Charles A. Siringo

After a nomadic childhood, Charles Siringo signed on as a teenage cowboy for the noted Texas cattle king, Shanghai Pierce, and began a life that embraced all the hard work, excitement, and adventure readers today associate with the cowboy era. He "rid the Chisholm trail," driving 2,500 heads of cattle from Austin to Kansas; knew Tascosa-now a historic monument-when it was home to raucous saloons, red light districts, and a fair share of violence; and led a posse of cowboys in pursuit of Billy the Kid and his gang.First published in 1885, Siringo's chronicle of his life as a itchy-footed boy, cowhand, range detective, and adventurer was one the first classics about the Old West and helped to romanticize the West and its myth of the American cowboy. Will Rogers declared, "That was the Cowboy's Bible when I was growing up."

In his introduction to the 1927 edition of Riata and Spurs, Gifford Pinchot said that "Charlie Siringo's story of his life is one of the best, if not the very best, of all books about the Old West, when cowpunchers actually punched cows." He goes on to say that "it is worth something to be able to lay your hand on a book written by a man who is the real thing, and who tells the truth." Others might not have the same opinion about the book and some might argue about Siringo's memories of things that happened during his lifetime. But, in any event, the book is a colorful portrayal of the ins and outs of cowboys, bad men, and the one detective who took out after them. Siringo originally had references to his experiences with the Pinkerton Agency, but which objected to his statements and they do note appear in the 927 edition. There's plenty left, however, including stories about Billy the Kid, Kid Curry, Butch Cassidy, and even a mention of Will Rogers. All in all, this fascinating book will give today's readers a rare glimpse of what was once called "the Old West" and is now forever gone -- Back cover.

A supplement to Siringo's first book, "A Texas Cowboy". Published thirty-four years later, it expands on and clarifies many things in the first book, as well as adding much new material (both during the period covered by the first book, and the intervening years). Read "A Texas Cowboy" first, to get the best out of both.

"Born in Texas in 1855, Siringo was a cowboy, Pinkerton detective, western writer, and Hollywood advisor until his death in 1928, and crossed the Kid's path once or twice in the Texas Panhandle and New Mexico. His account incorporates some inaccuracies but offers genuine historical nuggets such as cowboy Jim East's eyewitness account of the Kid's capture by Pat Garrett at Stinking Spring. Enormously popular at the turn of the century, Siringo single-handedly kept Billy the Kid's flame alive until the 1920s. Historian Frederick Nolan discusses the place of Siringo's account in Billy the Kid literature."--BOOK JACKET.