"A Texas Cowboy" subtitled as "Fifteen Years on the Hurricane Deck of a Spanish Pony" is one of the few books which offers a true look into the life of a real cowboy and that too written by someone who had actually lived the life.

Excerpt:

"While ranching on the Indian Territory line, close to Caldwell, Kansas, in the winter of '82 and '83, we boys—there being nine of us—made an iron-clad rule that whoever was heard swearing or caught picking grey backs off and throwing them on the floor without first killing them, should pay a fine of ten cents for each and every offense. The proceeds to be used for buying choice literature—something that would have a tendency to raise us above the average cow-puncher..."

Charlie Siringo was an American lawman, detective and agent for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency.