W. C. Jameson

Billy the Kid: Beyond the Grave traces the life of this famous desperado through his role in the Lincoln County War, the alleged killing by Sheriff Pat Garrett, Billy's escape, and his life for the next sixty-nine years. In 1948, an old man named William Henry Roberts was confronted with evidence that he was Billy the Kid. At first he denied his identity, but reluctantly admitted who he was. Based on taped interviews with Roberts, new evidence discovered in the 1990s, and sophisticated photo comparison technology by the FBI, the conclusion that Roberts was Billy the Kid gains support.

In a little-known mountain range in southern New Mexico is an unremarkable mountain called Victorio Peak. In a cavern in that mountain, it is rumored that billions of dollars’ worth of artifacts and thousands of gold and silver ingots and coins have been cached for decades, a treasure that dwarfs all others. Its existence, or the belief in its existence, has been responsible for millions of dollars’ worth of recovery efforts, blatant violation of laws and trampling of legal rights by the United States government as well as dozens of citizens, and the involvement of a wide variety of infamous characters. It has also been responsible for a number of deaths. For generations, people all over the world have been fascinated and enthralled by tales and legends of lost mines and buried treasures. There is something in the human DNA that embraces such things. North America has served as a setting for hundreds of such tales, and every now and then one of these treasures is found. Most can identify the Lost Dutchman Mine of Arizona’s Superstition Mountains and the so-called Oak Island Treasure in Nova Scotia as prominent examples of legends that have seized the attention of millions. If one were to write a mystery/thriller incorporating colorful characters, murder, unexplained deaths, intrigue, theft, deceit, and political and legal machinations, one need not look any further than the incredible treasure mystery associated with Victorio Peak. It is, in fact, one of the most bizarre and confounding mysteries in American history and involves what my well be the largest treasure cache known to man.

What sort of person undertakes to rob a multi-ton train surging down a set of rails at high speed? For the Old West’s most famous outlaws, including Jesse James, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the Dalton Gang, and Black Jack Ketchum, it was as much about the thrill of the crime as the riches to be won, thumbing their noses at the authorities, and getting away with their crimes more often than not. These men, and at least one woman, were dare devils, rule breakers, adventurers, and rebels. In addition to their train robberies, they led colorful, dramatic, and dangerous lives. The Old West's Infamous Train Robbers and their Historic Heists profiles sixteen noted train robbers (or train robbing gangs) along with the details of each their forty-seven hold-ups. The mechanics of each of their train robberies—planning, execution, and escape—are dissected and discussed. Pertinent background information relating to each outlaw/gang is included as well as what became of them following their train robbery days.

When it comes to historical mysteries, Texas offers numerous long-perplexing conundrums for readers. Several of the Lone Star state’s enduring legends are associated with historical figures including Davy Crockett, Billy the Kid, John Wilkes Booth, the outlaws Sam Bass and Bill Longley, and the pirate Jean Lafitte. Lost mines and buried treasures are also a long-standing part of Texas history and lore, and the location of several of these riches has baffled searches for well over a century. Searches for these elusive treasures, represented by gold and silver ingots and coins, have ranged from Texas’ mountain ranges to the prairies to the coast, and continue to this day. Texas may also have been the site of several “lost civilizations. Growing evidence suggests that Mayans, a culture long associated with southern Mexican and Central America may have established settlements in the state after having disappeared from their homeland. The Caddo Mounds spread out over a large section of southeast Texas represent what amounted of a city that was once inhabited by thousands of natives. The questions of where they came from and what became of them continue to intrigue researchers. This lively, easy-to-read book will cover these and many other mysterious happenings and will be popular with residents and tourists.

CSI the Old West! WC Jameson takes on the myths and discovers what really happened in the Old West, storytelling by consulting private investigators, using modern forensic techniques, and examining the original evidence.

CSI the Old West! WC Jameson takes on the myths and discovers what really happened in the Old West, storytelling by consulting private investigators, using modern forensic techniques, and examining the original evidence.

One of the most colorful parts of American History is the time of train robberies and the daring outlaws who undertook them in the period covering from just after the Civil War to 1924. For decades, the railroads were the principal transporters of payrolls, gold and silver, bonds, and passengers who often carried large sums of money as well as valuable jewelry. For the creative outlaw, trains became an obvious target for robbery. Willis Newton has never enjoyed the recognition and fame of the better known train robbing outlaws of our time such as Frank and Jesse James, Butch Cassidy, the Daltons, and the Doolins, but he was the most prolific and successful train robber in the history of North America. Newton stole more money from the railroads than all of the others put together. During his lifetime, Newton robbed six trains and an estimated eighty banks, pulled off the greatest train robbery ever, netting $3,000,000, yet remains virtually unknown. So unknown was he that, of all of his successful robberies, he was rarely identified as a suspect. Following his greatest heist, Newton and his gang member, composed of his brothers, were arrested, tried, convicted, and sent to serve long terms at Leavenworth Prison. When they were granted early release for good behavior, they lost no time in returning to robbing banks. Willis Newton’s life and times as America’s greatest, and last, train robber has been gleaned and developed from extensive interviews he granted during the 1970s when he was in his eighties. In addition, newspaper reports of his numerous train and bank robberies have been obtained and researched for precise details of robberies and pursuit.

In a little-known mountain range in southern New Mexico is an unremarkable mountain called Victorio Peak. In a cavern in that mountain, it is rumored that billions of dollars’ worth of artifacts and thousands of gold and silver ingots and coins have been cached for decades, a treasure that dwarfs all others. Its existence, or the belief in its existence, has been responsible for millions of dollars’ worth of recovery efforts, blatant violation of laws and trampling of legal rights by the United States government as well as dozens of citizens, and the involvement of a wide variety of infamous characters. It has also been responsible for a number of deaths. For generations, people all over the world have been fascinated and enthralled by tales and legends of lost mines and buried treasures. There is something in the human DNA that embraces such things. North America has served as a setting for hundreds of such tales, and every now and then one of these treasures is found. Most can identify the Lost Dutchman Mine of Arizona’s Superstition Mountains and the so-called Oak Island Treasure in Nova Scotia as prominent examples of legends that have seized the attention of millions. If one were to write a mystery/thriller incorporating colorful characters, murder, unexplained deaths, intrigue, theft, deceit, and political and legal machinations, one need not look any further than the incredible treasure mystery associated with Victorio Peak. It is, in fact, one of the most bizarre and confounding mysteries in American history and involves what my well be the largest treasure cache known to man.

One of the most colorful parts of American History is the time of train robberies and the daring outlaws who undertook them in the period covering from just after the Civil War to 1924. For decades, the railroads were the principal transporters of payrolls, gold and silver, bonds, and passengers who often carried large sums of money as well as valuable jewelry. For the creative outlaw, trains became an obvious target for robbery. The list of America’s train robbers is a veritable Who’s Who of American outlawry and includes: Frank and Jesse James, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, Charles Searcy, Charles Morganfield, Sam Bass, Black Jack Ketchum, Seaborn Barnes, and others. To this cast of train robbery-related characters can be added the relentless investigations and pursuit by individuals associated with the Pinkerton Detectives, Texas Rangers, Wells Fargo detectives, railroad company detectives, as well as local and area law enforcement authorities. In addition, there are numerous tales of bravery that took place during train robberies involving heroic express car messengers, conductors, engineers, brakemen, and even passengers.

The most compelling and exciting tales of lost and buried treasures associated with the Civil War have been collected, extensively researched and investigated, and are included in this entertaining book from one of America's foremost treasure hunters. They represent fortunes that have been lost for over one-and-a-half centuries and involve colorful characters from lowly privates up to famous officers, including Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy. The thirty-one tales in this book provide backstory and pertinent information, are distributed between the Union and Confederate armies, and range from Texas to the Atlantic Cost, from Louisiana to the Canadian border.

In this series, private investigators pick up where the historians left off, taking on a series of major cold cases in history, starting with the mishandling of evidence relating to the life and times of Billy the Kid. Cold Case: Billy the Kid tackles the myths and legends about the misadventures and eventual killing of the notorious outlaw one by one, considering the evidence surrounding his life, death, and crimes from contemporary sources and looking at the physical evidence still extant today to consider the veracity of historical claims and considering the evidence through the lens of a legal investigation. In this first book, the writers tackle the evolution of an outlaw in myth and lore, claiming that Billy the Kid as a notorious outlaw is a manufactured concept. They offer evidence that the Kid was little more than one of several small time cattle and horse thieves whose rustling netted him only a small amount of intermittent income. He killed no fewer, and probably no more, than four or five men. For the most part he worked on ranches, notably those of John Chisum and John Henry Tunstall. The Kid, as a cattle thief, was known to many in southern New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle, along with a number of other troublesome rustlers.

Tales from the Days of the Untamed West Not only are these train robberies fascinating and daring, many of them are associated with some of the foremost outlaws of the day--colorful personalities including Black Jack Ketchum, Sam Bass, Rube and Jim Burrow, the Doolin Gang, Mexican raiders, and more.

Join the Search for Lost Treasure First popularized by folklorist and author J. Frank Dobie in his book Apache Gold and Yaqui Silver in 1928, the legend of the Lost Adams Diggings is one of the most mythologized tales of lost treasure on the continent. In the 1860s, Gold was taken from Adams’ canyon in enormous quantities, with nuggets ranging from dust-size to some as large as hen’s eggs, all being plucked from the bottom of a shallow stream. This true story of the Lost Adams Diggings starts with the discovery of the rich deposit of gold in a remote mountain range, and ends with the author’s own story of search and discovery in the twentieth century.

Border Bandits is an account of the many, many stories of back and forth skirmishes between the Mexicans and Texans during the late 1800s and early 1900s. There practically wasn't a border, which caused a lot of problems and thievery between the two countries. These seventeen tales in this book re-create border raids that originated from both sides of the fluid and much contested line and tells the stories of colorful characters – Mexican and American – that have since secured their place in history.

Billy the Kid: The Lost InterviewsHistorian and professional treasure hunter W. C. Jameson has had many adventures, but none more exciting than the discovery of the original tapes of William H. "Brushy Bill" Roberts, who went before the Governor of New Mexico in 1950 seeking a pardon for crimes committed as the notorious outlaw Billy the Kid. Billy the Kid: The Lost Interviews uncovers the original source material for William V. Morrison and C. L. Sonnichsen's groundbreaking 1955 work Alias Billy the Kid and provides never before revealed detail of Morrison's actual conversations with Roberts.

This well-researched book is a biography of the life--and disappearance--of Amelia Earhart, the pioneering aviator who was the first woman to fly solo over the Atlantic in 1928. But did Amelia's plane really crash and sink in 1937, or was her fate entirely different?

Leading the reader through a series of amazing coincidences and details, this book presents startling evidence that John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Lincoln, was never captured but escaped to live for decades, continue his acting career, marry, and have children. Compelling and revealing information in the form of papers and diaries has recently been found in private collections—materials that provide greater insight into the events leading up to the assassination of Lincoln as well as details of the pursuit and capture of the man the government claimed was Booth.