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Title: Life of John Wesley Hardin As Written by Himself by John Wesley Hardin, Robert G. McCubbin ISBN: 0-8061-1051-1 Publisher: Univ of Oklahoma Pr (Trd) Pub. Date: June, 1977 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $8.89 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.6 (5 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Disappointing
Comment: You couldn't find a more interesting character than Hardin but his own account is written in a common and stilted style that zaps all excitement from it. Hardin should be grateful to James Carlos Blake's historical fiction "The Pistoleer" to put him in the proper light.
Rating: 5
Summary: As autobiographies go, this is a good one
Comment: The original manuscript of this book was discovered after John Wesley Hardin's death. He was shot in the back of the head while standing at the bar in the Acme Saloon by John Selman in El Paso on August 19th, 1895. This book was published a year later by Smith & Moore Publishing in Sequin, Guadalupe County, Texas. It sold, in paperback, for fifty cents each.
Hardin was one of the real, genuine hard cases, in those days. It is said that he killed at least a score of men. By some accounts, it was at least 40.
Hardin was born in 1853, the son of a Methodist preacher, who proudly christened him after their faith's founder. No doubt he was expected to follow a spiritual path. It was not to be. He killed his first man, a freed negro who was full of his new freedom, and was going to chastise Hardin with a club out of anger for losing a wrestling match to the boy and his cousin the day before. Hardin killed him with a revolver.
Texas was administered at the time--immediately after the War between the States--by Northern carpetbaggers, and Hardin's life as an outlaw commenced.
He was captured, eventually, in Florida by Texas Rangers and brought back to Texas where he served time in prison. He was obviously intelligent and more literate than the average. After his release, he became a lawyer, and so his autobiography reads well, with probably no more self-justification and self-aggrandizement than most autobiographies.
It is said that he had his pockets lined with leather, so that he could carry his pistols without wearing out his clothing. Not a carry method conducive to the idiotic Hollywood myth of the "fast draw."
John Wesley Hardin was a dangerous man with an ungovernable temper. His story, as told by himself, is more literate than most and highly readable. How well it adheres to the absolute truth is anyone's guess.
I found it most interesting.
Joseph Pierre
author, Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
Rating: 5
Summary: Well-written autobiography of a cold-blooded killer
Comment: As John Wesley Hardin wrote his autobiography he was, presumably, trying to present himself in a favorable light; shading things to make himself look good. That said, he still comes off as an utterly cold-blooded killer without conscience or a twinge of remorse. This makes the reading all the more interesting as he isn't holding back or trying to apologize for, or justify, the things he did.
The story is very well-written (Hardin was a lawyer when he wrote it, during the brief time he survived once he was released from prison). As authentic western adventures go, this is a top-rate book. Hardin tells of cattledrives, chases by posses, encounters with the law including Hickok, and shootouts.
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Title: Gunfighter: An Autobiography by John Wesley Hardin, Mark Manning ISBN: 1840680385 Publisher: Creation Books Pub. Date: 01 April, 2001 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: John Wesley Hardin: Dark Angel of Texas by Leon Claire Metz ISBN: 0806129956 Publisher: Univ of Oklahoma Pr (Trd) Pub. Date: March, 1998 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The Story of Cole Younger by Himself: Being an Autobiography of the Missouri Guerrilla Captain and Outlaw, His Capture and Prison Life, and the Only Authentic Account of the Northfield by Cole Younger, Marley Brant ISBN: 0873513932 Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society Pub. Date: October, 2000 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: John Wesley Hardin : Suppressed Memories by Steppen Wirth ISBN: 0967088887 Publisher: Osiris Publishing Company Pub. Date: 26 May, 1999 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Encyclopedia of Western Gunfighters by Bill O'Neal, Bill O' Neal ISBN: 0806123354 Publisher: Univ of Oklahoma Pr (Trd) Pub. Date: March, 1991 List Price(USD): $17.84 |
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