The Life of John Wesley Hardin, As Written by Himself

The Life of John Wesley Hardin, As Written by Himself is an autobiography by the famous outlaw. After the early 19th century saw the glorification of frontier folk heroes like Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone, a new breed of folk icons inhabited the Wild West, and one of the most notorious and controversial of them all is John Wesley Hardin, still regarded today as Texas’ most deadly gunfighter and most famous outlaw. Outlaws like Jesse James and Billy the Kid robbed and fought their way into dime novels, but Hardin managed to write his own way in, all while his encounters with the law in the South during Reconstruction made him a hero of sorts among Southerners. Hardin managed a stint in prison, claimed to have killed dozens of men, had an encounter with Wild Bill Hickok, and was even alleged to have killed a man because he was snoring. Despite all that activity, Hardin also managed to write an autobiography of his life, a unique feat among most outlaws of the era, who were too busy merely trying to avoid justice and/or death. Of course, Hardin’s claims in the autobiography have also been subjected to much scrutiny by historians, even as his reputation and legacy were hardened by his life and notorious death. While he had several documented and well-known brushes with the law and other famous Westerners, historians still attempt to sort out the facts from the legends.