Great Texas Books offers low-cost downloads of Texas histories, memoirs, biographies, journals, and reports in e-book formats. Our editions are superior to similar texts available elsewhere because we meticulously convert, proof, edit, and design each book. Our books are not exact reproductions of the original text; they are entirely new editions designed for the 21st century reader of e-books. There is no better exploration of Texas cowboy life than Charles Siringoâ€™s. What sets his memoir apart is his candid account of the personality, habits, and values that brought him to the range. His difficult, dirt-poor childhood, his free-spending ways, his driving wanderlust, his love of whisky, guns, horses, and star-topped boots, his distinctly situational ethics, his aversion to manual laborâ€”and equal aversion to educationâ€”compose a package that belongs on the back of the horse. Siringo tells a great story, and he does it without any of the obvious embellishment that characterize the memoirs of some of his contemporaries. He is too open about his own flaws and failings for the words to be anything other than the truth. And his candor is perfectly complemented by a wry wit that spices his stories perfectly. Tales of the Chisholm Trail and of Billy the Kid are highlights of the book, but it is Siringoâ€™s earliest yearsâ€”before he became a cowboy (or Cow-boy, as he originally put it) that may be the most compelling. In all, his story is so full of excitement that something as remarkable as the Indianola Hurricane of 1875 receives little attentionâ€”even though Siringo spent the night in water up to his neck. Itâ€™s a Texas must-read.

A Texas Cowboy

Siringo, Chas. A.

Biographies & Memoirs

Indian Head Books

HISTORY OF “BILLY THE KID” The true life of the most daring young outlaw of the age. He was the leading spirit in the bloody Lincoln County, New Mexico, war. When a bullet from Sheriff Pat Garett’s pistol pierced his breast he was only twenty-one years of age, and had killed twenty-one men, not counting Indians. His six years of daring outlawry has never been equalled in the annals of criminal history.

History of 'Billy the Kid'

True Crime

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Charles A. Siringo was truly a Texas original not only in that his life was singular in its variety—youthful survivor, working cowboy, Pinkerton detective, early movie extra. He also was an original among Texas cowboys in providing a personal narrative of the actual experience of the uniquely American hero, the cowboy. A TEXAS COWBOY, OR, FIFTEEN YEARS ON THE HURRICANE DECK OF A SPANISH PONY, takes us through his journey as a fatherless child, the primary provider for his mother and older sister. Beginning on the Texas coast, detouring through Mississippi river towns and back to Texas, he eventually settles into the life of the working cowboy. An encounter with the famous outlaw Billy the Kid and his pursuer Pat Garrett is only one of the colorful experiences that shapes his life and makes his narrative so impelling.

A Texas Cowboy, or, Fifteen Years on the Hurricane Deck of a Spanish Pony

Travelers & Explorers

"The author feels that he is capable of writing a true and unvarnished history of "Billy the Kid," as he was personally acquainted with him, and assisted in his capture, by furnishing Sheriff Pat Garrett with three of his fighting cowboys--Jas. H. East, Lee Hall and Lon Chambers....The facts set down in this narrative were gotten from the lips of "Billy the Kid," himself, and from such men as Pat Garrett, John W. Poe, Kip McKinnie, Charlie Wall, the Coe brothers, Tom O'Phalliard, Henry Brown, John Middleton, Martin Chavez, and Ash Upson. All these men took an active part, for or against, the "Kid." Ash Upson had known him from childhood, and was considered one of the family, for several years, in his mother's home....Other facts were gained from the lips of Mrs. Charlie Bowdre, who kept "Billy the Kid," hid out at her home in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, after he had killed his two guards and escaped." -Chas. A. Siringo He was the leading spirit in the bloody Lincoln County, New Mexico, war. When a bullet from Sheriff Pat Garett's pistol pierced his breast he was only twenty-one years of age, and had killed twenty-one men, not counting Indians. His six years of daring outlawry has never been equaled in the annals of criminal history. "In the slum district of the great city of New York, on the 23rd day of November, 1859, a blue-eyed baby boy was born to William H. Bonney and his good looking, auburn haired young wife, Kathleen. Being their first child he was naturally the joy of their hearts. Later, another baby boy followed. "In 1862 William H. Bonney shook the dust of New York City from his shoes and emigrated to Coffeeville, Kansas, on the northern border of the Indian Territory, with his little family. "Soon after settling down in Coffeeville, Mr. Bonney died. Then the young widow moved to the Territory of Colorado, where she married a Mr. Antrim. "Shortly after this marriage, the little family of four moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, at the end of the old Santa Fe trail. "Here they opened a restaurant, and one of their first boarders was Ash Upson, then doing work on the Daily New Mexican. "Little, blue-eyed, Billy Bonney, was then about five years of age, and became greatly attached to good natured, jovial, Ash Upson, who spent much of his leisure time playing with the bright boy. "Three years later, when the hero of our story was about eight years old, Ash Upson and the Antrim family pulled up stakes and moved to the booming silver mining camp of Silver City, in the southwestern part of the Territory of New Mexico. "Here Mr. and Mrs. Antrim established a new restaurant, and had Ash Upson as the star boarder. "Naturally their boarders were made up of all classes, both women and men,--some being gamblers and toughs of the lowest order. "Amidst these surroundings, Billy Bonney grew up. He went to school and was a bright scholar. When not at school, Billy was associating with tough men and boys, and learning the art of gambling and shooting."

History of 'Billy the Kid': The True Life Of The Most Daring Young Outlaw Of The Age

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

Books by Siringo, Chas. A.

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

A Texas Cowboy

History of 'Billy the Kid'

A Texas Cowboy, or, Fifteen Years on the Hurricane Deck of a Spanish Pony

History of 'Billy the Kid': The True Life Of The Most Daring Young Outlaw Of The Age