Charlie Siringo (right) crosses the Rio Grande on horseback. Photo: Courtesy of Nathan WardA close friend of mine—a fellow historian and avid outdoorsman—likes to joke that while I merely write about the American West, he has actually lived it, crisscrossing the region’s hiking trails, bike paths and ski slopes. My pal might thus admire Charlie Siringo, who did both: He worked as a cowboy and as a detective for the Pinkerton Agency and then published books about his adventures. In “Son of the Old West,” writer Nathan Ward tracks Siringo from Texas to Idaho and seemingly everywhere in between while relating his encounters with an array of characters, some of them among the most famous of his day. As Mr. Ward explains, his book is as much a chronicle of the Old West as it is the study of a colorful, and ubiquitous, frontiersman.

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Persons: Charlie Siringo, Nathan Ward, outdoorsman —, Ward Organizations: Pinkerton Agency Locations: Rio Grande, Siringo, Texas, Idaho