Outgunned!: True Stories of Citizens Who Stood Up to Outlaws—and Won
Robert A. Waters and John T. Waters Jr.
It's a classic story from hundreds of western shoot-'em-ups: a gang of outlaws ride into town, terrorize local citizens, and finally meets their match when the heroic sheriff appears. In real life, it was different. Some of the most notorious western outlaws were killed or captured by townspeople. And the trend continued throughout the Prohibition era.
Outgunned! True Stories of Citizens Who Stood Up to Outlaws—and Won describes a dozen such cases. There's Jesse James, whose gang was decimated by armed citizens while the James-Younger Gang was attempting to rob a bank in Northfield, Minnesota. There's Tom Horn, assassin for the Wyoming cattle barons who was shot by citizens during an ill-fated jailbreak. And there's George Birdwell, "Pretty Boy" Floyd's chief lieutenant; he and his partners were gunned down by outraged townspeople as they attempted to hold up a bank in the all-black town of Boley, Oklahoma. There's the notorious Dalton gang that entered Coffeyville, Kansas, one cold fall morning in 1892 and attempted to rob two banks at the same time; four of the outlaws were killed by armed citizens. Then there's Anthony Chebatoris, a Prohibition-era socialist who, after murdering an innocent bystander during an attempted bank robbery in Midland, Michigan, was shot by a dentist who kept a hunting rifle in his office.
Outgunned! is the first book to systematically describe cases of American citizens protecting themselves against citizens. All are documented in contemporary writings or by noted historians. In some cases, new information has been located and incorporated into the book. Many books romanticize outlaws or lawmen, but until now the role of townspeople who banded together to save themselves and their neighbors has been given little more than passing interest.
| JOHN T. WATERS JR. has worked in law enforcement and for the Internal Revenue Service and is currently employed as a counselor in Ocala, Florida. |
| ROBERT A. WATERS is the author of THE BEST DEFENSE: TRUE STORIES OF INTENDED VICTIMS WHO DEFENDED THEMSELVES WITH A FIREARM and GUNS SAVE LIVES: TRUE STORIES OF AMERICANS DEFENDING THEIR LIVES WITH FIREARMS. He lives in Ocala, Florida. |
$14.95, Paperback
ISBN-10: 1-58182-386-6 (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 978-1-58182-386-8 (Paperback)
Paperback Currently Available
