West of Hell's Fringe: Crime, Criminals, and the Federal Peace Officer in Oklahoma Territory, 1889-1907

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Summary: Justice in Indian Territory from gunslingers to US Marshals
Review: Glenn Shirley provides a wealth of information on various outlaw groups of the Old West. West of Hell's Fringe earmarks the accounts of gunslingers that occupied Indian territories inside what is today Oklahoma. Shirley has gone through what seems to be great detail in separating what are factual and fictional accounts of the episodes that occurred. Such names as the Dalton Gang, Bill Doolin, Charley Bryant, the reader not only gets lured into the eyes of these outlaws, but it gives them a taste of how life was in an era infamous for lawlessness and liquor. The book is brought more seemingly to life through the pictures shown of the outlaws and their captors. The book places repeated emphasis on the U.S. Marshals of the time. The book not only tells the story through the glimpses of the outlaws' eyes, but it allows one to stare down the barrel of the lawmen's guns as they and their posse's ride for the wielding of justice and the standing reward. Glenn Shirley does an excellent job documenting the accounts given in the book. Every complex and tangled idea that is presented is well annotated with: where the information is gathered, and where further information can be located. What is really exciting about the book is it offers up the accounts of the United States Marshals and their rides by giving up the false deception, and by offering the information that this is the most widely held belief. It also says this is what could have happened as well. The subheading of this book tells all Crime, Criminals, and the Federal Peace Officer in Oklahoma Territory, 1889-1907.

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Summary: A Flawed History of Hell's Fringe and Its Denizens
Review: Glenn was an Oklahoma Lawman and as such his predjudice keeps this book from being as good as it could be. Your reviewer is the son of Oklahoma bootleggers and a descendent of a Doolin gang member...as you read the book notice how many times Marshalls supposedly call from perfect ambush positions.."hands up"....For someone who has seen Oklahoma law enforcement at close range I find those scenarios tough to swallow....not that I blame the Marshalls for this, these outlaws were desparate men and have already killed 3 marshalls in a direct confrontation in Ingalls....to his credit he does show the importance of informers as opposed to smart detective work...all in all if he wasn't so ready to swallow whole all the Marshalls accounts this would be a better book..but then in so many instances the lawmen were the only surviving witnesses