ThestoryofthefiveMarlowbrothersandtheirtribulationsinlatenineteenth-centuryTexasisthestuffofOldWestlegend(andservedtoinspiretheJohnWaynemovie,TheSonsofKatieElder).Violent,fullofintrigue,withcharactersofamazingheroismanddeplorablecowardice,theirstorywasfirstrelatedbyWilliamRathmellinLifeoftheMarlows,alittlebookpublishedin1892,shortlyaftertheeventsitdescribedinYoungCounty,Texas.IttoldhowBoone,themostrecklessofthebrothers,shotandkilledapopularsheriffandescaped,onlytobemurderedlaterbybountyhunters.Theotherfourbrothers,arrestedasaccessoriesandjailed,madeadaringbreakfromconfinementbutwererecaptured.Oncebackintheircells,theywereforcedtofightoffamobintentonlynchingthem.Later,shackledtogether,theMarlowswereplacedonwagonsbyofficerslateatnight,boundforanothertown,buttheywereambushedbyangrycitizens.Intheresultingbattletwoofthebrotherswereshotandkilled,theothertwoseverelywounded,andthreemobmembersdied.Thesurvivingbrotherseventuallywereexonerated,butmembersofthemobthathadattackedthemwereprosecutedincasesthatwentallthewaytotheU.S.SupremeCourt.Theoriginal1892editionandexpandedreprintof1931arebothquitescarce.LaterwritersdrewuponRathmell’saccountwhentellingthestoryoftheMarlows,butallaccountswereslantedsympatheticallytowardthem,giventhesamebiasbyRathmell.NowRobertK.DeArment,anotedhistorianofoutlawsandlawmenoftheWest,hassiftedthroughtheevidenceandpresentshereinanobjective,annotatededitionofLifeoftheMarlows,whichcontainsextensiveclarifyingandcorrectivefootnotesandanindex.Nowthecompletestorycanbetoldandreaderscanjudgeforthemselves:weretheMarlowsaslaw-abidingasRathmellclaims?Orwasthemobreactingwithjustifiedanger?