Book Review

By Duncan L. Dieterly

Death of a Gunfighter by Dan Rottenberg

This is a biography of Jack Slade, one of the old Wests most elusive legends. Joseph Alfred Jack Slade was born in 1831 at Carlyle, Illinois and died in 1864 in Virginia City, Montana. . In his brief life of thirty-three years, he was involved in the opening of the West. He left home to become a cowboy and served in the Army during the Mexican War (1848). He made a name for himself as a wagon train captain, stagecoach line superintendent for Hockaday & Co. and gunman. He was credited with more kills than are documented and supposedly carried the ears of one man he shot. This man had previously attempted to murder Slade, shooting him five times and leaving him to die. Slade dealt with graft, Indians, outlaws and horse thieves to keep the stagecoach line operating and the mail running. He became known as the Law West of Kearney. His life may be more myth than reality but he was instrumental in the establishment of the pony express, and the freighting industry on the Overland Trail in the West; thus keeping this important passage to California open during the Civil War. He married a feisty woman, Maria Virginia and established a reputation for drinking, gambling and misbehaving that led to his ultimate downfall. He was hanged by vigilantes in 1864. This is a meticulous researched, detailed account of what is known about the man and his exploits. Rottenberg, Dan Death of a Gunfighter, Westholme Publishing: Yardley, 2008. 520 pages. Rating: 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Type: Biography April 12, 2012