Old Western History

WILL ROGERS MEDALLION AWARD FINALIST 2021 Part action-adventure, part suspense, part heartfelt romance—and always a page-turner—Wiley’s newest addition to the Wilderness Dawning Series, BUCKSKIN ANGEL, is an intense journey back to the thrilling birth of the West. It’s 1824, and Captain Sam Wyllie and Bear MacKay, well-loved characters from the American Wilderness Series, agree they need one last adventure—a thrilling 800-mile journey through the American frontier to see their brother Stephen in the Province of Texas. Knowing that predators of all kinds lurk in the wilderness, ...

Thomas Horn Jr. was an infamous figure in the 19th-century American Old West. Cowboy, soldier, government scout, translator, and gunman, Horn’s storied life has become an important part of western folklore. In 1902, he was convicted for murdering a 14-year-old boy after a run-in during a feud with a cattle rancher. The Life of Tom Horn is his life story in his own words, written from prison before he met his fate at the gallows the following year.

In the 1850s, the United States was a nation divided. In the North, industrialization and urbanization were both significant drivers of change. In the South, a largely agrarian economy was supported by the institution of slavery. The East and West of the country were also divided, not by social or political differences but by a vast tract of largely untouched, rugged, and often hostile territory. There were just two ways to travel from the East Coast to the Pacific Coast or vice versa.

Bass Reeves was a man who forged his own destiny and wrote his own life story as he went along. Born into slavery, Reeves rose above all challenges to become one of the most legendary lawmen of the American West. As a deputy US marshal, he held himself to a personal code of conduct that went beyond the badge he wore. For Bass, the line between right and wrong was clear, and he never hesitated to enforce the law—even when it meant pursuing his own friends or family. Justice wasn’t just his duty; it was his calling.

OUTLAWS AND LEGENDS OF THE WILD WEST - SPECIAL 15 STORY BOX SET Do you like true stories of the Wild West? You should love these tales of outlaws and gunslingers then Of course you will have heard of most of them as many have become infamous legends. Some are not so quite well known however, but they were all dangerous and ruthless criminals and all had their "15 minutes of fame", leaving trails of death and mayhem behind them. Most did not live to an old age, and those that did were probably in jail. Their escapades were daring and reckless and many paid the ultimate price in the end. ...

LAND OF STARS, from Amazon bestselling author Dorothy Wiley, continues the highly-acclaimed Wyllie family frontier saga. It’s now 1824, and the Province of Texas, an exceedingly dangerous and volatile place, is the leading edge of the West and is seized by Mexico from Spain. Blending action and romance with vigilant research, Wiley brings to life the generations of driven men and women who shaped Texas—all of them a part of the creation of a place that became not just a nation, not just a state, but an enduring dream. Steve Wyllie, a young man with the courage and grit to confront the ...

Black Bart is widely regarded today as not only the most notorious stage robber of the Old West but also the best behaved. Over his lifetime, Black Bart held up at least twenty-nine stagecoaches in California and Oregon with mild, polite commands, stealing from Wells Fargo and the US mail but never robbing a passenger. Such behavior earned him the title of a true “gentleman bandit.”

Settlers in the frontier West were often easy prey for criminals. Policing efforts were scattered at best and often amounted to vigilante retaliation. To create a semblance of order, freelance enforcers of the law known as man-hunters undertook the search for fugitives. These pursuers have often been portrayed as ruthless bounty hunters, no better than the felons they pursued. Robert K. DeArment's detailed account of their careers redeems their reputations and reveals the truth behind their fascinating legends.

For over 150 years the image of western bad men has thrilled readers and filled movie screens. Who hasn't heard of Jesse James, the Dalton Brothers, Black Bart, or Belle Starr? They are as much a part of American folklore as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. There's something about the west that has brought out the best, and the worst, in mankind. The funny thing is, a cult following has developed around many of these bandits, making them out to be something they weren't.

In old age, Charlie Siringo was called "Ulysses of the Wild West" for the long journey he took across the western frontier. Son of the Old West brings him and his legendary world vividly to life.

A Winchester Model 1873 rifle was found leaning against a pinion tree in the high Nevada desert in 2014. It had been there, undisturbed, for over 130 years. Nobody knows who left it there. But perhaps ...there was a Shoshone boy and his father on a hunting trip, a cowboy and his partner, a classic Western story about cattle drives, bandits, and ranching in the high Nevada desert. The discovery of a cave, hot summers, cold winters - all result in a reason for the rifle being left leaning against the tree over 130 years ago. The actual Forgotten Winchester was discovered in November 2014 in ...

THERE was a lot of adventure to be had in Alaska in the early twentieth century, and Hardy Trefzger tasted it all . . . hunting, fishing, prospecting, guiding, trading, trapping ... He even had a blue-fox farm for a while. Hardy Trefzger was born in the Black Forest of Germany to Swiss parents and received much of his education in Switzerland. While still in his youth, he migrated to the United States, where he established a small interior-decorating business. After two years in New York City, he headed west to Seattle, where all the talk was of the fabulous gold strikes in the North. He ...

Among the legendary heroes and outlaws of the Wild West, few names echo louder than that of Wild Bill Hickok. Wild Bill wasn’t just a name whispered in saloons or shouted on the stage of Buffalo Bill’s world-famous Wild West shows. Long before he stepped onto any stage, Wild Bill had carved his path in blood, sweat, and gunpowder. He was a Civil War scout who could read the vast plains like a map, a fearless marshal who faced down lawlessness, and a frontier sheriff whose very name sent ripples through the towns he protected.

Originally a novella in The Pony Express Romance Collection August, 1861After her mother’s death, Alannah Fagan is left in the care of a brutal stepfather. When he demands that she marry his youngest son, her only hope is to escape. Together with Conn Fagan, her younger brother, she flees their westbound wagon train with no plan other than to survive. Stewart McCann left northern Virginia behind to take the stationmaster job at the Pony Express’s Horseshoe Station in Wyoming territory at the start of the Civil War. He has struggled with that decision ever since. When he discovers a ...

Some of the greatest hounds in the southwest match wits, courage, and endurance with the elusive cougar, bear, and wildcat. New Mexico and Arizona have produced some truly exceptional hounds and houndsmen over the years, and the Slash Ranch hounds were among the best. Over much of the first half of the 1900’s these hounds with Dub Evans were making a name for themselves all over the southwest. People coming from far and wide to witness them in action as well as for the chance to harvest bear and lion. The Black Range and Gila Wilderness of New Mexico where much of this book takes place, ...

Andy Adams (1859-1935) was born to pioneer parents in Indiana, worked in Texas for a decade driving cattle, and settled in Colorado Springs, where he penned his cowboy narratives. The Log of a Cowboy chronicles a five-month drive of three thousand head of cattle from Brownsville, Texas, to the Blackfoot Indian Reservation in Montana. This classical work of fiction provides fascinating insights of everyday life on the Great Western Cattle Trail with a team of 12 cowhands, a cook, a horse wrangler and a foreman.

In 1875, Indian Territory, in what is now the state of Oklahoma, was a haven for thieves, swindlers, and murderers, all trying to escape the reach of the law. When President U.S. Grant appointed Judge Isaac Parker judge of the Western District of Arkansas, which included the territory, Parker was intent upon bringing fugitives to justice. He authorized U.S. Marshal James Fagan to hire 200 deputy marshals to help police the 4,500 square mile lawless territory. Among those deputies was Bass Reeves. Born a slave in 1838, Reeves had spent the Civil War as a runaway in Indian Territory, and ...

The exceptional true story of great dogs, grizzlies, horses, mules, outlaws, and an eccentric frontiersman. Meet Mr. Grizzly is an exquisite look into the life and adventures of a rural New Mexico ranchman, and one of the best dog books ever written. Montague Stevens, a brilliantly innovative sportsman set out to train a pack of the best and most well-trained dogs in the history of bear hunting. Humorous and tear-jerking at times, it is a must read for anyone interested in the sport or anyone who loves dogs, horses, and true stories of adventure. A one-armed Englishman Montague Stevens had ...

Born a slave, Bass Reeves never learned to read or write English, but he spoke six Native-American languages and could recall everything someone read to him. Thus, when he became a deputy U.S. marshal working in Indian Territory, he would memorize dozens of arrest Warrants and wanted posters. In thousands of arrests during his 30-year career, he never arrested the wrong person.In Volume 2 of Bass Reeves: The Indomitable Marshal, follow him in more of his amazing adventures.

Legacy of Dreams is the first book in Dan Vanderburg's Texas Legacy family saga and takes you to the raw frontier of Texas, following two courageous young men and the women they love as they build new lives, homes and dreams in their new country. In the spring of 1829 Will Bowman and Jeff Jefferson ride into a world of political unrest, hostile Indians and backbreaking work, but unlimited opportunity. This story explores the concept of freedom at two levels: Jeff's personal account of slavery and freedom and the story of the Texans and their struggle against the tightening noose of ...