Gangster Tour Of Texas

Author : T. Lindsay Baker
Publisher : Texas A&M University Press
Page : 353 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 2011-08-31
Category : True Crime
ISBN : 9781603442589

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Gangster Tour of Texas by T. Lindsay Baker Pdf

Bonnie and Clyde, Machine Gun Kelly, the Newton Boys, the Santa Claus Bank Robbers. . . . During the era of gangsters and organized crime, Texas hosted its fair share of guns and gambling, moonshine and morphine, ransom and robbery. The state’s crime wave hit such a level that in 1927 the Texas Bankers Association offered a reward of $5,000 for a dead bank robber; no reward was given for one captured alive. Veteran historian T. Lindsay Baker brings his considerable sleuthing skills to the dark side, leading readers on a fascinating tour of the most interesting and best preserved crime scenes in the Lone Star State. Gangster Tour of Texas traces a trail of crime that had its beginnings in 1918, when the Texas legislature outlawed alcohol, and persisted until 1957, when Texas Rangers closed down the infamous casinos of Galveston. Baker presents detailed maps, photographs of criminals, victims, and law officers, and pictures of the crime scenes as they appear today. Steeped in solid historical research, including personal visits by the author to every site described in the book, this volume offers entertaining and informative insights into a particularly lawless period in our nation’s history. Readers interested in true crime, regional history, or this unique aspect of heritage tourism will derive hours of enjoyment as they follow--on the road or from their armchairs--the trail of both cops and robbers in Gangster Tour of Texas. “Baker knows how to spin a yarn that keeps his readers engrossed; knows that it does history no harm to write it so folks will enjoy many illustrations, maps, and pictures of outlaws, lawmen, victims, witnesses, and crime scenes that accompany each story. Plus, his picture captions are as informative as his story narratives."--Bill Neal, author, Getting Away with Murder on the Texas Frontier

Author : Bob Alexander
Publisher : University of North Texas Press
Page : 544 pages
File Size : 52,8 Mb
Release : 2018-07-15
Category : History
ISBN : 9781574417401

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Old Riot, New Ranger by Bob Alexander Pdf

Award-winning author Bob Alexander presents a biography of 20th-century Ranger Captain Jack Dean, who holds the distinction of being one of only five men to serve in both the Officer’s Corps of the Rangers and also as a President-appointed United States Marshal. Jack Dean’s service in Texas Ranger history occurred at a time when the institution was undergoing a philosophical revamping and restructuring, all hastened by America’s Civil Rights Movement, landmark decisions handed down by the United States Supreme Court, zooming advances in forensic technology, and focused efforts designed to diversify and professionalize the Rangers. His job choice caused him to circulate in the duplicitous underworld of dishonesty and criminality where twisted self-interest overrode compliance with societal norms. His biography is packed with true-crime calamities: double murders, single murders, negligent homicides, suicides, jailbreaks, manhunts, armed robberies and home invasions, kidnappings, public corruption, sexual assaults, illicit gambling, car-theft rings, dope smuggling, and arms trafficking.

Author : Clay Coppedge
Publisher : Arcadia Publishing
Page : 117 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 2021-07-26
Category : History
ISBN : 9781439673164

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Texas True Crime Miscellany by Clay Coppedge Pdf

Outrageous acts of villainy have slowly drifted out of the national limelight and into the dustbin of Texas history. Consider the uproar over the 1879 shooting of actor Maurice Barrymore in Marshall and the 1949 murder of oil field legend Tex Thornton in Amarillo. The 1909 Coryell County Courthouse massacre committed by a sixteen-year-old girl remains just as shocking today. For the long-suffering associates of repeat offenders like Fort Worth's Flapper Bandit or Temple's International Man of Mystery, notoriety couldn't fade quickly enough. From the lawless days of the frontier to the rise of organized crime, Clay Coppedge sifts through eighteen obscure case files to chart the evolution of crime and punishment in the state.

Author : Doug Dukes
Publisher : University of North Texas Press
Page : 645 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 2020-08-14
Category : History
ISBN : 9781574418194

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Firearms of the Texas Rangers by Doug Dukes Pdf

From their founding in the 1820s up to the modern age, the Texas Rangers have shown the ability to adapt and survive. Part of that survival depended on their use of firearms. The evolving technology of these weapons often determined the effectiveness of these early day Rangers. John Coffee “Jack” Hays and Samuel Walker would leave their mark on the Rangers by incorporating new technology which allowed them to alter tactics when confronting their adversaries. The Frontier Battalion was created at about the same time as the Colt Peacemaker and the Winchester 73—these were the guns that “won the West.” Firearms of the Texas Rangers, with more than 180 photographs, tells the history of the Texas Rangers primarily through the use of their firearms. Author Doug Dukes narrates famous episodes in Ranger history, including Jack Hays and the Paterson, the Walker Colt, the McCulloch Colt Revolver (smuggled through the Union blockade during the Civil War), and the Frontier Battalion and their use of the Colt Peacemaker and Winchester and Sharps carbines. Readers will delight in learning of Frank Hamer’s marksmanship with his Colt Single Action Army and his Remington, along with Captain J.W. McCormick and his two .45 Colt pistols, complete with photos. Whether it was a Ranger in 1844 with his Paterson on patrol for Indians north of San Antonio, or a Ranger in 2016 with his LaRue 7.62 rifle working the Rio Grande looking for smugglers and terrorists, the technology may have changed, but the gritty job of the Rangers has not.

Author : William E. Moore
Publisher : Texas A&M University Press
Page : 341 pages
File Size : 54,7 Mb
Release : 2018-12-20
Category : History
ISBN : 9781623497156

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The Texas Calaboose and Other Forgotten Jails by William E. Moore Pdf

A calaboose is, quite simply, a tiny jail. Designed to house prisoners only for a short time, a calaboose could be anything from an iron cage to a poured concrete blockhouse. Easily constructed and more affordable for small communities than a full-sized building, calabooses once dotted the rural landscape. Though a relic of a bygone era in law enforcement and no longer in use, many calabooses remain in communities throughout Texas, often hidden in plain sight. In The Texas Calaboose and Other Forgotten Jails, William E. Moore has compiled the first guidebook to extant calabooses in Texas. He explores the history of the calaboose, including its construction, use, and eventual decline, but the heart of the book is in the alphabetically arranged photo tour of calabooses across the state. Each entry is accompanied by a vignette describing the unique features of the calaboose at hand, any infamous or otherwise memorable occupants, and the state of the calaboose at present. Most have been long abandoned, but because many remain on city or town property, some have been repurposed into storage buildings or even government offices. In certain ways, these small jails encapsulate the history of outlying communities during a time of transition from the “Wild West” to the twentieth century. Some of the structures have been preserved and cared-for, but despite the stories they can tell, many more are endangered or have already been lost. This definitive guide to tiny Texas jails serves as a record of a unique and disappearing feature of our heritage.

Author : Bob Alexander,Richard K. Alvord
Publisher : University of North Texas Press
Page : 601 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 2020-10-15
Category : History
ISBN : 9781574418163

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Tall Walls and High Fences by Bob Alexander,Richard K. Alvord Pdf

Texas has one of the world’s largest prison systems, in operation for more than 170 years and currently employing more than 28,000 people. Hundreds of thousands of people have been involved in the prison business in Texas: inmates, correctional officers, public officials, private industry representatives, and volunteers have all entered the secure facilities and experienced a different world. Previous books on Texas prisons have focused either on records and data of the prisons, personal memoirs by both inmates and correctional officers, or accounts of prison breaks. Tall Walls and High Fences is the first comprehensive history of Texas prisons, written by a former law enforcement officer and an officer of the Texas prisons. Bob Alexander and Richard K. Alford chronicle the significant events and transformation of the Texas prison system from its earliest times to the present day, paying special attention to the human side of the story. Incarceration policy evolved from isolation to hard labor to rodeo and educational opportunities, with reform measures becoming an ever-evolving quest. The complex job of the correctional officer has evolved as well—they must ensure custody and control over the inmate population at all times, in order to provide a proper environment conducive to safety and positive change. Alexander and Alford focus especially on the men and women who work with diligence and dedication at their jobs “inside the walls,” risking their lives and—in too many instances—giving their lives in a peculiar line of duty most would find unpalatable. Within these pages are stories of prison breaks, bloodhounds chasing escapees, and gunfights. Inside the walls are deadly confrontations, human trafficking, rape, clandestine consensual trysts, and tricks turned against correctional officers. Famous people and episodes in Texas prison history receive their due, from Texas Rangers apprehending and placing outlaws in prison to the famed gunfighter John Wesley Hardin’s time in and out of prison. Tall Walls and High Fences covers numerous convict escape attempts and successes, including the 1974 prison siege at Huntsville and the 2007 prisoner gunfight and escape at the Wynne Unit. Throughout this long history Alexander and Alford pay special tribute to the more than 75 correctional officers, lawmen, and civilians who lost their lives in the line of duty.

Author : T. Lindsay Baker
Publisher : University of Oklahoma Press
Page : 280 pages
File Size : 41,8 Mb
Release : 2016-09-20
Category : Antiques & Collectibles
ISBN : 9780806156163

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Portrait of Route 66 by T. Lindsay Baker Pdf

By the time Route 66 received its official numerical designation in 1926, picture postcards had become popular travel souvenirs. At the time, these postcards with colorful images served as advertisements for roadside businesses. While cherished by collectors, these postcard depictions do not always reflect reality. They often present instead a view enhanced for promotional purposes. Portrait of Route 66 lets us see for the first time the actual photographs from which the postcards were made, and in describing how the production process worked, introduces us to an extraordinary archival collection, adding new history to this iconic road. The Curt Teich Postcard Archives, held at the Lake County Discovery Museum in Wauconda, Illinois, contains one of the nation’s largest collections of Route 66 images, including thousands of job files for postcards produced by Curt Teich and Company of Chicago. T. Lindsay Baker combed these files to choose the best examples of postcards and their accompanying photographs not only to reflect well-known sites along the route but also to demonstrate the relationships between photographs and their resulting postcards. The photographs show the reality of the locations that customers sometimes wanted "improved" for aesthetic purposes in creating the postcards. Such alterations included removing utility poles or automobile traffic and rendering overcast skies partly cloudy. This book will interest historians of art and design as well as the worldwide audiences of Route 66 aficionados and postcard collectors. For its mining of an invaluable and little-known photographic archive and depiction of high-quality photographs that have not been seen before, Portrait of Route 66 will be irresistible to all who are interested in American history and culture.

Author : Timothy B. Jay
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 420 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2016-11-28
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9798216163794

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We Did What?! by Timothy B. Jay Pdf

This provocative guide profiles behaviors considered shocking throughout American history, revealing the extent of changing social mores and cultural perceptions of appropriate conduct since the Colonial period. The notion of what is offensive has evolved over time. But what factors dictate decorum and why does it change? This fascinating work delves into the history of "inappropriate" behavior in the United States, providing an in-depth look at what has been considered improper conduct throughout American history—and how it came to be deemed as such. The detailed narrative considers the impact of religion, sexuality, popular culture, technology, and politics on social graces, and it features more than 150 entries on topics considered taboo in American cultural history. Organized alphabetically, topics include abortion, body odors, cannibalism, and voyeurism as well as modern-day examples like dumpster diving, breast feeding in public, and trolling. Each entry defines the behavior in question, provides an historical outline of the offensive behavior, and discusses its current status in American culture. Throughout the book, clear connections between offenses and social values illustrate the symbiotic relationship between popular opinion and acceptable behaviors of the time.

Author : Paul H. Carlson
Publisher : Texas A&M University Press
Page : 537 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2023-12-14
Category : History
ISBN : 9781648431555

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Heaven's Harsh Tableland by Paul H. Carlson Pdf

The Llano Estacado—dubbed by author Paul H. Carlson as “heaven’s harsh tableland”—covers some 48,000 square miles of western Texas and eastern New Mexico. In this new survey of the region, the story begins during prehistoric times and with descendants of the Comanche, Apache, and other Native American tribal groups. Other groups have also left their marks on the area: Spanish explorers, Comancheros and other traders, European settlers, farmers and ranchers, artists, and even athletes. Carlson, a veteran historian, aims to review “the Llano’s historic contours from its earliest foundations to its energetic present,” and in doing so, he skillfully narrates the story of the region up to the present time of modern agribusiness and urbanization. Throughout the ten chronologically arranged chapters, concise sidebars support the narrative, highlighting important and interesting topics such as the enigmatic origins of the region’s name, fascinating geological and paleontological facts, the arrival of humans, the natural history of bison, colorful “characters” in the history of the region, and many others. The resulting broad synthesis captures the entirety of the Llano Estacado, summarizing and interpreting its natural and human history in a single, carefully researched and clearly written volume. Heaven’s Harsh Tableland: A New History of the Llano Estacado will provide a helpful, enjoyable, and authoritative guide to the history and development of this important region.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 586 pages
File Size : 52,8 Mb
Release : 2012
Category : Frontier and Pioneer Life
ISBN : UCBK:C088687639

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The Western Historical Quarterly by Anonim Pdf

Author : Jesse Sublett
Publisher : University of Texas Press
Page : 224 pages
File Size : 48,6 Mb
Release : 2022-06-07
Category : History
ISBN : 9781477324004

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Last Gangster in Austin by Jesse Sublett Pdf

Ronnie Earle was a Texas legend. During his three decades as the district attorney responsible for Austin and surrounding Travis County, he prosecuted corrupt corporate executives and state officials, including the notorious US congressman Tom DeLay. But Earle maintained that the biggest case of his career was the one involving Frank Hughey Smith, the ex-convict millionaire, alleged criminal mastermind, and Dixie Mafia figure. With the help of corrupt local authorities, Smith spent the 1970s building a criminal empire in auto salvage and bail bonds. But there was one problem: a rival in the salvage business threatened his dominance. Smith hired arsonists to destroy the rival; when they botched the job, he sent three gunmen, but the robbery they planned was a bloody fiasco. Investigators were convinced that Smith was guilty, but many were skeptical that the newly elected and inexperienced Earle could get a conviction. Amid the courtroom drama and underworld plots the book describes, Willie Nelson makes a cameo. So do the private eyes, hired guns, and madams who kept Austin not only weird but also riddled with vice. An extraordinary true story, Last Gangster in Austin paints an unusual picture of the Texas capital as a place that was wild, wonderful, and as crooked as the dirt road to paradise.

Author : David Larson
Publisher : WildBlue Press
Page : 360 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 2022-08-16
Category : True Crime
ISBN : 9781957288086

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The Last Jewish Gangster: The Middle Years by David Larson Pdf

The second installment of this saga of gangland lore follows gregarious gangster, Michael Hardy, further down his twisted criminal path. The Last Jewish Gangster, The Middle Years, starts in 1968 with Hardy sentenced to twelve years in the world’s most dangerous prison in Mexico after taking the rap for his mother’s counterfeiting scheme, hoping to have finally earned her love and respect. Once he’s released from prison, Hardy returns to Brooklyn and tries to go straight, but drifts back into a world of crime. He gets Sammy “the Bull” Gravano to join his crew to pull major heists like kidnapping drug lords for million-dollar ransoms, and robbing cop bag men. To evade the law, he goes to Europe and ends up in Israel where he works on a Kibbutz, touching the hem of his Jewish heritage. Hardy devolves further into a gangster’s life when he returns to Brooklyn, running a finger of the Mob’s Five-Fingers International Car Theft Ring, participating in a stolen airline ticket scam, and doing fourteen hits for the Mob, still hoping his mother will take notice. When she gets busted for the car theft ring, she turns him in to reduce her time. Crushed by his mother’s callous self-interest, Hardy ends up cutting a deal with Rudy Giuliani to nab a dirty cop to reduce his time and negotiate his place in the witness protection program. Relocating to LA under an alias, it doesn’t take long for Hardy to land a gig as muscle for a Hollywood studio and meet his future wife, a sex worker who stole from his mother. The lines between love and revenge begin to blur.

Author : Paul Lieberman
Publisher : St. Martin's Griffin
Page : 580 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2012-08-07
Category : True Crime
ISBN : 9781250020161

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Gangster Squad by Paul Lieberman Pdf

"Read this man's book." --James Ellroy Gangster Squad presents a harrowing, edge-of-your-seat narrative of murder and secrets, revenge and heroism in the City of Angels—the real events behind the blockbuster Warner Brothers film starring Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. GANGSTER SQUAD chronicles the true story of the secretive police unit that waged an anything-goes war to drive Mickey Cohen and other hoodlums from Los Angeles after WWII. In 1946, the LAPD launched the Gangster Squad with eight men who met covertly on street corners and slept with Tommy guns under their beds. But for two cops, all that mattered was nailing the strutting gangster Mickey Cohen. Sgt. Jack O'Mara was a square-jawed church usher, Sgt. Jerry Wooters a cynical maverick. About all they had in common was their obsession. So O'Mara set a trap to prove Mickey was a killer. And Wooters formed an alliance with Mickey's budding rival, Jack "The Enforcer" Whalen. Two cops -- two hoodlums. Their fates collided in the closing days of the 1950s, when late one night "The Enforcer" confronted Mickey and his crew. The aftermath would shake both LA's mob and police department, and signal the end of a defining era in the city's history. Warner Brothers developed the film Gangster Squad based on the research award-winning journalist Paul Lieberman conducted for this book, which reveals the unbelievable true stories behind the film. He spent more than a decade tracking down and interviewing surviving members of the real police unit as well as families and associates of the mobsters they pursued. Gangster Squad is a tour-de-force narrative reminiscent of LA Confidential.

Author : Vickie Bryant,Camille Hess
Publisher : Arcadia Publishing
Page : 132 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 2012
Category : History
ISBN : 0738585270

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Top O' Hill Terrace by Vickie Bryant,Camille Hess Pdf

If the saga of Top O' Hill Casino becoming Arlington Baptist College were written as fiction, readers would dismiss it as improbable and impossible. The story of a tearoom evolving into the gambling hot spot of North Central Texas that was then acquired by a fiery gospel preacher, who foretold its transformation into a Baptist seminary and ultimately an accredited Bible college, is stranger than fiction yet absolutely true. The rich and famous enjoyed rubbing shoulders with the mysterious and notoriously infamous, and if large amounts of money were involved, so much the better. Stir in fabulous racehorses, flashy stage and screen stars, singers, dancers, well-known bandleaders and bands, and the tale becomes enthralling.

Author : Federal Bureau of Investigation
Publisher : Morgan James Publishing
Page : 105 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 2012-01-01
Category : True Crime
ISBN : 9781614481546

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2011 National Gang Threat Assessment by Federal Bureau of Investigation Pdf

Gangs continue to commit criminal activity, recruit new members in urban, suburban, and rural regions across the United States, and develop criminal associations that expand their influence over criminal enterprises, particularly street-level drug sales. The most notable trends for 2011 have been the overall increase in gang membership, and the expansion of criminal street gangs' control of street-level drug sales and collaboration with rival gangs and other criminal organizations.