Audiobooks by Terry C. Treadwell

Outlaws of the Wild West

The 'Wild West' developed in the years following the American Civil War. However, this period of myth-making cowboys, infamous gunslingers, not always law-abiding lawmen, and saloon madams, is as much the product of fiction writers and film makers as reality. Many of those who roamed America's West in the period between 1850 and 1900 often appear as colorful, romanticized, legendary characters. The majority of outlaws, though, were anonymous common criminals. In 1877, the State Adjutant General of Texas published 'wanted posters' for some 5,000 outlaws and bandits in the Rio Grande district alone, almost all of whom have since vanished into the mists of time. When it comes to the Wild West, it is important to separate fact from fiction. Of the known recorded killings by the various outlaws and gunfighters, Billy the Kid killed four men, not the twenty that some writers attributed to him. Clay Allison, however, was thought to have killed at least fifteen men in his time as a gunfighter, while some of the outlaw gangs were particularly violent and ruthless. The days of the outlaws of the Wild West gradually came to an end at the turn of the twentieth century. The legends, however, live on.

Terry C. Treadwell (Author), Jim Seybert (Narrator)

Audiobook

Play Sample Listen For Free

Lawmen of the Wild West

There were Marshals, City Marshals, and Constables who were employed by the local townspeople and whose authority was restricted to within the town or city limits. Then there were the County Sheriffs, who were elected by the citizens of the county, to keep the peace within the county. The United States Marshals were appointed by the President of the United States and had the authority to operate anywhere in the USA and deal with federal crime. Each of these law enforcement officers employed their own deputies, all of whom had the same powers of enforcement. Some believed that former criminals would make the most effective lawmen. Consequently, in some cases notorious gunfighters were employed as town marshals to help bring law and order to some of the most lawless of towns. These lawmen dealt with the likes of the Dalton Gang and the James Brothers, who thought nothing of raping and murdering innocent people. The requirements needed to be a peace officer in the Wild West were often determined only by the individual's skill with a gun, and their courage. At times judgment was needed with only seconds to determine it, and that also meant that there was the odd occasion where justice and law never quite meant the same thing. The expression 'justice without law' was never truer than in the formative years of the West.

Terry C. Treadwell (Author), Danny Campbell (Narrator)

Audiobook

Play Sample Listen For Free