John B. Armstrong: Texas Ranger and Pioneer Ranchman

Western writers have an endless supply of subject matter if they plan on turning out biographies of every lawman who ever lived. Thus we have John B. Armstrong, who seems an average man of his times who was part of early south Texas disorder and action.

A member of the Texas Rangers, he later had his 15 minutes of fame by participating in the 1877 capture of notorious killer John Wesley Hardin. Beyond that, the author offers little substantive material about Armstrong himself, and too much of the book involves family genealogy. The author does share history paralleling Armstrong’s unremarkable career that may make this book a sound reference on other outlaws and violent social misadventure. —Chuck Lewis