Memoirs of a Lawman

Book excerpt: Gunneson City Sheriff “Doc” Cyrus Wells Shores (1844-1934)—nicknamed after the doctor who delivered him in Hicksville, Detroit in 1844—became well-known as a Colorado lawman for bringing down local criminals without parading his authority or a display of guns. Born in the village of Hicksville, about thirty miles from Detroit, Michigan, “Doc” Shores moved to Montana as a young man via a steamer and paid passage by hunting game along the route. Prospecting and hunting in Montana, he then worked in Wyoming hauling ties for the railroad, and later drove cattle up from Texas. After many experiences with Indians, blizzards, and rustlers in Kansas, Shores took his wife Agnes and settled in Gunnison, Colorado, where he served as the sheriff of Gunnison County when it was still "wild" and became noted as the lawman who captured Alfred Packer, the infamous "Colorado Cannibal." During his lengthy career, “Doc” Shores also served as a deputy U.S. Marshal, a railroad detective, and as chief of police for Salt Lake City, Utah—and he rode with Tom Horn when Horn was still on the right side of the law. First published in 1962 and edited by Wilson Rockwell, Memoirs of a Lawman are “Doc” Shores’ gripping, as previously unpublished memoirs, spanning his life from his early days on the Western frontier, his appointments as Sheriff, and later Federal Marshall.