Books with author Robert Wright

"One of the founders of Dodge City." -Wild Bill and His Era, 1933"A true picture of life among buffalo-hunters, scouts, gamblers, stockmen." -Warren King Moorehead, 1914"Knew Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, Luke Short, the Seven Old Timers, the badmen, and the Cowboy Band, and he shows you photographs." -Month at Goodspeed's 1938"He fought Indians, he hunted buffalo, he raised wheat, he was a merchant, a stock farmer, his kind are passing from among us." -Report of William Connelley, 1916"Wright, of Dodge City, is the historian of the Trail in this county, and as he has lived on the Trail and traveled it." -The Story of the Marking of the Santa Fe Trail 1915 In its early days Dodge City, a rendezvous of the wide-wandering bull-whacker, buffalo-hunter, cowboy, and desperado, as well as the home of the plain pioneer citizens who built so much of the region, was a perfect paradise for gamblers, cut-throats, and "fast women." These rough characters guarded their reputations for honesty with a pair of Colt's revolvers in their belts and wore their pants in their boots, and when they passed on, did so generally with their boots on. With all that has been said about Dodge City no true account of conditions as they were in the early days was accessible until publication of Robert Wright's 1911 book "Dodge City, the Cowboy Capital." The author was especially well qualified to write a history of the "wicked city of the plains" since he had lived on the frontier for many years previous to the founding of the city and lived in the city from its opening. He had all the experience gleaned as a plainsman, explorer, scout, trader and as mayor of the town. His is a most interesting narrative of early days, as well as a very valuable contribution to western history.Prior to founding Dodge City in 1868, at 16 years old Wright came West to Missouri. In 1859 he made the first of six overland trips across the plains to Denver. He was later appointed post trader at Fort Dodge in 1867, when Kiowa, Comanche, Cheyenne, Arapahoe, and Prairie Apache abounded there.Wright was acquainted with old-school Western sheriff and gunfighter Bat Masterson, of whom he said, "Bat is a gentleman by instinct. He is a man of pleasant manners, good address and mild disposition, until aroused, and then, for God's sake, look out!"Bat was a most loyal man to his friends. If anyone did him a favor, he never forgot it. I believe that if one of his friends was confined in jail and there was the least doubt of his innocence, he would take a crow-bar and 'jimmy' and dig him out, at the dead hour of midnight; and, if there were determined men guarding him, he would take these desperate chances...."Wright describes a typical day in Dodge: "Someone ran by my store at full speed, crying out, 'Our marshal is being murdered in the dance hall!' I, with several others, quickly ran to the dance hall and burst in the door. The house was so dense with smoke from the pistols a person could hardly see, but Ed Masterson had corralled a lot in one corner of the hall, with his sixshooter in his left hand, holding them there until assistance could reach him...."Wright also describes one hair-raising encounter he witnessed from a roof on his ranch: "The savages circled around the poor Mexican again and again; charged him from the front and rear and on both sides. Presently the poor fellow's horse went down, and he lay behind it for awhile. Then he cut the girth, took off the saddle, and started for the river, running at every possible chance, using the saddle as a shield, stopping to show fight only when the savages pressed him too closely; then he would make another stand, with the saddle set up in front of him..."Wright's book is a surprisingly frank story of thrilling and harrowing adventure.About the author Robert Marr Wright (1840–1915) was a Dodge City founder; Representative, Kansas House; Mayor; and Forestry Commissioner.

Are men literally born to cheat? Does monogamy actually serve women's interests? These are among the questions that have made The Moral Animal one of the most provocative science books in recent years. Wright unveils the genetic strategies behind everything from our sexual preferences to our office politics--as well as their implications for our moral codes and public policies. Illustrations.From the Trade Paperback edition.

Like its current citizens, the United States was born in debt-a debt so deep that it threatened to destroy the young nation. Thomas Jefferson considered the national debt a monstrous fraud on posterity, while Alexander Hamilton believed debt would help America prosper. Both, as it turns out, were right. One Nation Under Debt explores the untold history of America's first national debt, which arose from the immense sums needed to conduct the American Revolution. Noted economic historian Robert Wright, Ph.D. tells in riveting narrative how a subjugated but enlightened people cast off a great tyrant-“but their liberty, won with promises as well as with the blood of patriots, came at a high price.” He brings to life the key events that shaped the U.S. financial system and explains how the actions of our forefathers laid the groundwork for the debt we still carry today. As an economically tenuous nation by Revolution's end, America's people struggled to get on their feet. Wright outlines how the formation of a new government originally reduced the nation's debt-but, as debt was critical to this government's survival, it resurfaced, to be beaten back once more. Wright then reveals how political leaders began accumulating massive new debts to ensure their popularity, setting the financial stage for decades to come. Wright traces critical evolutionary developments-from Alexander Hamilton's creation of the nation's first modern capital market, to the use of national bonds to further financial goals, to the drafting of state constitutions that created non-predatory governments. He shows how, by the end of Andrew Jackson's administration, America's financial system was contributing to national growth while at the same time new national and state debts were amassing, sealing the fate for future generations.

The classic story about Georgie, the gentle little ghost is back in hardcover! Beloved by generations, Georgie is the amiable little ghost who haunts the Whittaker house. Every night he creaks the stairs and squeaks the parlor door to remind Mr. and Mrs. Whittaker that its time to go to bed. But one day, Mr. Whittaker fixes the stairs and oils the door. What's a ghost to do? First published in 1944.

The Wild West has made legends out of many men, but it has forged a lasting legacy for some of the frontier towns that hosted famous Western icons as well, and aside from Tombstone and Deadwood, no frontier town is better known than Dodge City, Kansas. In the immediate wake of the Civil War, a settlement originally developed around Fort Dodge, which had been built to protect against Indian attacks, and it became a favorite spot for the buffalo hunters on the Plains who were engaged in exterminating the bison to harm the Native American tribes. By 1876, however, Dodge City had become a popular destination spot for cattle drives starting from as far south as Texas. With that, the town also came to symbolize everything about the Old West. Dodge City brought together cowboys, lawmen, saloons, gambling, brothels, and everything in between, creating an environment that was always colorful and occasionally fatal. Since Dodge City was on the frontier, it took awhile for the law to catch up to it; even as late as September 1876, a local paper noted, “The citizens of Dodge have organized a vigilance committee and last week the committee addressed the following pointed note to every gambler in the city; 'Sir: You are hereby notified to leave this city before 6 o'clock, a. m. of Sept. 17th, 1876, and not return here.’" Lawmen finally became a fixture of Dodge City in the late 1870s, but as with so many other places in the West, the line between hero and villain was blurred; cowboy Pink Sims later wrote about Dodge City, “It was stated that the marshals were all pimps, gamblers and saloonkeepers. They had the cowboys disarmed, and with their teeth pulled they were harmless. If they got too bad or went and got a gun, they were cut down with shotguns.” Dodge City’s lawmen included some of the most famous men of the Wild West, including Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp, who mixed it up in Dodge City as a deputy marshal several years before he was involved in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone. Given the way the frontier town developed, as well as the people who called it home, Dodge City was certain to hold a special place in Western lore.

Cassie lived on the cloudy, rainy planet of Ecstasy where nothing exciting happened. Then her parents turn up dead, an abusive uncle and her loving cousin come to live with her. That’s when all the strange things start happening in Cassie’s life. So Cassie and her cousin run to the one place that will afford her an escape away from those that hunt her, and that is when her life really gets wild. Of course, it’s not anything a girl that can talk to ghosts and manifest fears out of people’s minds can’t handle.

The Rock. Such a common name for such a terrible place. Life is cheap on The Rock, it is hard. It's the perfect place to dump the half-breeds, children born of human and alien parents. Children that few wanted to acknowledge, reminders of the near extermination of all human life on Earth. After three years, one girl fights the system. She's going to get off The Rock - or die trying.

Humans went out of their way to massacre their fellow man over differences in the color of skin, religion, and politics. We were supposed to be the generation that saved the planet and humanity for ourselves and our children. Unfortunately, we were never given the chance.Envious eyes looked upon Earth from our nearest neighbor, Alpha Centauri. Eyes that had decided we weren’t killing ourselves off fast enough. Eyes that had taken matters into their own hands on the day they tried to kill humanity. They miscalculated . . . Fifteen-year-old Tanya's life was turned upside down on "The Day". Now, she's found a reason to fight but will she win?

Like its current citizens, the United States was born in debt-a debt so deep that it threatened to destroy the young nation. Thomas Jefferson considered the national debt a monstrous fraud on posterity, while Alexander Hamilton believed debt would help America prosper. Both, as it turns out, were right. One Nation Under Debt explores the untold history of America's first national debt, which arose from the immense sums needed to conduct the American Revolution. Noted economic historian Robert Wright, Ph.D. tells in riveting narrative how a subjugated but enlightened people cast off a great tyrant-“but their liberty, won with promises as well as with the blood of patriots, came at a high price.” He brings to life the key events that shaped the U.S. financial system and explains how the actions of our forefathers laid the groundwork for the debt we still carry today. As an economically tenuous nation by Revolution's end, America's people struggled to get on their feet. Wright outlines how the formation of a new government originally reduced the nation's debt-but, as debt was critical to this government's survival, it resurfaced, to be beaten back once more. Wright then reveals how political leaders began accumulating massive new debts to ensure their popularity, setting the financial stage for decades to come. Wright traces critical evolutionary developments-from Alexander Hamilton's creation of the nation's first modern capital market, to the use of national bonds to further financial goals, to the drafting of state constitutions that created non-predatory governments. He shows how, by the end of Andrew Jackson's administration, America's financial system was contributing to national growth while at the same time new national and state debts were amassing, sealing the fate for future generations.