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Oklahoma Scoundrels: History's Most Notorious Outlaws, Bandits & Gangsters
Early Oklahoma was a haven for violent outlaws and a death trap for deputy U.S. marshals. The infamous Doolin gang's OK Hotel gunfight left five dead. Killers like Bible-quoting choir leader Deacon Jim Miller wreaked havoc. Gunslinger femme fatale Belle Starr specialized in horse theft. Wannabe outlaws like Al Jennings traded train robbing for politics and Hollywood films. And Elmer McCurdy's determination and inept skill earned him a carnival slot and the nickname "the Bandit Who Wouldn't Give Up." Historians Robert Barr Smith and Laurence J. Yadon dispel myths surrounding some of the most significant lawbreakers in Sooner history.
128 pages, Paperback
Published November 7, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 9, 2020
Fourteen chapters in 100 pages, so you know you're not getting in-depth studies here. Not bad, but definitely not great either. I enjoyed looking through the bibliography and would be interested in reading some of the books the authors consulted.
March 19, 2020
Well. I'm not an authority on outlaws, so I thought this would be an interesting read when I came across it.
I'm also not an authority on geography, but as a life-long Oklahoman, I know where towns are in this state. There were SO many errors, or lazy attempts to make connections to previous stories, that this book took three times as long to read because I was confirming ALL of the errors I suspected. I would say I was at above 90% at proving their inaccuracies. THE WORST -- a comment regarding the town of Fairview: "a town in far western Oklahoma Territory that no longer exists."
I can't explain why (maybe it was something sports-related), but I knew I needed to check that. The 2,600 people of Fairview would be interested to know that they "no longer exist", or haven't existed for over 100 years.
I will conservatively say that there were 30 geographical errors. One author is a professor emeritus in military history and legal writing at OU, and the other, an attorney, has a "lifelong interest in Oklahoma and criminal history", AND lives in Tulsa. Sloppy, very sloppy.
Which makes me wonder about the quality of their research of the "Scoundrels" subjects -- but, maybe, that was their priority, so maybe THAT is accurate. I can't counter without lengthy research.
I would say the story written about Deacon Jim Miller was OUTSTANDING. It read like a Quentin Tarantino movie. But that is accepting the death given by the authors of Pat Garrett, the New Mexico sheriff that killed Billy the Kid. The authors, credit given, admit that the accepted killing of Garrett was by another person in a number of accounts. But others given in separate accounts say that it was Miller. If you can ignore that a town that no longer exists does exist, the account of Miller killing Garrett is a story that should be made into a movie. Really! I'd pay to go see it! But, there, apparently, isn't enough proof that Deacon killed Garrett exists.
This would be a one-star if it wasn't for the enjoyable Miller story, because a lot of the stories written were weak and frequently sloppily distracting.
My biggest regret is that I checked this out from my library and kept it in circulation longer than necessary.
I'm also not an authority on geography, but as a life-long Oklahoman, I know where towns are in this state. There were SO many errors, or lazy attempts to make connections to previous stories, that this book took three times as long to read because I was confirming ALL of the errors I suspected. I would say I was at above 90% at proving their inaccuracies. THE WORST -- a comment regarding the town of Fairview: "a town in far western Oklahoma Territory that no longer exists."
I can't explain why (maybe it was something sports-related), but I knew I needed to check that. The 2,600 people of Fairview would be interested to know that they "no longer exist", or haven't existed for over 100 years.
I will conservatively say that there were 30 geographical errors. One author is a professor emeritus in military history and legal writing at OU, and the other, an attorney, has a "lifelong interest in Oklahoma and criminal history", AND lives in Tulsa. Sloppy, very sloppy.
Which makes me wonder about the quality of their research of the "Scoundrels" subjects -- but, maybe, that was their priority, so maybe THAT is accurate. I can't counter without lengthy research.
I would say the story written about Deacon Jim Miller was OUTSTANDING. It read like a Quentin Tarantino movie. But that is accepting the death given by the authors of Pat Garrett, the New Mexico sheriff that killed Billy the Kid. The authors, credit given, admit that the accepted killing of Garrett was by another person in a number of accounts. But others given in separate accounts say that it was Miller. If you can ignore that a town that no longer exists does exist, the account of Miller killing Garrett is a story that should be made into a movie. Really! I'd pay to go see it! But, there, apparently, isn't enough proof that Deacon killed Garrett exists.
This would be a one-star if it wasn't for the enjoyable Miller story, because a lot of the stories written were weak and frequently sloppily distracting.
My biggest regret is that I checked this out from my library and kept it in circulation longer than necessary.
October 25, 2025
Good, but could’ve been much better
Some good yarns, but the lack of detail on the end of Bonnie & Clyde, for example, was a glaring omission. That, and the narrator’s poor pronunciation of town names in the audiobook, dropped this book from a four star read to a three.
Some good yarns, but the lack of detail on the end of Bonnie & Clyde, for example, was a glaring omission. That, and the narrator’s poor pronunciation of town names in the audiobook, dropped this book from a four star read to a three.
September 16, 2021
The stories were interesting but the book was poorly written. Lots of short stories about different outlaws that were filled with rumor and supposition rather than researched fact. Also, I found a handful of errors and mistakes in the 111 pages. The authentic photos were one of the few redeeming qualities of this book.
July 9, 2022
Interesting short stories about Oklahoma bad guys .
January 2, 2023
Oklahoma Scoundrels
Robert Barr Smith
A good quick read on Oklahoma bad guys and gals. The author does not glorify the “scoundrels” which is good.
Robert Barr Smith
A good quick read on Oklahoma bad guys and gals. The author does not glorify the “scoundrels” which is good.
October 7, 2025
Great stories about the men and women of Oklahoma who kept the Marshalls chasing. Oklahoma has quite the crew of old time horse thieves, bank robbers, and land grabbers.
January 7, 2020
A good breakdown of outlaws known in Oklahoma, or who just passed through on their way to bigger robberies and shenanigans. Not terribly deep. I like the photographs but the corpse photos were a bit much for me.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews