Book Review: Bill O'Reilly's Legends & Lies

Book Review: Bill O'Reilly's Legends & Lies by David Fisher, Fox News, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 2015. This book, among other things, explores our perception of the Old West and where it comes from. Among other things he talks about dime novels, Wild West shows, movies and television.  It is interesting how our perception of the West differs greatly than the actual experience. Dime novels often glorified western characters, including badmen.  Then there was the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show and others like it which attempted to bring the West to people, but could not replicate things exactly.  Early television and movie included the often racist depictions of those in this industry.  Native Americans were rarely showed in a good light, and most often played by White actors.  This book tries to cut through some of this misperception.  It is able to accomplish this but no book could truly correct our entire misperception and bias.

American Biography: Frank and Jesse James

Jesse James, Civil War

Frank James

Frank and Jesse James weren't ready for the Civil War to end.  There was too much bad blood floating around, and they took up a life of crime, mostly bank robbery as a way to still hurt the North.  Some of their robberies specifically targeted old enemies, who were often murdered during the robbery.  John Edwards, a newspaper man with Southern sympathies found in the James brothers people who could use to promote the South.  Edwards had been a Colonel in the Confederacy.  He helped turn the James Brothers into folk heroes, while he tried to instill pride into southerners.  Although Missouri had officially remained in the Union, many from Missouri fought with the South.  Frank, 21 and Jesse 16 served with William Quantrill's raiders.  This was a guerrilla outfit.  They used ruthless tactics.  Quantrill's men carried off daring raids.  Trying to stop the raids the Union went after those associated with Quantrill.  When some of the wives and women were killed, Quantrill brought all his men together, and launched an attack against Lawrence, Kansas.  A third of the town was burnt down, and over 150 men and boys killed.  Frank James was involved in this massacre.  The Union pursued the raiders, and found Frank James' unit.  Frank escaped, and when he returned Jesse was with him.  Jesse James was involved in a raid on a train.  They captured twenty-two of Sherman's men headed home for furlough.  They were stripped, shot, and their bodies mutilated.
As the war ended, Quantrill was wounded and later died.  The exact history may not be known, but one story has Jesse James trying to surrender.  Under flag of truce, he was shot through the lungs.  His life would hang in the balance for eight weeks.  He was taken home, and he would later marry one of his nurses, Zee Mimms.  Frank James surrendered in Kentucky, and on his  way home would have a gunfight with four Union soldiers, killing two of them.
The James brothers were permanently scarred by the war.  Others also scarred joined them including Cole and James Younger.  Many other raiders stayed together, and began robbing banks.  After a hold up, Arch Clement was found my a militia in a bar and killed.  Several other members were caught and hung, and some drifted away.  However the Youngers and James and a core group continued on.  They were able to get away with tens of thousands of dollars (which would be millions today.)  They moved on to trains, first in Adair Iowa, where they derailed the train, killing the engineer and injuring passengers.  The Pinkerton Detective Agency was formed to pursue the James'  They caught Reuben and Zerelda Samuels, while their nine-year-old son slept.  The surrounded the house and threw in an incendiary device.  When it exploded Zerelda's arm was almost torn off (it was amputated) and Archie was killed.  Eight Pinkertons were indicted for murder, but never tried.  John Edwards continued to promote them, railing at the carpetbaggers and sympathy for the men who fought them.
The James Younger gang erred in going north for a bank robbery, Northfield, Minnesota.  The town was heavily armed, and everyone in the gang was wounded, two were killed.  The three Younger brothers were captured.  Frank and Jesse laid low for three years.  Jesse was the person who got back into robbing first.  He was the leader of the gang now.  His brother initially declined, but eventually joined him.  New blood was needed, and Charley Ford became a part of the gang.  His brother Bob also joined.  However these two were talking to the police, and planning the demise of Jesse James.  When Jesse turned his back to hang a picture, Bob Ford shot him in the back of the head, killing him.  Rather than a $10,000 reward, the brothers received $600,  The governor divided the money between several parties, himself included.  Bob Ford was not seen as a hero, but a coward for having shot Jesse James in the back when he was unarmed.  Frank James arranged his surrender.  He was tried on only two murder-robbery charges, and acquitted in both cases.  He tried his hand at a wild west show with Cole Younger.  He would die of a heart attack.

Based on Bill O'Reilly's Legends & Lies by David Fisher.

American Biography: George Armstrong Custer

Having come upon the camps of Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, Custer but have thought he was headed to a great victory.  Custer had a strategy he had used before.  He planned to get behind the encampment, capture women and children and elderly and use them as negotiating collateral or at least human shields.  This strategy had worked for him before.  Native American warriors were very protective of their women and children.  He split his 800 men into three columns.  Captain Reno was to attack from the South, forcing the encampment to respond.  He would then swoop down out of the mountains in the rear with his larger force.  He knew he was out numbered.  It wasn't until later he realized the actual size of the encampment.  Captain Reno's attack was repelled.  They only made it to within a mile of the encampment, and turned around and retreated, suffering many losses.  Worse for Custer was the the Native Americans guessed his strategy, and were waiting for him when he initiated his attack.  Custer's men did not retreat, but penetrated the Native American forces, until they were completely engulfed and their fate inevitable.  Neither Captain Reno nor Captain Benteen who had been called back from a scouting mission came to his aid.  They remained dug in on Reno Hill.
When hearing of the battle President Grant would say, "I regards Custer's Massacre as a sacrifice of troops, brought on by Custer himself; that was wholly unnecessary--wholly unnecessary."

Before these events Custer had a significant military career.  He was still a struggling student at West Point when the Civil War commenced.  He was from the lower part of the class, and often received demerits.  However they were rushed through, and Custer was with the troops at First Big Run, having found his own mount.  He became a part of General McClellan's staff.  He was also brash and aggressive, and a bit impulsive.  He was also criticized for his pursuit of praise.
Custer and his cavalry had a major role at Gettysburg.  He had been promoted to brigadier general just before the battle, and at 23 the youngest general.  His troops charged into Jeb Stuart's calvary, and repulsed their attack.  He thus protected the Union line from Stuart's flanking moves.  Stuart was forced to withdraw, the first time in the war his calvary had been stopped.
He fought with General Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley.  At the end of the war, his cavalry got in front of Lee, and prevented his escape, and thus forced his surrender at Appomattox.
Custer came out of the Civil War as a national hero.  During the war he he also married.  His wife would go with him to his outposts throughout his career rather than be left behind.  However he still wanted to fight, and used his influence to become Lieutenant Colonel of the Seventh Calvary fighting the Plains Indians.  However he discovered the same tactics would not work.  The Indians would attack and then dissipate, and they were hard to find.  At one point Custer became discouraged, and left the field of battle returning to his wife.  He was court-martialed and found guilty of desertion, and suspended for a year.  However he was recalled more quickly than this because of the need.  The Indians were becoming more bold.  He was ordered to destroy villages and kill warriors.  In pursuit of a group that had been attacking settlers, he cam upon a village of Cheyenne.  Rather than wait for his scouts intelligence he attacked, and killed Black Kettle and many of his men.  Black Kettle was a peaceful Indian and was displaying a white flag of truce.
Custer's was involved in the discovery of gold in the Black Hills, or at least protecting the prospectoers.  This was significant as this area was holy ground to the Sioux.
Custer's rush to fame would prove fatal to he and his men at the Battle of Little Big Horn.  Custer would always wear buckskin into battle.  He said this was so his men could easily identify him and gather around him.  That Custer was failed by Benteen and Reno is true.  When Benteen arrived on the scene he reinforced Reno rather than Custer.  This was an order from Reno, his commanding officer.  Reno was accused of incompetence or drunkenness. This was not substantiated.

American Biography: Annie Oakley

Annie Oakley is known for her sharpshooting skills.  She was amazing with a gun.  As a young woman, she supported her family by hunting.  She would supply several local restaurants with fresh game, and was able to support her family.  When she was 15 she won a shooting contest with proclaim sharpshooter Frank Butler.  Butler knew a good thing, so he married her.  He promoted her above himself, and in a few years Oakley and Butler became part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.  She paid off her mother's mortgage on the farm.  (Her father had passed away.)  Annie was only five feet tall.  Sitting Bull, who also traveled with the show for a time, befriended Oakley and called her Watanya Cicilla meaning Little Sure Shot.  She traveled all over the United States with the show, and even to Europe.  In 1901 she was in a train accident, and was recovering for some time.  She had five operations on her back.  She left the Wild West Show opting for quieter more peaceful show.  She was in a play written for her call "The Western Girl."  Some of the shooting tricks Oakley performed include shooting a hole in a dime, shooting a cigarette in her husband's mouth and shooting over her shoulder using a mirror.  There were other women sharpshooter, but none had the style and grace of Annie Oakley.  In 1904 a story was published in the Randolph Hearst newspapers claiming Oakley was addicted to cocaine.  Oakley sued for libel and won.  The Butlers never really settled down.  They preferred living in motels or resorts.  
Excerpts taken from WIkipedia and Bill O'Reilly's Legends & Lies: the Real West by David Fisher.

American Biography: David Crockett

David Crocket (he only became known as Davy late in life) was a frontiersman born in Kentucky.  He hunted bear and birds, trapped forest animals, planted crops and fathered two boys by Polly Finley who he married before he turned 20.  In 1813 he served with Andrew Jackson against the Red Sticks of the Creek.  Crocket performed well in battle, but he had a conflict with Jackson's ruthless tendencies.  Crockett's anger with Jackson would follow him into politics.
Crockett's political career began when his former commanding officer, Captain Matthews was a candidate for lieutenant colonel and asked Crocket to run for major.  However Crockett realized Matthews had picked Crockett to run against his son, hoping he was and easy candidate to beat.  He decided to run against Matthews instead, and became the commander of the militia.
Crockett's wife passed away, but he remarried, and now through his wife had some money.  Crocket would run for state legislature.  He wasn't a natural politician, and admitted this readily and made fun of himself, but would offer whiskey after his short words, and nobody would be left to listen to his opponent.  Crockett won.  When Crockett ran for Congress, he again ran a populist campaign.  He ran against Dr. William Butler, nephew of Andrew Jackson.  Crocket wore his buckskin clothes, while saying in the doctor's fancy house he the doctor walked on carpets better than most women's clothes.  Crockett again won.
The same year Andrew Jackson had run for president, and although he won the popular vote, he lost the electoral collage vote.  However Jackson's political hopes were looking up.  Crockett stood up for the rights of the poor and the down trodden.  Crocket supported Jackson in his next run for the presidency, which he won, but did not support his policies.  Crockett wrote a couple autobiographies, "The Life and Adventures of Colonel David Crockett of West Tennessee" and "A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett, written by Himself."  A big bone of contention between Crockett and Jackson was the Indian Relocation Act.  Crockett opposed, while this was Jackson's goal to repay those who had supported him.  Gerrymandering had made Crockett's reelection less sure.  He won one campaign but lost the next.  He had said if he lost, he would move to Texas, and he did.  However Crockett was not just leaving, he was also going to be part of something bigger than himself.  He joined the Texans in the Alamo.  There were more than 1800 Mexican soldiers under Santa Anna, the Mexican dictator, who laid siege to 175 Texans inside the Alamo in San Antonio.  It is known that Crockett entertained the men with his storytelling and his violin.  He also put a cannon out of action that moved too close with his sharp shooting.  When the North Wall of the fort was breached, many of the Texans escaped to the barracks and chapel.  Crocket and his men fought in the open, exhausting their ammunition, and then using their weapons as clubs.  Most historians believe Crockett died with a pile of Mexican bodies around him, being stabbed by a bayonet.  A diary found many years later said Crockett had been executed.  Of the Texans there were three survivors, a woman and her son and a black slave.
Excerpts from Bill O'Reilly's Kegebds & Lies: The Real West, by David Fisher, Fox News.

American Biography: Bass Reeves: African American Federal Marshall: The Real Lone Ranger?

Bass Reeves was an African American federal officer.  He was born into slavery in 1838.  Growing up he was such a good marksman, his master enrolled him in competitions.  When his master, George Reeves became sheriff and tax collector, he had Bass at his side.  Bass claimed to have served in the Civil War with his master, and thus earned his freedom.
The Lone Ranger was a fictional character.  However if his exploits and life were based on an individual, this would be Bass Reeves.  There are enough similarities to make you wonder.  Bass Reeves would give informants a silver dollar.  The Lone Ranger would leave a silver bullet.  Bass Reeves often would work alone on the trail of suspects, as would the Lone Ranger.  He would travel light and move fast, as did the Lone ranger.   When he got on a man's trail he wouldn't let it go until he had brought in his man.  He was considered one of the best trackers.  he had spent his time living with the Indians.  Bass Reeves would often go with a Native American companion, although this companion would change from time to time.  The Lone Ranger used Tonto.  Bass Reeves supported the law, bringing people back alive whenever possible.  He had a sense of fair play, as did the Lone Ranger.  He said, "Government law didn't send me out here to kill people, but to arrest them."
Bass Reeves serviced they most dangerous place in America, Indian Territory.  Of the 22 thousand white men in the territory, it was estimated seventeen thousand were criminals on the lam.  At the time, this area had the highest murder rate in the country.  To Bass Reeves and the other Federal Marshals came the job of cleaning this mess up and bringing law and order.  Bass Reeves worked with Judge Issac Park, who was known as the hanging judge.  The judge tried over 13,000 people, of whom 29 were hung.
On one occasion, he even had to arrest his own son who had shot and killed his wife.  He tracked him down, and brought him to justice.
However, even Bass Reeves would fall victim to White prejudice.  He had performed his job with honor, but when Jim Crow laws came into effect, he was forced to resign.  A Black man couldn't arrest a White criminal.  He then joined the Muskogee police department and walked a beat.

Excerpts from Bill O'Reilly's Legends & Lies by David Fisher

American Biography: Black Bart

The name Black Bart, is a self given name.  Black Bart's real name is Charles Earl Bowles.  He was born in England.  He made several prospecting trips, two to California and one in Montana.  He had married and had a wife in Illinois.  He also served in the Civil War with Sherman's march to the sea.  In Montana he had a promising claim, running water through a "tom," a flue which separated the gold from the rocks.  Some men moved above his claim, and cut off his water.  Bowles felt these men were affiliated with Wells fargo, and he took out his vengeance against the stage company.  His robberies all took place in the Northern California and Southern Oregon area.  His first and last robberies were near Copperopolis, a community not too far from where I currently live.  Black Bart needed certain conditions for his robberies.  He was afraid of horses, and consequently did not ride.  He would choose a place where he could walk, and an upgrade for the stage coach so the coach would be going uphill and slower.  His initials robberies he carries out a rouse with sticks placed to look like guns, and he would call to his men to shoot if the driver tried anything.  Black Bart would only steal from the stage coach box.  He would not steal from the passengers.  He also would not kill anyone.  He threatened with a gun, which was rarely loaded and was old and rusted.  
An unusual thing about Bart is that at a couple robberies he left verse, almost taunting those who were trying to stop him.  

I've labored long and hard for bread,
For honor, and for riches,
But on my corns too long you've tread,
You fine-haired sons of bitches.

— Black Bart, 1877

 Here I lay me down to sleep

To wait the coming morrow,
Perhaps success, perhaps defeat,
And everlasting sorrow.
Let come what will, I'll try it on,
My condition can't be worse;
And if there's money in that box
'Tis munny in my purse.— Black Bart

While Black Bart was robbing stage coaches, at least 24 robberies were credited to him, which is more than anyone in history, he lived in San Francisco under an assumed name, and passed himself off as a rich mining engineer named Charles Bolton.  

James Hume was a detective hired by the Wells Fargo Company to capture Black Bart.  He actually used skills of detection, which was unusual for the time, other than interviewing witnesses.  He took cast molds of footprints, he dug out bullets and buckshot to look for comparisons.  

Wells Fargo became smarter over time, fastening the black boxes to the coach.  Bart would have to take time to them them loose, and this lead to his capture.  At a robbery, near in location to his first, a passenger had been let off at the bottom of the hill.  It took enough time for Bart to remove the contents of the box, that they came upon bart while he was making his escape.  They fired four shorts, and hit him in the hand.  He also left quickly, leaving some of the items at his camp.  This included a bloodied handkerchief with a laundry mark.  With this mark, Hume was able to track him down, and discover his true identity.  Bart confessed and was convicted of the last robbery.  He was sentenced to San Quentin.  It is estimated he stole between twenty and one hundred thousand dollars (three million today.)  After his release, early for good behavior, he drifted into obscurity.

Excerpts form Wikipedia and Bill O' Reilly's Legends & Lies by David Fisher.

American Biography: Wild Bill Hickok

Wild Bill Hickok was born in Illinois in 1837.  His family were part of the Underground Railroad, helping fleeing black slaves.  They provided shelter and transportation.  They had cubby holes under the floor boards where slaves could hide.  Hickok road with the Jayhawkers during the trouble in Kansas.He had many nicknames, which didn't stick.  He first met a younger William Cody (Buffalo Bill) during this time, helping him fight off some bullies.  Hickok was always standing up for the underdog.
While Hickok was recovering from a bear attack, he helped a Pony Express Station manager named Horace Wellman.  David McCanles showed up insisting on his land back for lack of payments.  McCanles was a general bully towards Hickok, and called him "Duck Bill."  Either Wellman or Hickok shot him through the chest from inside the station.  McCanles' men rushed the station, and Hickok shot another, who was finished by Wellman's wife with her sharpened hoe.  Hickok wounded the third, and pursued him into the woods and finished him off.  Hickok and Wellman went to trial, and claimed they were defending company property.  The judge agreed.
From there Hickok joined the Civil War, serving as a scout and spy for the Union.  From there he began serving as a scout for the military.  Some calvary men where beating up a barkeeper and Hickok intervened.  Two of the soldiers began to draw on him, and Hickok was quicker so the stopped mid-draw.  The crowd of men dispersed.  The Eastern newspapers, and dime novels always seemed to dramatized Hickok's exploits, and seemed to always enhance them here and there.
Hickok then went into law.  His skills seemed very adept at this.  He started by transporting some deserters for the military.  He then was employed by Hays City.  This was a lawless town.  He would always swing the doors wide open when entering a saloon.  This would afford him a good view of the entire room, and also discover if anyone was hiding behind the door.  This is where he developed the habit to always sit with his back to a wall.  Hickok was not one to draw easily, but he was the fastest and most accurate.  As a law man he killed a score of men.  He was also attacked unprovoked and in a surprise fashion on several occasions.  There was one kill that would haunt him.  He had moved to Abilene where he was the sheriff.  He was investigating some gunshots.  Phil Coe was a gambler with a grudge towards Hickok.  When Hickok came alone, having told his deputy he would handle things, Coe saw his chance.  He fired two shots, and they missed.  Hickok did not miss.  Then suddenly from the corner of his eye, he saw someone approaching with a gun.  He shot and killed his deputy.  Hickok took this hard, and started drinking heavier.  He wasn't long after that he left Abilene.  He was part of the Buffalo Bill Cody show after this, but did not enjoy gambling.  He then settled on policing a new community, Deadwood, a mining town.  He was interested in gambling, and the only chair available was not against the wall.  He asked others to trade him, but they refused.  The result was Jack McCall, who had lost in gambling to Hickok the day before, shot Hickok in the back of the head killing him instantly.  The trial in Deadwood found him not guilty as McCall said he was avenging his brother's death.  (There is no evidence he even had a brother.)  However he was retried by the territory, and Deadwood was not a city at the time.  He was found guilty and hung.

Excerpts from Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies by David Fisher.