A FAMILY OF SIDEWINDERS AND VERY TARNISHED SAINTS: JOE PAPPALARDO'S FOUR AGAINST THE WEST

Judge Roy Bean grew more into legend than historical figure. I've encountered more books with him as a fictional character than subject for historical biography. Joe Pappalardo works to set the story straight by not just looking at the true story of The Law West Of The Pecos, but his brothers as well in Four Against The West.

We are introduced to Roy, the youngest, as a teen working on a flat boat hauling slaves down to New Orleans in 1841. The following chapter concerns the eldest, James, beginning his journey on The Santa fe Trail a couple years later, seeking a fortune as a merchant. The two middle bothers Sam and Joshua both join the army. Joshua fights indians, while Sam heads south as a soldier under Zachary Taylor in The Mexican War. Born and raised in relative comfort, the family finances crashed after their father's death and they pursue wealth and status at all costs as lawmen, bartenders, saloon and store owners, and politicians. There are also for outlaw forays as well.

Pappalardo tells their story on the broad canvas of western expansion. Much like the country they are divided by the issue of slavery and the Civil War. The furthest west the war ever got in the Battle Of Glorieta touches Sam and Roy. They fight in war and duels and zig zag across the country, Sam gets punched out by Billy The Kid's killer, Pat Garrett. Roy purposely builds himself into a tall tale when he settles in railroad town Vinegaroon, Texas and takes advantage of being the justice of the peace as well a saloon owner.

The author's prose drops the reader right next to each Bean Brother in the middle of their circumstances. He uses present tense , conveying an immediacy that shortens the distance of history. Even when describing the backdrop of a certain place and time, it feels like living through current events.

Most biographies carry a "great man" vibe . Four Against The West provides a great scoundrel one. It never passes judgement. The Beans come off as men of their time, driven by ambition where the frontier made ambitions a means of survival. Joe Pappalardo gives us the good, the bad, the ugly, and sometimes humorous in a personal of view of four men who followed Manifest Destiny.