{"product_id":"the-last-sheriff-in-texas-a-true-tale-of-violence-and-the-vote-9781640091269","title":"The Last Sheriff in Texas: A True Tale of Violence and the Vote","description":"\u003cb\u003eAn Amazon Best History Book of the Month \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e [A] narrative with resonance well beyond seekers of Texas history. \u003ci\u003eThe Last Sheriff in Texas\u003c\/i\u003e would be an amazing allegory for our times, were it fiction. Instead it suggests cultural trenches that we view as new that were dug decades ago. --\u003ci\u003eHouston Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Beeville, Texas, was the most American of small towns--the place that GIs had fantasized about while fighting through the ruins of Europe, a place of good schools, clean streets, and churches. Old West justice ruled, as evidenced by a 1947 shootout when outlaws surprised popular sheriff Vail Ennis at a gas station and shot him five times, point-blank, in the belly. Ennis managed to draw his gun and put three bullets in each assailant; he reloaded and shot them three times more. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eTime\u003c\/i\u003e magazine's full-page article on the shooting was seen by some as a referendum on law enforcement owing to the sheriff's extreme violence, but supportive telegrams from all across America poured into Beeville's tiny post office. Yet when a second violent incident threw Ennis into the crosshairs of public opinion once again, the uprising was orchestrated by an unlikely figure: his close friend and Beeville's favorite son, Johnny Barnhart. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Barnhart confronted Ennis in the election of 1952: a landmark standoff between old Texas, with its culture of cowboy bravery and violence, and urban Texas, with its lawyers, oil institutions, and a growing Mexican population. The town would never be the same again. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Last Sheriff in Texas\u003c\/i\u003e is a riveting narrative about the postwar American landscape, an era grappling with the same issues we continue to face today. Debate over excessive force in law enforcement, Anglo-Mexican relations, gun control, the influence of the media, urban-rural conflict, the power of the oil industry, mistrust of politicians and the political process--all have surprising historical precedence in the story of Vail Ennis and Johnny Barnhart.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=AUTH-11115320\"\u003eJames P. McCollom\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Counterpoint LLC\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/13\/2018\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 272\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.55lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.20h x 5.50w x 0.90d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781640091269\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1640091262\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBISAC Categories:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-HIS\"\u003eHistory\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-HIS036130\"\u003eUnited States | State \u0026amp; Local | Southwest (AZ, NM, OK, TX)\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-BIO\"\u003eBiography \u0026amp; Autobiography\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-BIO027000\"\u003eLaw Enforcement\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-HIS\"\u003eHistory\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-HIS036060\"\u003eUnited States | 20th Century\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJames P. McCollom\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Continental Affair: The Rise and Fall of the Continental Illinois Bank.\u003c\/i\u003e A native son of Beeville, Texas, he has worked as a banker and business executive in the Northeast before settling back in his hometown.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Counterpoint LLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42657145553133,"sku":"9781640091269","price":16.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0550\/8097\/6621\/products\/img_ee8e1104-e2a2-402d-8606-66ed54476403.jpg?v=1649308092","url":"https:\/\/sureshotbooks.com\/products\/the-last-sheriff-in-texas-a-true-tale-of-violence-and-the-vote-9781640091269","provider":"SureShot Books Publishing LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}