"The American West offered abundant opportunities for those seeking gold and gunfights, fame and infamy. Popular Western writer Emerson Hough (1857-1923) was the author of the history The Story of the Cowboy and of the classic Western novel The Covered Wagon (which in 1923 became the first epic film of a now long-standing genre). He was a friend of Sheriff Pat F. Garrett, whom he accompanied on a long horseback trip in New Mexico while gathering material for The Story of the Outlaw (1905).".

"Based on firsthand research, and frequently recounted in the actual words of outlaws and eyewitnesses, Hough's history explores the varied lives, exploits, crimes, and fates of cattle rustlers, horse thieves, marauders, bandits, bank robbers, and assassins. The Story of the Outlaw also examines notorious border wars, vigilante movements, and other armed frontier conflicts.".

"Besides revealing the facts behind mythic Western outlaws like Billy the Kid, William Clarke Quantrill, Cole Younger, Frank and Jesse James, and the Dalton Gang, and lawmen like "Wild" Bill Hickok and Pat F. Garrett, Hough brings to life lesser-known but equally deadly desperados: Henry Plummer, who, under the respectable guise of sheriff, murdered and robbed those he was elected to protect; Boone Helm, a hired killer and part-time cannibal; Joseph A.

Slade, reputed to carry as a souvenir his enemy's ear on his watch chain; and many others."--BOOK JACKET.