Death of a Gunfighter

Book excerpt: In the lead up to the Civil War, Joseph Alfred "Jack" Slade kept the stagecoaches and the U.S. Mail running through Colorado, and helped launch the Pony Express, all of which kept California and its gold in the Union. With his reputation as a gunfighter, across the Great Plains he became known as "The Law West of Kearny." Since Slade's death in 1864, persistent myths and stories have defied the efforts of writers and historians, including Mark Twain, to capture the real Jack Slade. Despite his notoriety, the pieces of Slade's fascinating life—including his marriage to the beautiful Maria Virginia—have remained scattered and hidden. In Death of a Gunfighter: The Quest for Jack Slade, the West's Most Elusive Legend, journalist Dan Rottenberg assembles years of research to reveal the true story of Jack Slade, one of America's greatest tragic heroes.