William Bartholomew “Bat” Masterson (1853- or 1856-1921) was a lawman, soldier, gambler and writer, a man belonging solidly in both the Old West and the modern East Coast. At a young age Masterson, like so many others of his time, left home to hunt buffalo on the grassy plains of the West. On June 27, 1874, he took place in what would become the Second Battle of Adobe Walls at Adobe Walls, Texas. The Southern Plains tribes of the area surrounded the three adobe buildings at the center of town and, at dawn, they attacked. Masterson and 28 other settlers barricaded themselves in and fought through windows and cracks in the walls. Miraculously, when the dust settled the next day, the Indians had given up the fight and the settlers had won.
In his later years, Masterson became interested in boxing and athletics and began to write a sports column for the Denver paper "George’s Weekly." When President Roosevelt appointed him U.S. Marshal for the southern district of New York, Masterson took his writing with him and began a column for the "New York Morning Telegraph." He died in his office at the "Telegraph" of a heart attack in 1921, his last column still unfinished in the typewriter.

The title of this piece is taken from Doc Holliday’s last words, uttered as he died in Colorado at the age of thirty-four. It is thought that Holliday was remarking on a rogue such as himself dying in bed, with his boots off.

Patrick “Pat” Floyd Garrett (1850-1908) lived a tragic life of bad decisions and infamous friends. Garrett began his career in the Old West as a buffalo hunter, then progressed to local government. In 1880, a $500 bounty was set for the capture of Henry McCarty (also known as William Harrison Bonney and Billy the Kid) and Garrett rose to the occasion. As newly elected Sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico in 1881, Garrett and a band of men found McCarty and his men and forced them to surrender. Garrett arrested McCarty and brought him to the courthouse, but before he could be executed Billy escaped, killing two prison guards in his flight.
Determined this time to get it right, Garrett hunted down McCarty at the home of McCarty’s friend Pete Maxwell. In the darkness of Maxwell’s house, Garrett shot McCarty through the heart and killed him. Unfortunately, the execution of the wanted criminal earned Garrett neither renown nor reward, for Billy had become a local celebrity and the bounty had been for a live capture.

Virgil Walter Earp (1843-1905) was one of the Old West’s great lawmen. While not as famous today as his younger brother Wyatt, Virgil’s role in protecting the law of Tombstone and other Western towns was far more impressive.
On June 28, 1880, Virgil was appointed city marshal of the small mining camp of Tombstone, Arizona. Virgil took it upon himself to enforce local ordinances such as the ban on concealed or open weapons within town limits. His actions brought him into direct conflict with outlaws Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton, which led to the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Virgil, along with new deputy Morgan Earp and temporarily deputized citizens Wyatt Earp and John “Doc” Holliday took on the Clanton gang in a blaze of gunfire behind the Corral. Three of the outlaws were killed, and in the following week both Morgan and Virgil were the targets of assassination attempts, in which Morgan was killed and Virgil lost the use of his left arm.

James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickock (1837-1876) became famous throughout the whole of 19th century America for his skills with weaponry, gambling and his outrageous, larger-than-life personality. Like many denizens of the Old West, Wild Bill traveled from town to town trying his hand at different professions, but it was his marksmanship, or perhaps his own outrageous accounts of it, that earned him renown.
His exploits and wild tales had made him more than a few enemies and Wild Bill fell into the habit of finding a seat in the corner of saloons to protect himself from surprise attacks. On the day of August 1, 1876, however, Nuttal & Mann's Saloon No. 10 was packed and Hickock could only be seated at the center of the room, with his back to a door. Jack McCall entered the room and shot Wild Bill from behind as he played poker. Hickock's cards (two aces, two eights and a jack) have since come to be known as the "Dead Man's Hand."

Wyatt Earp moved to Tombstone, Arizona to retire from a lifetime of law enforcement, but soon found himself entangled in a battle with a gang of local outlaws known as the Cowboys. Wyatt, along with his brothers Morgan and Virgil, and their friend the dentist, gambler and gunman John Henry “Doc” Holliday, clashed with the Cowboys in the gunfight that became known as the shoot-out at the O.K. Corral.

This volume is the long-awaited collection of the award-winning work of Don Crowley, one of today’s prominent Western artists. Crowley is a member of the prestigious Cowboy Artists of America, and he is one of the “Tucson 7,” an informal group of artists who began their careers in commercial art and have successfully made the transition to Western fine art. Since moving to Arizona in 1974, Crowley has dedicated his career to painting Native American life and people, particularly members of the San Carlos Indian Reservation in eastern Arizona.
Slipcased and signed book accompanied by the print "Apache Farewell."
"Apache Farewell"
In the 1800s, the Apaches were fighting the white settlers, the Mexicans, the U.S. Army and attempts to put them on reservations. This Apache warrior, armed with his weapons, says farewell to his wife and child as he departs for battle.

Known for his detailed realism and complex designs, Don Crowley’s artwork sits at the apex of many painter’s and collector’s wish lists. In "Prayer to the Morning Sun," Crowley depicts a Paiute maiden in her morning prayer ritual using eagle feathers as totem. “When I was growing up the only thing I knew about Indians came from movies and magazines. It was all unrelentingly negative and simplistic,” Crowley says. “As an adult I realized these were a people forced to the brink of extinction and that their story was a true tragedy. I have learned to care about the customs of their everyday life and the beauty of their sacred ceremonies. It is this essence of Indian life I bring to my art.”

Late afternoon, approaching sundown, is “the magic time” for any painter. When the subject is placed in the hands of Don Crowley, one of the leading western artists working today,“magic” seems too unimpressive a word. The light is just right and the hush upon the hills is palatable. “Ripples,” says Crowley is,“one of those wonderful and beautiful sunset scenes where the only sounds are the horse’s hooves in the water and the staccato cadence of crickets across the pond.”

The Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 remains one of the most horrific events in the history of the United States. Under the pretext of defending the growing city of Denver, Colorado, United States troops, under the command of Colonel John Chivington, attacked a camp of peaceful Cheyenne. The majority of Cheyenne warriors had left on a hunt, but the American soldiers slaughtered every Native American they could find, including women, the elderly and children. Chivington reported that between five and six hundred warriors were killed; in truth, about 53 men and over a hundred women and children were murdered. The battle has remained an ugly scar on the face of the southwest United States.
The Cheyenne subject of Don Crowley’s "Sand Creek Memories" pays tribute to the memory of his fallen tribesmen. This moving portrait is a memorial to the departed and a plea for peace, that we may not make the same mistake in allowing such atrocities again.

The Art of Don Crowley