Tales Behind the Tombstones: The Deaths And Burials Of The Old West's Most Nefarious Outlaws, Notorious Women, And Celebrated Lawmen

by Chris Enss

Tales Behind the Tombstones tells the stories behind the deaths (or supposed deaths) and burials of the Old West's most nefarious outlaws, notorious women, and celebrated lawmen. Readers will learn the story behind Calamity Jane's wish to be buried next to Wild Bill Hickok, discover how and where the Earp brothers came to be buried, and visit the sites of tombs long forgotten while legends have lived on.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Westerns, Historical, Ebooks, Biography

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book has only very short descriptions of lives and burial places of assorted people with some connection to the 19th century West. Sometimes a pretty tenuous connection. I think I would have begun with people associated with the Lewis and Clark expedition, but the author begins with the people who followed trails west. I don’t really associate Carrie Nation (Prohibitionist) with the region although her behavior was Wild West for sure. She had bad husband choices (drunks) and maybe should have chased them with her hatchet instead of going after saloons. She pushed the prohibition movement along which inadvertently pushed organized crime into the picture and wasn’t such a great idea. That is not mentioned in the book.

Most of the individuals in the book had more reasonable connections to the West. I preferred the more unknown characters and grave sites such as mentions of unknowns along the early trails west or Nellie Pooler Chapman who was the first woman licensed in dentistry in the West. Sarah Winnemucca, Piute Indian in Nevada who went on to do translating and lobbied in Washington D.C. (promises were made but not kept, as usual) would be interesting to read more about.

The individuals are arranged chronologically by death date which can cause problems. It means individuals with events in common can be widely separated in the book. For instance, Wild Bill Hickok died in 1876 and Calamity Jane died in 1902. There are 19 entries between them and if their stories were less well known you might forget the connection. The last entry in the book was Elizabeth Custer (died 1933) who outlived her husband by many years. He died at Little Bighorn in 1876.

There is a short bibliography but no connections to the text. I’m not sure if all the information is accurate. The author has Doc Holliday buried in Glenwood Springs, Colorado and indeed there is a memorial there saying he is buried somewhere in the potter’s field. However she doesn’t mention that his descendants say he was reinterred in his hometown of Griffin, Georgia and has a gravesite there.

I call this book a start only.

[Ronald Spitzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book giving the biography of some famous, infamous and regular people from the frontier era of the old west. Interesting but fairly short accounts. This book is a bathroom reader, so to speak, since the biographies are short. In any number of cases the accounts give you the "rest of the story." Worthwhile reading.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would give this an almost four. I find cemeteries interesting. My spouse and I like to walk around the local cemeteries and look at the tombstones. there is such a history to them. This book talks about the tombstones of people who lived in the 1800s and died during this time or the early 1900s. Some of the people are well known, such as Billy the kid, Wyatt Earp, Calamity Jane,Custer,and Custer's wife.and many more famous people from that time. I think I have learned there really was that "wild west' that took place in the mid 1800s. A lot of men and even some women died from gunshot wounds. a lot of tales of gun slinging, robberies, a lot of deaths due to violence. some died on the Oregon trail, others during the gold rush of those days.
I liked some of the tales more than others. For example the woman who disguised herself as a man for 50 years and was one of the best stage coach drivers in the 1800s.There were plenty of stories of men and women who lived during this time era and their lives and how they died. there are pictures that go with some of the tales and even pictures of the tombstones and where they are located. Kind of a different book for me to read but pretty interesting. I read this on my kindle.I wish i had the actual book so I could turn to the pages.

[Mark Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting

This is a series of short vignettes on the lives of various Western characters, and where they now lie. Necessarily uneven, but quite interesting.

[DeWayne Neel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Almost every town on the central plains and the western mountains has a story and a cemetery that is filled with the great, the not-so-great, and a few ugly. The few remaining gravestones carry tales that usually have been enhanced by the dime novels of the day, but there is a lesson to be learned in those tales.
This small book recalls a few of the most famous while adding a few notable newcomers in recalling the history of the gold rushes, the gambling halls, th.e tough travel west, and the soiled doves that were always a part of the frontier. As in any community, the peacemakers were the heroes, but many also took things too far and some quickly became the villains that populated the boot hills of the west.
A good, fast read that sometimes brings a few smiles.

[Eryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's okay, it's not a bad book, but feels several grades below what I'm used to reading (I'm a historian). If I knew a preteen who was interested in the Old West or history and dead people, I would recommend it to them. This book is a basic introduction to a lot of historical figures that are ingrained in American history (especially if you live west of the Mississippi). It would be good for kids.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy the books Chris Enss writes. They are a great snapshot into the American West, just enough to grab your attention and leave you searching for more. Behind the Tombstones was another great journey for me. And, it left me wanting to take a road trip or two to pay my respects.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not terribly well-written but the stories are interesting “light” reading. Picked this up (in the bathroom) of our vacation rental in Montana, and it’s been a fun distracting read while spending time in the “Old West.” Now I want to go home and watch Wyatt Earp.

[Edward Laufer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining, quick reading book about the lives and deaths of famous, and infamous, persons of the expansion of the U.S. There are humorous and surprising stories of lawmen, actors, singers, and ladies of the bordellos and saloons.

[Jeff Olson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hey I wasn`t sure what to really expect when I got this book but I liked it; it was a lot of short stories that now I plan on doing somemore research on such as Calamity Jane or say the ghost town of Bodie and them some.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but really needs a good edit.

[Darel Krieger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good little book, quick history of many names you've known from the old west and many you may not have know.
How they came to be , what they did and where they met their demise.

[Douglas Reedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plenty of short concise and entertaining information.

[R. David · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very light but interesting read.

[Amy Rietveld · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a good read. It was very informative and intetesting, but it wasn't my favorite book that I have read. I'd give it about a 3.6 out of 5 stars.

[Ted · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting facts I didn't know, an easy read too.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good coffee table book....full of mini biographies so you can read a section in just a few minutes.

Overall, it lacked the depth I thought it would have. Entertaining but not super informative.

[Eli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love cemeteries, so for me, this was a fun read.

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting stories behind Old west tombstones.

[Nic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very brief accounts of the people these tombstones represent and the lives they lead. Some of the information contradicts other sources I've read, which makes me wonder what is true and what isn't.

[Kevin Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this interesting in a morbid sort of way.

[Warren · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The deaths and burials of the old est's Most nefarious outlaws, notorious women, and celebrated lawmen." It also adds a few presumed innocents like Lilly Langtree and Lillian Russell.
Interesting book quite well researched. Author Enss does not judge but let's the reader, the contemporaries and the legal system of the day (when there was one) do the judging.

I usually hold a book's credibility suspiciously when the word "Tales" is part of the title. I think the research by Chris Enss, however, is quite credible and perhaps deserving of a more factual sounding title.

Enjoyable but occasionally sad with "tales" of children being killed while making their way west with their parents.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an interesting book. The use of actual pictures and gravestones mixed with the stories of these characters of the old West was very helpful. Most of the people mentioned, I have never even heard of, but all the stories were just fascinating. It is not a hard read, found it in the young adult section, and it is not gruesome considering the content. Might want to be ready with trying to explain "women of ill repute" if you let your younger kids read this, but it was an interesting read of a celebrated period in American history.

[Gary Grubb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a fun and relaxing little read. Although I did find some time-line errors on the author's part I wasn't that concerned. Just like the title... the fun in this read are the tales themselves, not perfection in every date and time.

As in any story I read about the white-man 'conquering' the west I have to just shake my head at the 'white-mans' take on how they seem to discover everything. What the 'white-man' really seems to do is destroy everything and anybody in their path.

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Non-fiction) This book has a couple dozen vignettes of people - famous as well as not - who were part of the "Old West". It's well-written, and sometimes even humorous, as well as slipping in a few history lessons here and there. Most, if not all, of the brief tales have photos included. Be aware that not all the tombstones themselves are located in the western U.S. That said, I enjoyed it, and would love to see more - especially state-specific books - like this.

[Truitti · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting snippet of some of the west's intriguing figures. I did not know of some of the names. if you are looking for in depth study of the west' s populace, then this book will be a disappointment. however, this book gives you a general background which may pique your interest in further in depth reading in a character or two.

[JoyAnna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read, many short stories about the Old West. Photos of tombstones and I thought quite interesting overall. Kept me engrossed enough that I finished in one evening. Got it on Kindle and enjoyed. The title tells you all about what is in the book and a slice of history that I found very well done

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book of short stories about notorious characters from the Wild West. It was a fantastic, easy read with stories only lasting a few pages. I can't wait to take a road trip and check out all these cemeteries and read more about these amazing people.

[Carrie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked this up at the library because it looked like an interesting read. Wrong. I skipped through it and read some of the stories - only the ones that looked interesting to me. I think this one was better left on the library shelf, however.

[Bunny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fascinating. Not only the stories of seemingly random people from the Wild West and the California gold rush, but I also learned things I never knew about famous named I've always heard, like Jesse James, Calamity Jane, and Wild Bill. Really a very neat book.