A Fraternity of Gunslingers

The time now called the ‘Wild West’ began shorty after the ending of the Civil War. It ended thirty years later in 1900.  The gunslinger came out of the Civil War. They were men who had learned to shoot, to kill other men and were good at it.  They all had one thing in common, nerves of steel.  The Civil War may have ended but the country was in turmoil, many had no home to go back too, their farms and ranches were in ruin so they took on jobs as hired hands, cow drover, gamblers, and police officers.  Many moved to Texas.  The line was so blurred, that a professional gunslinger often found himself enforcing the law, then after a while would be breaking the law; they crossed the line at will or so it seemed. The Wild West was really about commerce, making money.  The stories, their stories, need to be told with accuracy.  Each chapter will be dedicated to an incident, such as a shoot out, a feud, or a synopsis of their career; all factual. Those featured in this volume include Chauncey Whitney, Henry Brown, King Fisher, Jim Miller, Wild Bill Hickok, Pink Higgins, James Masterson, Morgan Earp, Bill Tilghman. Luke Short and Jim Courtright. You will of other for some forty gunslingers are mentioned within the pages of this book for it was in deed a Fraternity.