LAWMEN, OUTLAWS, AND S.O.Bs.: Gunfighters of the Old Southwest

Author: Bob Alexander
Publisher: High Lonesome Books, 2004
Features: 310pp, introduction, preface, photos, illustrations, endnotes, bibliography, index

By: The Man Behind the Mask

One of the great pleasures of studying and reading about the Old West is that there are so many stories yet to tell. Sure, we have the pinnacle topics and cast of characters—the James boys, Billy the Kid, Tombstone, Dodge City, etc.—but there are numerous outlaws and lawmen who reside in a state of modern anonymity. And at least some deserve better.

So Bob Alexander has accepted the challenge of writing about some of them. I’d heard about a couple of his subjects—Texas Ranger Frank Jones, El Paso Salt War and New Mexico gunman James McDaniel(s), and Gus Chenowth of Arizona. But the rest? Well, I knew where they operated, and who some of their associates were. I knew next to nothing about George Stevenson. Roy Woofter. John Gilmo. Joe Sitter. H.L. Roberson. And other Southwest tough guys.

Far be it for me to try to discuss them and their deeds/misdeeds. It would be but a pale imitation of what the author has put down in print. And it comes in the usual Bob Alexander package, a storytelling style brimming with a Texas twang and some highly colorful language: one chapter is entitled “The Mule Puked” (which is now one my favorite headings in the Old West canon).

And per usual, Bob has done some serious digging to scoop up the details for these tales. The research is quite good, giving a scholarly credential to some fine writing.

So if you want to spark some water cooler conversation about obscure Old West figures, pick up a copy of Lawmen, Outlaws, and S.O.Bs. But give Bob Alexander the credit for the knowledge.