Son of the Old West The odyssey of Charlie Siringo: cowboy, detective, writer of the wild frontier

Ward (The Lost Detective, 2015) brings readers to the Wild West in his latest. The larger-than-life, Texas-born cowboy Charlie Siringo lived a life normally reserved for fiction, one every bit as full of adventure, intrigue, and derring-do as any western movie. Charlie's dream of becoming a cowboy was realized in the 1860s when he was just 12 years old. Driving cattle on the frontier was a dangerous business, and Charlie's journey led him to cross paths with the infamous Billy the Kid, Bat Masterson, and Shanghai Pierce. Later, Charlie became a Pinkerton in Denver, turning his hand to detective work. Perhaps least foreseen for a cowboy such as himself was Charlie's knack with words. Not only a novelist who wrote mainly about his past adventures, Charlie also wrote for newspapers across the frontier, though always under a pseudonym to keep the teasing remarks of friends and colleagues at bay. Dozens of photos and other images bring the text beautifully to life. Perfect for biography, history, and western fans.

Biographer Ward (The Lost Detective) paints a vibrant portrait of Charles Siringo (1855--1928), one of the most ubiquitous characters in the history of the American West. Siringo was a celebrity cowboy, a Pinkerton detective, and author of one of the most exhilarating accounts of life in the Old West, 1885's A Texas Cowboy. In no small part, Siringo invented the idea of the cowboy as a heroic figure in the popular imagination, according to Ward, who takes readers blow-by-blow through Siringo's work on some of the great cattle drives in American history and his encounters with Bat Masterson, Billy the Kid, and Wyatt Earp. As a Pinkerton detective, Siringo played a pivotal role in the fierce battle between organized labor and American industry in the late 19th century. He also helped labor leader Big Bill Haywood and his lawyer Clarence Darrow avoid being lynched after Haywood's acquittal in a 1907 murder trial. Later in life, Siringo became an adviser on early Hollywood films. Ward's sharp eye for detail and breezy prose style make this a riveting look at the mythology of the Old West. (Sept.)

The life of a Texas cowboy who ranged the wild frontier paints a broader picture of bygone times in the American West. Charlie Siringo (1855-1928) herded cattle and drove livestock to slaughter, learning his cowboy skills from the age of 12. In this lively and detailed account, Ward, author of The Lost Detective and Dark Harbor, creates "a portrait of the American West through which he traveled as such a compelling witness--from the birth of the cattle trail and railroad cow town to the violence of the mining wars and the Wild Bunch's long last ride." Siringo captured the era in what is considered to be the first cowboy autobiography, A Texas Cowboy; or Fifteen Years on the Hurricane Deck of a Spanish Pony (1885), "a work of celebration and mourning for the raucous cowboy life that was ending." Ward devotes just as many chapters to Siringo's later career as a detective, going undercover "to track, befriend and betray" criminals ranging from anarchist bombers to Butch Cassidy. The author also recounts the tangled publishing history of Siringo's memoir A Cowboy Detective (1912), its editions repeatedly quashed due to nondisclosure agreements with the agency that employed him. Ward's consideration of his subject as a working cowboy quickly broadens into that of Siringo as a literary figure whose many books included a life of Billy the Kid, whom he knew well. Siringo was also well appreciated as a "font of authenticity" on cowboy lore during his work as a consultant on Western films in Hollywood in his later years. Illustrations, vintage photos, and maps throughout the text add atmosphere and context to this stirring, multivaried life. If Ward doesn't quite prove that Siringo helped create the foundations of the literature of the American West, he shows that this original cowboy certainly lived out the most fertile period of that time and place. A well-rendered cowboy tale that fleshes out a larger history of the Old West. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.