Biography

From the world-famous to the relatively obscure, Outlaw Tales of California features true tales of fifteen bandits, outlaws, and no-good scoundrels. From Sacramento to Los Angeles, San Francisco to Nevada City, the frontier towns of California were populated by some of the toughest and most dangerous characters in the West. Tom Bell, the flat-nosed, felon doctor had his “Catch me if you can!” motto finally catch up to him when he was hanged after a wild eighteen-month career as an outlaw. Lawman-gone-bad Henry Plummer got twisted up in a lascivious love affair. And bad luck bandit Dick Fellows never could catch a break—except for in his leg and ankle. From Charles Earl “Black Bart” Boles to “Rattlesnake Dick” Barter, Juan Flores to Joaquin Murieta, read about the most notorious desperados in the history of the Golden State. Through these astonishing true stories, Outlaw Tales of California introduces you to a state you thought you knew—and a West that was wilder than you’ve ever imagined.

By the time Stagecoach made John Wayne a silver-screen star in 1939, the thirty-one-year-old was already a veteran of more than sixty films, having twirled six-guns, tossed rope, busted broncos, and foiled cattle rustlers in B westerns for five different studios over the course of a dozen years. By the 1950s he was Hollywood’s most popular male actor–an Academy Award nominee destined to become an American icon.
Through previously unpublished photographs and revealing family anecdotes, The Young Duke tells how Marion Morrison became the legend known as John Wayne–from his boyhood in Winterset, Iowa, to his days as a college football star, to his stunning box-office success in Westerns and war movies in the 1930s and 1940s. Shedding new light on Wayne’s formative years and early Hollywood roles and influences, this biography reveals the true stories behind the screen legend’s public and private lives.

“What we want to do is give our women even more liberty than they have. Let them do any kind of work that they see fit, and if they do it as well as men, give them the same pay.”
—William F. Cody, 1899

With rough-riding cowboys, sure shots, and fantastic reenactments of battles and train robberies, Buffalo Bill Cody brought the myth of the Old West to life for audiences all over the world—and some of the most popular cowboys in his Wild West Show were young ladies. Cody surrounded himself with strong, intelligent, talented, beautiful women—and this revealing portrait tells the stories of his life and of his relationships with many of the trick riders, sharpshooters, and other women associated with the show for which he was famous.

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.

On May 17, 1876, Elizabeth Bacon Custer kissed her husband George goodbye and wished him good fortune in his efforts to fulfill the Army’s orders to drive in the Indians who would not relocate to a reservation. The smartly dressed couple made for a splendid picture. This new biography of Elizabeth Bacon Custer tells the story of the dashing couple’s romance, reveals their life of adventure throughout the West during the days of the Indian Wars, and recounts the tragic end of the 7th Cavalry and the aftermath for the wives. Libbie Custer followed her itinerant army husband’s career to its end,but she was also an amazing master of propaganda who sought to recreate George Armstrong Custer’s image after Little Bighorn. Famous in her own time, she remains a fascinating character in American history.