True Tales and Amazing Legends of the Old West: From True West Magazine

by Editors of True West (Editor)

Much has been written about the west—most of it clouded by exaggeration and fabrication. Since 1953, True West magazine has been devoted to celebrating the West’s true colors, giving the men and women who settled there accurate voices, exploring every triumph and tragedy of their time—and exposing every vice and virtue.

True Tales and Amazing Legends of the Old West commemorates these unforgettable cowboys, Indians, and city slickers through a mix of classic histories and brand-new narratives, all illustrated with photographs—many reproduced here for the first time—of the people and places that gave rise to America’s Western mythology.

With twenty-six stories that blend fact with folklore, this collection abounds with accounts of the famous and the infamous, including Sacagawea, Wild Bill Hickok, Pancho Villa, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Davy Crockett, and Wyatt Earp. Also here are lesser-known figures whose stories were pivotal to shaping the culture of the era, such as European conquistador Francisco Coronado, rancher “Black Billy” Hill, and fearless lawman Orlando “Rube” Robbins. Other tales recount the wide open plains, lawlessness, drama, mayhem, and promise embodied in the Old West.

Whether you’re a history buff, an Old West devotee, or simply someone who is fascinated by the characters of America’s early years, these timeless tales and photographs epitomize the legendary spirit of what it meant to settle the West.

Sacagawea's improbable reunion / by R.G. Robertson --
Rendezvous / by R.G. Robertson --
The Alamo . by Jana Bommersbach --
How did Davy really die? / by Bob Boze Bell --
Luck of the draw / by John Haradon --
Dead in the water . by Downs Matthews --
The real Wild Bill / by Joseph G. Rosa --
From Troy Grove to the tin star / by Joseph G. Rosa --
Orlando "Rube" Robbins / by R.G. Robertson --
The split / by Chuck Hornung and Gary L. Roberts --
Fifty things you don't know about Wyatt Earp / by bob Boze Bell --
The Wild Bunch / by Danial Buck and Anne Meadows --
The coming of the sacred dog / by R.G. Robertson --
"If they're hungry, let them eat grass" / by Larry H. Johns --
The warrior who killed Custer? / by Jana Bommersbach --
Judgment at Jacksboro / by Johnny D. Boggs --
"Take no prisoners" / by Linda R. Wommack --
Swallowed by the Earth / by Mike Coppock --
A general named Dorothy / by Neil Carmony --
Raid on Columbus / edited by Neil Carmony and excerpted from Tough times in rough places : personal narratives of adventure, death and survival on the Western frontier --
Truth failed to hide in a tin / by Larry K. Brown --
One for the grave / by Leo W. Banks --
Eating his weight in Democrats / by Jana Bommersbach --
O homo / by Leo W. Banks --
Chompin' at the lip / by Tom Carpenter --
Vera McGinnis / by Jana Bommersbach

Genres: Westerns, History

192 pages, Paperback

First published August 16, 2005

Reviews

[Jeff Tankersley · Rating 2 out of 5]

A modern compilation of 26 anecdotal nonfiction western stories, "True Tales" is an interesting collection of historical facts and narratives, including some stories already famous to most readers but some less known, about characters ranging from explorers and pioneers, lawmen and soldiers, to cowboys, outlaws, and Indians.

The stories are compiled in a way that is easy to read but can be a bit dry at times with a textbook-style wording. I found some odd typos and punctuation issues and also page numbers referenced to pages that didn't have page numbers on them. The stories aren't sequenced chronologically so when they have timelines across the bottom of some pages - you know the type I mean, showing famous western events occurring alongside notable world history events - an 1880's story shows up before the 1860's story, for example. That makes it read like a selection of magazine articles put haphazardly in book form and it kind of negates the attempt to show how the western events place within the global context since it is not sequential.

Those few editorial oddities aside, the maps, pictures and info are handled well within each story, and those stories are written so that they are not overwhelming with facts but also summarized just enough that it can't be called incomplete.

Verdict: A nice companion book for western readers like me, "True Tales" has short summaries of various historical events and could serve as a reference book for those specific events.

Jeff's Rating: 2 / 5 (Okay)
movie rating if made into a movie: PG-13

[Gwen Kubberness · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful read, I loved hearing about the old west and the wildness of the times.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of fun stories.