Outlaw Tales of Texas: True Stories Of The Lone Star State's Most Infamous Crooks, Culprits, And Cutthroats

by Charles L. Convis

Texas's colorful past comes to life through the stories of fifteen of its most notorious bandits and criminals. Outlaw Tales of Texas gives a fascinating look at the Old West's rough side.

200 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 2008

Reviews

[Shannonmde · Rating 2 out of 5]

More notes for book club:

Title: OUTLAW TALES OF TEXAS
Author: CONVIS, CHARLES L Original Date: 2008
The frontier towns of Texas were populated by some of the toughest and most dangerous characters in the West. Jim Miller went to church, left early to shoot his brother-in-law in the head, and returned before the service was over. Myra Belle Shirley helped her husband lead one of Texas's most notorious stage robberies. And Bill Loneley was reportedly hanged three times and survived. Violence. 2008.
DT 06996

I had some trouble keeping track of some of the characters. It seemed like some of the folks in the book one minute their outlaws next minute they are deputies.

Author says in intro "you won't find many heroes here" but in some stories he seems to be sort of defending some actions or trying to show multiple sides of a character. Did it seem to you the author was biased one way or the other? Mixed response including some level of admiration? Or just reporting the "facts" without bias?

What was your response—were some of these outlaws also heroes? What do you think about the status of some famous outlaws as celebrities?

Would have liked more information about the trials. Exactly why were these people acquitted. Who was bribing who? Was it really lack of evidence or fear that kept these outlaws from being brought to trial properly?

Are you familiar with the settings in the books? Is anyone from any of the towns that are specifically mentioned in the book? – I am not a Texan and found that I had to keep looking at a map to see how far these guys rode on their horses or what part of the state they were traveling in. Is anyone on this call from any of the places mentioned in the book? Had you heard these stories before? Had you heard other stories about these characters that presented them in a different light?

Author not from Texas. Does that matter? He’s written books in a series called “True Tales of the Old West” and “Outlaw Tales of Nevada”. Would the story have been different if it was written by a Texan?

I think the book would have been more interesting if it was a snapshot of individual outlaws rather than several chapters devoted to the same outlaws (or outlaws who killed each other and intermarried each other). Are there any Texas outlaws that you’re familiar with that the author should have included?

Did you find any of the facts in the book surprising? Surprising fact – the trouble the mistranslation of horse vs. mule caused.

Did it seem like the author treated the people in the book fairly?

Did you feel like there was a conclusion to this book? I felt the ending was a bit abrupt.

Did you think the nonfiction story was presented in an enjoyable readable manner or more in a textbook kind of manner?


Quotes from book --

"I always knew I was born to hang," Miller continued. "They never was a bullet that could kill me." 38

"Yes, I'm from Texas," Longley answered. "Well, now," the trooper snarled, "if I was from Texas I'd be damned ashamed of it and keep it to myself. I know from firsthand experience that there's not an honest man in Texas nor a virtuous woman either." 60

While there he [Longley] complained to the governor that it was unfair to execute him as he had only killed thirty-two men, and John Wesley Hardin received a life sentence for killing many more. 66

Rosie Lee's daughter, Flossie Doe, wrote about her grandmother, explaining that "stealing from a damned Yankee or a carpetbagger was different from stealing from a Texan, and Myra Reed never stole a horse from a Texan." 75

Being faithful to an outlaw husband was one thing; consorting with outlaws to who she was not married was another. Belle's friends dropped her away, and she was no longer welcome in respectable Dallas homes. 75 - 76

What we do know is that Austin and San Antonio citizens realzied that he time of the frontier gunslinger had ended. No longer could the good traits that men appreciated in their friends -- courage, loyalty, humor -- excuse brutality and selfishness, bad traits showing up in the same men. People noticed that two of the men killed in the execution were good friends, and one of them had probably ordered the execution. Texas, by mid-1884, was too civilized to continue permitting the wanton gunslinging of the frontier, and that wareness came to both Austin and San Antonio on that one violent night in March 1884. 85 -86

Seems like a lot of the disagreements are over who killed who's friend, or who supported what side during the Civil War.

Ethnic wars produce more violence than those fought over ideology. The Mason County War in the 1870s was a good example. It pitted recent German immigrants against Americans who had been in Texas longer, and some of its embers of hate still glowed thirty years later. Sometimes they called it the Hoo Doo War, a term whose meaning has been lost but was more accurate since the war also included Llano County. 88 -- are ethnic wars more violent?

J. Frank Dobie, Walter Prescott Webb, and other historians estimated that Mexicans stole nine hundred thousand head of Texas cattle during the twenty five years from 1850 - 1875. 97

looking up info on map for Cholilo, Argentina. Fiding results for Cholila, Argentina? 114

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read Tales of Badmen, Bad Women, and Bad Places instead.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent.