John Boessenecker presents the true stories of the Wild West heroes who guarded the iconic Wells Fargo stagecoaches and trains, battling colorful thieves, vicious highwaymen, and robbers armed with explosives.
Their unforgettable bravery and ingenuity make Shotguns and Stagecoaches a thrilling read..
Through the Gold Rush and the early days of delivery with horses and saddlebags, to the heyday of stagecoaches and huge shipments of gold, and finally the rise of the railroad and the robbers who concocted unheard-of schemes to loot trains, Wells Fargo always had courageous men to protect its treasure.
It wouldn\'t be a book about the Wild West without Black Bart, the most infamous stagecoach robber of all time, and Butch Cassidy\'s gang, America\'s most legendary train robbers.
The highway robbers also get their due.
Their lives weren\'t just one shootout after another--their encounters with desperadoes were won just as often with quick wits and memorized-by-heart knowledge of the land.
Boessenecker introduces soon-to-be iconic personalities like Chips Hodgkins, an express rider known for his white mule and his ability to outrace his competitors, and Henry Johnson, the first Wells Fargo detective.
They were tough, fighting men who risked their lives every time they climbed into the front boot of a Concord coach.
Armed with sawed-off, double-barreled Shotguns and an occasional revolver, these express messengers guarded valuable cargo through lawless terrain.
The phrase riding shotgun was no teenage game to the men who guarded stagecoaches and trains of the Western frontier.
John Boessenecker presents the true stories of the Wild West heroes who guarded the iconic Wells Fargo stagecoaches and trains, battling colorful thieves, vicious highwaymen, and robbers armed with explosives
