There was no scandal like the girl who said a cable car accident turned her into a nymphomaniac. She was awarded $50,000 for it. How about the judge who loved playing three-card-monte on the public's money. When he was broke and needed money he opened court. He summoned a deputy and told him to bring in a drunk with money. After fining the drunk, he pocketed the $20 fine and went back to playing three-card monte. This book is filled with outlandish and sometimes humorous tales of the scam games of the west and the scandals that occurred along with them.

Historian Author Jesse Hardin gives us a detailed look at the complex lives of 11 of the most fascinating Sheriffs and Marshals of the historic American West – the good, the bad, and the conflicted. Find a spot by the fire, for a lyrical journey into lesser known history, unmasking the popular hero Wyatt Earp as the con-artist and pimp he really was, demonstrably courageous but a total scoundrel... and by singing the praises of the truly honorable and heroic “men behind the badge” whose deeds so often go unsung:Elfego Baca, Wyatt Earp, Harry Morse, Bucky O'Neill, John Joshua Webb, Wild Bill Hickok, Pat Garrett, Burton Mossman, George Scarborough, Bat Masterson, and Bear River Tom SmithBooks and movies have long painted the West in a certain way, with a black and white version of history, wholly good guys versus the purely evil. Only trouble is, “it didn't happen thataway, hoss!” From Hardin's Preface:“Lawmen, even the most amazingly brave of them, embody a mix of compassion and prejudice, generosity and avarice. None are the complete good guy heroes that we once read comic books about or idolized on the silver screen. Nor were even the worst of them likely to be totally bad as some revisionists insist. Like all humans, they sometimes did things they shouldn't have, while other times gambling with their safety in order to save a stranger's life. It's only once we cease the lionizing and demonizing – the cynical sniping and blind worshipping – that we can look again at these fascinating personas from the 19th and 20th Centuries for the incredibly complex individuals they were, people with common human traits and troubles doing extraordinary and occasionally incredible things with an undeniable intensity of character.”This realistic approach doesn't rob us of heroes, what it does is help show us whose actions were truly admirable, and helps us define for ourselves the standards of just action and a life worthy of emulation. Hardin's stories not only take us back to the days of old but give us thought about how we live our own lives, and the future we want to create and protect. As he writes:“I hope that it serves to not only inform you about times and deeds past, but also to inspire you in the now – kickstarting your imagination and putting your ideas to the test, getting you up and off of your chairs and outside where you can act out your own valued missions, and attempt the heroic. And maybe affirming your decision to keep an old shotgun in the closet or under the bed, since opposing injustice and doing good is the job of every citizen even in a land with a zillion rules and laws... whether we work in law enforcement or take pride in being social outlaws. ”“Hardin's ability to draw the reader's mind into deeper contemplation is one of the hallmarks of a great historical work.” –Boge Quinn, GunBlast.com Hardin finds that both the best and worst of the old time lawmen had something in common: they were all darn interesting – determined, risking their lives for one thing or another, living the great adventure.“It is not the timid, the self-doubting and retiring whose experiences and efforts will be remembered,” Hardin concludes. “It is the living of interesting, passion filled, highly driven lives that makes the tales of these eleven lawmen so memorable, and is that which can make our own lived stories worth retelling.”“Hardin has a fascinating style.... almost lyrical. His perspective on the Old West is both romantic and dramatic” –Ned Schwing, Gun Digest Books“Read the truth about these 11 Old West lawmen and enjoy real history!” –John Taffin

This collection of fifty outlaw tales includes well-knowns such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Frank and Jesse James, Belle Starr (and her dad), and Pancho Villa, along with a fair smattering of women, organized crime bosses, smugglers, and of course the usual suspects: highwaymen, bank and train robbers, cattle rustlers, snake-oil salesmen, and horse thieves. Men like Henry Brown and Burt Alvord worked on both sides of the law either at different times of their lives or simultaneously. Clever shyster Soapy Smith and murderer Martin Couk survived by their wits, while the outlaw careers of the dimwitted DeAutremont brothers and bigmouthed Diamondfield Jack were severely limited by their intellect, or lack thereof. Nearly everyone in these pages was motivated by greed, revenge, or a lethal mixture of the two. The most bloodthirsty of the bunch, such as the heartless (and, some might argue, soulless) Annie Cook and trigger-happy Augustine Chacón, surely had evil written into their very DNA.

"American history buffs will savor this detailed yet accessible roundup of political imbroglios." —Publishers Weekly Political scandals have become an indelible feature of the American political system since the creation of the republic more than two centuries ago. In his previous book, Libertines: American Political Sex Scandals from Alexander Hamilton to Donald Trump, Michael Martinez explored why public figures sometimes take extraordinary risks, sullying their good names, humiliating their families, placing themselves in legal jeopardy, and potentially destroying their political careers as they seek to gratify their sexual desires. In Scoundrels, Martinez examines thirteen of the most famous (or infamous) and not-so-famous political scandals of other sorts in American history, including the Teapot Dome case from the 1920s, the Watergate break-in and cover-up in the 1970s, the Iran-Contra affair of the 1980s, and Russian interference in the 2016 elections. Combining riveting storytelling with insights into 200 years of American political corruption, Martinez has once again written a book that will enlighten all readers interested in human nature and political history.

The author explains how he worked as an investigative reporter for forty years and tells the stories behind some of his most engrossing cases.

During the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century a growing number of ordinary citizens had the feeling that all was not as it should be. Men who were making money made prodigious amounts, but this new wealth somehow passed over the heads of the common people. As this new breed of journalists began to examine their subjects with scrutiny, they soon discovered that those individuals were essentially “simple men of extraordinary boldness.” And it was easy to understand how they were able to accomplish their sinister purposes: “at first abruptly and bluntly, by asking and giving no quarter, and later with the same old determination and ruthlessness but with educated satellites who were glad to explain and idealize their behavior.”[i] “Nothing is lost save honor,” said one infamous buccaneer, and that was an attitude that governed the amoral principles and extralegal actions of many audacious scoundrels. Relying on secondary sources, magazine and newspaper articles, and personal accounts from those involved, this volume captures some of the sensational true stories that took place in the western United States during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century. The theme that runs through each of the stories is the general contempt for the law that seemed to pervade the culture at the time and the consuming desire to acquire wealth at any cost—what Geoffrey C. Ward has called “the disposition to be rich.” End Notes Introduction [i]Louis Filler, Crusaders for American Liberalism (Yellow Springs, OH: Antioch Press, 1964), 14.

The Founding Fathers are often revered as American saints; here are the stories of those Founders who were schemers and scoundrels, vying for their own interests ahead of the nation’s. We now have a clear-eyed understanding of Founding Fathers such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton; even so, they are often considered American saints, revered for their wisdom and self-sacrificing service to the nation. However, within the Founding Generation lurked many unscrupulous figures—men who violated the era’s expectation of public virtue and advanced their own interests at the expense of others. They were turncoats and traitors, opportunists and con artists, spies, and foreign intriguers. Some of their names are well known: Benedict Arnold and Aaron Burr. Others are less notorious now but were no less threatening. There was Charles Lee, the Continental Army general who offered to tell the British how to defeat the Americans, and James Wilkinson, who served fifteen years as a commanding general in the US Army, despite rumors that he spied for Spain and conspired with traitors. The early years of the republic were full of self-interested individuals, sometimes succeeding in their plots, sometimes failing, but always shaping the young nation. A Republic of Scoundrels seeks to re-examine the Founding Generation and replace the hagiography of the Founding Fathers with something more realistic: a picture that embraces the many facets of our nation’s origins.

From Native Americans, explorers, and early settlers to entertainers, business people, politicians, lawyers, artists, and many others, the well-known and not-so-well-known Arkansans featured in Statesmen, Scoundrels, and Eccentrics have fascinating stories. To name a few, there’s the “Hanging Judge,” Isaac C. Parker of Fort Smith, and Hattie Caraway, the first elected female U.S. senator. Isaac T. Gillam, a slave who became a prominent politician in post–Civil War Little Rock, is included, as is Norman McLeod, an eccentric Hot Springs photographer and owner of the city’s first large tourist trap. These entertaining short biographies from Dillard’s Remembering Arkansas column will be enjoyed by all kinds of readers, young and old alike. All the original columns reprinted here have also been enhanced with Dillard’s own recommended reading lists. Statesmen will serve as an introduction or reintroduction to the state’s wonderfully complex heritage, full of rhythm and discord, peopled by generations of hardworking men and women who have contributed much to the region and nation.

Famous Sheriffs and Western Outlaws is a classic for everyone interested in history and what is was like in the Old West. Get swept back to a time when sheriffs did their best to keep order in a lawless land. Read about the likes of Tom Horn, the "Apache Kid", "Bucky" O'Neill, Tom Nickson, and many more!

This book tackles the messy details, reclaims disregarded heroes, and sets the record straight. It also explains why July 4th isn't really Independence Day.