Frank Hamer was once asked how he felt about the 52 gunfights he was alleged to have participated in throughout his 45 years as a Texas lawman—and the 30 dead men these violent clashes accounted for. “The men I have shot down have all been criminals in the act of committing a crime or resisting arrest,” Hamer replied. “I’m hired to do that work. It’s my job. I do it because I have to. I don’t like to talk about it or think about it. It’s something to be forgotten.” Ironically, because of Frank Hamer’s reputation as a skilled and ruthless man-hunter, he can’t be forgotten. Born in 1884 in West Texas, Franklin Augustus Hamer was destined to be a man of action. He originally wanted to be a preacher, but he quickly realized he felt most at home outdoors. He was also fascinated by stories of the Comanches, reading …