Ralph Glidden (1881-1968) was a self-proclaimed, self-taught archeologist who lived on Catalina Island from the age of fifteen. He was primarily viewed as a charlatan, self-promoter, and grave robber but he did discover over 800 grave sites and 4000 skeletons on Catalina Island. He was the curator of a morbidly bizarre museum where he displayed the bones taken from the graves. Shelves held up with thigh bones displayed sculls among a variety of other artifacts. Towards the end of his life, he claimed to have uncovered the secret history of Catalina’s past, a race of ‘White Indians’ and a race of giants that inhabited the island. He related a tale of finding the grave of a ‘Royal Princess’ buried in a ceremonial 138-pound urn with a group of sixty-four children buried with her and at the bottom of the grave, the skeleton of a seven-foot, eight-inch giant. Mainstream scientists rebuffed him and his findings, thoroughly discrediting him. His claim was never validated and his collection of skeletons, reportedly sent to several museums, has never been seen again.
Continue reading Terror of the Flesh EaterCategory Archives: Books
Happy Halloween!
Just released in time for Halloween, ‘The Quick, The Dead and the Undead’, a western horror anthology. I was honored to be included with some of the best and most successful western authors of our day on this collaborative project. The book is currently available in the KINDLE format and will soon be released as a paperback on AMAZON BOOKS.
The Quick, the Dead, and the Undead
by Charles Ray (Author), Mark Marchetti (Author), Fred Staff (Author), Peter Alan Turner(Author), Malcolm Hotzman (Author), Robert Manns (Author), Jay Peck (Author), Macon Steel(Author), Jerry Underhill (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
Texas Jack: Preacher Jones Frontier Avenger
A Western Adventure: Texas Jack Book 7
Grady Jones life was hard as a child, and it didn’t get better with age. His father died when he was young and a few years later his mother was killed in a senseless shooting. He was on his own until the Reverend Barnaby took him in. Tensions were high in that period just before the Civil War and they lived in Ohio at that time, a border state. The Reverend was anti-slavery and a staunch abolitionist who worked with the underground railroad helping slaves flee to freedom.
Lady in Blue
San Francisco… 1935. During the depression San Francisco was not much different then most other cities in the United States. The economy was depressed and there were men out of work. The Golden Gate and Bay Bridge projects were underway which helped a bit, and the port provided some jobs, but not enough to go around.
Lynching at Stone Creek
Fort Smith, Arkansas sat on the border of Indian Territory in 1875. It was a rowdy place filled with brothels, saloons, and outlaws. It was said that there was ‘no law west of Arkansas’ and not much in Fort Smith. That changed when Judge Isaac Parker was appointed to the bench. Known as ‘the hanging judge’, Judge Parker was stern and unbending in his application of the law… his court often referred to as the ‘court of the damned’. The jail at Fort Smith where outlaws were held awaiting trial wasn’t a pleasant place to be and was considered to be ‘hell on the border’.
Continue reading Lynching at Stone CreekTexas Jack: Morgan Hawk’s Last Ride
A Western Adventure: Texas Jack Book 6
The Kansas/Missouri border was a dangerous place during the Civil War and in the years that followed. Kansas entered the Union as an anti-slavery State only months before the war started and was bordered by the Pro-slavery State of Missouri. ‘Border Ruffians’ like William Quantrill fought for the Confederacy while ‘Free Staters’ and ‘Jayhawkers’ fought for the Union. They were all guerrilla fighters led by men of often questionable morality. There was only some measure of legitimacy given to them by the Confederate and Union governments respectively because they claimed they were fighting for the same cause. The results on both sides was the same… people killed while towns were sacked and burned.
Texas Jack: The Ranger
The Ranger is the prequel to the novel Texas Jack!
This brand new adventure follows the story of a young man named Britt Logan who is a member of a wagon train on the way to Oregon in 1852. He and his parents are among just a few non-Mormons in a Mormon wagon train heading to the Salt Lake Valley. Their plan was to leave the train at the South Pass and head to Oregon with another train, but when Britt’s parents are killed by an influential member of the church, Britt finds himself on the run.
Texas Jack: The Bank Robbers
The fast-paced, action-packed third Western adventure in the new “Texas Jack Western” series from Mark Marchetti!
Phineas Todd was a strange little man. He arrived in Filo, Texas many years before the Civil War and was a familiar fixture in Filo since he was the president of the only bank in town. Even when he was young, for some reason he just seemed to be older than his years. He was known in town simply as ‘Old Finny’ and was loved by the townspeople, in spite of his quirky ways.
For many of the town’s people and ranchers in the area, it was ‘Old Finny’ who had helped them navigate the hard times during the war and after. He was the wealthiest man in town yet lived like a pauper, his only interest being the welfare of the town. Receiving the love and respect of the town’s people was the only thing he believed was of value. Unknown to the town’s people was the secret of his past in the days before he came to Filo.
When four bank robbers arrive in town, led by the notorious gunman Russell Blye, the world of ‘Old Finny’ and the town gets turned upside down. The former Sheriff, Tommy Vee, comes out of retirement and recruits ‘Texas Jack’ McKenna to track down the robbers and bring them to justice.
As a longtime friend of ‘Old Finny’, Jack knows his secret… and doesn’t want it revealed. As they set out to hunt down the outlaws, Jack and Sheriff Vee discover they each have a different vision of how justice should be served… the legal way and the ‘Texas Jack’ way.
Grab your copy today! Texas Jack – Bank Robbers
Texas Jack: The Robber Baron
The fast-paced, action-packed fourth Western adventure in the new “Texas Jack Western” series from Mark Marchetti!
The old Gillman ranch had been vacant for several years and Michael McGiven wanted the property. He planned to buy it in auction when the taxes weren’t paid, but mysteriously, the taxes on the ranch were paid every year, preventing him from acquiring it. McGiven was a shrewd, self-absorbed little man who saw himself becoming a Texas cattle baron and making his ‘Bar X’ brand one of the biggest in Texas. The Gillman ranch was located between his and the ‘Circle J’ ranch, owned by Jack and Josie McKenna. McGiven had stolen several smaller ranches in the area by driving owners out… stealing their cattle or burning their crops. He was careful, always keeping his hands clean… hiring others to do his dirty work. McGiven firmly believed ‘Texas Jack’ McKenna was the person standing in his way of obtaining the Gillman ranch.
To complicate matters, one day the new owners, Claire and Robert LaClief, move into the old Gillman ranch. Claire LaClief… formerly, Claire Gillman, the daughter of Clayton Gillman, is well aware that ‘Texas Jack’ was responsible for the killing of her father and brothers. As the only living heir to Clayton Gillman, she and her husband arrive in Filo to take possession of the ranch.
If his quest to become a Texas cattle baron is to move forward, Michael McGiven will have to come up with a new plan to remove both the LaClief’s and ‘Texas Jack’ from his path. With his resident outlaw thugs and hired gunman, Luke Madsen, he just might succeed… but he’ll have to cross ‘Texas Jack’ in the process.
The residents of Filo, Texas know a showdown is coming between Michael McGiven, Luke Madsen and ‘Texas Jack’ McKenna. They’re all waiting to see what happens… because, ‘Texas Jack’ is coming to town!
Grab your copy today! Texas Jack – Robber Baron
Texas Jack series
The fast-paced, action-packed, Western adventures of Texas Jack have recently expanded across four novels!