From: firstinitiallastname@texas.net   
      
   WorldWideWayne wrote:   
      
   > Suppose someone who knows little about the 19th century West, but who wants   
   > to learn more, comes up to you and asks, "What are the 10 most essential   
   > nonfiction books ever written about the Old West?" Which titles would you   
   > recommend?   
   >   
   > I ask simply because I'm interested in everyone's choices.   
   >   
   > Wayne   
   >   
   I'll add some of the more readable Texas pieces to the list, and I like   
   primary sources.   
      
   Charlie Siringo's neat (if somewhat ego-driven) two autobiographical   
   works on his two careers as a Texas cowboy and as the "cowboy detective."   
      
   James Cook's "Fifty Years on the Frontier." One of the best, I think,   
   covering a wide area of experience by this remarkable relative of the   
   famous ship's captain.   
      
   The compiled two volumes of first hand stories from the old traildrivers   
   of the Texas Traildriver's Association.   
      
      
   There are a lot of different emphasis areas and regions. I don't know   
   that "ten essentials" would cover the essentials.   
      
   (And I saw Andy Adams' Log of a Cowboy listed. That's fiction. But I   
   would agree with Dobie that fiction is often more revealing than fact.)   
      
   --   
                          Gerald Clough   
       "Nothing has any value, unless you know you can give it up."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)