03668cam a2200313 4500 278443108 TxAuBib 20161119120000.0 110103s2011||||||||||||||||||||||||und|u 9781603442589 $29.95 1603442588 $29.95 TxAuBib Baker, T. Lindsay. A Gangster Tour of Texas / T. Lindsay Baker. 1st ed. College Station : Texas A&M University Press, 2011. 330 p. : ill. ; 26 cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. Bonnie and Clyde slept here: on the trail of the Barrow Gang -- Four brothers in crime: the Newton Boys, express car and bank robbers of Uvalde -- The Southern Pacific payroll robbery in El Paso: an attempted heist, the murder of an innocent man, and an international prisoner exchange -- Becky Rogers, the flapper bandit -- The Stanton frame-up: killing blameless men for a bounty -- The Santa Claus Bank Robbery -- Captain Charlie and the Rum King of San Antonio -- The Urschel kidnapping: Machine Gun Kelly's foray into Texas -- The Texas and Pacific mail robbery in Fort Worth: robbery, cold-blooded murder, and incarceration on Alcatraz -- The unsolved murder of Frank Nand Singh: immigrant smuggling on the Mexican border in the 1930s -- The Post morphine ring: dope dealing at the edge of the Caprock -- The greatest medical charlatan of them all: Dr. John R. Brinkley and his empire of fraud in Del Rio -- High stakes gambling underground at Top O'Hill Terrace -- Bascom Giles: bribery at the highest levels in the Texas General Land Office -- The Houston Police dope scandal: selling heroin back to the dealers -- Two brothers and gaming over Gulf waters: the end of the gangster era in Texas. Bonnie and Clyde, Machine Gun Kelly, the Newton Boys, the Santa Claus Bank Robbers. . . . During the era of gangsters and organized crime, Texas hosted its fair share of guns and gambling, moonshine and morphine, ransom and robbery. The state’s crime wave hit such a level that in 1927 the Texas Bankers Association offered a reward of $5,000 for a dead bank robber; no reward was given for one captured alive. Veteran historian T. Lindsay Baker brings his considerable sleuthing skills to the dark side, leading readers on a fascinating tour of the most interesting and best preserved crime scenes in the Lone Star State. Gangster Tour of Texas traces a trail of crime that had its beginnings in 1918, when the Texas legislature outlawed alcohol, and persisted until 1957, when Texas Rangers closed down the infamous casinos of Galveston. Baker presents detailed maps, photographs of criminals, victims, and law officers, and pictures of the crime scenes as they appear today. Steeped in solid historical research, including personal visits by the author to every site described in the book, this volume offers entertaining and informative insights into a particularly lawless period in our nation’s history. Readers interested in true crime, regional history, or this unique aspect of heritage tourism will derive hours of enjoyment as they follow--on the road or from their armchairs--the trail of both cops and robbers in Gangster Tour of Texas. 20161119. Organized crime Texas History 20th century. Gangsters Texas History 20th century. Gangsters Homes and haunts Texas. Heritage tourism Texas. Texas History, Local. Texas Description and travel. TXHAM