re: Louisiana during the Wild West days?

James gang operated in MO, KS, into Mexico.

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Natchez has much more of a Louisiana vibe than it does Mississippi.

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Yes it does. Has more LSU fans than Ole Miss or State fans too.

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The route began in San Antonio, Texas, and traversed eastward through East Texas, crossing the Sabine River near Beaumont, and continued through Opelousas, Louisiana, before reaching New Orleans.

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I can understand crossing the Sabine, but how the hell did they get cattle across the Mississippi? Or was there a market on the west bank?

Briley was an amateur with a capitol A and it shows in his writing, but at least he got some of it down on paper. There's another book written more recently that's a little better written but the name escapes me. There's also a historical novel that came out in the last four or five years.

One of the problems with this story is a lot of people were complicit to some degree or another and didn't want to talk about it. There were also people related to the outlaws who weren't involved themselves and just wanted it to go away.

The story goes that John West's skull sat on a fence post outside the general store in Atlanta, LA until the fifties or sixties until it finally disappeared. After his death his widow and extended family moved to Jackson Parish. The community of Weston is named after them.

The vigilantes were issued blank pardons by the governor to be filled in after they did the deed.

ETA Prof. Terry Jones at ULM is a Winn Parish native and his specialty is the Civil War and Reconstruction. He would be the logical guy to write the definitive book about this. I don't know why he hasn't.

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Jim Rockford

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Are you a “historian” from Winn Parish with last name starting with D by chance?

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Briley was an amateur with a capitol A and it shows in his writing,

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I think he he trying to write in the old Dime Store western novel style and I appreciate his effort.

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The vigilantes were issued blank pardons by the governor to be filled in after they did the deed.

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Briley mentions this in his book.

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There's another book written more recently that's a little better written but the name escapes me. There's also a historical novel that came out in the last four or five years.

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Let me know when you think of the names of the books. I would appreciate it.

On a side note, Louisiana does such a crappy job educating it's citizens and the rest of the country about our history. New Orleans and the Cajun/Creole cultures gets shoved out there but Louisiana has so much more history to offer.

Same here. My grandmother's family is buried at Coulee cemetery, and I'm aware of many facts you've posted. I have the hardback book of the Nightriders. They roamed all over that piney woods country I grew up in.

Small world.

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Covers the same ground as Briley for the most part, but better written

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This is the novel. I haven't read it so can't vouch whether it's any good.

I also found this two part article in a western magazine that is a pretty good overview, although it gets some things wrong and some of it is pure speculation.

Part 1 LINK

Part 2 LINK

There's some hyperbole in all the accounts I've read. The gang operated in one of the poorest areas in the poorest region of the country, in the aftermath of a devastating war. I just don't think there was that much much money involved. I imagine most of these killings were over a horse or a few dollars, which doesn't make it any less criminal. At any rate, I think we've found out just about all we're going to find out about this chapter. It was almost all oral history, and we're now five generations removed from anyone who had first or secondhand knowledge.

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The gang operated in one of the poorest areas in the poorest region of the country, in the aftermath of a devastating war. I just don't think there was that much much money involved. I imagine most of these killings were over a horse or a few dollars, which doesn't make it any less criminal

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It's my understanding that they robbed people passing through on their way to Texas or further west. They didn't prey on the local populace because, as you mentioned, they weren't in a prosperous part of the state. It's also one of the reasons why they operated so long with being caught but who knows for sure.

Thanks for the links.

ETA. The first book links to a paperback that is selling $179.00. Can I borrow it from you after you read it?

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Louisiana during the Wild West days?

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I think the actual “Wild West” days were Turing the Mid - late 1800’s. So, immediately after the civil war there was military occupation and reconstruction were going on. Carpetbaggers everywhere….