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Badasses of the Old West: True Stories Of Outlaws On The Edge
Badasses of the Old West brings together thirty-six tales of the worst (and best) robbers, rustlers, and bandits who shaped the history of the Wild West in one compelling volume. From the famous, such as Billy the Kid and the Wild Bunch, to the lesser-known but still colorful and wicked Charles Brown and Bud Stevens. Here are just some of the fascinating and forbidding faces you’ll meet:
-Bud Stevens, whose murder of a cattle king’s son rang a death knell for an entire South Dakota town
-William Quantrill, the terror of Civil War–era Missouri
-Legendary bandits Frank and Jesse James
-Cold-blooded Sam Brown, who sneered while cutting out a man’s heart but screamed in terror when the tables turned
-Jack Slade, a composite of gentleman and murderer who was such an enigma across much of the West that he charmed both Mark Twain and Buffalo Bill
Dust off your six-shooter and settle into your saddle because this collection compiles the stories of the most notorious black-hat wearers of a notorious age.
-Bud Stevens, whose murder of a cattle king’s son rang a death knell for an entire South Dakota town
-William Quantrill, the terror of Civil War–era Missouri
-Legendary bandits Frank and Jesse James
-Cold-blooded Sam Brown, who sneered while cutting out a man’s heart but screamed in terror when the tables turned
-Jack Slade, a composite of gentleman and murderer who was such an enigma across much of the West that he charmed both Mark Twain and Buffalo Bill
Dust off your six-shooter and settle into your saddle because this collection compiles the stories of the most notorious black-hat wearers of a notorious age.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 25, 2016
Man, the title and cover really oversell this book. It’s actually a collection of short profiles of criminals of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. I’m not sure I’d have counted coastal Oregon in the 1920s as part of the “old west” but one of the longer entries chronicles an escaped convict who spent weeks on the lam there, forcing people to cook for him at gunpoint whenever he stopped at a house. Other criminals that are included don’t really seem to rise to the level “outlaw” status -- a burglar who murdered a sleeping woman with a meat cleaver, a man who went on a drunken rampage robbing some railroad employees and shooting his brother-in-law, and several other cases of murder. There are a few bona fide famous outlaws mentioned -- the James brothers, the Apache Kid, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, as well as infamous killers like John Wesley Hardin and William Quantrill. A few of the less well-known characters are pretty interesting too -- Old Tom Starr and Dart Isom, for example. But all too many seem to have been selected for their evocative nicknames rather than their deeds: “Bad Eye” Santamarrazo’s crime was trying to poison a miner, and “Rattlesnake Dick” Barter murdered and dismembered an eccentric old man in order to take over his farm; in both cases these were the only crimes the subjects committed. Worse, a lot of them seem to be included simply because the writers found a lot of details about their trials and executions, which make for pretty uninteresting reading when the criminals were spectacularly inept. So it’s really a very mixed bag, some of it entertaining and some of it boring.
I’m not sure what I was expecting, exactly; maybe tales of men who were “badass” by some standard other than simply being killers. Really the vast majority of the people profiled sound like sociopaths and bullies. Most of the killings are ambushes or surprise attacks on unarmed men. I know that this is the reality of most crime generally and most of the killings in the Old West. I guess I was hoping they would be enough true stories where a gunslinger did something that actually was “badass” to fill a book. You know, stuff like this: http://www.cracked.com/article_18607_... . Evidently not. I know, I know. Most of the people from history who we think of as "badasses" were actually sociopaths and bullies. The "most badass" warrior cultures -- Vikings, Romans, Spartans, samurai, knights -- were basically sociopaths and bullies who won more by surprise, material wealth, and ruthlessness than courage or toughness. That's pretty much how human history works. Still, the Old Western idea of a tough individual dies hard, and maybe if we pretend the intent behind this collection was demythologization, it works. Except that the obviously amateur and amateurish articles don't really address the question, and it's more on the editor for pretending these are about badasses rather than a collection of crime stories.
I also wish the articles were signed, rather than just having a list of contributors on the copyright page, because the style and tone of the articles varies a lot. I get the impression that the publisher or editor just wanted to cash in on a great title and classic photo for the cover (a cowboy standing on the saddle of a horse and aiming straight for the camera with his gun), reprinting chapters from various “Outlaw tales of…” books in the publisher’s stable. If this is meant to be a “best of” collection, I’ll skip the books they’re excerpted from.
I’m not sure what I was expecting, exactly; maybe tales of men who were “badass” by some standard other than simply being killers. Really the vast majority of the people profiled sound like sociopaths and bullies. Most of the killings are ambushes or surprise attacks on unarmed men. I know that this is the reality of most crime generally and most of the killings in the Old West. I guess I was hoping they would be enough true stories where a gunslinger did something that actually was “badass” to fill a book. You know, stuff like this: http://www.cracked.com/article_18607_... . Evidently not. I know, I know. Most of the people from history who we think of as "badasses" were actually sociopaths and bullies. The "most badass" warrior cultures -- Vikings, Romans, Spartans, samurai, knights -- were basically sociopaths and bullies who won more by surprise, material wealth, and ruthlessness than courage or toughness. That's pretty much how human history works. Still, the Old Western idea of a tough individual dies hard, and maybe if we pretend the intent behind this collection was demythologization, it works. Except that the obviously amateur and amateurish articles don't really address the question, and it's more on the editor for pretending these are about badasses rather than a collection of crime stories.
I also wish the articles were signed, rather than just having a list of contributors on the copyright page, because the style and tone of the articles varies a lot. I get the impression that the publisher or editor just wanted to cash in on a great title and classic photo for the cover (a cowboy standing on the saddle of a horse and aiming straight for the camera with his gun), reprinting chapters from various “Outlaw tales of…” books in the publisher’s stable. If this is meant to be a “best of” collection, I’ll skip the books they’re excerpted from.
September 14, 2015
Though this book contains some interesting information at times, the editor allows the contributors (barely listed on the copyright page) to attempt to flavor and sensationalize stories. By doing so, the editor allows this to read like an overly long True West magazine of days gone by.
When authors try to give details like golden leaves falling-- well, okay, why not just say in the Fall instead of trying to pretty up the setting. Such made-up details would be wonderful in a western novel. But in a True West compendium such as this-- well... it just doesn't really come together well.
The editor allows her writers to write in an uneven fashion-- and then allows them to explore ideas without offering supporting evidence. For example, Was Joaquin Murrietta's decpaitated head actually displayed in a jar, or was it someone else's head. In the Butch and Sundance articles the author allows the exploration of the concept that they were not the bandits killed in Bolivia (as depicted in the classic film) but instead survived and returned to the United States under assumed names. Only anecdotal evidence is offered for this-- no real research done into it and nothing new. By allowing such anecdotal evidence to be presented as factual, the editor allows the book to sink to the level of the National Enquirer, spreading Old West Gossip.
Towards the end, the author seems to be trying to stretch the length of the book out.. The final two stories both feature hangings and the details of the attending physicians are almost the same. One chapter deals with a master forger.. hardly a badass outlaw.
In fact, sadly, some of the folks in the book are hardly badasses at all, but rather, sad sacks who couldn't make it in the outlaw life at all.
The book is very unevenly written, poorly edited, overly speculative (though to be fair, some of the speculation is labeled as such) and overall a fine example of why Real West Magazines are hard to find on the newstand today. Readers wanted more than the sensationalized exaggerated stories about outlaws, they wanted serious writing with serious research. Sadly, this book doesn't seem to offer anything for such a reader, except perhaps to whet the appetite by informing the reader of the basic outline of a western outlaw he may never have read about and might desire to research more.
No wonder this one was on the bargain table at Barnes and Noble. At $7.98 I feel I overpaid.
When authors try to give details like golden leaves falling-- well, okay, why not just say in the Fall instead of trying to pretty up the setting. Such made-up details would be wonderful in a western novel. But in a True West compendium such as this-- well... it just doesn't really come together well.
The editor allows her writers to write in an uneven fashion-- and then allows them to explore ideas without offering supporting evidence. For example, Was Joaquin Murrietta's decpaitated head actually displayed in a jar, or was it someone else's head. In the Butch and Sundance articles the author allows the exploration of the concept that they were not the bandits killed in Bolivia (as depicted in the classic film) but instead survived and returned to the United States under assumed names. Only anecdotal evidence is offered for this-- no real research done into it and nothing new. By allowing such anecdotal evidence to be presented as factual, the editor allows the book to sink to the level of the National Enquirer, spreading Old West Gossip.
Towards the end, the author seems to be trying to stretch the length of the book out.. The final two stories both feature hangings and the details of the attending physicians are almost the same. One chapter deals with a master forger.. hardly a badass outlaw.
In fact, sadly, some of the folks in the book are hardly badasses at all, but rather, sad sacks who couldn't make it in the outlaw life at all.
The book is very unevenly written, poorly edited, overly speculative (though to be fair, some of the speculation is labeled as such) and overall a fine example of why Real West Magazines are hard to find on the newstand today. Readers wanted more than the sensationalized exaggerated stories about outlaws, they wanted serious writing with serious research. Sadly, this book doesn't seem to offer anything for such a reader, except perhaps to whet the appetite by informing the reader of the basic outline of a western outlaw he may never have read about and might desire to research more.
No wonder this one was on the bargain table at Barnes and Noble. At $7.98 I feel I overpaid.
May 19, 2012
Loved this book. It is not a novel. It is a series of bizarre tales of the old west. I think teenage boys would like it if they were forced to read. I doubt female friends in my age group would enjoy it as much as I did. I like stories about Jessie James and Alfie Packer (famous American cannibal). I think there were some editing issues but for a certain audience I would recommend this book.
January 25, 2012
The writing is sub-par with numerous errors. The editor should be embarrassed. Many of the same old players that show up in well-written works, a few unusual inclusions. There are MANY other titles out there that provide the same information, only better.
March 16, 2016
Nothing groundbreaking here. Just a collection of stories of some of the most famous outlaws and a few nobodies. The author did sprinkle the Book liberally with guesses, suppositions and opinions that have no place in a historical work.
December 29, 2015
There are so many mistakes/untruths in this book that it is laughable. It's books like this that frustrates the old west history enthusiasts.
March 23, 2016
This was a fun short story of western outlaws and there were many
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews