In this historical novel, Billy Old and Jeff Kidder were Arizona Rangers at the turn of the twentieth century and best friends. In 1908, while acting in the line of duty, Kidder was murdered by five crooked Mexican policemen. No charges were filed against his killers. They were quietly skirted away to various locations throughout the county of Sonora, Mexico, a vast, desolate area covering nearly twenty thousand square miles. In 1909, shady politics in the Territory of Arizona brought about the disbanding of the Rangers, leaving many to drift into obscurity and some into degradation. In that same year Billy Old vanished into Sonora to find and kill the men responsible for his friend’s death. He returned close to two years later with that deed accomplished. During Billy’s search of hundreds of sleazy Sonora whorehouses and cantinas he experiences many exciting, humorous, and tragic encounters. There’s a bloody and deadly confrontation with four scalp hunters; a mystical meeting with an old, dying Hopi Indian; an attack by the legendary “Red Ghost” of the southwest; a sorrowful meeting with a past fellow Ranger; cannibal Indians from East Texas; renegade Apaches; flushing toilets; the wonders of ether; Dancing Devils—fifty-foot high swirling dust funnels that can blind an animal; and a whore named Abbie Crutchfield who proves vital to Billy’s quest. And then there’s his horse Orion and a mule named Captain, all a part of a critically changing time in the American Southwest. Includes Historical Background and Readers Guide.

Established in 1901, the Arizona Rangers have protected and served the citizenry for over 107 years. Though the initial organization was short lived, lasting only until 1909, the company--with an authorized strength of just 26 men--became the scourge of outlaws within the Arizona Territory and along the Mexican border where, like today, criminal activity was prevalent. In 1957, the Arizona Rangers were reestablished, and for the 50 years since, these modern rangers have continued the tradition of service that was established by their territorial predecessors. Today's Arizona Rangers are officially recognized by state legislation as a volunteer civilian law enforcement auxiliary. In keeping with their motto, "Few But Proud Then and Now," they assist numerous law enforcement agencies and help keep the peace within their communities and state.

The communities that once surrounded the infamous Wild West town of Tombstone, including Dos Cabezas, Fairbank, Gleeson, Pearce, Courtland, Charleston, and Milltown, are now mostly ghosts of their former selves. These rich mining towns had promising futures when they were first established, but many experienced only fleeting boom times, like Courtland, a promising copper camp that survived only 12 years. During its short existence, the town of Charleston, founded in 1879 as a milling site for ore from Tombstone's silver mines, was every bit as wild and rowdy as its neighbor. There was corruption in the region too. Dos Cabezas's Mascot Mine became part one of the largest stock scandals of the time when it was exposed around 1900. Today this fascinating, rough-and-tumble history lives on primarily in faded memories, crumbling remnants on the outskirts of Tombstone, and in vintage photographs gathered together in this volume.

Patrick William Graham Jr. was destined to be small of stature, but that didn't mean he was short on courage. He grew up with a Cherokee tribe and became blood brother to the chief's son, Leaping Wolf. One of Pat's first toys was a hand-carved wooden pistol; when his draw was faster than his father's, he was given a working gun. When tragedy strikes, leaving Pat's father dead and his mother remarried to a man Pat despises, he leaves his tribal home. Out in the world, his small frame makes him an easy target for bullies, predators, and petty men with something to prove. After he kills a man who was riding him for being small, Pat's life changes in ways he can't control. He sells his skills as a gunman. In Mexico, he protects a silver mine from banditos and then helps them to improve their operation. One fateful day, however, on a job rustling cattle, he finds God and a better way to live. Pat is soon welcomed as the youngest Arizona Territorial Ranger, and he puts his skills and talents to the Lord's work. He prevents war with the Indians seven times. But his life isn't all heroics and escapades. Along the way, he also finds a bride, buys a ranch, and works with a family named Earp. Inspired by the stories told to him by his Texas rancher father, songs, and classic Western tales, A Stranger Came to Town is Nolan Fondren's love song to a long-lost time and place.

Line Rider is the true story of the life of Joseph Harrison Pearce (1873-1958), written by his own hand. During his lifetime, the “wild west” from the storybooks still lived and breathed in one of the last places to be modernized—Arizona. Joe, as he calls himself, took various roles throughout his adventurous life, including sheep herder, cowman, courter, tracker, line rider, and, most famously, that venerated breed of law man know as the Arizona Ranger. His story leads him to encounters with cattle rustlers, gamblers, saloons, stampedes, horse thieves, Indian trackers, outlaws, and nearly every other subject that later made its way into western legend. But this story is absolutely real, told in his own voice in vivid detail.

SHADOW of the MOGOLLON RIM Being a Texas Ranger had its rewardsthough they were few and far betweenbut after twelve long and lonely years on horseback tracking down and arresting what seemed like an endless number of ruthless, cold-blooded fugitives from justice, Clint Wells had had enough. By the grace of God, he had survived the hardships and dangers of his job. At thirty-seven years of ageand feeling several years olderthe time had finally come to hang up his reliable Colt revolver, surrender the tarnished silver badge, and head further west. The Arizona Territory had its own brand of special lawmen, the Arizona Rangers, and they needed Clints priceless experience. If they got their way, he would not be hanging up his six-shooter anytime soon. The year was 1892; the place was central Arizonaand the wonderful smell of late spring was in the air.

"In memory of our stalwart pioneers and their decsndants who settled the Sulphur Springs Valley. They were farmers, gamblers, homesteaders, laborers, merchants, miners, ranchers and soldiers. May they rest in peace."--Cover.

Based in 1860's Arizona, this is a tale of the Old West and the creation of the Arizona Rangers. Captain Blake leads the only band of Rangers, where pay rarely comes on time or if at all, and the men are responsible for the procurement of their own horses, needed tack and the bullets for their pre-Civil War weaponry. Former Indian Fighters, hunting guides, desert miners and U.S. Army Scouts, these are the courageous men who join the ranks of the Arizona Rangers. Captain Blake needed men who shared in his vision to bring law enforcement to the Arizona Territory and to stop the Apache, Comanche and Ute Indians from their continuous war against the wagon trains and the settlers. In this first book of a planned series, the Territorial Government of Arizona feels it can no longer afford to provide their limited funding to the Rangers and disband them. Blake and his family live on their horse and cattle ranch outside Globe, Arizona, and when the Civil War breaks out, he and his former Rangers join up with General Hook's Army of Texas. Blake is given the rank of Captain, and his comrades become part of his mounted company. In fighting the Civil War, Blake and his men are captured by a superior force of Union Soldiers and taken by open cattle cars to the El Mira Yankee Prisoner of War Camp, New York City. Here, where conditions are wretched, with prisoners starving, and the icy weather is freezing prisoners to death, Blake and his men stage an escape, only to discover the war would be ending in only a week. Now, no longer fearful of being caught and returned to El Mira, the men have an adventurous and rewarding journey back to their homes. When Blake arrives, he finds the Apache have raided his Ranch, killing his wife and son, and his daughter was missing. His only family now is his foster-son, the only survivor of an Apache attack. A lot of the men have similar tales to tell, families gone and their property seized for owed back taxes. But, Blake finds out the Arizona Rangers are once more needed, as Arizona is hit with cattle and horse rustlers, fraudsters, and gunmen, who work for dishonest lawyers, in the pockets of East Coast land speculators. Such criminals are coming to Arizona by the hundreds. There is also the rise of the Indians, who watch in alarm as the tracks are laid for the horrifying Iron Horse. Captain Blake also learns his young daughter was not killed or living with Indians, but she has fallen victim to Comancheros, who have passed her on to white slavers. Captain Blake now begins a lengthy search to find her. While this is a work of fiction, this story is based on the history of the Arizona Rangers, and the gallant men who patrolled the Territory of Arizona.

William L. Wright (1868-1942) was born to be a Texas Ranger, and hard work made him a great one. Wright tried working as a cowboy and farmer, but it did not suit him. Instead, he became a deputy sheriff and then a Ranger in 1899, battling a mob in the Laredo Smallpox Riot, policing both sides in the Reese-Townsend Feud, and winning a gunfight at Cotulla. His need for a better salary led him to leave the Rangers and become a sheriff. He stayed in that office longer than any of his predecessors in Wilson County, keeping the peace during the so-called Bandit Wars, investigating numerous violent crimes, and surviving being stabbed on the gallows by the man he was hanging. When demands for Ranger reform peaked, he was appointed as a captain and served for most of the next twenty years, retiring in 1939 after commanding dozens of Rangers. Wright emerged unscathed from the Canales investigation, enforced Prohibition in South Texas, and policed oil towns in West Texas, as well as tackling many other legal problems. When he retired, he was the only Ranger in service who had worked under seven governors. Wright has also been honored as an inductee into the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame at Waco.