Triggernometry - A Gallery of Gunfighters, With Technical Notes on Leather Slapping as a Fine Art, Gathered From Many a Loose Holstered Expert Over the Years

by Eugene Cunningham

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Genres: American History, History, Nonfiction, Westerns, Biography, Crime

490 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1934

Reviews

[Mark Mellon · Rating 3 out of 5]

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This is an interesting book in some ways except for the fact that the guy who wrote it was a racist idiot. It's nauseating the way he hero worships known murderers. His praise for guys who killed African Americans is especially loathsome. He recites in fulsome detail the various murders of blacks by Bill Longley, largely regarded by Texas historians nowadays as a pack of lies invented by Longley while he waited to be hanged in hopes of outdoing John Wesley Hardin's reputation as a killer. The author laps all this hateful nonsense up like it's gravy and recounts it with faithful avidity. Like almost all writers who turn to the West, Cunningham has his favorite cliche. His is, "he checked the hang of his six gun." If the reader had a nickel for every time he or she read this, a tidy sum would accumulate.

Setting these criticisms aside and trying to be objective, I can truthfully say that Triggernometry does provide good, thumbnail portraits of some of the Old West's most dangerous shootists, to include famous Texas Rangers like John R. Hughes and Bill McDonald. Texas badmen get their due as well like the vicious psychopath John Wesley Hardin who once shot a man dead for snoring. Other desperadoes like Butch Cassidy and Sam Bass are described. There's also an interesting appendix at the book's end where Cunningham illustrates by means of text and diagrams how men went about fast draws in the bad old days, With all the emphasis on shoot outs in this book and the media in general, let me point out that a considerable number of prominent Old West figures were either shot in the back or killed while unarmed to include Billy the Kid, his slayer Pat Garrett, Wild Bill Hickock, and the arch murderer himself, John Wesley Hardin.

If you want to learn about the Old West and the men that lived in it, this book is a good source, but only if you can get past Cunningham's racism and his bloody minded love of violence purely for the sake of violence.

[Roy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got this way back in the seventies in 2 separate volumes which I still have , albeit in rough condition due to my re reading them so many times . Cunningham wrote this back in the 1930 ,s and apparently spoke to people alive during some of these times . I loved the personal touch the writer has telling these stories .

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fucking dog brained stuff (complete with bulldog antics.) Cunningham met a bunch of these folks and took to heart every bullshit story he heard. It's great. But it's also the book's downside. Like just because he met the old man doesn't make the old man more interesting than other folks (like focusing on Billy Breckinridge instead of the way more interesting characters in Tombstone.) Cunningham's hatred of the Earps is funny. By the end Cunningham is kind of winging it. Strongest profiles are near the begining

Wouldn't recommend but it was a hoot to read.

[William Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book on gunfighters of the American west. As with most books of this kind I found some of the stories contradict other books I've read. It's hard to get all the facts right as you only have the what others recall or being told.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think my brother bought this for me when we were teens. This is one of those old books Barnes and Noble reprinted by facsimile for their bargain books section. Cunningham was a young man in the wild west and wrote this collection of the-real-story-behind type of biographies as an older man. It's not very well written if I recall, but certainly brings a feeling of real history to some of the well-known figures of the American West. It also has a chapter at the end concerning gunfighting techniques of the time, as well as its weaponry, holsters, etc. This isn't something I'd necessarily recommend, but is still an interesting work I don't mind having on my shelf.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This classic book on Western gunfighters was written in 1934, when some of the old gunmen were still telling tales. Cunningham pens an I-was-there narrative for all the big names: Wild Bill, John Wesley Hardin, Sam Bass and others.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it, but more because the author is my great-grandfather. I would recommend it though, it's a classic western and there is a reason it's been on the best western book list.

[Anne Holmes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating.

I enjoyed reading authentic stories, not myths, of characters of the old West, by an author who met many of the people who knew them.