GREAT TRAIN ROBBERIES OF THE WEST

by Eugene B. Block ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 30, 1959

Train robbery, a peculiarly American crime, flourished in the West until 1933 when, for a variety of reasons, it fell into permanent decline. This well-documented book by the author of The Wizard of Berkeley gives an unromantic account of the more famous -- or notorious -- of the Western train-robbers and their exploits. The roster is a long one: Evans and Sontag, train-haters who robbed Southern Pacific trains in the '70's and '80's for revenge on the railroad as well as for cash; John Chapman, Sunday-school teacher turned desperado; George Parrott and Sam Bass, who raided Union Pacific trains for years; the Dalton Gang and Al Jennings, who reformed and turned pious; the notorious ""Wild Bunch,"" the ""train-robbers syndicate,"" operating from the Hole-in-the-Wall in Wyoming in the early 1900's, headed by the child-loving Butch Cassidy, who killed men when he thought it necessary, and his completely brutal partner, Kid Curry; Carlisle, the ""gentleman bandit""; Roy Gardner, the escape- artist; the D'Autremonts of Oregon -- and many others. Vivid but far from lurid, this book does much to dispel the fictional glamor surrounding this gallery of desperadoes. Because of its basically exciting content it should, however, appeal to discriminating readers and viewers of ""Westerns"" and to addicts of well-written tales of true crime; and because of its careful documentation it is an addition to the literature of a minor segment of Western history.

Pub Date: April 30, 1959

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Coward-McCann

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1959

Categories: NONFICTION