As much a chronicle of the Old West as it is the study of a colorful, and ubiquitous, frontiersman ... Mr. Ward—like Siringo himself—spins a good yarn, and his book will surely please Old West enthusiasts, whose interest in the characters of this period remains evergreen. But other readers will spot missed opportunities, especially in light of new findings by Mr. Ward that could have added depth to his portrait of the cowboy detective.
Ward’s book is dense with research and description. Sometimes too dense. Colorful stories — of horse thieving, dangerous wagon journeys, double-crossing and shootouts — occasionally sag under the weight of benign particulars.
The larger-than-life, Texas-born cowboy Charlie Siringo lived a life normally reserved for fiction, one every bit as full of adventure, intrigue, and derring-do as any western movie ... Dozens of photos and other images bring the text beautifully to life. Perfect for biography, history, and western fans.
Ward doesn't quite prove that Siringo helped create the foundations of the literature of the American West, he shows that this original cowboy certainly lived out the most fertile period of that time and place. A well-rendered cowboy tale that fleshes out a larger history of the Old West.
