Erik J Wright

Turn-of-the-century San Francisco detective Arthur T. McQuaide was a force to be reckoned with. A child of Irish immigrants, McQuaide inherited a city hell-bent on its own destruction. His experiences with the city's police force range from the tragic earthquake of 1906 to the brutal Chinatown Tong Wars. Through contemporary newspapers and other period documents the life of Arthur McQuaide, a true lawman at the dawn of a new era, is revealed at long last.

Award-winning historian Erik Wright has, for the first time, compiled a selection of his articles and essays. West of Hell looks to the violence of the American frontier and examines such notable figures as Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Geronimo, and Wild Bill Hickok while also exploring those figures whose stories still remain out of the public eye like Thomas Mulqueen, Mickey Free, and Patrick Gass.These authoritative works have previously appeared in such publications as True West magazine, Wild West magazine, the Journal of the West, The Tombstone Epitaph and the Journal of the Wild West History Association. Now, both casual readers and serious students of frontier history and western violence can access these true-to-life stories in one easily accessible and richly-illustrated volume.

Main Street Mayhem: Crime, Murder & Justice in Downtown Paragould, 1888 - 1932 explores some of the forgotten episodes of explosive violence in an Arkansas railroad town. Through extensive investigations by award-winning historian Erik Wright, numerous stories are uncovered from the escape of Arkansas murder suspect James Trammell to Australia to the fumbled highway robbery and murder of young Lewis Reynolds. 2018 revised second edition includes a 20-page chapter on outlaw Frank "Jelly" Nash. Illustrated with sources and a foreword by Dan Stidham, Main Street Mayhem is sure to please the scholar and the casual reader.

From the foreword by Tombstone historian Peter Brand: "This book represents his author's] first collection of articles, dealing with frontier gamblers, murder, jail breaks and rough justice. Primarily dealing with the lives of four Tucson gamblers and a gang of cut-throat opportunists, these articles provide previously unknown information about some of these lesser known nefarious characters. During the early 1880s, many men, who devoted their time to the high-risk vocations of mining and gambling, found their way to Tucson, Arizona Territory. The author provides biographical sketches of four such men - John Murphy, William Moyer, David Gibson and their murdered victim, gunman James Leavy."