My true name is of little importance, although a resident of New York city would probably be familiar with it. I currently work for the New York Gazette, writing anything from sports columns to articles on New York's most visible and influential elite. However, about fifty years ago, I ventured out west to discover for myself, if it was truly as "wild and wooly" as it had been reported to those of us up north. My particular interest was in the gunfighters, and I have researched and written factual accounts about a number of them (although none of this material has yet been published).

There were quite a few gunfighters, but there were many more myths than there were true stories concerning most of them. Some, were gunfighters by choice. Others, did not set out to be known as a "gunfighter" but events rapidly propelled them along that path. Some, such as Billy the Kid (William Bonney, who by the way, hailed originally from New York), were made famous by dime novels and continued exaggeration upon each re-telling of the story. The truth was, Billy the Kid, did not kill twenty-one people. Perhaps, if one is inclined to be extremely generous, eight dead men may be directly attributed to his guns. Of these however, not a single one was vanquished in a true face-to-face gunfight where both men are eying one another and reach for their guns.

John Wesley Hardin, on the other hand, is not a well known name up here. Nevertheless, he was probably the most prolific gunman of them all. He killed over forty men, and most of them were in actual face-to-face gunfights.

Now I realize my colleague Bat Masterson, himself a one time law officer and gunman, and now a fellow sports writer for a rival newspaper ("The Morning Telegraph"), has made many remarks and comments concerning western gunmen. Even though Bat and I are colleagues and friends, I would dispute much of what he has said. The fact is, there is no proof that I can find that Bat ever participated in more than one gunfight in his life! He also is not above a little self exaltation from time to time.

I have seen real gunfighters in action, both while they were practicing, and when they participated in actual gunfights. Most of the ones who were truly expert at their craft, one will never read about, and their names will (if they haven't already) fade away with time.

To be good at gun fighting, (if one wished to remain alive for any length of time), one needed more than speed with a gun. One had to be accurate as well. More importantly, one had to have calm steady nerves.

I knew a man once who spent most of his spare time practicing with a Colt .45. I personally watched him practice on a number of occasions (as did many others). He was fast, very fast, and also, he rarely missed. Unfortunately, the first time he was called out by a local tough, he was shot dead.

The reason for this was not due to the fact that he wasn't fast enough, rather it was because at that crucial moment, he lost his nerve and tried to draw faster than he ever had before. In fact, he got off two shots before his opponent ever leveled his pistol. Unfortunately though, due to fear, nervousness, or overall excitement, he missed them both. His opponent, on the other hand, did not. Had the two men simply been having a contest shooting at a stationary target, in order to ascertain who could draw and hit it first, my friend would easily have won. Or, had the man in question been able to think of his opponent as nothing more than one of his practice targets, he would have lived to tell of his first gunfight. The other man was only average at best, but he was completely composed, even though he was well aware of the other's ability with a pistol.

Now concerning my friend Bat Masterson, his reputation came not from gunfights, but rather from the fact that he had this kind of nerve. His own nerve intimidated many would be opponents and thus, he rarely if ever actually had to gun a man down. Had he ever faced a gunman such as Hardin, Barlow, or Lancer, well, I could only speculate. Bat never practiced openly with a gun. I have no personal knowledge of his abilities or lack thereof, in that area. I'm certain, however, that he'd be more than happy to tell you about them were you inclined to ask.

We all know that the day of the gunfighter is over. But, with the advent of moving pictures, and the allure of the dime novel, his legend is still growing and is of particular interest to those of us up north whose typical mundane existence can hardly be described as adventuresome, romantic, heroic, or exciting. Just as the adventures of the Knights of the Round Table (though greatly exaggerated) have endured, so will stories of the west and its own particular (if somewhat dubious) knight, the gunfighter, along with the lords he often served, the Cattle Barons.

The story which follows concerns powerful cattle barons, and several such gunmen, a few of whom particularly caught my attention, and whose lives I followed with great interest. Gunmen such as Johnny Lancer, and Jesse Logan, Jack Duane, and Tyler Dain--to name a few. No, most northerners probably haven't heard of them, and unless my story becomes as popular as some of the fanciful novels of Billy the Kid, such will likely continue to be the case. These men are however, still spoken of in many parts of the southwest, and are remembered either as heroes or villains depending upon whom you ask, or whose "feathers they ruffled." Whether they were good men, or bad, I'll leave to the reader to judge for himself. Naturally, I have my own opinion on this, and it may become fairly obvious as one reads this work. Anyone who chooses though, may research the facts on their own, and is more than welcome (as far as I am concerned) to a different conclusion.

I have already written the facts about most of the gunmen found herein, as I have concerning many other gunmen. However, what this work is intended to be, is something involving more than the bare facts of their existence. My purpose was to write a story concerning some of them, and many of the people whose lives they affected, or vice-versa, primarily during a major West Texas cattle and range war. A range war, unrivaled in intensity and violence by any other, yet largely forgotten. Its duration was extremely short, in comparison with more famous power struggles in the West such as the Lincoln County War in New Mexico, yet the Trans-Pecos Range War was far more violent while it lasted.

In writing this, I have of course, taken certain liberties. The events of the story are factual. However, I have tried to place myself in the position of many of the characters to give the reader an idea of what they would have been thinking or feeling at certain moments or in certain situations. Obviously, one could not possibly know with certainty, precisely what they were thinking without the ability to gaze inside their minds. Thus, my account of their thoughts at any given moment may not be accurate at times, and may indeed produce a snort of derision from many westerners who would naturally be more familiar with a westerner's way of thinking than I.

I was born and raised in New York and for the most part, have lead a reasonably sheltered life, never wanting for food, clothing, or even money. I have struggled to understand the thinking processes of the western mind, and may have failed miserably in many cases. But I have interviewed many eyewitnesses and participants of these events. Thus I have I believe, a fairly accurate perception of what many of the characters were thinking and feeling during those hazardous and difficult times.

Some of this material is taken from memory, but much of it is from notes jotted down around that time from interviews, or are simply my own observations which were also written down at the time. On other occasions, I have simply taken the liberty to attribute particular thoughts and feelings to specific characters, at certain places, in order to make the story more interesting and perhaps the person involved seem, more human. In such cases though, I believe I have been faithful to that particular character's mode of thinking, and even speech patterns while so doing. After all, people usually think using the same language with which they speak. In fact, when looking backward on my experiences in the West in those times, I often find myself thinking in the Southwestern vernacular which in turn, carries over into my writing.

With regard to that, I feel inclined to apologize to many of my readers for some of the vulgar language and brutality they will encounter in these pages, but I will not do so, simply because that is in fact, the way a few of these characters actually spoke and acted. Thus, I have reported it as it was. That is not to say I endorse strong language, violence or rude behavior in any way, shape or form. This is not a dime novel, and I have chosen to portray the characters as they truly were, warts and all. I have refused to "sugar-coat" anything or gloss over the violence and brutality which occurred. To the reader who is squeamish or possesses a weak stomach, I am warning you beforehand, that some of the material is brutal, and you may wish to go no further. But I am a reporter and as such, felt the need to report the events as they occurred and that includes unfortunately, some gruesome cases involving man's inhumanity to his fellow man. If one is inclined to believe that I have exaggerated some of these regrettable events, he has only to read the factual accounts of other events such as the infamous "Sand Creek Massacre" and a few others of that nature. The West was indeed a brutal and harsh place at times, and likewise, so were many of its inhabitants. It required strong men and women to tame it down and bring about law and order.

To those who were involved (and are still alive), and whose thoughts I may have grossly misrepresented, rest assured, no wrong was intended. This work is first and foremost, a historical novel, not raw history, even though I have tried to be as factual as possible. Also, this book was not, and is not, aimed at westerners, but at those of us northerners who often sit around wishing we had been, or could be.

It is my hope that the reader will enjoy himself, and that the names of some largely unknown gunmen, will now become known. If that be the case, then I have accomplished my task. Whether or not there be any virtue in being a proficient gunman or not, is not a question for me to debate. The fact is though, that many who were not, are being touted as if they were. The following story concerns portions of the lives of a few of the most interesting ones (in my opinion), Johnny Lancer, Jesse Logan, Colt Ballard, Tyler Dain, Jack Duane and Jake Barlow, just to name a few. Some were obviously villains, some were good, and others still, walked that fine line somewhere in between outright good or evil. You be the judge.

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