3 books found
Orson Martin was born in Goochland County, Virginia, the son of John and Rachel Martin. Orson learned the blacksmith trade from his father. After the Revolutionary War, the family moved to Kentucky and settled near Boonesborough in an area that became one of the earliest industrial centers west of the Allegheny Mountains. Orson's brothers William and Valentine became prominent figures in the neighborhood. It was Orson, however, who had the vision to recognize the commercial potential of the Lower Howard's Creek valley, along with the initiative and skills to take advantage of the opportunity. During the early 1800s, he was one of the leading entrepreneurs of the valley, where he had his own sawmill, gristmill and blacksmith shop. Unfortunately, after such early promise, Orson's career crashed under the weight of family problems and business reversals brought on by the influence of alcohol. This biography describes the successes and failures of Orson Martin, blacksmith.
Outlaws on Horseback concentrates on the long, unbroken chain of crime that began in the late 1850s with the Missouri-Kansas border warfare and ended in Arkansas in 1921 with the killing of Henry Starr, the last of the authentic desperadoes. Harry Sinclair Drago shows links among the men and women who terrorized the Midwest while he squelches the most outlandish tales about them. The guerrilla warfare led by the evil William Quantrill was training for Frank and Jesse James and Cole and Jim Younger. Drago puts their bloody careers in perspective and tracks down the truth about Belle Starr the Bandit Queen, Cherokee Bill, Rose of the Cimarron, and the gangs, including the Daltons and Doolins, that infested the Oklahoma hills. The action moves from the sacking of Lawrence to the raid on Northfield to the shootout at Coffeyville.
"Haskell tells the tale of the Kansas City Star's rise and decline, taking readers into the city room and executive offices of one of the most respected American newspapers. This story includes Kansas City notables as Tom Pendergast, J. C. Nichols, Frank Walsh, William Rockhill Nelson, Henry J. Haskell and Roy A. Roberts"--Provided by publisher.