In my newest release, my heroine is the daughter of a deceased lawman who was also a bounty hunter. In my story, he’s been a gun for hire, then a lawman, and then a bounty hunter. He was also a famous sharpshoot in the civil war. But you always stumble upon little tidbits after the book is done, and I happen to with this one. For one, bounty hunters in the old west didn’t all look like Randolph Scott. And two, my heroine’s father couldn’t have made a living as a bounty hunter unless he was really good at it.
In fiction most bounty hunters are the rugged, independent (and handsome of course) men we see romanticized in movies and books. But this didn’t exactly represent the majority of bounty hunters at the time. For one, most of them were lawmen or employed by detective agencies and private companies like Wells Fargo. In other words, they moonlighted as bounty hunters. Heck, my dad moonlighted while he was still a homicide detective, and worked for the Oregon Racing Commission on their security. Once he retired, they made him the chief of security. But things were a little different in the old west.
To see how different, a study was done. Out of two hundred and fifty-five gunfighters, only a small handful fit the typical bounty
hunter depicted in the movies, and even then, they only pursued bounties sporadically. The sad truth was, most rewards were too puny to bother with and not offered often enough for anyone to use as a consistent source of income.
Even so, there were men who became bounty hunters out of necessity, hoping to supplement their meager wages as lawmen. Heck, even the famous lawman Pat Garrett collected a bounty for killing Billy the Kid. Others worked for banks or train operators.
And among the small percentage of gunfighters that could be classified as true “bounty hunters” because they managed to scratch out a living by getting rewards on a consistent basis, it was no picnic to get your money. Pat Garrett may have successfully captured Billy the Kid in 1881, but he had to really fight for the five-hundred dollar reward from Governor Lew Wallace of New Mexico.
The governor had placed an ad offering the reward for the notorious outlaw’s capture. But when Garrett showed up to claim the bounty, Wallace tried to stiff him, stating it was a “personal offer” that wasn’t binding on the territory itself. But after persistent efforts from Garrett, he eventually received the reward – though not before local citizens expressed their disgust by raising eleven hundred dollars and sending it to Garrett. I bet that upset the governor, but at least someone was willing to pay poor Mr. Garrett for his trouble.
Have you read books or seen movies that have a bounty hunter as the hero? I’ve got a bounty hunter in my stable of characters. Lucius Judrow from my book Love is Blind. My current book, Rescued by the Preacher only has the daughter of a bounty hunter, but the hero is a spy for the president. Jules Monroe was a preacher for all of a few months before he was recruited as a spy. Now he’s stuck in Apple Blossom, in the Montana Territory, in a town full of quirky characters. Sixteen of which are all clamoring to get married now that a preacher is in town. But when a young woman stumbles into the church the day he’s just finished his first sermon things get a little off track. He doesn’t know who the woman is, but he’s determined to help her. Can Jules help a woman who’s been attacked by outlaws, be undercover as the new town preacher, and protect the person he was sent to warn that trouble was coming? It was a lot to juggle, but hey, he can handle it. It’s why he was chosen for this mission. Now if he could just keep himself from falling in love, he can wrap this all up in a nice bundle and be on to the next mission. But darn if his blasted heart doesn’t have other ideas!
I’m giving away one free e-book copy of Rescued by the Preacher to one lucky commenter. Just tell me if you’ve ready any books or have seen a movie where there hero was a bounty hunter.
USA Today bestselling author Kit Morgan is the author of over 180 books of historical and contemporary western romance! Her stories are fun, sweet stories full of love, laughter, and just a little bit of mayhem! Kit creates her stories in her little log cabin in the woods in the Pacific Northwest. An avid reader and knitter, when not writing, she can be found with either a book or a pair of knitting needles in her hands! Oh, and the occasional smidge of chocolate!
Unforgiven.
Ah, yes, Denise, that’s a good one.
I’ve read a couple of books by Jovie Grace that has a bounty hunter as a hero.
I’ve not read any of her books. I’ll have to check her out.
Yes I have read a few – thanks!
As much as I know you read, Teresa, I’m sure you have!
no
Yes, I’ve read some books like that, but can’t recall the name of them right now.
Don’t feel bad, Connie, so I have I!
I have read a few and watched some movies.
A lot of us have, and also like a lot of us, we can’t remember what they were! LOL.
I have watched a movie
I’ve watched some movies with bounty hunters too, but darn if I can remember what the name of the movies were.
I have seen a few movies with bounty hunters and the think I’ve also read a book with one as well
It’s hard to remember titles of what we’ve watched or read, but I knew most of us have.
I’ve read books where the hero was a bounty hunter, both by Jovie Grace, Wanted: Bounty Hunter and The Bounty Hunter’s Sister. I don’t remember a movie, though. I do know of a TV series, though, Wanted: Dead or Alive with Steve McQueen!
Jovie Grace keeps coming up, Trudy. Now I’ll have to go check out her books.
The author Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer had a series set in Indian Territory called “Choctaw Tribune.” Every now and again an IRL bounty hunter made an appearance.
I’ve not heard of Sarah, Mary. I’ll have to check out her books.
How the West Was Won. In fact, we are watching it right now. The Bounty Hunter in this book was no hero. He made me furious!
Oh, wow, it’s been forever since I’ve seen that movie, Barbara!
I think it’s called Wanted Dead or Alive with Steve McQueen as the bounty hunter. Then there was Fall Guy with Lee Majors, he worked for a bail bondsman (woman) to collect bounty’s on people who had jumped bail. I don’t know if I’ve read any books about bounty hunters. Tracker a new CBS series is about a guy who collects rewards but that’s mainly for finding people who are missing.
I remember Fall Guy, Naomi. I’ve not seen Dead or Alive though.
I can’t think of any.
I know, it’s hard to think of stuff with bounty hunters in them, but they’re out there.
I have read several books about bounty hunters, mostly by Carol Colyer and other western writers. They became too violent and bloody to continue with them. In other words, they were very hateful and cruel, with the exception of a few who were augmenting their income and were able to be vicious when they had to while capturing a criminal. They had a very gentle and peaceful side for their loved ones, if they felt it safe to do both without repercussions. Your read sounds very intriguing and something I would love to read.
Yeah, it’s hard to find “nice” bounty hunters, or behind closed doors arrests made by them without all the violence. Depends on the author. With a sweet historical western you know there’s going to be low violence for the most part.
Whenever I have a Kindle Unlimited subscription going I always reread ‘Without Words’ by Ellen O’Connell about a young mute woman and a bounty hunter. I haven’t read many books with bounty hunters but I really like this particular story.
I’ve not heard of that book, Rachel, I’ll have to check it out!
Most of the ones I’m thinking of that I’ve read, they were former bounty hunters.
Yeah, there are a lot of those! Naturally I can’t think of any titles off the top of my head, but I know they’re out there.
Only one I can think of is One for the Money.
Oh, that IS a good one!
I’ve read many books with bounty hunters and seen a few movies, but they are usually romanticized, aren’t they?
Oh yeah, but hey! Ignorance is bliss, Janice!
Not a movie, but an episode of Little House on the Prairie comes to mind. A group of bounty hunters came to Walnut Grove looking for Frank and Jesse James. Thanks for the chance to win a prize.
I think I remember that episode!
Not a historical romance, but Katie Ruggle has a two book series, Rocky Mountain Bounty Hunters.
I’ve never read any of Katie’s books. I’ll have to check them out.
I really enjoyed her 4 (1/2) book Search and Rescue series.
Dog the Bounty Hunter. It was a television show and always interesting to watch.
You know, when I was writing this blog post, that’s the only bounty hunter that kept popping into my head!
I think I have read a book.
I’ve read several by Carol Colyer, but do not remember the titles at present. Sorry. Many of them became blood thirsty and I could not take it anymore.