Book Description

"In 'Two Evil Isms' he boldly says that Horn was hired by the agency to help wealthy cattlemen get rid of small ranchmen at $660 a head." -Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Jan. 22, 1950 "'Two Evil Isms'...was highly critical of the methods used by the Pinkertons, accusing the agency of buying off policemen and politicians, bribing juries, intimidating witnesses, and murder." - Encyclopedia of the Great Plains (2004) "Siringo was...ordered to turn over to Pinkerton National Detective Agency 1,200 copies of Siringo's book 'Two Evil Isms.'" -Chicago Tribune, Jul. 18, 1915 "Siringo winds up his book 'Two Evil Ims' with some vitriolic remarks...we have reason to believe that the charge of criminal libel is a mere ruse to get him back to Chicago." -Santa Fe Mexican, Apr. 19, 1915 Was the infamous Tom Horn a misunderstood hero, or a ruthless villain capable of unspeakable cruelties. Siringo who knew and served with Tom Horn as a "cowboy detective" in Wyoming has surprising answers. In 1914, famous cowboy author, Charles Siringo, published his final and most controversial book "Two Evil Isms," a book that would be confiscated and suppressed, subjecting the author to extradition from New Mexico to face charges of criminal defamation in Chicago. The author served with the Pinkerton National Detective Agency for twenty-two years, and he publishes revelations from the inside. These stories of the methods of the Pinkertons were so objectionable to the private detectives that Mr. Siringo has been subjected to persistent persecution. Efforts have been made to exclude his book from the mails; and he himself has been arrested on warrants charging him with libel.In his book, Mr. Siringo deals with Chicago anarchist cases, the Coeur D'Alene riots, the Haywood trial, and many other thrilling episodes of crime. Mr. Siringo's description of the slavery system of the Rockefellers and other Coal Kings in Colorado: his flash-lights on the custom of politicians who hire private detective agencies to corrupt voters; his exposures of how juries were fixed, and witnesses either found or lost, constitute a moving picture showing of ways of "playing the game" in the early 1900s.