title: Convict Cowboys: The Untold History of the Texas Prison Rodeo (North Texas Crime and Criminal Justice Series)
author:  Mitchel P. Roth 
description: <DIV>&ldquo;Professor Roth finally wrote the book that those interested in the history of Texas generally, and the Texas prison system in specific, have wanted for years.&rdquo;&mdash;Chad Trulson, co-author of <I>First Available Cell: Desegregation of the Texas Prison System</I><BR /><BR /> &quot;Roth&rsquo;s historical analysis of the Texas Prison Rodeo pulls back the curtain on a popular cultural phenomenon that demonstrated the general public&rsquo;s fascination with prisoners and its willingness to take part in their exploitation.&#160; This is a must read, not just for those who study the United States Criminal Justice System but for all United States citizens.&quot; &mdash;<B>Dr. Franklin T. Wilson</B>, author of <I>Crime and Media Studies: Diversity of Method, Medium, and Communication</I><BR /><BR /> &ldquo;Mitchel Roth not only places the Texas Prison Rodeo in the broad context of social, political, and criminal-justice history, he also tells a rousing good story of an institution that helped to define Texas in the twentieth century. In doing both, Mitchel Roth shows why he has earned a reputation as Texas&rsquo;s leading criminal justice historian.&rdquo;&mdash;<B>Gregg Cantrell</B>, Ralph and Erma Lowe Chair in Texas History, Texas Christian University<BR /> &#160;</DIV><br /><br /><DIV>&quot;At its peak, 30,000 locals would travel to Huntsville on a Sunday afternoon to see the stars (Johnny Cash, John Wayne, Steve McQueen) and watch the death-defying acts by those who had (almost) nothing to lose.&quot;--<I>Houston Press</I></DIV><br /><br /><DIV>&quot;Some of the events staged in what would become a 30,000-seat stadium were mind-bogglingly dangerous and reflected an extreme prison state of mind.&quot;--<I>Austin American-Statesman</I></DIV><br /><br /><DIV>&quot;[A]n extraordinary, in-depth history of America&#39;s prison rodeo. . . . Researched with the craft of a historian, and succinctly presenting incredible true stories accessible to readers of all backgrounds, <I>Convict Cowboys</I> is highly recommended.&quot;--<I>Midwest Book Review</I></DIV><br /><br /><DIV>&quot;In this nicely written, thoroughly researched, sometimes humorous, and yet serious account augmented with rare photographs, Mitchel Roth relates the story of the Texas Prison Rodeo and the incarcerated felons who contributed to the event&#39;s success.&quot;--<I>Southwestern Historical Quarterly</I></DIV><br /><br /><DIV>&quot;Roth&#39;s narrative is at its best when he is telling the true tales of prisoners who rode wild animals, jumped out of airplanes, risked their lives for money tied to the horns of bulls (an event appropriately called Hard Money), and who also suffered long days and long nights in a lonely, arcane prison.&quot;--<I>Texas Books in Review</I></DIV><br /><br /><DIV>&quot;<I>Convict Cowboys</I> is a must-read for anyone who is interested in topics ranging from prisons and punishment to Texas history to popular culture to the sociology of sports. . . . [It is] one of the finest academic books I have read within the past several years, and I am delighted to recommend it to others.&quot;--<I>Theory in Action</I></DIV><br /><br /><DIV>&quot;[T]his impressively-researched, engaging volume belongs in the library of all readers interested in Texas history and myth.&quot;--<I>Central Texas Studies</I></DIV>
zlib_text: **TEXAS BY THE TAIL**
  
    
    
    
  
  Jim Thompson
  
    
    
    
    
  
   **1965**
  
    
    
  
   **1**
  
  Lint-like threads of cigarette smoke cloyed around the four men, mingling with
  the faint fumes of very good whiskey, occasionally swirling away from them
  with the soft explosions of some very bad words. It was the night of the last
  day of Fort Worth's internationally known Rodeo and Fat Stock Show. The room
  was one of the hotel's best, a bargain—by its tenant's standards—at thirty
  dollars a day.
  
  As the man next to him crapped out, Mitch Corley took out his wallet and
  peered into it deliberately through oldfashioned, steelrimmed spectacles. He
  was playing the rube here in Fort Worth, the big frog from a little puddle,
  the small-town rich man. He wore a ranch-style hat, an ill-fitting suit, and a
  pongee shirt with a string tie (and mannerisms to match). Glancing cautiously
  from his wallet to the three other men, he looked fifteen years older than his
  thirtyfive.
  
  "All right with you fellas," he said, "