Founded in a pine forest on the East Texas frontier, Carthage assumed the name of one of the greatest cities of the ancient world. Although Carthage, Texas, did not become a bustling metropolis, the community has enjoyed a long history as the type of stable town that forms the backbone of America. For more than a century and a half, residents have played roles--at times prominently--in the historical and cultural life of Texas and the nation. Carthage has produced decorated war heroes, internationally famous country music stars, a noted American historian, and a groundbreaking political figure. As the home of Tex Ritter, Gentleman Jim Reeves, Linda Davis, and the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame, the community has become a country music mainstay. Beyond its celebrities, however, Carthage has most importantly produced generation after generation of patriotic and hard-working men and women.

Carthage (Images of America)

Arts & Photography

O'Neal, Bill

Photography & Video

Arcadia Publishing

Texas made a remarkable contribution to the American war effort during World War II . Almost 830,000 Texans, including 12,000 women, donned uniforms, and more than 23,000 Texas fighting men died for their country. America's most decorated soldier, Lt. Audie Murphy, and most decorated sailor, submarine commander Sam Dealey, both were Texans. Texas A&amp;M, an all-male military college, placed 20,000 men in the armed forces, of which 14,000 were officers--more than any other school in the nation, including the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme commander of Allied Forces in Europe, was born in Denison in northeast Texas. Adm. Chester Nimitz, commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet, was born and raised in Texas. Almost 1.5 million soldiers, sailors, and fliers trained at scores of Texas bases. Texas oil fueled the Allied war effort, while Texas shipyards and defense plants provided a flood of war machines and munitions during the war effort.

East Texas in World War II (Images of America)

History

Americas

Images of America: West Texas Cattle Kingdom relates the frontier saga of cowboys and longhorn cattle, of trail drives and great ranches. Cattle and horses were introduced to the Western Hemisphere by Spanish conquistadores and colonizers while Mexican vaqueros handled cattle from horseback, developing special techniques, equipment, and attire. Half-wild longhorns multiplied into the millions in the unpopulated brush country above the Rio Grande. After the Civil War, a hungry market for beef developed in the north. Texas “cow boys” learned the vaquero skills of roping and branding and adapted heavy-duty Mexican saddles, wide-brimmed hats, high-heeled boots, jingling spurs, leather chaparejos, and colorful bandanas. The adventure of driving large herds of cattle up the Chisholm Trail and other famous trails captivated America. Vast Texas ranches included the fabled King Ranch, the three-million-acre XIT, Charles Goodnight’s JA Ranch, and El Rancho Grande of legendary Shanghai Pierce, who described himself as “Webster on cattle, by God.”

West Texas Cattle Kingdom (Images of America)

First Edition Hardcover, 1997, First printing

Best of the West

Publications International

Over 375 pages of vintage cowboys, cavalry, desperadoes, and more! This comprehensive volume covers all the high adventure of the final frontier, featuring hundreds of historic photographs alongside authoritative text, historical profiles, and fascinating facts. 
Includes detailed sections on: 
- Legends of the Wild West - Ghost Towns - Greatest Shoot-outs - And much more! 
The ultimate guide to the wild, wild West!

The Wild West

Crutchfield, James A.

Sifting factual information from among the lies, legends, and tall tales, the lives and battles of gunfighters on both sides of the law are presented in a who's who of the violent West

Encyclopedia of Western Gunfighters

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Univ of Oklahoma Pr

Much information (some of it factual, a lot of it fictional) is available about the famous gunfighters of the Old West―the Jameses, Billy the Kid, Wild Bill Hickok, Wyatt Earp, John Wesley Hardin, and that latter-day folk idol, Butch Cassidy. Dozens of less-well-known but sometimes even more murderous gunslingers―such men as Cullen Baker, Harvey Logan, Longhaired Jim Courtright, and Mysterious Dave Mather―have received only scant mention in scattered accounts. This encyclopedia―a who’s who of the gunfighting West-provides a compilation of facts, sifted myths, folklore, and outright lies, about the lives and deaths of 255 men, both the famous and the all but forgotten. Also included are detailed accounts of the almost six hundred gunfights the men took part in, mostly between the end of the Civil War and the turn of the century. Each entry follows a concise and useful format: an alphabetical listing of the gunman; nicknames or aliases; dates and places of birth and death, is known; the occupations the man pursued; a brief biography; and, in chronological order, accounts of the verified gunfights in which he participated. In the Introduction, from the information he amassed in this volume, Bill O’Neal provides a fascinating summary of the data and offers new insights into the nature of the western gunmen and of the feuds and fights that bloodied the West. For example, he relates how a large number of the gunfighters used guns as tools of their trades, legitimate and otherwise―lawmen and detectives, buffalo hunters, army scouts, thieves, hired killers, and the like. Of the gunfighters included here 108 served as law officers at some time in their careers. The average lifespan, including those who died of natural causes, was forty-seven years, and more than 50 percent of the gunmen died from gunshot wounds. Encyclopedia of Western Gunfighters offers a unique compilation of information about these men―a comprehensive and reliable source.

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

University of Oklahoma Press

Minor league baseball history. History of baseball's "Texas League".

The Texas League, 1888-1987: A Century of Baseball

Eakin Pr

The Texas League is one of the oldest and most storied professional leagues in baseball. Founded in 1888, charter franchises included Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Galveston, Houston and San Antonio, but over time the Texas league spread through thirty-eight cities and eight states. The history of professional baseball is intertwined with the Texas league hosting Hall of Famers such as Tris Speaker, Hank Greenberg, Dizzy Dean, Duke Snider, Frank Robinson and dozens more. Bill O'Neal in a lifelong baseball fan and has written several books documenting the history of baseball including "The Pacific League, The American Association," "The International League," and "The Southern League." O'Neal has also written a number of books on Western Americana and served two terms as Texas State Historian.

The Texas League 1888-1987: A Century of Baseball

The first documented history of the Rangers ever published which fills a sizable void in the annals of Arizona Territory.

The Arizona Rangers

Eakin Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by O'Neal, Bill. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by O'Neal, Bill

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by O'Neal, Bill. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Carthage (Images of America)

East Texas in World War II (Images of America)

West Texas Cattle Kingdom (Images of America)

Best of the West

The Wild West

Encyclopedia of Western Gunfighters

Encyclopedia of Western Gunfighters

The Texas League, 1888-1987: A Century of Baseball

The Texas League 1888-1987: A Century of Baseball

The Arizona Rangers