"The revolver as a factor in the development of America has never received serious consideration, either from the historian or the literary man. The former has neglected it entirely, while the latter has neither understood it nor its true place in our national life. Too frequently he has used it as his chief stock in trade in portraying certain striking types of American men-the Texas Ranger, the cowboy, or the bad man on horseback. The sensational story-writers, the moving pictures, and even worthier literary men, are loath to abandon this original idea." (Walter Prescott Webb, University of...