Chuck HornungCritiques

I received this book on Wyatt Earp several years ago during a time period when I was extremely interested in western history (I live in Wyoming) but before I got around to reading it, it vanished. I believe it ended up by mistake in a box of books that was donated to a local thrift store, but when I did look for it to read and review, it was gone.
I apologize.

Wyatt Earp's Cow-boy Campaign (The Bloody Restoration of Law and Order Along the Mexican Border, 1882) by Chuck Hornung is NOT a book you want to read 'for fun'. It is, however, once you get used to the tedious day by-day-entries, and the chapters that are supposed to be a focus on a person or place but tend to jump all over, very informational. Informational of the time period and personalities within in the context. And context is very important. What it was like to live in the 1880's western territories of the United States. Custom and culture of the people (non Native American). For example, the idea of marriage as we know it today was not the same back then. Paperwork was not required by the counties or states, as they had yet to begin to tap that income - charging people in order to "legally" get married and/or divorced.

The book itself centers on the year 1882, the year of the infamous OK Corral shootout - but that is not all that happened. In fact, that was a minor incident in that year of incidents between factions within the Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona territories. During that time there was a huge amount of cattle rustling and nefarious mayhem caused by groups of opportunity known as the Cow-Boys. The Earp posses were the point which finally decimated them by killing leaders and causing members to evacuate into Old Mexico.

I also learned that much of what I knew of the Earp family and group of friends is not very accurate!
If only for that, I highly recommend this book!

Again, the organization is a bit lacking with sections either bouncing all over or so tedious you are tempted to barely skim just to get through it! Unfortunately, you need to follow the tedious day to day information to fully appreciate the last 3rd of the book

Hard to rate this book but I give it a 3.5.½

A lot of information, but it seemed to get bogged down at times with too much detail. I did appreciate how the author would let you know when he was adding his own opinion to the discussion. I enjoyed the beginning as well as the diary format but after that I started having problems with concentrating on what I was reading. If you want to learn something else beside the OK Corral this book is going to give you a lot!

This was my first venture into the fact surrounding Watt Earp. Needless to say i was overwhelmed with the amount of information and detail available. I enjoyed the daily journal approach but got confused with some of the jumping around. I was disappointed. To not learn much more about the Cowboys and their organization or gang. Were they organized? Did they have a goal or objective? Or did they just terrorize with no real leadership or purpose? There questions were not answered in my opinion maybe because the but was more about Watt. It wee an enjoyable read. Great for fans of Watt and those interested in the life in Tombstone.

I've read a lot about Wyatt Earp's life and times, so I wasn't sure what to expect when picking up yet another book about the Western legend. Long-time Earp researcher, Chuck Hornung has compiled a massive amount of data into a 273 page book that spends most of its time justifying Earp and his posse's bloody retaliation against the Cow-boys.

Those wanting more about the OK Corral or Earp's early life will need to look elsewhere, but if the reader is interested in finding out copious details about the Earp vendetta over the assassination and crippling, respectively, of brothers Morgan and Virgil, then this is the book to read.

The book is broken down into 3 parts. "Frontier Paladins and Some Jokers" covers backstory on principles like Wyatt Earp, Johnny Behan, Bat Masterson, Doc Holliday, and members of Earp's posse. Part 2, "The Lion of Tombstone" details the retaliation against the Cow-Boys, the Earp's arrests, and the methods and means used to wipe out the Cow-Boys by way of diaries written at that time. Part 3, deals specifically with the Otero Letter. This letter, written by Miquel Otero, a former territorial governor of New Mexico was discovered over a century after the Earp Vendetta. The letter supposedly helps provide justification for Earp and his posse's systematic elimination of the Cow-Boys during 1882.

The book tends to move slowly in spots and is a little redundant, but, for those wishing an academic study of the Cow-Boy Campaign, Hornung delivers.½

What I most enjoyed about this book is that it is "new history," based on a discovered letter which provides new support that Wyatt Earp's actions against the cowboys was more than just a personal vendetta. The presentation of facts and arguments seems balanced to me. While the author takes a point of view, he also calls out the counter arguments and indicates when he is adding his own personal conjectures. This book is a historical accounting of events and a character study. I've read a lot in this genre and very much enjoyed this addition to my collection.

Everyone is familiar with the Gunfight at the OK Corral and have read the stories and seen the movies, but in this book Mr. Hornung tells the complete story that the gunfight was only one small part of the bigger picture. The full story is that it is an attempt by the US government to stop cross border raiding by Americans into Mexico to steal livestock and to cause mischief among the Mexican people. After giving brief sketches of the main characters involved in this episode, Hornung goes into the friction that occurred between the sides and how that friction led to the gunfight and to ambushes that led Wyatt Earp to go out and try to put and end to the violence. The author shows that Earp was a deputy US Marshall and had been given orders to stop the raiding across the border and some arrests were made but the accused were always freed by the courts. This led Wyatt to lead a small army out to make war against the Cow-boys. Hornung argues that it was not an illegal act carried out by Earp because of the attacks on his family, but rather an act that was endorsed and encouraged by the government, state and federal. Agree or disagree, Hornung's work is well researched and an excellent addition to any Western history library.

Chuck Hornung's Wyatt Earp's Cow-Boy Campaign: The Bloody Restoration of Law and Order Along the Mexican Border, 1882 provides some fascinating insights into the legendary Tombstone saga. After background sketches of the key players including Doc Holliday and Bat Masterson, and the law enforcement and business careers of the Earp brothers, Hornung presents an extensive account of the 18-months of Cow-boy lawlessness and the Earps' activities leading up to the final bloody action of April 1882. While this level of detail evidences excellent scholarship and research, the book often bogs down here; a somewhat more condensed telling of the Cow-boys' criminal actions would have made for a more fluid read. The author convincingly lays out the case that rather than a strictly extralegal and vengeful attack on the Cow-boys, Wyatt Earp led a government-sanctioned mission with substantial financial and political support to finally halt the Cow-boys spree of crime and atrocities. Hornung also details the "Otero Letter" (purportedly written by the New Mexico Territory Governor) , serendipitously discovered by the author himself in 2001, to shed new light on the events. Overall, this is an interesting and worthy addition to the Western lore of Wyatt Earp.