In the dying days of the Old West, the true-life story of West Texas rancher Noah Wilkerson earned a small, but captivating, place in the era’s history. In the new book, Guilty…But Not As Charged, Wilkerson’s life became a case of Old West justice when he went from family man to a convicted murderer for a crime he may — or may not — have committed.
A self-made man with little formal education living in Coleman County, Texas, Wilkerson was a headstrong landowner used to doing things his way and answering to no one. Nothing about Noah suggested timidity. A man of few words, Wilkerson never really “fit in” with those around him. Nevertheless, he owned a successful cattle and horse ranch as well as a home for his wife and nine children.
His ordinary life, however, suddenly became entangled with many questions and few answers when a debatable arrest and conviction for murder led him to a new existence — as an outlaw on the run with a price over his head. Leaving his family and home life behind, Wilkerson escaped from jail and traveled through three states before being tracked down.
The result of years of research and numerous interviews with members of the Wilkerson family tree, GUILTY … But Not As Charged is a fascinating, well-documented examination of this somewhat complex man whose decisions ultimately put him on the wrong end of a lawman’s gun.
GUILTY…But Not As Charged is published by Zone Press, an imprint of Rogers Publishing & Consulting, Inc. Upon release, the 228-page trade paperback book will be available at www.ZonePress.com and all major retail outlets.
About the authors: Ed Walker, Helen Wilkerson and Marilyn Read are all distantly related to the book’s main character and still reside in West Texas. Mr. Walker, of Brownwood, is the great-grandson of Noah Wilkerson’s father-in-law while Helen Wilkerson is married to a great-nephew of Noah Wilkerson. Mrs. Wilkerson and Marilyn Read are sisters who are related to the Nickell family that enters the story via Tom Horn.
