Books with author Charlie Siringo

Great Texas Books offers low-cost downloads of Texas histories, memoirs, biographies, journals, and reports in e-book formats. Our editions are superior to similar texts available elsewhere because we meticulously convert, proof, edit, and design each book. Our books are not exact reproductions of the original text; they are entirely new editions designed for the 21st century reader of e-books.There is no better exploration of Texas cowboy life than Charles Siringo’s. What sets his memoir apart is his candid account of the personality, habits, and values that brought him to the range. His difficult, dirt-poor childhood, his free-spending ways, his driving wanderlust, his love of whisky, guns, horses, and star-topped boots, his distinctly situational ethics, his aversion to manual labor—and equal aversion to education—compose a package that belongs on the back of the horse. Siringo tells a great story, and he does it without any of the obvious embellishment that characterize the memoirs of some of his contemporaries. He is too open about his own flaws and failings for the words to be anything other than the truth. And his candor is perfectly complemented by a wry wit that spices his stories perfectly. Tales of the Chisholm Trail and of Billy the Kid are highlights of the book, but it is Siringo’s earliest years—before he became a cowboy (or Cow-boy, as he originally put it) that may be the most compelling. In all, his story is so full of excitement that something as remarkable as the Indianola Hurricane of 1875 receives little attention—even though Siringo spent the night in water up to his neck. It’s a Texas must-read.

Excerpt: ...an all night ride as he thought, called, "come on, fellers!" And mounting their tired horses they dashed off at almost full speed. There I stood leaning against the rack not feeling able to move. Whisky-peet was rearing and prancing in his great anxiety to follow the crowd. I finally climbed into the saddle, the pony still tied to the rack. I had sense enough left to know that I couldn't get on him if loose, in the fix I was in. Then pulling out my bowie knife I cut the rope and hugged the saddle-horn with both hands. I overtook and stayed with the crowd all night, but if 163 ever a mortal suffered it was me. My stomach felt as though it was filled with scorpions, wild cats and lizards. I swore if God would forgive me for geting on that drunk I would never do so again. But the promise was broken, as I stated before, when I received the glorious news of Cleveland's election. After New Year's, Moore took Jack Ryan, Vandozen and myself and went on an exploring expedition south, across the Staked plains, with a view of learning the country. The first place we struck was Canyon Paladuro, head of Red river. The whole country over there was full of indians and mexicans. We laid over two days in one of their camps, watching them lance buffaloes. From there we went to Mulberry where we put in three or four days hunting. When we pulled out again our pack-pony was loaded down with fat bear meat. 164 Chapter XVIII. SEVEN WEEKS AMONG INDIANS. On our arrival back to the ranch, Moore rigged up a scouting outfit to do nothing but drift over the Plains in search of strayed cattle. The outfit consisted of a well-filled chuck-wagon, a number one good cook, Mr. O. M. Johnson, and three warriors, Jack Ryan, Vanduzen and myself. We had two good horses apiece, that is, all but myself, I had three counting Whisky-peet. About the sixth day out we struck three thousand Comanche Indians and became pretty badly scared up. We had camped for the night on the plains, at the...

Hardcover; Very Good; No Dust Jacket; 291 pp., photographs, illustrations. A tight very good + copy with minor bumping to corners, clean internally, no book plates or writing. This book covers many topics mostly about cattle, cowboys, outlaws, lawmen, cow trails, cattle drives, cowtowns, and even Billy The Kid. Six-Guns #2029, Herd #2074, Howes S518, Graff #3803. A SCARCE classic.

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Excerpt from A Cowboy Detective: A True Story of Twenty-Two Years With a World-Famous Detective AgencyThe author is not a literary man, but has written as he speaks, and it is thought that the simplicity thus resulting will not detract from the substantial merit of the tales. Which are recitals of facts and not of fiction.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.