Veteran journalist and historian Steve Wiegand takes readers across the
post-Civil War Wild West. Wiegand introduces--or re-introduces--us to
lawmen such as Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp and outlaws such as the
Younger and James Brothers, as well as larger-than-life figures such as
Buffalo Bill and George Custer. He details the stories of these
real-life legends, the aftermath and legacies they left behind, and the
innumerable myths frequently attributed to them. Juxtaposing their real
lives with the often-outlandish accounts of their exploits, 1876
swings from lighthearted humor to cliff-hanger suspense. It also
portrays how the Wild West's initial, tantalizing promise of fame and
glamour often disintegrated.
But 1876 also offers readers a unique element noticeably absent from
most Wild West books: historical context. Wiegand expands his
contemporary spotlight on America's 100th birthday year to encompass
what was going on in the rest of the country. On the very same day
George Armstrong Custer was dying on a parched hill in southeastern
Montana and immortalizing himself as both hero and villain, Alexander
Graham Bell was at America's first World's Fair in Philadelphia,
demonstrating his new invention--the telephone. At the same time Wyatt
Earp was moseying into Dodge City to join the town's police force,
Albert Goodwill Spalding was on a pitcher's mound in Chicago,
establishing baseball as the national pastime and creating a sporting
goods empire. And even as the James Boys and Younger Brothers were
robbing banks, Democrats and Republicans were conspiring to steal the
White House from the American voter. This book brings them all together
in one place.
Fueled by the author's childhood interest in cowboys, train and bank
robberies, and high noon shootouts, and their portrayal in iconic TV
shows, 1876 is a delightful homage to famous Wild West figures who,
with media help, helped shape the American character.
