was related to the Youngers and many of his gang members had started with the James or Younger Gang.
Belle Starr provided a Texas hide-out for the James and Younger gangs. She had a child by Cole Younger and always considered him her husband. She and her second "husband", a Cherokee Indian named Sam Starr, organized a gang of bandits who robbed and killed in Texas and Oklahoma.
Survivors of the Dalton and Starr gangs eventually formed the Cook gang. A second spur ended up committing crimes out of Wichita. Pretty Boy Floyd came out of that group.
The book is great fun because Wellman has found a great theory to use as an excuse to tell exciting outlaw stories. He was a journalist in the area where these gangs flourished. He prides himself on uncovering the truth about the various shootouts and robberies.
He gives us shot by shot recreations of bank robberies gone bad. We get good stories about lawmen tracking down outlaws and the battles that ensue. Judge Ike Parker is one of his heroes. He was the hanging Judge who presided over the Indian Territory. He sentenced 88 men to hanging. His hangman, George Maledon, was a celebrity himself. He prided himself on his hangings. He twice successfully hung six men simultaneously.
Wellman had met some of the old timers involved in these events. He also includes a wonderful opinionated bibliography of the books written about these days.
The stories are great fun. The theory that criminal gangs can last and evolve through generations, is fascinating. It is certainly true in Boston. The Bulger/Flemmi gang of the 1980s can be traced in direct line at least back to the Boston gangs of the 1920s. I think the same is true of New York City.
It is an amazing story. Frank and Jesse James rode with Quantrill in the Civil War while he slaughtered and terrorized Union supporters. The Younger Brothers, Jim, Bob and Cole, also rode with him.
After the war the James Gang and the Younger Gang marauded throughout the Midwest and West. They pioneered train robberies and perfected the day time bank robbery. As they were killed off, the Dalton Gang started up. Louis Dalton was related to the Youngers and many of his gang members had started with the James or Younger Gang.
Belle Starr provided a Texas hide-out for the James and Younger gangs. She had a child by Cole Younger and always considered him her husband. She and her second "husband", a Cherokee Indian named Sam Starr, organized a gang of bandits who robbed and killed in Texas and Oklahoma.
Survivors of the Dalton and Starr gangs eventually formed the Cook gang. A second spur ended up committing crimes out of Wichita. Pretty Boy Floyd came out of that group.
The book is great fun because Wellman has found a great theory to use as an excuse to tell exciting outlaw stories. He was a journalist in the area where these gangs flourished. He prides himself on uncovering the truth about the various shootouts and robberies.
He gives us shot by shot recreations of bank robberies gone bad. We get good stories about lawmen tracking down outlaws and the battles that ensue. Judge Ike Parker is one of his heroes. He was the hanging Judge who presided over the Indian Territory. He sentenced 88 men to hanging. His hangman, George Maledon, was a celebrity himself. He prided himself on his hangings. He twice successfully hung six men simultaneously.
Wellman had met some of the old timers involved in these events. He also includes a wonderful opinionated bibliography of the books written about these days.
The stories are great fun. The theory that criminal gangs can last and evolve through generations, is fascinating. It is certainly true in Boston. The Bulger/Flemmi gang of the 1980s can be traced in direct line at least back to the Boston gangs of the 1920s. I think the same is true of New York City.
September 23, 2020
A good read I love reading about history
Read
July 29, 2022Loved it as a boy and again as a grown-up!
February 1, 2025
A good look into the world of western outlaws. Very detailed & a long read but informative.
Read
October 24, 2025A curious book with a lot of authorial personality. I can appreciate the ambition of the thesis, and in fact think Wellman could have aimed higher. If he cannot continue the trail beyond Pretty Boy Floyd, I wonder if it is because the "carrier" of the kind of violence he attributes to consanguinity and personal connection had by then become a cultural archetype propagated by mass media. Wellman is a good journalist but a deeply incurious sociologist.
The bibliography, with comments, is almost as good as the book and provides much further reading; the author draws frequently from Harman's "Hell on the Border" and other classics of the genre. Mercifully, Wellman does not replicate Harman's sweltering didacticism. However, his obvious admiration for some outlaws and distain for others is irritating. We are to suppose Cherokee Bill, recipient of almost puzzlingly scathing treatment, is a singularly cunning psychopath, but I think he is far from the only person in this book who would have shot another man dead over a couple of hogs given the right circumstances. I will also say that several men are described as "fine-looking" who appear otherwise in their tintypes, but that is just my opinion. All in all an interesting but very trying read for the enthusiast of this subject.
The bibliography, with comments, is almost as good as the book and provides much further reading; the author draws frequently from Harman's "Hell on the Border" and other classics of the genre. Mercifully, Wellman does not replicate Harman's sweltering didacticism. However, his obvious admiration for some outlaws and distain for others is irritating. We are to suppose Cherokee Bill, recipient of almost puzzlingly scathing treatment, is a singularly cunning psychopath, but I think he is far from the only person in this book who would have shot another man dead over a couple of hogs given the right circumstances. I will also say that several men are described as "fine-looking" who appear otherwise in their tintypes, but that is just my opinion. All in all an interesting but very trying read for the enthusiast of this subject.
September 28, 2016
A tracing of crime from Quantrill's during the Civil War to the Kansas City Massacre. It's not an overview of the era -- he traces some connections, rather -- though he does diverge quite a bit to explain circumstances.
Train robberies, bank robberies, cold-blooded murders, daring rescues, daring captures -- and not so daring captures. Some of it is speculative, such as why the James gang gratuitously murdered a young man in their first bank robbery, and which one did it. Motives, such as a number of crimes that seemed to be done out of flamboyant desire for fame. And the changes as the west was tamed.
A lot of interesting stuff. Not particularly gory in retelling, though there are a lot of deaths.
Indeed, this was first published in 1960 -- and the author can talk of his having talked with some of the participants.
Train robberies, bank robberies, cold-blooded murders, daring rescues, daring captures -- and not so daring captures. Some of it is speculative, such as why the James gang gratuitously murdered a young man in their first bank robbery, and which one did it. Motives, such as a number of crimes that seemed to be done out of flamboyant desire for fame. And the changes as the west was tamed.
A lot of interesting stuff. Not particularly gory in retelling, though there are a lot of deaths.
Indeed, this was first published in 1960 -- and the author can talk of his having talked with some of the participants.
September 5, 2009
A great study of western outlaws. Very informative. It digs past the hollywood projected romance of the western outlaws and gets to the truth behind the Daltons, James Gang, Belle Star, and many others, and how they all have connections to a 'family tree' of outlaws stemming back to Quantrill's Raiders.
I found it quite interesting how they were all so connected, and how there was such a rash of outlaw gangs that quickly rose up and then ruled the areas of Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and the west after the Civil War.
This book is as true of a portrayal of the brutality and reality of these gangs that I have come across.
I found it quite interesting how they were all so connected, and how there was such a rash of outlaw gangs that quickly rose up and then ruled the areas of Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and the west after the Civil War.
This book is as true of a portrayal of the brutality and reality of these gangs that I have come across.
October 2, 2015
Surprisingly compelling, especially for a history book written in the 1960s. The descriptions of historical events (especially the James-Younger gang's ill-fated Northfield raid) are as exciting and action-pact as any novel could be.
July 31, 2010
A history book basically, but well written and I found it entertaining. I think it'll make a good reference book.
August 27, 2014
Excellent read.
March 2, 2016
Entertaining, detailed account of the western outlaw gangs. Aficionados will love this well-written and exciting book.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews