"This deluxe anniversary volume is the first complete edition to appear in forty years."

"For about 51 weeks a year the average old-time cowboy could be classified as a hard working, fairly sober, and usually conscientious individual. During the 52nd week, however, he might erupt into a rip-snorting, free-spending hell raiser bent on divesting himself of his earnings in the quickest and most enjoyable manner possible. What caused this usually mild and law-abiding creature to undergo such a metamorphosis? He was celebrating--making up for the long and lonely weeks he had just spent on the trail drive from Texas. He was delighted with the thought that no more, for a few weeks at least, would he spend his nights trying to nurse edgy cattle into tranquility. . . . He was free now--unemployed, uninhibited, and rich--until tomorrow or next week And waiting for the trail cowboy and his cash, almost rubbing its hands in anticipation, was the cowtown."--from "Why the West Was Wild"

Nyle H. Miller and Joseph W. Snell's "Why the West Was Wild" is the unabridged and unsurpassed collection of material assembled on the famous and infamous personalities of Kansas cowtowns, including legendary figures such as "Wild Bill" Hickok, Bat Masterson, and Doc Holliday, and such locales as Abilene, Wichita, Caldwell, and Dodge City. First published in the "Kansas Historical Quarterly, " these portraits are based on research in newspapers, legal records, letters, and diaries contemporary to these legendary figures.

Contributing Authors Include Robert Taft, Louise Barry, And Julia Louisa Lovejoy.

Contributing Authors Include Robert Taft, James C. Malin And Edgar Langsdorf.

Contributing Authors Include Robert Taft, Emory Lindquist, Louise Barry, And Edgar Langsdorf.

Contributing Authors Include Robert Taft, C. W. McCampbell, Louise Barry And Helen M. McFarland.

Contributing Authors Include Robert Taft And James C. Malin.

Contributing Authors Include Harold Henderson, Theo. H. Scheffer, Orin Oliphant, And Lilliana Owens.

Contributing Authors Include H. B. Mollhausen, Ralph W. Edwards, And Louise Barry.

Contributing Authors Include Lela Barnes, Roscoe Wilmeth, Nyle H. Miller, Joseph W. Snell And Alberta Pantle.

Contributing Authors Include Wallace S. Baldinger, Louise Barry, James C. Malin, Kirke Mechem, And Many Others.

Contributing Authors Include W. Turrentine Jackson, And Kirke Mechem.

Contributing Authors Include Robert Taft, Albert R. Kitzhaber, Louise Barry And Alberta Pantle.

Contributing Authors Include Alan W. Farley, Jean C. Lough, John E. Sunder, Emory Lindquist And James C. Malin.

Contributing Authors Include Robert Taft, Edgar Langsdorf, And Russell Hickman.

Contributing Authors Include Myra E. Hull, Kirke Mechem, Cora Dolbee And Many Others.

Contributing Authors Include Berlin B. Chapman, Edward R. DeZurko, And Waldo W. Braden.

Contributing Authors Include Edgar Langsdorf, James C. Malin, Kirke Mechem, And Many Others.

Contributing Authors Include Martha B. Caldwell, Sheldon Jackson, Kirke Mechem, Helen M. McFarland And Many Others.

Contributing Authors Include John Francis McDermott And Martha Caldwell.

Contributing Authors Include J. T. Willard, Dean Trickett, And Helen M. McFarland.

Contributing Authors Include Emory Lindquist, Lorene Anderson, Alan W. Farley, Theo. H. Scheffer, And James W. Covington.

Contributing Authors Include Martha B. Caldwell, Sheldon Jackson, Kirke Mechem, And Helen M. McFarland.

Contributing Authors Include Alberta Pantle And Kirke Mechem.

Contributing Authors Include Joseph W. Snell, Edgar Langsdorf, R. W. Richmond, James Malin, George E. Omer, Jr., And Many Others.

Contributing Authors Include Gladys Dodd, James C. Malin, Lela Barnes, And Louise Barry.