In 1859, as the United States careened toward civil war, the federal government's only northern link with California was a struggling stagecoach line plagued by outlaws and hostile Indians.

Jack Slade, a former soldier and teamster, was hired to clean up the line's most dangerous division. Slade kept the stagecoaches running and helped launch the Pony Express, securing California and its gold for the Union and earning the nickname “The Law West of Kearny.” But once Slade had restored the peace, his life descended into alcoholism, transforming him from a courageous leader and devoted husband into a quick-triggered drunk, who finally lost his life at the hands of vigilantes in March 1864.

Despite his notoriety, Slade's fascinating life has remained hidden behind halftruths and myths. In Death of a Gunfighter: The Quest for Jack Slade, the West's Most Elusive Legend, journalist Dan Rottenberg assembles a lifetime of research to reveal the true story of one of America's great tragic heroes.