The Summer of 1876: Outlaws, Lawmen, and Legends in the Season That Defined the American West

"From the creator of the "Legends of the Old West" podcast, a book exploring the overlapping narratives of the biggest legends in frontier mythology.

The summer of 1876 was a key time period in the development of the mythology of the Old West.

Many individuals who are considered legends by modern readers were involved in events that began their notoriety or turned out to be the most famous - or infamous - moments of their lives.

Those individuals were Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Wild Bill Hickok, and Jesse James.

The Summer of 1876 weaves together the timelines of the events that made these men legends to demonstrate the overlapping context of their stories and to illustrate the historical importance of that summer, all layered with highlights of significant milestones in 1876: the inaugural baseball season of the National League; the final year of President Ulysses S