In Our American West, Volume I you are sure to discover humor, tragedy and courage in every one of these delightful stories. Gary McCarthy has been writing about the American West for thirty years and these are some of his favorite topics written-not for the expert or scholar-but for all the armchair admirers of things historically western. Some of these exciting subjects are fairly well known such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, but even here you will discover things about these daring outlaws that you probably didn't know. And in this first volume, you'll be delighted and amused at the stories McCarthy tells of coyotes and burros, jackrabbits and mustangs -the "untamed ones" that are oh so very important threads in the rich and textured tapestry of our western heritage. And how about Black Bart, the gentle stagecoach robber and gentleman of Forty-Niners' era California who never robbed passengers but who humorously signed off as Po8 because he loved scribbling then leaving confounding doggerel for the frustrated lawman hounding his trail. Did you know about the beautiful and sultry Lola Montez, the famous "Spider Dancer" who was a Comstock Lode sensation and yet was secretly -Irish and the wife and shameless mistress of some of Europe's richest noblemen? Charles Russell was famous for his art, but one of his dearest friends, Will Rogers, thought of him as an equally gifted storyteller. And what about "Bet a Million" Gates whose bold Texas wager transformed the entire face and future of the American West? In this fascinating and fun to read volume you will learn about explorers, adventurers, the famous and almost famous, and about legends like Joaquin Murieta "The Ghost of Sonora." Did he once live to ride and raid and was that really his pickled head in a jar that finally found rest after the Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake? On some pages, you will have to decide for yourself between fact and fiction, between the romantic and happy ending or the sad one, but rest assured you'll have a wonderful little romp through Our American West Volume I.