Böcker av Joseph G. Rosa

James Butler Hickok, generally called ''Wild Bill,'' epitomized the archetypal gunfighter, that half-man, half-myth that became the heir to the mystique of the duelist when that method of resolving differences waned. . . . Easy access to a gun and whiskey coupled with gambling was the cause of most gunfights--few of which bore any resemblance to the gentlemanly duel of earlier times. . . . Hickok''s gunfights were unusual in that most of them were ''fair'' fights, not just killings resulting from rage, jealousy over a woman, or drunkenness. And, the majority of his encounters were in his role as lawman or as an individual upholding the law."--from Wild Bill Hickok, Gunfighter Wild Bill Hickok (1837-1876) was a Civil War spy and scout, Indian fighter, gambler, and peace officer. He was also one of the greatest gunfighters in the West. His peers referred to his reflexes as "phenomenal" and to his skill with a pistol as "miraculous." In Wild Bill Hickok, Gunfighter, Joseph G. Rosa, the world''s foremost authority on Hickok, provides an informative examination of Hickok''s many gunfights. Rosa describes the types of guns used by Hickok and illustrates his use of the plains'' style of "quick draw," as well as examining other elements of the Hickok legend. He even reconsiders the infamous "dead man''s hand" allegedly held by Hickok when he was shot to death at age thirty-nine while playing poker. Numerous photographs and drawings accompany Rosa''s down-to-earth text.Joseph G. Rosa, who makes his home in Ruislip, Middlesex, England, is the author of the definitive biography of Wild Bill Hickok, They Called Him Wild Bill: The Life and Adventures of James Butler Hickok, as well as The Gunfighter: Man or Myth? And (with Waldo E. Koop) Rowdy Joe Lowe: Gambler with a Gun, all published by the University of Oklahoma Press.

Of all the Old West figures whose images eventually found their way into our popular culture, none was better known than Wild Bill Hickok. This book reproduces in one volume nearly all the known portraits of Wild Bill, together with photographs of his family, his friends and his foes.

A view into the smoke-filled saloons, brothels, and gambling "hells" of the frontier West Joseph Lowe attracted trouble the way a magnet draws iron. Eventually this strange talent cost him his life, but not before he had made his mark in a good many towns of the frontier West. "Rowdy Joe," folks called him. He was every bit of that and more. The life that earned him his nickname began after the Civil War, when he mustered out of the Union Army and went West. He apparently worked as a mule skinner and at other jobs before getting into the entertainment business--saloons, dance halls, gambling parlors, brothels--at Ellsworth, Kansas. In this book the authors explain how taxation was used to control and manipulate what some called "this evil in our midst." In telling the story of Joe Lowe and his place in frontier history, they also focus on the measures taken by city councils to extract cash from the "locusts of lechery" in an effort to curtail their activities. Communities that employed police to enforce local ordinances and state laws found that enforced taxation was not only less deadly than the six-shooter, but more productive. Harsh fines could be imposed for "soliciting" or running a saloon or "house" without a license, and in this manner the city benefited from revenue paid for the privilege of remaining in business. Some like Lowe refused to pay, but invariably they met defeat. When things got hot in Kansas, Joe tried Texas, and then Colorado. It was in Denver that Joe got drunk once too often, repeatedly antagonized a former policeman, and was shot and killed. Rowdy Joe Lowe is a view into the smoke-filled saloons, brothels, and gambling "hells" of those who prospered or perished amongst the pasteboard pirates, pimps, or other characters of the frontier West.

Excavating the reality behind the myth, this work delves into the exploits and ego that defined Wild Bill Hickok, a notorious character of the Wild West, and shows how the man was overtaken by his own legend.