Ben Thompson, Man With A Gun

FLOYD BENJAMIN STREETER

Publication: Frederick Fell, Inc, Publishers, 1957, New York

First edition. 8vo. Two-tone quarter cloth and boards, [16], 217 pp., introduction, illustrated, bibliography, Introduction by William F. Kelleher. Well-written biography of the life of this famous Texas gunfighter. Ben Thompson was a gunman, gambler, and sometimes lawman, raised in Austin, Texas. Thompson fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War and later for Emperor Maximilian in Mexico. In 1870, Thompson left Texas for Abilene, Kansas, which had become a boomtown due to the expanding cattle trade. In 1871, along with friend Phil Coe, Thompson opened the "Bulls Head Saloon" in Abilene. After being hired as marshal in Austin, Texas, in 1881, the crime rate reportedly dropped sharply. At the age of 40, Thompson was assassinated alongside the South Texas ruffian John Kingfisher in San Antonio, Texas. Fine in lightly rubbed dust jacket with some light ink touch-up to head of spine with black ink by a former owner.

Inventory Number: 41252