A “fascinating and intelligently written” book about Texas’ raw and primitive frontier country from the Red River to El Paso where life was often punctuated by chaos, lawlessness, and violence and settlers were left to deal on their own with Indians, outlaws, and vigilantes. It is also the story of the Butterfield Overland Mail, the transcontinental service that carried passengers and mail through the Texas frontier, influencing its history in the process, Written over a 25 year period by Ely, an award-winning author, this book presents the results of Ely’s many personal observations, extensive field research and thorough investigation of private, local, state, and federal records. The result: an “exhaustively researched”, “sumptuously illustrated” and “extraordinarily readable” book.

Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2016. 1^st edition. 428 pages. Hardcover book with dustjacket, both in FINE condition.