Harry Sinclair Drago writes with authority and a sense of drama about the bloodiest range conflicts in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Montana late in the nineteenth century. He details the background and events surrounding the Lincoln County War of New Mexico (1878-81), a violent struggle for economic supremacy between cattle barons and merchants; the ironically named Pleasant Valley War of Arizona (1886-92), a conflict between cattlemen and sheepmen complicated by personal vendettas and old family rivalries; and the Johnson County War of Wyoming (1892), a folly that turned bloody when big cattlemen rode against suspected and known thieves with orders to shoot. These pages are filled with some showy characters: cowmen Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving; the Grahams and Tewksburys, western counterparts of the Hatfields and McCoys; William Bonney, alias Billy the Kid, who cut a swath in the Lincoln County War; and Ella Watson, said to have been the notorious Cattle Kate Maxwell, after she was lynched for cattle rustling.
Reviews
"Vigorous, colorful characters play a decisive role in the conflicts. . . . The book is of value to the student or neophyte of the West because it treats the subject with a broad coverage. . . . Outstanding bibliography."-Choice



Book Information
ISBN 9780803265639
Author Harry Sinclair Drago
Format Paperback
Page Count 323
Imprint Bison Books
Publisher University of Nebraska Press
Weight(grams) 454g