Fort Worth history is far more than the handful of familiar names that every true-blue Fort Worther hears growing up: leaders such as Amon Carter, B. B. Paddock, J. Frank Norris, and William McDonald. Their names are indexed in the history books for ready reference. But the drama that is Fort Worth history contains other, less famous characters who played important roles, like Judge James Swayne, Madam Mary Porter, and Marshal Sam Farmer: well known enough in their day but since forgotten. Others, like Al Hayne, lived their lives in the shadows until one, spectacular moment of heroism. Then there are the lawmen, Jim Courtright, Jeff Daggett, and Thomas Finch. They wore badges, but did not always represent the best of law and order. These seven plus five others are gathered together between the covers of this book. Each has a story that deserves to be told. If they did not all make history, they certainly lived in historic times. The jury is still out on whether they shaped their times or merely reflected those times. Either way, their stories add new perspectives to the familiar Fort Worth story, revealing how the law worked in the old days and what …

In 2010 Written in Blood: The History of Fort Worth’s Fallen Lawmen, Volume 1, told the stories of thirteen Fort Worth law officers who died in the line of duty between 1861 and 1909. Now Richard F. Selcer and Kevin S. Foster are back with Volume 2 covering another baker’s dozen line-of-duty deaths that occurred between 1910 and 1928. Not counting the two officers who died of natural causes, these are more tales of murder, mayhem, and dirty work from all branches of local law enforcement: police, sheriff’s deputies, constables, and special officers, just like in Volume 1. This era was, if anything, bloodier than the preceding era of the first volume. Fort Worth experienced a race riot, two lynchings, and martial law imposed by the U.S. Army while Camp Bowie was operating. Bushwhacking (such as happened to Peter Howard in 1915) and assassinations (such as happened to Jeff Couch in 1920) replaced blood feuds and old-fashioned shootouts as leading causes of death among lawmen. Violence was not confined to the streets either; a Police Commissioner was gunned down in his city hall office in 1917. Even the new category of “vehicular homicide” claimed a lawman’s life.

Interview with African American North Texas State University alumnus James Gayle. The interview included Gayle's personal experiences of childhood, playing basketball at Fort Worth's all-black Terrell High School, attending North Texas and enrolling in the ROTC program, and his experience as a boarder in "Shack Town" neighborhood of Denton. Gayle talks about the comparison of race relations in Artesia, New Mexico, and Waco and Forth Worth, Texas, the "neutral" stance of NT administration toward black students and the "self-support" system among students, as well as his relationships with professors and white students, and his perception of what he gained from his NT experience.

Transcript of an interview with Carlos Puente and Maria Esther Puente, Fort Worth-based Chicano political activists. They discuss the Raza Unida Party in Tarrant County and throughout Texas; efforts to improve the economic, social and political aspects of the Chicano community; Carlos Puente's service on Fort Worth City Council; Roadblocks Mexican-Americans faced in campaigning and running for political office, city council and school board, particularly in the 1970s and 1980s; Challenges of helping Hispanics become registered voters, educated about candidates, and to consistently come out and vote; Dealing with the apathy toward voting by Hispanics in the Fort Worth area; Discussions of various political candidates; Newspaper El Reporter's impact within voting community; Challenges facing Fort Worth.

Interview with Ken Coffelt, an employee at the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine from Arlington, Texas. Coffelt discusses joining TCOM in 1973, the different managers and employees there at the time, the atmosphere of the college administration, morale, and moves within and from the College.

Interview with Luther G. Strange, a United States Army veteran from Arlington, Texas, regarding his experiences and memories of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor of December 7, 1941 while stationed at Hickam Field as a member of the Army Medical Corps.

Interview with Albert E. Kennedy, a United States Navy veteran from East Prairie, Missouri, regarding his experiences and memories as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese after surviving the wreck of the USS Houston during World War II.

Interview with William Austin concerning his experiences before, during, and after his employment in the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. Austin worked at camps in Fort Worth, Texas (Company 1816) and Amarillo, Texas.