Road to Fargo — Maggie Kelley

The old west was a collection of large territories that spread from the Missouri River west to the Pacific Ocean, north to Canada, and south to Mexico. The only civil law enforcement personnel permitted to cross these boundaries was the U. S. Federal Marshall. The more successful marshal's ranged over the wider regions of jurisdiction. Following the worst of the outlaws to greater lengths became the hallmark of the best marshals of the U.S. territories. These premiere law officers had to be more capable on horse back, better at navigating the open range, intimate with the tribal etiquette of the many indigenous nations, and capable of dispensing justice with a hand gun. The mature federal marshal had to survive many gunfights, apprehend numerous badmen, and adjudicate crimes where courts could not be reached. Here we find such a marshal upon an especially long hard trail pursuing one of the deadliest villains ever to pass out of Texas. We share the hunt and the many experiences of the officer along the track to justice. Heroines, scalawags, small town officials arise and bring alive tales of the old west that may well have been true.