Status Updates From The Story of the Outlaw A S...

The history of the bloodiest lawlessness of the American past shows continual repetitions. First, liberty is construed to mean license, and license un-rebuked leads on to insolence. Still left un-rebuked, license organizes against the law, taking the form of gangs, factions, bandit clans.

Continued in comments.

It is not likely that the graves will be visited again by anyone who knows their locality. Garrett looked at them in silence for a time, then, turning, went to the buckboard for a drink at the canteen. “Well,” said he, quietly, “here’s to the boys, anyway. If there is any other life, I hope they’ll make better use of it than they did of the one I put them out of.”

...wow.

This book contains an interview with Pat Garrett. Apparently Garrett (mainly famous as the sheriff who shot Billy the Kid) was still alive when this was written. Kinda cool to read!

Apparently Billy the Kid killed a guy at 12. Specifically, he stabbed a guy with a pocketknife for threatening his mother.

Damn. O.O

The book's narrative devolved into a bunch of territory scuffles. I'm still interested, but not as much as I was.

The frontier antedated anarchy. It broke no social compact, for it had never made one. Its population asked no protection save that afforded under the stern lordship of the six-shooter. The anarchy of the frontier, if we may call it such, was sometimes little more than self-interest against self-interest.

Nice explanation about exactly how "cattle rustling" worked and why otherwise good people fell into it. Very edifying.

Whoa. One Western outlaw apparently resorted to cannibalism. That's some twisted shit right there. O.o

(Also, apologies for the sudden weirdness with "percentage complete" but apparently there's a difference in page-count between my copy and what GR believes is correct. Big surprise there.)