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My interests in Western History really began when I was a boy. At age thirteen I had a shoeshine stand at a local barbershop, and poured every penny I made into books and cowboy collectibles. Writing never occurred to me until many many years later, when I began to do research on a couple of old firearms that I had purchased for my collection. The information I uncovered was fascinating, but more than anything I enjoyed the process of doing the research and writing down the stories. If you truly have a love of history, and the old west, it’s easy to imagine yourself involved in the stories and become the characters. I have been fortunate enough to have traveled over practically every square inch of each and every location where the stories I have written took place.
Having been a collector of western and cowboy memorabilia for many years now I occasionally find myself day dreaming about the history of a particular item in my collection. Perhaps it's an old Colt Single Action revolver, or maybe a Winchester Carbine. It could be an old A fork saddle or a pair of leather cuffs, a riata, a pair of well worn chaps, or a branding iron. All of these items have particular beauty when left in their natural state, wearing their work clothes with the soil, tarnish and sweat of the last old cowboy to have used them for the final time and tossed them into the corner.
 In my book Old West Tales I give the reader a glimpse of life in the old west. The characters are not from the usual list of suspects, most of whom have been written about ad nauseam. They are the folks who made up the real old west. The town marshals, sheriffs and outlaws who were not famous enough to make it to the silver screen. The inspiration for most of the stories came from the real life history of these characters. Some real people, some fictional. Some lived at the time, and in the places where these stories take place. Some did not. Some are almost entirely fictional. They will make you laugh, cry, and experience every emotion in between. All are entertaining.
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 Dead Right– The Lincoln County War is a concise, and factual interpretation of the people, places and events of the Lincoln County War. This book focuses on the events that led up to the inevitable conflict, some of the characters, and much of what factual information gathered through research, interviews, and from published and unpublished material. The book is formatted in a manner that the reader should find useful. It contains a chronology of events, a listing of all the major Regulators, of Dolan’s Men, and of the Lawmen. It lists the highlights of what is known about each of them. The chronology of crucial events contained in the book can be used as a guide and point of reference.
Why write another book on the Lincoln County War? During a recent visit to Lincoln, I happened to mention to someone that I was writing a book on the Lincoln County War. If I recall the response correctly she said, “well that will make 276 of them.” My life flashed before my eyes as I thought for an instant about the truly futile nature of my work, and of the fact that my pitiful book would be held up for comparison to the writings of noted authors such as Maurice Fulton, Robert Utley and Frederick Nolan. I would be known as the latest amateur who, after reading two books produced another sophomorish work on Billy the Kid. I was certain that I had just wasted the better part of a year’s work, and discredited a lifetime of historical research. My wife quickly reminded me of something that some Senator had once said when questioned about the redundant nature of one of his speeches. “I know everything has been said before…but it hasn’t been said by me.”
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Cliff Caldwell's work on the Lincoln County War is fun to read and informative, especially for anyone breaking into the field. I heartily recommend it.--noted Historian and Author
Drew Gomber
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I do not know for a fact that there have actually been 276 books written about the Lincoln County War and Billy the Kid, but I suspect that is an exaggeration. What I do know is that year by year, decade by decade, there are new facts and nuances discovered about the events and the people. Born in the 1940’s and a victim of Hollywood, the silver screen, and western writers of the era, I didn’t realize for some years that everything I learned as a boy was steeped in historical fiction. Many of the older, classic writings about the War, and about Billy The Kid, are no longer entirely relevant.
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DEAD RIGHT is an indispensable reference on the Lincoln County War, thoroughly researched and brought together by Cliff Caldwell.
--Marcelle Brothers, noted historian, writer and webmistress of About Billy the Kid. Brothers is also a co-founder of the Billy the Kid Historic Preservation Society, researcher and writer for the Discovery Channel, Outlaw Gazette, and the
Oklahoma Chief to Chief magazine.
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C.R. Caldwell
