Few names in the lore of western gunmen are as recognizable. Few
lives of the most notorious are as little known. Romanticized and
made legendary, John Ringo fought and killed for what he believed
was right. As a teenager, Ringo was rushed into sudden adulthood
when his father was killed tragically in the midst of the family's
overland trek to California. As a young man he became embroiled in
the blood feud turbulence of post-Reconstruction Texas.
The Mason County "Hoo Doo" War in Texas began as a war over
range rights, but it swiftly deteriorated into blood vengeance and
spiraled out of control as the body count rose. In this charnel house
Ringo gained a reputation as a dangerous gunfighter and man killer.
He was proclaimed throughout the state as a daring leader, a
desperate man, and a champion of the feud. Following incarceration
for his role in the feud, Ringo was elected as a lawman in Mason
County, the epicenter of the feud's origin.
The reputation he earned in Texas, further inflated by his
willingness to shoot it out with Victorio's raiders during a deadly
confrontation in New Mexico, preceded him to Tombstone in
territorial Arizona. Ringo became immersed in the area's partisan
politics and factionalized violence. A champion of the largely
Democratic ranchers, Ringo would become known as a leader of one
of these elements, the Cowboys. He ran at bloody, tragic odds with
the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday, finally being part of the posse
that hounded these fugitives from Arizona. In the end, Ringo died
mysteriously in the Arizona desert, his death welcomed by some,
mourned by others, wrongly claimed by a few.
Initially published in 1996, John Ringo has been updated to a
second edition with much new information researched and uncovered
by David Johnson and other Ringo researchers.
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DAVID JOHNSON has received degrees from Pennsylvania State
University and Purdue University. He is the author of The Mason
County "Hoo Doo" War, 1874–1902, published by the University of
North Texas Press. His 1996 edition of John Ringo was a finalist for
best biography of the year by the Western Writers of America.
Johnson has also edited two editions of The Life of Thomas W.
Gamel, with a third revision currently underway. He lives in Zionsville,
Indiana.
Number Six: A. C. Greene Series
What people are saying about this book
"This is the definitive biography of John Ringo, sans mythology and
malarkey."—Bob Alexander, award-winning author of Old West
history
"Historian Dave Johnson sets aside the legends and myths to
present here the most complete biography of Ringo to date, from
his participation in the Mason County 'Hoo Doo' War of Texas to
the violence and feuding with the Earps in Tombstone, 'The Town
Too Tough to Die.'"—Chuck Parsons, author of John B. Armstrong,
Texas Ranger and Pioneer Rancher
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