Wanted!: Wanted Posters of the Old West

by Martin Kidston, Barbara Fifer

This rare collection of wanted posters from the American West is a historical treasure. The book's nearly 150 original wanted posters, fugitive notices, and Pinkerton Agency circulars are supplemented by fascinated details about the technology of identification, the history of wanted posters, and the stories behind the crimes, which ranged from horse theft, safe blowing, train robbery, seduction, ''white slavery,'' and murder. Posters for notorious bandits such as Jesse James, Butch Cassidy, and the Sundance Kid are also featured.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

204 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2003

Reviews

[Krissys Bookshelf Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author: Martin Kidston; Barbara Fifer
Title: Wanted! Wanted Posters of the Old West: Stories Behind the Crimes
Series:
Cover Rating: Silver Star

Book Rating: 4 Stars


About the Book:
This rare collection of wanted posters from the American West is an historical treasure. In addition to the more than 150 reward notices and wanted posters collected by Sheriff Moe during his tenure as a law enforcement officer are information on the history of wanted posters and the fascinating stories behind the crimes, which include horse theft, safe blowing train robbery, seduction, white slavery, and murder. Posters for notorious bandits such as Jesse James and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid are also featured.





My Thoughts:
So for those of you who don't know the title is slightly deceiving. Yes, there are a couple posters that actually include a "background story" with it but for the most part the book is just an accumulation of clippings and cut outs from that period.

Some posters were simple vague descriptions of the person that was wanted from said area, others included entire stories behind the crime, while few were simply wanted because they stole a horse, stole someones wife, or were just bad tempered, foul mouthed, and low in luck. Its quite surprising what you could actually be arrested for in some places.

Bad day? Its a good time to avoid your neighbors because you don't want to be locked up or hung for having a bad disposition. Some of the warrants make you raise your brows, some will make you laugh, most will make you wonder what ever came of it.

I would have happily rated this book five stars however it did feel as if something was missing.

As much as there was in the book there were too many times there weren't any more details beyond the inclusion of the wanted poster and that itself doesn't always give any details. It would have been nice to know more beyond the extraordinary wanted posters of the celebrities where the author added a couple paragraphs about the warrants "story" besides the two sentences or less that was included on the original poster itself.

All in all worth the read and I enjoy books like this so it was a winner for me.


Disclaimer:
Krissys Bookshelf Reviews purchased a print copy for personal collection.
All thoughts, comments and ratings are my own.

Note:
If any of Krissy's Bookshelf Reviews has been helpful please stop by to like my post or leave a comment to let me know what you think. I love hearing from you!

[Ronald Spitzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book. I discovered pattern of who became outlaw and wanted especially related to age, sex, height, how well dressed etc. The rewards seemed to depend on how much money the sheriffs had available or other people. I never gave thought before how much about having a horse or horses stolen from you could cause you economic disaster if not lead to your death. Horse thieves were really low heartless people and deserved to be executed. The time period for these posters is mostly from 1900 to 1918 or so. Recommended, but I just wish I know if more of these wanted were ever caught.

[Megan]

Mildly interesting. It says it includes "stories behind the crimes," but only about a third of the posters include stories, so mostly it's various ways wanted posters and notices could look like. What I found really interesting was what was handwritten on the posters and therefore included when they were photographed for the book.

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The wanted posters are great. I would have liked more information on the cases (e.g. did they get captured).

[Sarah Jowett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book and look at crimes, and criminal pursuits, of the past. You would think these would be from 1850 or something, picture the Wild West, but most of them are early 1900s.

Well written but I wish they had more details, story usually ends with the suspect(s) still on the loose and no resolution.