This is a novel of the life of William "Bill" Matthew Tilghman, the most infamous lawman in the history of the West. He's the one man many historians describe as the greatest sheriff of the Wild West.The novel is told through the individual voices of some seventy plus people who knew him—kinfolk, lawmen, bartenders, prostitutes, friends and enemies. The result is an astonishing series of vignettes, each revealing a period of Tilghman's life, each rendered honestly and in a unique, evocative voice. Interspersed with legal documents, newspaper reports, and excerpts from Tilghman's autobiography, this is more than fictional biography—it's also a fascinating and accurate revelation of the time, place and people who settled and policed the frontier. It's full of historical detail, and the vernacular and idiom make for a convincing and compelling narrative, offering a wonderfully rich portrait of this highly attractive but forceful lawman. Genre: Historical Fiction / Western

Bill Tilghman, as a Wild West lawman, was the most underrated in history but not by his peers. Bat Masterson said, "Of all of us, he was the best." Bat included Wyatt Earp, himself, and other famous lawmen. From the long-lasting TV show, Gunsmoke, Matt Dillon was the personification of Tilghman, the Dodge City marshal. After appointed US marshal, he was mainly responsible for the demise of the notorious original Wild Bunch (not the hole-in-the-wall gang later): Bill Doolin, Billy Dalton, Bill Raidler, Red Buck, Arkansas Tom, Tulsa Jack, Dick West, Dynamite Dick, Charley Peirce, Bitter Creek Newcomb, Little Britches, and Cattle Annie. Tilghman was one of few men that lived during the time that spanned hunting buffalo to stopping narcotics flown in from Mexico. He became the chief of police of Oklahoma City and was elected as one of the first senators of the new state. Happily married to his second wife, Zoe, he was prosperous, owned a Kentucky Derby winner, founded a movie film company, and had a starring role. Even at seventy, he continued his law enforcement, cleaned up the oil boom town of Cromwell, and was killed in action. He was the first lawman to have his casket lie in state in the capitol rotunda with an honor guard. This novel contains actual dates and events.

Tales Behind the Tombstones tells the stories behind the deaths (or supposed deaths) and burials of the Old West's most nefarious outlaws, notorious women, and celebrated lawmen. Readers will learn the story behind Calamity Jane's wish to be buried next to Wild Bill Hickok, discover how and where the Earp brothers came to be buried, and visit the sites of tombs long forgotten while legends have lived on.

Bill Tilghman was the real thing, a lawman who wore his badge for one reason alone: to bring criminals to justice. Master novelist Matt Braun captures the final days of this extraordinary manhunter--when he faces a heroic fight on the bloody corrupt streets of Cromwell, Oklahoma. The saga of a man who would not back down and the woman who loved him to the end, One Last Town tells the story of a land swiftly vanishing into a new era: the legendary American frontier.

Gangs of outlaws were overrunning Oklahoma Territory when E. D. Nix was appointed U.S. marshal in 1893. His memoir evokes a time and place that brought criminals and merchants and cowpunchers and settlers together, often explosively. Oklahombres, originally published in 1929, is an authentic history of human wildness. In these pages the Dalton brothers are shown in full career, as well as the Doolin gang, Bitter Creek Newcomb, Henry Starr, Cattle Annie, Rolla Kapp, Dick Yeager, the Jennings boys, and a large cast of cattle thieves, counterfeiters, and whiskey peddlers. Lawmen are no less memorable than the lawless: Bill Tilghman, Chris Madsen, and Heck Thomas are among the deputies who help Nix in his cleaning-up campaign. Adding to the richness of this account of early days in Oklahoma Territory are such personages as Judge Isaac Parker, Rose of Cimarron, and Chief Bacon Rind of the Osage Indians. Nix himself emerges as a public official of great integrity. Because of his adherence to a code of honor, he could later say that during his administration "not a single man was killed who was not a notorious lawbreaker." Perhaps his proudest moment came when he fired the gun that sent homesteaders rushing into the Cherokee Strip on September 16, 1893. That scene, described with cinematic vividness, is one of many high points in Oklahombres.

A biography of the man who became a legend in his lifetime as Marshal of the Oklahoma Territory.

Chronicles the experiences of a noted peace officer fighting outlaw gangs during Oklahoma's territorial days, as cow-town marshall in Dodge City, etc.

Bill Doolin was perhaps the last great American outlaw of the nineteenth century. Once part of the Doolin-Dalton gang, he rode and robbed in the wild Indian Territory that would become Oklahoma. The Daltons were eventually shot to ribbons in their failed attempt to rob two banks at once in Coffeyville, Kansas. But Doolin went on to form a new gang that included notables such as Bitter Creek Newcomb, Black Face Charlie Pierce, a remaining Dalton brother, and the Rose of the Cimarron, Rose Dunn, sister of the notorious Dunn Brothers. Pursuing the gang was a tenacious group of U.S. marshals led by the famed Bill Tilghman. Doolin was considered something of a Robin Hood to the locals—everybody but those he robbed and killed. The marshals were determined to end his reign of terror no matter how long it took. The country, after all, was heading into a new century, and outlaws like Doolin no longer had a place in the West.

From Calamity Jane’s relentless pursuit of Wild Bill Hickok to Emma Walters, who gave it all up for the dashing Bat Masterson—and learned to regret it, these romantic stories from the Old West are still familiar and entertaining to readers today. Meet Agnes Lake Hickok, the intrepid wife of Wild Bill Hickok and learn about the last love letter he sent before being dealt the dead man’s hand. Learn the story behind the charming performer Lotta Crabtree’s heartaches. And discover the tale of the dashing Kit Carson and his beautiful bride. This collection features the lessons learned by and from the antics of the women who shaped the West.