Before Dallas Stoudenmire accepted the position as marshal of El Paso, there existed no authority except that of the six-shooter, and very little precedent for a peace officer to follow. No one before had held the job for more than a couple of months. Yet, within two years, with the help of Jim Gillett, his young deputy, Stoudenmire had cleaned up the town, a task that earned him many enemies and, in the end, death.

This is the story of Dallas Stoudenmire-auburn-haired, fiery-eyed, six-foot, two-inch gunfighter, container of laughter, liquor, and death-during the two tumultuous years in the early 1880's when he served as almost the only law north of the Rio Grande and west of Fort Worth.

Leon C. Metz, Archivist in the University of Texas Library at EI Paso, has exhaustively researched this definitive biography of Garrett and has traveled far and wide to interview Garrett's family and friends-the people who knew him well. He has laid to rest many of the rumors and speculations surrounding Garrett's life and death, as well as those of his most famous victim. He has discovered many rare and previously unpublished photographs of Garrett and his associates, all included in this book