Logan: The Honorable Life & Scandalous Death of a Western Lawman

by Jackie Boor

Dressed only in a nightshirt and unarmed, Sheriff Thomas Logan lay bleeding outside the Jewel, a house of ill-fame. His death in 1906 sent shockwaves across Nevada, forcing Hannah and their eight children to face an unfathomable fate. This richly textured account of a popular lawman's life and death also includes many famous and colorful characters - all of whom were part of the Wild West's reluctant surrender to the 20th century.

269 pages, Hardcover

First published March 18, 2014

Reviews

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I almost feel like I can't rate this because it is a story of a man's life but I realize it is only bits and pieces of it.

Logan as the title describes is a book about a loving and dedicated Nevada Sheriff and his tragic death. I can't say I wasn't crying like crazy when I read of his death. My heart was so broken and it still is. Even on his death bed he does what he can to protect people from harm, even if it's his killer himself.

Boor takes us through Thomas W. Logans upbringing all the way to his death and beyond. It is an excellent description of the the way the old west worked and how things long ago don't always seem so long ago.

We learn who the incredible man behind the badge was and even with his faults, just like anyone he keeps to his honor as a father and as a sheriff protecting and doing what he can for the people and town he loves. We also learn the secrets behind why his killer was set free and what happened at the trail to do something like this.

Jackie Boor truly takes you back to the wild west and let's us get to know a sheriff who deserves to be heard.

Keeping you and your family forever in my heart.You'll never be forgotten Sheriff Thomas Logan. ❤

[Eric B · Rating 5 out of 5]

This isn't just a good history book, it's just plain good and easy to read. It's surprising that a topic this obscure (the murder of a sheriff in a rural Nevada County near the turn of the last century) would be so well researched and the book so well written. The author is certainly invested in the history of the event and does an excellent job immersing the reader in the topic. Beyond the event itself, she does a fantastic job of covering the developments in the county during the time and brings to life the various characters that were contemporaries of Sheriff Logan. Given the wide range of people and places described, it's an excellent history of a particular period in the development of Nye County and an excellent historical reference.

[Russell Sanders · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jackie Boor’s Loagan: The Honorable Life and Scandalous Death of a Western Lawman would appeal to those who want to know more about Nevada history—or the history of the American West—as I did. Boor has written a sometimes interesting and engaging story of her great-great-grandfather (forgive me if I missed a ‘great.’) Sheriff Tom Logan was a well-loved lawman in Tonopah, Nevada, circa 1900. His life also ended on a morning after his liaison with a madam, being gunned down by one of her disgruntled customers. Boor obviously has a great love for her ancestor, and the bulk of his life was indeed honorable. I had some problems with the book, however. For a story I wanted to flow, Boor includes far too many financial facts about the lawman’s dealings. And too, she includes quite a few quoted new stories. These might have been interesting, but they are in italics, printed in a much smaller font than the rest of the text, and invariably, her commentary following them simply expounds on what I had just scanned, because after a while, I quit reading the newspaper clippings in their entirety. Also, because Boor is a career writer, unlike many relatives who write books about their ancestors, her book is very well-written, but in an attempt to make it more literary—I can only assume—she begins each chapter with a page-long old west song lyric. I read the first few, but deciding I was not reading this book as a literary experience, I just paged right over the rest. I recommend the book for its commentary on a most remarkable man. As history, it is valuable. As leisure reading, it became a bit tedious.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read with lots of history of early central Nevada mining days. A bit long-winded in describing legal maneuverings around the trial of the man accused of murdering this Tonopah sheriff in the early 1900s, but forgivable, as it was written by one of his descendants. Not really a memoir, but a well-researched family history. I enjoyed it a lot.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Living in Central Nevada I found this book appealed to my love of local history. While this is a great tale for anyone interested in the history of the Tonopah mining boom, this also involves the communities of all of Nye County as well as the rest of the state of Nevada including the community of Logandale. This book was informative as a history piece because of all the research and documents that were referenced. It was also a tale of the family and descendants of Logan who thought they knew the story of his life, and his notorious death, but in fact didn't really know because so many of the players who were in the know had spent years keeping things quiet.

A nice read for residents of Nevada and history buffs alike. In fact, the Round Mountain library has signed copies of this book for sale.