Other editions of book A Texas Cowboy: Or, Fifteen Years on The Hurricane Deck of a Spanish Boy

Charles A. Siringo's dramatic and action-packed memoirs about life in the old American West are published here in full. As well as for his time as a lawman, Siringo was famous for epitomizing the spirit of adventure and free roaming that characterized North America during the 19th century. Born and raised on the Western frontier, it was through his years in the West that Siringo learned the rural life of a cowboy. By the time he published this autobiography in 1885 at the age of thirty, Siringo was an ambitious and confident fellow - "money, and lots of it", he declares, is the prime reason he wrote his memoirs. The book begins with Charles Siringo's account of his early life, as the son of immigrants; his father an Italian and his mother Irish. We follow his early life in and around Dodge City, learning the ways of the cattle hand and witnessing a few remarkable sights along the way. Eventually, Siringo sets up shop as a merchant, where he found the time to author this memoir. Perhaps the most vivid highlight among these recollections regards Billy the Kid, one of the most notorious outlaws to ever emerge in the West. Something of a nemesis for the law-abiding Siringo, the pursuit of Billy occupies several chapters of this book. In 1886, the year after this autobiography appeared, Siringo would enroll in the Pinkertons: bored with cowboy life, it was as a detective working undercover that his abilities were truly realized.

When legendary Charlie Siringo wrote this classic work, he was only 30 years old and had already spent half that life as a cowboy. With enduring wit, he tells the tale of long cattle drives, small-town beauties, meetings with Billy the Kid, and growing up on the Texas frontier. In plain language you'll hear what it was like to live on the "hurricane deck of a Spanish pony" for months on end, earning enough to head into town and have a good time. Crisscrossing the Lone Star State, he lived a vanishing way of life. After only a few years of setting down, he was back in the saddle as a Pinkerton detective, a career he tells of in later books.

When legendary Charlie Siringo wrote this classic work, he was only thirty years old and had already spent half that life as a cowboy. With enduring wit, he tells the tale of long cattle drives, small-town beauties, meetings with Billy the Kid, and growing up on the Texas frontier. In plain language you'll read what it was like to live on the "hurricane deck of a Spanish pony" for months on end, earning enough to head into town and have a good time. Chris-crossing the Lone Star state, he lived a vanishing way of life. After only a few years of setting down, he was back in the saddle as a Pinkerton detective, a career he tells in later books. Every memoir of the American West provides us with another view of the westward expansion that changed the country forever. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE by clicking the cover above or download a sample.

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."For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

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.

Published by Time-Life from 1980-1984 in leather binding. The Classics of the Old West series is one of the most remarkable undertakings of Time-Life Publications. Each title and author was especially selected to represent the stories of or works about the Old West as written by those who actually lived it. Each volume is a reprint of an original Old West book including illustrations, plates, and even errors. Each book measures about 8 ½ by 6 inches, and together, cover almost 4 linear feet of shelf space. Time-Life issued these hardcover books with genuine leather binding

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.

Charles A. Siringo was truly a Texas original not only in that his life was singular in its variety—youthful survivor, working cowboy, Pinkerton detective, early movie extra. He also was an original among Texas cowboys in providing a personal narrative of the actual experience of the uniquely American hero, the cowboy. A TEXAS COWBOY, OR, FIFTEEN YEARS ON THE HURRICANE DECK OF A SPANISH PONY, takes us through his journey as a fatherless child, the primary provider for his mother and older sister. Beginning on the Texas coast, detouring through Mississippi river towns and back to Texas, he eventually settles into the life of the working cowboy. An encounter with the famous outlaw Billy the Kid and his pursuer Pat Garrett is only one of the colorful experiences that shapes his life and makes his narrative so impelling.

198 pp., illustrations. A fine, unblemished copy in a very good clipped dust jacket with a sun faded spine. This 1950 reprint is considered the best of all the later reprint editions. It contains an introduction by J. Frank Dobie, drawings by Tom Lea, and typography by Carl Hertzog. Siringo's book is the first autobiography of a cowboy, and unquestionably one of the most important range books. Listed in Six-Guns #2032, Herd #2077, Six Score #99.