38 Facts About Charlie Siringo

Charles Angelo Siringo was an American lawman, detective, bounty hunter, and agent for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Charlie Siringo was born on Matagorda Peninsula in Matagorda County, Texas, to an Irish immigrant mother and an Italian immigrant father from Genoa.

Charlie Siringo's father died when Siringo was a year old.

Charlie Siringo attended public school until the start of the American Civil War, then took his first cowpuncher lessons in 1867 before moving to St Louis after his mother remarried.

Charlie Siringo attended Fisk public school for a time while in New Orleans but then started work as a cowboy for Abel Head "Shanghai" Pierce in April 1871, after returning to Texas.

In July 1877, Charlie Siringo was in Dodge City, Kansas, where he survived an encounter with Bat Masterson.

Charlie Siringo was already working as a cattle drive cowboy when he started working for the LX Ranch in 1877.

Charlie Siringo stopped working for the LX Ranch when he married Mamie in 1884 and opened a tobacco store in Caldwell, Kansas.

Charlie Siringo began writing his autobiography, A Texas Cow Boy; Or Fifteen Years on the Hurricane Deck of a Spanish Pony.

Charlie Siringo was assigned to Denver, reporting to James McParland, and moved his family there.

Charlie Siringo's wife died in 1890, and his daughter went to live with his wife's aunt and her husband, Emma and Will F Read.

Charlie Siringo was immediately assigned several cases, which took him as far north as Alaska, for the Treadwell mine, and as far south as Mexico City.

Charlie Siringo began operating under cover, a relatively new technique at the time, and infiltrated gangs of robbers and rustlers, making more than 100 arrests.

Charlie Siringo greatly admired Horn's talents and skills in tracking down suspects, but reflected later that Horn had a dark side that could easily be accessed when need be.

In February 1891, assuming the name Charles T Leon, Siringo undertook a 6-month investigation for New Mexico Governor L Bradford Prince.

Charlie Siringo was able to infiltrate Las Gorras Blancas and the Knights of Labor, while understanding their relationship with the Santa Fe Ring.

The investigation was called off before Charlie Siringo could gather enough evidence to definitively state who was behind the shooting.

Charlie Siringo did purchase 265 acres near Santa Fe, New Mexico, and established his Sunny Slope Ranch.

In 1892, Charlie Siringo was assigned to a case in the Idaho Panhandle, Silver Valley, for the Mine Owners' Protective Association.

Charlie Siringo assumed the identity of Charles Leon Allison, working as a shoveler in the Gem Mine.

McParland later asked him to go anyway, with the agreement that Charlie Siringo could leave if he still felt the same way after seeing the situation.

Charlie Siringo infiltrated the Gem Miners' Union, and decided that the leadership was in the hands of anarchists such as George Pettibone.

Charlie Siringo married Lillie Thomas in 1893, and their son William Lee Roy was born in 1896.

On that case, Charlie Siringo often coordinated with Tom Horn, who was by that time working for large cattle companies as a stock detective, but who was retained by the Pinkerton Agency on contract to assist in the robbery investigation.

In 1907, during the trial of the Western Federation of Miners' Bill Haywood, Charlie Siringo was assigned as a bodyguard for Albert Horsley.

In 1907, Charlie Siringo married Grace, after resigning from the Pinkertons.

The Pinkerton Detective Agency delayed publication for two years, feeling it violated the confidentiality agreement that Charlie Siringo had signed upon hiring.

Charlie Siringo capitulated, and deleted their name from the book title and elsewhere in the book.

Angry with the agency after it sabotaged the publication of his cowboy memoirs, Charlie Siringo published Two Evil Isms: Pinkertonism and Anarchism, a revealing chronicle of Pinkerton methods and deception.

Charlie Siringo wrote that he had been instructed to commit voter fraud in the re-election campaign of Colorado Governor James Peabody.

In 1916, Charlie Siringo began working as a New Mexico Mounted Patrolman to assist in the capture of numerous rustlers in the area, holding that position until 1918.

Charlie Siringo's health began to fail, and his ranch was failing owing to his absence.

Charlie Siringo moved to Los Angeles, where he became somewhat of a celebrity due to his exploits.

Charlie Siringo renewed his relationship with Wyatt Earp during this period.

In 1920, Charlie Siringo published the History of "Billy the Kid".

In 1924, Charlie Siringo played the part of an old cowboy in the movie Nine Scars Make a Man.

In 1925, Siringo served as a consultant for William S Hart's Tumbleweeds.

Charlie Siringo was buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, California.