SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR. "To Helen Foland with best wishes" Book is in very good cond., no marking, or writing, jackets is in very good cond.

Lawmen & Desperadoes: A Compendium of Noted, Early California Peace Officers, Badmen and Outlaws 1850-1900 (Western Frontiersmen Series)

History

Secrest, William B.

Americas

Arthur H. Clark

Like some mysterious Paladin, Harry Love seemed to suddenly appear on the California landscape at a time when he was particularly needed. As captain of the California Rangers, Love pursued Joaquin Murrieta and his bandits, and the outlaw was captured and killed. Then, his job done, he again faded into obscurity. Where did he come from? What was his life before, and after, the Murrieta affair? From Texas to California, this enigmatic and shadowy figure has been a figure of myth. Those who wrote of Murrieta, including John Rollin Ridge, knew little about Love. He has been fair game for those who sought to sensationalize his career, or create it out of whole cloth. For the first time the story of Harry Love is now told. Based upon years of research, digging deep into archives and contemporaneous accounts, tracking down obscure legends and lore, California historian Bill Secrest recounts with vitality and long-needed honesty the tale of Love, Murrieta, and the world in which they lived. As an army courier and express rider in Texas, Mexico, and New Mexico during and after the Mexican War, Love was a popular and well-known figure. His 1850 exploration of the Rio Grande and its possibilities for navigation were important and covered in newspapers throughout the U.S. and Mexico. First visiting California by sea in 1839, Love returned in 1850 during the Gold Rush. A vivid picture of the lawlessness of the land and the animosity between Mexicans and Americans is drawn by the author, highlighting the events in which Murrieta and his associates were involved. A detailed history of the Rangers and the bandits they pursued is given. Murrieta looms large in this tale. Without Murrieta, there would not have been a Harry Love as we know him. It was both the high point and the turning point of his life. Thus this biography includes a complete account of California's most famous outlaw, who met his fate in 1853 at the hands of Love and his Rangers. Following the killing of Murrieta, Love settled near Santa Cruz. As a pioneer sawmill operator and farmer, his life became more prosaic. His marriage floundered, his mill was destroyed, his plans came to naught. But the account of his years in the mountains above Santa Cruz offers a unique glimpse into pioneer life after the Gold Rush. The book includes an introduction, notes, epilogue, bibliography and index. Printed on acid-free paper and bound in red linen cloth with foil-stamped spine and printed dust jacket. Issued in an edition of 750 copies.

The Man from the Rio Grande: A Biography of Harry Love, Leader of the California Rangers Who Tracked Down Joaquin Murrieta (Volume 32) (Western Frontiersmen Series)

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

The Arthur H. Clark Company

LIKE NEW-BOOK/GOOD-DUST JACKET,SIGNED BY BOTH AUTHORS; CHARLES M. CLOUGH AND WILLIAM B. SECREST JR.. Hardcover nonfiction. The book is Signed by author, without personalized inscription on full title page. In like new, unread or lightly read condition, not price clipped, not library edition, not remainder marked. Dust jacket has minor shelf, rubbing and light edge wear. Signatures or writings have not been certified or authenticated. Seller is a lifelong book collector and each edition comes directly from his 35,000+ volume collection! All orders are shipped every business day using USPS Media, WITH FREE TRACKING, for all U S. orders. Thank You! DGS 2141 M3

Fresno County, the Pioneer Years: From the Beginnings to 1900

Clough, Charles W.

Amer West Books

Dangerous Trails: Five Desperadoes of the Old West Coast

Barbed Wire Pr

It’s one of the most famous prisons in American history, featured in countless movies and novels. Its inmates have included such diverse characters as Charles Manson, Sirhan Sirhan, Eldridge Cleaver, Merle Haggard, and Neal Cassady. It’s the one of the oldest continually operating institutions of California state government. San Quentin State Prison is as iconic a symbol of California as the Golden Gate Bridge or the Hollywood sign, yet few people today know the prison’s origins or colorful early history. Noted Old West historian William B. Secrest uncovers the forgotten beginnings of San Quentin in “Behind San Quentin’s Walls: The History of the Legendary Prison and Its Inmates, 1851-1900.” Going back to original source material of public records and contemporary newspaper accounts, Secrest tells of San Quentin’s unlikely beginnings as a real estate scheme and its essential role in taming the violent and lawless California of Gold Rush days. “Behind San Quentin’s Walls” presents the history of San Quentin as a microcosm of the settlement of California. Planned during the wildest days of Barbary Coast anarchy and Vigilante Committee lynch law in 1850s San Francisco, the state prison at San Quentin was the new state’s first attempt to impose the rule of law on a violent frontier society. Featuring numerous citations from contemporary accounts, plus period photos, illustrations, newspaper clippings, and maps, Secrest chronicles the political calculations that created San Quentin; the outsize egos of the men who built it; the mismanagement and frequent escapes that marred San Quentin’s early years; and the notorious ruffians and cutthroats who were housed there. Filled with exciting true stories of gunfights, brawls, prison riots, daring escapes, and intrepid manhunts, “Behind San Quentin’s Walls” is also a rip-roaring Wild West tale of how men and women with immense talent for both good and evil tamed a new state and each other. “Behind San Quentin’s Walls” is a bold mix of serious history and lively writing that no fan of Western history should miss.

Behind San Quentin's Walls: The History of California’s Legendary Prison and Its Inmates, 1851-1900

Craven Street Books

Historic desperadoes tell their tales of holdups, shootouts and desperate flights from the law in this chronicle illustrated with many rare photographs. From the famous 1892 shootout at Young's cabin as told by Chris Evans--a murderer, train robber and fugitive--and his partner John Sontag and the hanging of the notorious Jim Stuart by San Francisco vigilantes determined to retake their city from hordes of Australian convicts, robbers, and killers to the ill-starred adventures of Tom Bell, Tiburcio Vasquez, and Charles Dorsey and the harrowing and sometimes hilarious antics of the California highwaymen stage robbers Jim Smith and Dick Fellows, readers will vicariously experience the riveting lives of another time period.

California Desperadoes: Stories of Early Outlaws in Their Own Words

Word Dancer Press

Punctuated by gunshots and posse hoofbeats, these true tales, many told for the first time, illustrate, in both words and rare photographs, perilous trails and dangerous men from a time gone forever. Profiling men such as stagecoach robber Shorty Harris, who just wanted to buy a restaurant with his loot and find some peace, and Black Bart, the most famous stagecoach robber ever, who robbed 28 stages in eight years and between robberies led the life of a society gentleman in San Francisco, this collection illustrates a desperate breed of fascinating characters who added their stories to the legends of the Old West.

Perilous Trails, Dangerous Men: Early California Stagecoach Robbers and Their Desperate Careers 1856-1900

Exploring the destruction of the native Californians, this thorough history discusses the philosophies and language references such as ""Diggers"" and Poor Lo"" that eventually set the stage for the extermination of a group of people.

When the Great Spirit Died: The Destruction of the California Indians 1850-1860

Linden Publishing

He came to California with the great Gold Rush, but instead of riches, Isaiah W. Lees discovered his great talent for solving crimes and catching criminals. He captured stage robbers in Missouri, tracked con men to New York and caught the notorious eastern bank robber, Jimmy Hope in the middle of a San Francisco heist. San Francisco in the 1850's, was the gateway to the gold fields, a city filled with adventurers, outlaws, con men and desperadoes of every description. In 1853 Isaiah Lees was appointed the first Chief of Detectives on the new Police Force and during nearly fifty years he acquired an amazing record. An innovator of police methods, Lees easily eclipsed such legendary lawman as Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp. When he retired as chief in 1900, the San Francisco Chronicle stated that "in point of service, no one has ever equaled the record of Lees." He was the right man, in the right place, at the right time, and this is his exciting, true story, told here for the first time.

Dark and Tangled Threads of Crime: San Francisco's Famous Police Detective Isaiah W. Lees

Chronicling the ignominious yet fascinating side of this state, this account shares tales of personal vendettas in a time when men made their own laws and left women to pick up the pieces.

California Feuds: Vengeance, Vendettas and Violence on the Old West Coast

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Books by Secrest, William B.