The Amazing Tom Mix by Richard Jensen. (2005)
Tom Mix was a town marshal and cowboy in the Oklahoma Territory, a rodeo champion and a wild west show performer. With his devil-may-care attitude, quick wit and penchant for doing breath-taking stunts on his wonder horse, Tony, Tom Mix went on to become the #1 movie cowboy of silent films, earning millions of dollars at a time when movie tickets cost pennies. Mix performed for over 71,000,000 fans through his film and live performances and became famous the world over for his squeaky clean image. In his time he was as famous as baseball great Babe Ruth and world champion boxer Jack Dempsey, both of whom were his friends. Celebrated author Richard D. Jensen has spent more than 30 years researching the life of Tom Mix, the man hailed as "the idol of every American boy." With incredible detail, much of it gained from hundreds of original letters, records, documents and eyewitness accounts of Mix's life, The Amazing Tom Mix cuts through 100 years of public relations mythology, tall tales and outright lies to bring the true and inspiring story of a man whose Saturday matinee cowboy image would become the standard for all of the movie cowboys who rode the silver screen after him. Signed copies are available. $21.95
West of the Dead Line by Phil Truman (2015)
Another volume of western historical fiction by one of our favorite authors. West of the Dead Line is a series of short stories featuring Bass Reeves, one of the best of the legendary lawmen who ventured into Indian Territory during the days before Oklahoma became a state. Tracing Marshal Reeves evolution from a slave, to a respected, and feared lawman, the reader gets a good taste of the lawless side of Indian Territory and the men who tried to bring in a little law and order. Fictional tales but with lots of history included, West of the Dead Line, would be a good addition to the library of any fan of the old west.
Signed copies are available. $9.95
Red Lands Outlaw - The Ballad of Henry Starr by Phil Truman (2012)
In the last years of the tough and woolly land called Indian Territory, and the first of the new state of Oklahoma, the outlaw Henry Starr rides roughshod through the midst of it. A native son of “The Nations” he’s more Scotch-Irish than Cherokee, but is scorned by both. He never really wanted to journey west of the law, yet fate seems to insist. He’s falsely accused and arrested for horse-thieving at age sixteen, then sentenced to hang at nineteen by Judge Isaac Parker for the dubious killing of a deputy U.S. marshal, but he escapes the gallows on a technicality. Given that opportunity, the charming, handsome, mild-mannered Henry Starr spends the rest of his life becoming the most prolific bank robber the West has ever known.
A great read about a local character by a local author. Henry Starr grew up in Indian Territory and is buried in the Dewey Cemetery. Phil Truman lives in Broken Arrow. Red Lands Outlaw is his third novel. Signed copies are available. $14.95
Horsing Around A Lot - by Stu Campbell (1999)
This skinny cowboy with a beat up hat and scuffed boots wandered into the Museum one afternoon and after visiting with the ladies for a bit asked if we might have any interest in buying some books. He said his name was Stu Campbell and he had some books out in his pickup if we thought we might be interested. If you like horse stories you will love this little book. There must be four dozen or so stories, all true according to Stu, about his life working various ranches both real and dude. Told just as you might hear them, sittng around a campfire in the evening after the work is done, they are a joy to read. And you don't have to worry about one of your kids or grandkids picking the book up and reading it. Stu is a cowboy from the old school. "Son-of-a-sea-cook" is about as bad or racy as the language gets. Signed copies are available. $15.95
It Takes a Good Horse - by Shirley Lucas Jauregui
Shirley and Sharon Lucas were born in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. After their father died at the young age of 52 the girls decided to leave the corporate world, move to California and become trick riders. This is their story. Told by Shirley in a very unassuming but completely entertaining way. When you finish reading you will not only be sorry that the book is over but you will feel like Shirley is a good friend.
Perfecting their skills through hard work and perseverance with a little bit of luck here and there these two ladies performed in rodeos all over the country. If you are like me you are unlikely to recognize their names but if you are of my generation it is quite likely that you have seen them in the theater and on TV. Performing stunts doubling for actresses like Betty Hutton, Mitzi Green, Lucille Ball, Virginia Mayo, Lana Turner, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn and many others they were in great demand during the golden years of Hollywood. If you like good stories about good people and good horses you will love this book. Full of class, humility, humor and warmth, much, I suspect, like the author. Signed copies are available. $20.00
The Nicest Fella - by Richard Jensen
Although we can't quite claim Ben Johnson Jr. as a home town boy we can sure claim him as a neighbor. One of the real cowboys who managed to make it as a movie star without losing his cowboy integrity. The son of world champion cowboy Ben Johnson Sr. he grew up on the Johnson ranch near Pawhuska. Ben Jr. was a world champion cowboy himself winning the 1953 RCA team roping world championship. Ben Jr. co-starred in some of the greatest westerns ever made with some of the greatest western stars of all time. John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Alan Ladd, Steve McQueen and Henry Fonda to name just a few. Johnson started out in Hollywood wrangling horses and as a stunt double but soon found his place acting. His filmography was extensive and varied: Shane, Rio Grande, Junior Bonner, The Wild Bunch, Wagon Train and The Last Picture Show winning an Academy Award for his role as 'Sam the Lion.' A nice book about The Nicest Fella. Signed copies are available. $30.95
Tom Mix - Cowboy King of Hollywood by Richard Jensen
Tom Mix was the greatest cowboy star in the history of silent - and early sound - Western movies. He was famous throughout the world, and his exploits thrilled millions of fans. In this, his second biography of Tom Mix, film historian Richard Douglas Jensen brings to life the amazing saga of the Pennsylvania-born farm boy who became an Oklahoma cowboy, rodeo champion and wild west show star. When the nascent movie industry beckoned, Tom Mix rode into town with six guns blazing and became the Cowboy King of Hollywood. As famous as silent movie icons Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Mary Pickford, Tom Mix was the most popular movie cowboy of his time and the "idol of every American boy." Not only did Mix thrill audiences the world over, he created the iconography of the clean-cut, flashy-dressed cowboy hero for every cowboy star that followed in his footsteps - from Gene Autry and Roy Rogers to John Wayne and many more. With impeccable research and newly-discovered facts which have never been published before, Jensen crafts an even more detailed picture of the life of one Hollywood's biggest and most beloved action stars. No other movie hero - with the exception of Jackie Chan - has ever risked his own life to bring so many breath-taking thrills to the screen. Signed copies are available. $32.95