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Three
Books In One!
WYATT
EARP
A BIOGRAPHY OF THE LEGEND
Volume
One: The Cowtown Years
By
Old West Author and Firearms Historian
Lee A. Silva
Is
here
and
directly
from the author!
Hardback
·
7 1/2 by 10 1/4 inches
995
pages ·
376 photos ·
82 maps and illustrations
Brand New
Book
First
Edition - Limited Printing
Signed by
the Author
Personalized
Inscription Included
with an introduction
by
Elmer Kelton, Leon Metz, and
Loren D. Estleman
Personalized
Inscription Included
Voted
Best Non-fiction book for 2002
on
Lawman-Outlaw history by
The
Western-Outlaw-Lawman History Association (WOLA)
Named as one
of three finalists in the prestigious Spur Awards
given by the
Western Writers of America Association
in
2002
Three
Books in One
Wyatt Earp's Pre-Tombstone
Years
The Evolution of the
Gunfighter
The Wyatt Earp / "Buntline Special" Controversy
Finally, the real facts about the
Wyatt Earp legend….
Fueled by
Stuart N. Lake's watershed 1931 biography titled Wyatt Earp, Frontier
Marshal,
by the
1950s TV series titled The Life and Legend of Wyatt
Earp,
and by
dozens of other books and movies, the legend of Wyatt Earp is unique in that it
has continued to mushroom into bigger and bigger mythology and international
public interest while most other Old West legends have faded into the
past.
This
visually-stunning book by Lee
A. Silva is the
result of fourteen years of research, and it is the first of four
volumes on the
continuing controversies that surround the life and legend of Wyatt Earp.
Wyatt
Earp, A Biography of the Legend, Volume One: The Cowtown Years covers
the life of Wyatt Earp from his birth in Monmouth, Illinois in 1848 thru the
year 1879 just before he moved to Tombstone, Arizona. (Wyatt Earp's years in
Tombstone will be covered by Silva's forth-coming, second volume in this series,
Tombstone, the Legend-Making Years.)
Rather
than write a traditional biography, Silva has chosen to include all of the
controversies within the text, using direct quotes extensively in order to offer
an in-depth analysis of the chasm between myth and reality, and between pro-Earp
and anti-Earp sentiments.Silva has also included a short biography of Wyatt's
gunfighter friend, Doc Holliday.
The book
is
printed on heavy, high-quality, glossy paper, and
it includes
over four hundred photos, so that the past can vicariously be "seen" as well as
read about. As such, this book is intended to be a source for amateur historians
and professional historians alike.
Three
Books in One Volume
In order to create a deeply defined source book
about the myths and controversies that surround the life and legend of Wyatt
Earp, the author has added background material that also paints the picture of
the social environment that created the violent era of the Kansas cowtowns. The
result is that this special first edition of Wyatt Earp: A Biography Of The
Legend, Volume I, The Cowtown Years, is actually three books in
one:
Wyatt
Earp's Pre-Tombstone Years:
A
detailed account of Wyatt Earp's pre-Tombstone life from his birth to his years
as a lawman in Lamar, Missouri, Wichita and Dodge City. This section includes a
mini-biography of Doc Holliday, and it concludes with Wyatt's journey to
Tombstone at the end of 1879.Also included in this section is a flash-forward
opening chapter that contains a bibliography of all previous books about Wyatt
Earp. It also explains Wyatt's attempts to publish his life story during the
years before his death in 1929.
The
Evolution of the Gunfighter
In
Chapter 3 ("The Evolution of the Gunfighter"), in Chapter 5 ("The Toughest of
the Tough"), and in Appendices "A" and "B," Silva uses over a hundred pages to
detail the evolution of the Texas cattle industry from pre-Civil War times to
the legendary post-Civil War cattle drives that began almost simultaneously with
the advent of the cartridge six-shooter in the late 1860s and continued into the
1880s. Lee Silva explains how the trail drives of Longhorn cattle to Kansas
created the brief "shoot-em-up" era of the cowtown railheads, which in turn
created the era of the gunfighters and the legendary lawmen. Utilizing his
lifelong research of Old West firearms, Silva gives detailed information about
the types of six-guns that were most-often used, as well as the types of
holsters and gunleather and how they were worn. Using words and
photos, the author clearly shows the difference between the actual Old West
gunmen compared to the 1940s and 50s Hollywood
stereotypes.
The Wyatt Earp - Buntline Special
Controversy
One separate legend that has almost outgrown the
Wyatt Earp legend itself is the story of Wyatt's foot-long-barreled Colt .45
single-action revolver. According to Wyatt's "official" biographer Stuart
N. Lake, sometime in 1876 pulp-fiction writer Ned Buntline (E.Z.C. Judson)
presented Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Charlie Bassett, Bill Tilghman, and Neil
Brown with these extra-long-barreled sixguns, which also had detachable wooden
rifle stocks that could be fitted to the guns so that they could also be fired
like carbines.
These five guns have become known as "Buntline
Specials".
With a grim faced Hugh O'Brian as Wyatt Earp
packing an always noticeable "Buntline Special" around and conking bad-guys over
the head with it during the 1950s Wyatt
Earp
TV
series, a Wyatt "Buntline Special" revolver craze was created that still
continues to grow in controversy as well as in legend.
The ongoing controversy about the famous
extra-long-barreled "Buntline Special" Colt revolver is examined in over a
hundred pages of facts, photos, and documents in Chapter 12 and Appendix "C."
Both sides of the legend of whether or not Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Charlie
Bassett, Bill Tilghman, and Neil Brown were actually presented with these
"Excalibur" of guns is discussed. The history of the other extra-long-barreled
revolvers that are definitely known to have been made by Colt is also covered.
Based on the plethora of information that he presents, the author comes to the
conclusion that the legend of Wyatt Earp owning a "Buntline Special" Colt
revolver is true.
Wyatt Earp, A Biography of the Legend:Volume
One, The Cowtown Years features
a detailed index and an extensive bibliography. This is a book that will appeal
to Earp aficionados with the sheer amount of information that it presents. And
if you are not so well-versed about the life and legend of Wyatt Earp, it is a
book that will greatly enhance your knowledge of one of the Old West's most
famous lawmen.
In our
modem contemporary lexicon, phrases like "get out of Dodge," the reference to a
dramatic showdown as "an O.K. Corral shootout," and referring to any fictional
or real-Iife super-cop as "a Wyatt Earp" have become common-place.
This is where it all started.
Here
are some unsolicited comments from satisfied customers who have bought and read
Wyatt Earp, A Biography of the Legend:
"Fabulous!
Beautiful book. It was worth the wait! I can't wait for the next one."
R.K.,
California
"Book
far exceeded expectations! Astounding work!" C.N.W.,
Arizona
"This
will be the standard work on Wyatt and the west for at least the next 100
years."
T.C.,
Tennessee
"Should
become the standard reference on everyone's bookshelf on the
man."
N.S.,
California
"I
especially enjoyed your ability to reach conclusions and then to expand on the
tiniest piece of detail to develop new theories…. It was just a virtual feast of
information."
W.C.,
California
"Congratulations
on a very impressive production in virtually every way."
B.T.,
Connecticut
"A much
more useful book on the early Earp years than anyone has yet
produced."
D.C.
California
"It far
exceeds any previous biography in its depth and scope of research and
documentation."
"This
first book is a terrific work that aims at separating the myth from the legend…
I think almost anyone interested in the old west will be pleased with the photos
liberally placed throughout the book. There are nearly four hundred photos of
Wyatt, his brothers, the weapons they carried, the towns where the events
happened, and many more."
J.B.,
California
"I find considerable
pleasure just in leafing through a book of such material
opulence."
B.T.,
Connecticut
And
Praise from Other Writers and Historians:
If Lee Silva's absorbing and meticulously researched book is not the final shot, it is a significant one, and belongs in the library of any serious student of American history and legend.
Loren D. Estleman,
President: Western Writers Of America; Western Writers Of America Spur Award
winner; editor of American West, author of Bloody
Season, and others.
"Lee Silva's work on Wyatt Earp
establishes new approaches and interpretations that should intrigue many
readers. Instead of straight narrative history, Silva presents the various
controversies, along with loads of documentation. He includes many new sources
and never hesitates to present the divers points of view about one of the West's
most colorful personalities. If readers disagree, they will do so in
the face of multiple sources, many never previously used."
Don Chaput,
Curator Emeritus, Natural History Museum, Los Angeles, author of Virgil
Earp: Western Peace Officer, The Earp Papers, and
others.
"This
volume is a big, heavy, beautiful book, the best job of publishing that this
reviewer has seen in a while…. The author…is methodical in showing all of the
versions of each episode that has been controversial through the years.
If
you see this book, you will want to own it…
Every
person with even a mild interest in Earpiana should own a copy of this book even
if they have to throw away two or three others to make room for it."
Ben
Traywick, Official Historian of Tombstone, Arizona; author of dozens of books
about Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Tombstone, gunfighters, and the
southwest.
Want
to know more? Click on one of the following links
to:
To order Volume One, click
here
To learn
more about author Lee Silva, click
here
To read
excerpts from the introduction of Volume
One, click
here
New!!
Lee Silva's newest book, The Mexican Operation is now available!
To learn more, click
here
Volume II
Read
excerpts from the first chapter of Lee Silva’s forth-coming book, Wyatt Earp A
Biography of the Legend, Volume II:
Tombstone – The Legend-Making years.
To read, click
here
To contact
us, click here
The forth-coming volumes
by Lee A. Silva about the life and legend of Wyatt Earp will be:
Volume II:
Tombstone: The Legend-Making Years
Volume III:
The Forgotten Years
Volume IV:
The Last Years and the Legend
Wyatt Earp, A Biography of the Legend: Volume I, The Cowtown Years was published by Lee A. Silva and was produced in association with Graphic Publishers, Santa Ana, CA 97205.
Visit our links page for
links to other Old-West related sites
This
website and contents are Ó2006 by
Lee A. Silva