Robert Barr Smith entered the United States Army as a private in 1958. He served in Vietnam with 4th Infantry Division, more than seven years in Germany, and with troop units and on posts throughout the United States, retiring as a Colonel. He is a Senior Parachutist, and holds the Legion of Merit (two awards), the Bronze Star, and other decorations.
He holds two degrees from Stanford University and is a Professor of Law Emeritus at the University of Oklahoma, where he also served six years as Associate Dean for Academics and Associate Director of the Law Center. He lives in the Ozark Hills of southern Missouri, and is the author or co-author of sixteen books and more than a hundred magazine articles, primarily in military and western history.

This collection of short, action-filled stories of the Old West's most egregiously bad family-based gangs caught in the act of mayhem, distraction, murder, and highway robbery, includes famous names like the James brothers and lesser known families just as the Deautremonts, the Newtons, and many more. The book will include archival illustrations and photographs of the shady characters and the scenes of their crimes.