Ride the Devil's Herd

Wyatt Earp's Epic Battle Against the West's Biggest Outlaw Gang

By: John Boessenecker

Narrated by: Stephen Graybill

Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

The little-known story of how a young Wyatt Earp, aided by his brothers, defeated the Cowboys, the Old West’s biggest outlaw gang.

Wyatt Earp is regarded as the most famous lawman of the Old West, best known for his role in the Gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. But the story of his two-year war with a band of outlaws known as the Cowboys has never been told in full.

The Cowboys were the largest outlaw gang in the history of the American West. After battles with the law in Texas and New Mexico, they shifted their operations to Arizona. There, led by Curly Bill Brocius, they ruled the border, robbing, rustling, smuggling, and killing with impunity until they made the fatal mistake of tangling with the Earp brothers.

Drawing on groundbreaking research into territorial and federal government records, John Boessenecker’s Ride the Devil’s Herd reveals a time and place in which homicide rates were 50 times higher than those today. The story still bears surprising relevance for contemporary America, involving hot-button issues such as gang violence, border security, unlawful immigration, the dangers of political propagandists parading as journalists, and the prosecution of police officers for carrying out their official duties. Wyatt Earp saw it all in Tombstone.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2020 John Boessenecker (P)2020 Harlequin Enterprises, Limited

Enlightened

Impressive.
Especially the warning at the end, confirming the old saw about those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Fascinating

Mr. Boessenecker has outdone himself again. After his masterpiece on Frank Hamer, I was really hoping this would compare. It did. He, once again, struck a fair balance of the heroic with all their warts. In doing so, he proves that true history, i.e. stories backed by facts and logic, is more interesting, entertaining and fascinating than the legend that has been passed down.
The only downside to listening is the narrator’s inexcusable mispronunciations of certain towns (along with my petty hang-up of the way he says “county”; which is repeated a hundred times over). You will not regret listening to/reading this book. Bravo!

Great as always

Last few minutes is very true. Flawed hero’s and justice often go hand in hand.

The Wild West

It reveled just how wild the Arizona & New Mexico territories still were at the turn of the century.
Additionally gave very good description of the Earp family and law enforcement in the early days.

Boessenecker does it again

This historian author has delivered another work that shows us "both sides of the coin." Whether it's Frank Hamer or the Earps, we get a fair and honest look at these people in their times.

In depth story telling, great listen for any old west history buff

This one is hard to take in at anything other than regular speed. Not a big deal as the story telling is rich with detail.

Really interesting but….

The author goes off on an odd complaint about police being held accountable at the end.

Long but good

A little long, but it's a great, easy listen that I found fun to listen to bit by bit over a couple of months.

Fascinating……

This book filled in a whole lot of blanks for me. If you’re interested in forming your own opinion of this story…. There is a whole lot of valuable perspective here. Enjoyed it greatly.

Horrible narration, huge disappointment

Stephen Graybill took an exciting book and turned it to a bore fest, so much so I went and bought the book. If I was the author I would be spitting bullets that this man made my book so dull. He provides no voices and had such a monotone voice, made the entire experience painful. Wyatt Earps life was filled with so much joy, tragedy, excitement but you don’t get any of that.A huge disappointment only on the narrative. The author fabulous story. DO NOT WASTE YOUR CREDIT on this reading of the book.