The Old West bred some mighty tough men! Unfortunately, the general public knows little or nothing about the good ones! Billy the Kid, the Daltons, Jesse James, Sam Bass, the Youngsters, Wesley Hardin and many more are familiar as “heroes” to the children and their parents of today. So, even more unfortunately are many so-called “lawmen” who were actually nothing but hired killers, far more crooked than most of the men they eliminated! Heck Thomas deserves to be known in a way that most of the current TV “Marshals” never deserved. Fighter, yes, and killer at times, law officer of some of the toughest areas in the Southwest (such as the Cherokee Strip and other outlaw-ridden parts of Oklahoma), he never took a bribe, was a model family man, and lived to a magnificent old age, still “in hardness,” honoured as one of the last genuine heroes of the frontier by all who knew him. No one, outlaw or politician, ever made him back down and his record of arrests and captures still stands as one of the most noteworthy of any peace officer anywhere. To a public which always seeks true heroism and is proud of the iron men who built America, this man, Heck Thomas, must stand forever as the best type of man of the West, low-voiced, courteous, law-abiding, and very, very dangerous. Heck Thomas made his lifework keeping the law, and emerges from the shadowy past to blazing life as an authentic hero of the Old Frontier.

Fort Worth history is far more than the handful of familiar names that every true-blue Fort Worther hears growing up: leaders such as Amon Carter, B. B. Paddock, J. Frank Norris, and William McDonald. Their names are indexed in the history books for ready reference. But the drama that is Fort Worth history contains other, less famous characters who played important roles, like Judge James Swayne, Madam Mary Porter, and Marshal Sam Farmer: well known enough in their day but since forgotten. Others, like Al Hayne, lived their lives in the shadows until one, spectacular moment of heroism. Then there are the lawmen, Jim Courtright, Jeff Daggett, and Thomas Finch. They wore badges, but did not always represent the best of law and order. These seven plus five others are gathered together between the covers of this book. Each has a story that deserves to be told. If they did not all make history, they certainly lived in historic times. The jury is still out on whether they shaped their times or merely reflected those times. Either way, their stories add new perspectives to the familiar Fort Worth story, revealing how the law worked in the old days and what life was like for persons of color and for women living in a man's world. As the old TV show used to say, "There are a million stories in the 'Naked City.'" There may not be quite as many stories in Cowtown, but there are plenty waiting to be told--enough for future volumes of Fort Worth Characters. But this is a good starting point.

The mélange of works dealing with personalities emerging from the Lincoln County, New Mexico War have treated Fred Waite shabbily. Although many writers have termed him the best friend of Billy the Kid, he has never been properly researched. From the earliest work Waite has been portrayed as a minor character drifting into Lincoln just in time to get hired into a shooting war, and who then faded into obscurity. The truth, as presented in this book, is far different for Waite was a wealthy adventurer drawn into the conflict by circumstance rather than a rogue hireling. It's even probable he was an investor in John Tunstall's grand design for dominating Southeast New Mexico. Moreover, after this adventure he did not pale into the background. Rather, Fred Waite, the outlaw, while battling Federal attempts to dismantle his people's government, brightened into the dynamic and respected statesman F. Tecumseh Waite. It's a remarkable story, one you owe to yourself to read.

Massacres, mayhem, and mischief fill the pages of Outlaw Tales of Oklahoma 2, with compelling legends of the Sooner State's most despicable desperadoes. Ride with horse thieves and cattle rustlers, duck the bullets of murderers, plot strategies with con artists, and hiss at lawmen turned outlaws.

Massacres, mayhem, and mischief fill the pages of Outlaw Tales of Oklahoma 2, with compelling legends of the Sooner State's most despicable desperadoes. Ride with horse thieves and cattle rustlers, duck the bullets of murderers, plot strategies with con artists, and hiss at lawmen turned outlaws.