Texas Pistoleers

Texas Pistoleers PDF Author: G.R. Williamson
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 1439676968
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
The Vaudeville Theater Ambush of 1884 went down in history as one of the most famous gunfights in San Antonio, but the killing that night of Ben Thompson and John King Fisher, two of the most notorious pistoleers of the day, became something of a mystery. The two men entered the theatre just before midnight on March 11, and less than an hour later, both lay dead, shot down in what for all accounts was a true massacre. The responsible gunmen never were prosecuted for their crimes, and Thompson and Fisher--a mere mention of either man's name was enough to put the fear of death in any opponent--have been widely ignored since. Now, historian G.R. Williamson brings to light the mystery and the myths surrounding these men and their infamous deaths in Texas Pistoleers.

Texas Pistoleers

Texas Pistoleers PDF Author: G.R. Williamson
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 1439676968
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
The Vaudeville Theater Ambush of 1884 went down in history as one of the most famous gunfights in San Antonio, but the killing that night of Ben Thompson and John King Fisher, two of the most notorious pistoleers of the day, became something of a mystery. The two men entered the theatre just before midnight on March 11, and less than an hour later, both lay dead, shot down in what for all accounts was a true massacre. The responsible gunmen never were prosecuted for their crimes, and Thompson and Fisher--a mere mention of either man's name was enough to put the fear of death in any opponent--have been widely ignored since. Now, historian G.R. Williamson brings to light the mystery and the myths surrounding these men and their infamous deaths in Texas Pistoleers.

The Texas Pistoleers

The Texas Pistoleers PDF Author: Ron Williamson
Publisher: G.R. Williamson
ISBN: 0557069327
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 147

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Book Description
Known as two of the best pistol fighters of their day, Ben Thompson and King Fisher have remained an enigma in the chronicles of the American West. While other gunfighters have achieved infamy through the stories told in pulp magazines and newspapers of the day these two men were largely ignored. Both were credited with killing a string of men during their lifetime and the mere mention of their names was usually enough to sober up a drunken opponent or cause a sober man to contemplate his own epitaph. The Texas Pistoleers tells their story in vivid detail and relates the historically accurate account of their deaths in a mystery shrouded ambush in a San Antonio saloon on a chilly March night in 1884.

Texas Pistoleers

Texas Pistoleers PDF Author: Ron Williamson
Publisher: True Crime
ISBN: 9781609490003
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The Vaudeville Theater Ambush of 1884 went down in history as one of the most famous gunfights in San Antonio, but the killing that night of Ben Thompson and John King Fisher, two of the most notorious pistoleers of the day, became something of a mystery. The two men entered the theatre just before midnight on March 11, and less than an hour later, both lay dead, shot down in what for all accounts was a true massacre. The responsible gunmen never were prosecuted for their crimes, and Thompson and Fisher--a mere mention of either man's name was enough to put the fear of death in any opponent--have been widely ignored since. Now, historian G.R. Williamson brings to light the mystery and the myths surrounding these men and their infamous deaths in Texas Pistoleers.

Texas Lawmen, 1835-1899

Texas Lawmen, 1835-1899 PDF Author: Clifford R. Caldwell
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 161423633X
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 472

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Book Description
The tally of Texas lawmen killed during the states first sixty-five years of organized law enforcement is truly staggering. From Texas Rangers the likes of Silas Mercer Parker Jr., gunned down at Parkers Fort in 1836, to Denton County sheriff s deputy Floyd Coberly, murdered by an inmate in 1897 after ten days on the job, this collection accounts for all of those unsung heroes. Not merely an attempt to retell a dozen popular peace officer legends, Texas Lawmen, 18351899 represents thousands of hours of research conducted over more than a decade. Ron DeLord and Cliff Caldwell have carefully assembled a unique and engaging chronicle of Texas history.

George Devol

George Devol PDF Author: G. R Williamson
Publisher: Indian Head Publishing
ISBN:
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
Without a doubt, George Devol was the most notorious of the Mississippi riverboat gamblers. He mastered the fine art of card manipulation at an early age and by the time he reached twenty he was an accomplished card sharp. Devol could stack a deck, deal seconds or from the bottom of the deck. Though he had large hands, he could nimbly palm cards or insert cards with ease. He knew all the tricks to skin wealthy plantation owners, merchants, businessmen, soldiers, and even ministers who traveled on the busy waterways of the nineteenth century. At the same time, Devol was a maestro at working the short cons, particularly 3 card Monte. He and his partners raked in millions from fleeced suckers over the course of his forty years as a crooked gambler. George Devol – Notorious Riverboat Gambler, Card Sharp & Scam Artist tells his story in vivid detail based on solid historical research. Then, Devol tells his own story through his meandering, semi-autobiography, Forty Years a Gambler on the Mississippi, he published in 1896 at the age of 67 when he retired from gambling. In a series of 179 memoirs, he recounts the major events of his gambling life. Though heavily embellished, his accounts divulge his cheating technics and his philosophy about skinning his victims. Allowing for his penchant for self-aggrandizement, the memoirs are a hoot to read. George Devol’s book is included with all of his stories appearing exactly as he published them in 1896, with all the spelling and grammatical mistakes intact. The steamboat scoundrel was a major character in the history of the Old West and his story is told in a humorous, entertaining style and is the first book to cover his entire saga.

The Midnight Assassin

The Midnight Assassin PDF Author: Skip Hollandsworth
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 0805097678
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
A sweeping narrative history of a terrifying serial killer--America's first--who stalked Austin, Texas in 1885 In the late 1800s, the city of Austin, Texas was on the cusp of emerging from an isolated western outpost into a truly cosmopolitan metropolis. But beginning in December 1884, Austin was terrorized by someone equally as vicious and, in some ways, far more diabolical than London's infamous Jack the Ripper. For almost exactly one year, the Midnight Assassin crisscrossed the entire city, striking on moonlit nights, using axes, knives, and long steel rods to rip apart women from every race and class. At the time the concept of a serial killer was unthinkable, but the murders continued, the killer became more brazen, and the citizens' panic reached a fever pitch. Before it was all over, at least a dozen men would be arrested in connection with the murders, and the crimes would expose what a newspaper described as "the most extensive and profound scandal ever known in Austin." And yes, when Jack the Ripper began his attacks in 1888, London police investigators did wonder if the killer from Austin had crossed the ocean to terrorize their own city. With vivid historical detail and novelistic flair, Texas Monthly journalist Skip Hollandsworth brings this terrifying saga to life.

King Fisher

King Fisher PDF Author: Chuck Parsons
Publisher: University of North Texas Press
ISBN: 1574418726
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
America’s Wild West created an untold number of notorious characters, and in southwestern Texas, John King Fisher (1855-1884) was foremost among them. To friends and foes alike, he insisted he be called “King.” Standing over six feet tall, a dark and handsome man, King often dressed as a frontier dandy. A Texas Ranger remembered King as wearing an “ornamented Mexican sombrero, a black Mexican jacket embroidered with gold, a crimson sash and boots, with two silver-plated, ivory-handled revolvers swinging from his belt.” Early in life King fell victim to bad influences. After a stint in Huntsville Prison as a teenager, he found a home in the tough sun-beaten Nueces Strip, a lawless land between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande. There he gathered a gang of rustlers around him at his ranch on Pendencia Creek. For a decade King and his gang raided both sides of the Rio Grande, shooting down any who opposed them. Newspapers claimed King avoided the penalties prescribed by law by killing potential witnesses—in spite of many charges he was never convicted of cattle or horse stealing, or murder. King’s reign ended when he was arrested by Texas Ranger Captain Leander McNelly. In no uncertain terms he advised Fisher to change his ways. Having emerged victorious in gunfights with outlaws from across the Rio Grande, King Fisher chose a life style which would prove to be just as dangerous—deputy sheriff of Uvalde County. Now he would enforce the law, with his badge as well as his six-shooter. But his hard-won respectability would not last. On a spring night in 1884, King made the mistake of accompanying the truly notorious gambler and gunfighter Ben Thompson on a tour of San Antonio, where several years prior, over a gambling dispute, Thompson shot down Jack Harris at the latter’s saloon and theater, the Vaudeville. Recklessly, King Fisher accompanied Thompson back to the theater to call upon Harris’s former partners. Warned of their coming, assassins were waiting. Within minutes of entering the theater, when the smoke cleared, Fisher was stretched out beside Thompson, dead from thirteen gunshot wounds.

J J Cozad

J J Cozad PDF Author: G. R. Williamson
Publisher: Indian Head Publishing
ISBN:
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 110

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Book Description
The gambler, John Jackson Cozad, was a dreamer, a visionary, a land developer, and above all else—a paradox. He raked in fortunes at the faro tables across the West—yet he aspired to develop a vice-less community devoid of saloons, gambling halls, and bawdy houses. He was a major winner at the faro tables in all the elaborate saloons and gambling halls, so much so, that he was soon banned from playing when his identity was revealed. He made all of the gambling hunts in North America, as well as South America. To avoid detection, he changed his name frequently—a trait that he used throughout his life. It was by changing his name, as well as his wife and sons, that he avoided being hung for killing a man in Nebraska. This book is a historically accurate account of J J Jackson’s life, detailing his latter life in Atlantic City, New Jersey where he operated an arcade on the Atlantic Boardwalk. His two sons (using aliases) went on to become respected citizens—one a Philadelphia physician and the other was the renown and highly acclaimed artist, Robert Henri.

Gambling Games of the Old West

Gambling Games of the Old West PDF Author: G R Williamson
Publisher: Indian Head Publishing
ISBN:
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 149

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Book Description
Most of the gamblers of the Old West got their start and reputations by working the circuit of the Mississippi River boats, the railhead cattle towns of Kansas, or the boomtowns that popped up around gold or silver mining. The gunfighter Ben Thompson got his start by running the Bull's Head Saloon with partner Phil Coe in Ellsworth, Kansas. Ben's friend, Bat Masterson, also started his career in the cattle towns of Texas and Kansas. In general, these legendary gamblers were known as "legitimate" or that they played a fair game without cheating. Truth be told, all of them knew the methods employed by the "sharps" to clean the pockets of the other players at the table. They had to know these "tricks" in order to spot a cheater at their table. Did they ever use any of these advantages to increase their odds? Probably so, but the public's perception of these men was that they ran a "square game". Hip-Pocket History of the Old West (Series) This compact book that gives concise accounts of odd or little-known facets of the American West. Historically accurate, but told in an easy-to-read format, with just a twist of humor. Informative, yet entertaining, the Hip-Pocket History series provides little nuggets without having to wade through a 400-page book of dry academic ostentatiousness.

Frontier Gambling

Frontier Gambling PDF Author: G. R. Williamson
Publisher: G.R. Williamson
ISBN: 0985278013
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 452

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Book Description
E-Pub edition