Spirit Gun Of The West, first published in 1957, recounts the fascinating life of "Doc" William Frank Carver (1851-1927), renowned as a "Plainsman, Trapper, Buffalo Hunter, Medicine Chief Of The Santee Sioux, World's Champion Marksman, And Originator Of The American Wild West Show."
From the Preface: Doc's life began in the era of American pioneering the West. As a youth he lived with the Santee Sioux, who had known and honored his grandfather, Jonathan Carver. From the plains of Illinois and the forests of Minnesota he graduated to the beautiful prairies of Nebraska where he became supreme as a horseback-riding buffalo hunter, and came to count among his close friends the mountain men and plainsmen of whom James B. Hickok, John Y. Nelson, Texas Jack, and the boastful "Buffalo Bill," were but a few.
To California, at thirty-five years of age, was Carter's next move. Here he discovered in his reading of sporting magazines that men were making fortunes by shooting - men who were not good shots! His innate confidence assured him that he was the best shot in the world, and he began the work of proving to the world that he was not only the best marksman, but that he was to become one of the world's outstanding showmen.
But what sort of man was Doc? He was a modest man. He never boasted. He made statements concerning his abilities that shocked people; and then made good on all of them. He was a sportsman. When opponents grumbled about his "charmed" guns, he traded with them, and then went on to beat the grumblers.
He was thoroughly honest, and could not understand skulduggery. In many cases, as will be seen, matches were rigged against him, with hardly a chance of his winning. He won in each instance, and could hardly believe it when told that he had been double-crossed. He was a kindly man. When he shot against Gove in Denver, he using a rifle and Gove a shotgun, and beating the seventy-year-old fellow, someone told him that the latter was a poor man. Doc refused to take the money, called it a tie, and paid Gove a compliment, saying: "Mr. Gove is a wonderful shot; even at his age, I believe he can beat the best young shots in the country."
Following Doc's performance at Niblo's Garden, where he showed free to ten thousand street urchins, the sight of the happy, screaming youngsters made him cry. This big plainsman, six feet four inches in height, weighing 265 pounds, had never before known the misery contained in a big city.
Such was Doc W. F. Carver. The surest shot that ever lived, he was undoubtedly a great American, and certainly one of the greatest figures that ever came out of the West.
