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Great Stagecoach Robbers of the West
by Eugene B. Block
- Used
- very good
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Very Good/Good
- Seller
-
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
First Edition, stated.
262 p.; ill.; includes Bibliography (p. 251-2) and Index (p. 253-62).
Orange-brown cloth hardcover, with deckled edges, and gilt lettering to spine, shows some edgewear, with the possible beginnings of some light foxing to foredges, and was misbound during manufacturing (slightly cocked, and endpapers are askew) but is otherwise in Fine condition, being very clearly never read. Liberally illustrated with black and white photographic reproductions. See listing images for more detail.
From the dust jacket:
The road agents of the Western gold fields were a bold lot, courageous, ruthless, and, for the most part, cold-blooded. They had to be, for it took nerve and skill to stop a team of charging horses. A few were sons of wealthy, cultured families; most of them were desperate men who turned to robbery only after all other means of making a livelihood had failed, or scoundrels in search of easy money. Black Bart, Tom Bell, and Dick Bellows were the most colorful of the road agents, but the others, perhaps less flamboyant and daring, were bizarre nonetheless.
The era of the stagecoach robbers spanned little more than fifty years, from the discovery of gold in 1848 to the replacement of the stages by the railroads just after the turn of the century, but it was an exciting half-century filled with violence and progress. It encompassed the rush to the gold fields, the development of the stage lines, the first stirrings of crime in the West—and then robbery and murder on a grand scale.
The first man to reach the peak of notoriety was the savagely brutal Joaquin Murietta, the Mexican bandit chief who terrorized all California.
Quick on Murietta's heels came Captain Tom Bell, a one-time U.S. Army surgeon, and his band of fifty cut-throats. Not all road agents traveled in gangs; among the most successful "loners" was Black Bart, the P08, who justified his appellation by leaving scribbled doggerel at the scenes of his holdups:
I've labored long and hard for bread
For honor and for riches
But on my corns too long you've tread
You fine-haired sons of bitches.
-Black Bart the P08
There were even a few women road agents, like Dutch Kate, who smoked cigars and drank many a man under the table.
To round out this colorful history of crime, the author includes chapters on the heroic stage drivers and messengers who often gave their lives to protect their cargo. Here too are the company agents and detectives, who were remarkably successful in tracking down the bandits.
Eugene B. Block has given us a colorful re-creation of an era of crime in the American West, when desperate men sought to intercept and rob the swift-moving stagecoaches carrying the treasure of the gold fields. It is Americana of a high order, authentic and thoroughly satisfying.
Table of Contents
Credits
1 How It Began
2 Greed on the March
3 The P08
4 California's "Brigand Chief"
5 "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"
6 Handsome Dick Barter
7 Equal Rights for Women
8 "Recruiting for Jeff Davis"
9 Horse Play
10 Tiburcio Vasquez
11 Only One Bad Habit
12 Crime Has Its Drolleries
13 Smaller Fry
14 Courageous Drivers
15 Fearless Manhunters
16 A Camera Does the Shooting
17 Uncle Sam Gives Chase
18 History Repeats Itself
Bibliography
Index
262 p.; ill.; includes Bibliography (p. 251-2) and Index (p. 253-62).
Orange-brown cloth hardcover, with deckled edges, and gilt lettering to spine, shows some edgewear, with the possible beginnings of some light foxing to foredges, and was misbound during manufacturing (slightly cocked, and endpapers are askew) but is otherwise in Fine condition, being very clearly never read. Liberally illustrated with black and white photographic reproductions. See listing images for more detail.
From the dust jacket:
The road agents of the Western gold fields were a bold lot, courageous, ruthless, and, for the most part, cold-blooded. They had to be, for it took nerve and skill to stop a team of charging horses. A few were sons of wealthy, cultured families; most of them were desperate men who turned to robbery only after all other means of making a livelihood had failed, or scoundrels in search of easy money. Black Bart, Tom Bell, and Dick Bellows were the most colorful of the road agents, but the others, perhaps less flamboyant and daring, were bizarre nonetheless.
The era of the stagecoach robbers spanned little more than fifty years, from the discovery of gold in 1848 to the replacement of the stages by the railroads just after the turn of the century, but it was an exciting half-century filled with violence and progress. It encompassed the rush to the gold fields, the development of the stage lines, the first stirrings of crime in the West—and then robbery and murder on a grand scale.
The first man to reach the peak of notoriety was the savagely brutal Joaquin Murietta, the Mexican bandit chief who terrorized all California.
Quick on Murietta's heels came Captain Tom Bell, a one-time U.S. Army surgeon, and his band of fifty cut-throats. Not all road agents traveled in gangs; among the most successful "loners" was Black Bart, the P08, who justified his appellation by leaving scribbled doggerel at the scenes of his holdups:
I've labored long and hard for bread
For honor and for riches
But on my corns too long you've tread
You fine-haired sons of bitches.
-Black Bart the P08
There were even a few women road agents, like Dutch Kate, who smoked cigars and drank many a man under the table.
To round out this colorful history of crime, the author includes chapters on the heroic stage drivers and messengers who often gave their lives to protect their cargo. Here too are the company agents and detectives, who were remarkably successful in tracking down the bandits.
Eugene B. Block has given us a colorful re-creation of an era of crime in the American West, when desperate men sought to intercept and rob the swift-moving stagecoaches carrying the treasure of the gold fields. It is Americana of a high order, authentic and thoroughly satisfying.
Table of Contents
Credits
1 How It Began
2 Greed on the March
3 The P08
4 California's "Brigand Chief"
5 "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"
6 Handsome Dick Barter
7 Equal Rights for Women
8 "Recruiting for Jeff Davis"
9 Horse Play
10 Tiburcio Vasquez
11 Only One Bad Habit
12 Crime Has Its Drolleries
13 Smaller Fry
14 Courageous Drivers
15 Fearless Manhunters
16 A Camera Does the Shooting
17 Uncle Sam Gives Chase
18 History Repeats Itself
Bibliography
Index
Reviews
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Details
- Bookseller
- The Mortuary Korps
(CA)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 000199
- Title
- Great Stagecoach Robbers of the West
- Author
- Eugene B. Block
- Illustrator
- Larry Lurin [cover]
- Format/Binding
- Cloth hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Jacket Condition
- Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition, stated
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Doubleday & Company
- Place of Publication
- Garden City, NY, U.S.A.
- Date Published
- 1962
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
- Keywords
- crime; West (U.S.); brigands; robbers; bandits; hold-up; Coaching (Transportation); Stagecoach robberies; outlaws; cowboys; United States; USA; American
- Bookseller catalogs
- True Crime; Adventure; Politics, Government, & Law; Westerns; History; Art & Culture;
- Size
- 22
Terms of Sale
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About the Seller
The Mortuary Korps
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Winnipeg, Manitoba
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A dark edifice standing only on this digital plane of existence, the Mortuary is devoted to all that is curious in the world: from medical oddities and the criminal mind to supernatural realms and dark fantasy.
All listings include multiple images. If you require more photographs in order to make a decision, do not hesitate to send a note. All images are included simply to exhibit overall condition of specific items and are removed from display as soon as item is sold; should there be a copyright-based objection to any image, simply contact The Mortuary Korps and we will happily removed the offending images immediately.
Offers are accepted on items that qualify for OA with Biblio, but you are also welcome to contact us directly with any offer and your reasons (be they personal circumstance or business) and we may offer the discount you desire (be it dollars or cents).
Ask about local delivery or pickup!
Feel free to send us your special interests if you wish to be contacted directly when we find an item that may specifically interest you.
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