Wild West Meets the Big Apple, The - Hardcover

East meets West with fringes swinging! An entertaining blend of New York City history and Western lore perfect for visitors and historians, this volume presents short biographies of Western heroes or celebrities and tells how they made their mark on the city many considered the nation's media and cultural capital of the time. Key locations are captured through both archival images and current photographs, allowing a glimpse of what it was like during the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century in the bustling city. A timeline from 1812 to 1933 highlights the settling of the West alongside a history of New York City, and a bibliography provides an extensive list of further reading and reference materials.

What do Bat Masterson, Bill Cody, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, David Crockett, William Tecumseh Sherman, Mark Twain, and Elizabeth Custer all have in common? They all spent time in New York City! Western history buff Michael P. O'Connor examines the larger-than-life Western characters and their connections to the Big Apple. The unexpected, and often previously undiscovered, connections O'Connor reveals are surprising and entertaining. Each chapter provides a short biography of a Western icon and vividly describes how they made their mark on the country's self-proclaimed media and cultural capital. Locations around the city significant to the Western figures include the Old Bowery Theater, the Market Exchange, Battery Park, the St. Nicholas Hotel, and St. Patrick's Cathedral. These and more are illustrated through historic images and modern photos accompanied by fascinating historical tidbits.

Page by page, O'Connor traces the paths of some of the most famous--and infamous--names of the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century across the city. From casual visits, media campaigns, and political tours to family ties, shopping sprees, and steady employment, O'Connor aptly demonstrates how New York City influenced their lives, and how the city was changed by these notable men and women of the West.

Author and former U.S. Air Force Captain Michael P. O'Connor received a bachelor's degree from Manhattan College and a juris doctor from St. John's University School of Law. He is the sole practitioner of his own law offices in New York City and Rockland County, New York, and is a former senior assistant district attorney of Rockland County. He is a proud member of the Alamo Society, New York Historical Society, and the Wild West History Association and a lifelong enthusiast for all things Western. O'Connor, who has three grown children, Patrick, Margie, and Sean, resides in Cornwall, New York, with his wife, Laura.

Wild West aficionado Michael P. O'Connor's meticulous research and surprising anecdotes provide an informative and entertaining blend of New York City history and Western lore.