Outlaws of the Wild West

Terry C. Treadwell

Jul 2021 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Jim Seybert

About this audiobook

The "Wild West" developed in the years following the American Civil War. However, this period of myth-making cowboys, infamous gunslingers, not always law-abiding lawmen, and saloon madams, is as much the product of fiction writers and film makers as reality. Many of those who roamed America's West in the period between 1850 and 1900 often appear as colorful, romanticized, legendary characters. The majority of outlaws, though, were anonymous common criminals. In 1877, the State Adjutant General of Texas published "wanted posters" for some 5,000 outlaws and bandits in the Rio Grande district alone, almost all of whom have since vanished into the mists of time. When it comes to the Wild West, it is important to separate fact from fiction. Of the known recorded killings by the various outlaws and gunfighters, Billy the Kid killed four men, not the twenty that some writers attributed to him. Clay Allison, however, was thought to have killed at least fifteen men in his time as a gunfighter, while some of the outlaw gangs were particularly violent and ruthless. The days of the outlaws of the Wild West gradually came to an end at the turn of the twentieth century. The legends, however, live on.

About the author

Terry C. Treadwell served in the Royal Air Force, in telecommunications, and traveled the world quite extensively, including working in Australia for a short period. He was European Correspondent for Naval Aviation News (the official aviation magazine for the US Navy) and Wings of Gold (US) for ten years.

As a young boy Jim Seybert would dictate stories, telling his parents to "write this down." Fast-forward to the present, and Jim lends his clear, confident voice to some of the most interesting stories of the day: military histories, political commentary, true crime, heroic memoirs, and great fiction.