Boomtown Outlaws: The True Story of the Wickedest Town in Texas and the Lawmen Who Tried to Tame It

The True Story of the Wickedest Town in Texas and the Lawmen Who Tried to Tame It



In 1927, Borger, Texas became one of the most violent oil boomtowns in America.


Built almost overnight during the Texas Panhandle oil boom, Borger exploded into a lawless frontier city filled with gamblers, bootleggers, fugitives, corrupt officials, and organized crime. Prohibition-era violence spread through the streets as gambling halls operated openly, bootleg whiskey flowed across state lines, and murders went unsolved in a town overwhelmed by greed, corruption, and rapid growth.


Then Texas Ranger Frank Hamer arrived.


Years before hunting down Bonnie and Clyde, Hamer entered Borger during the height of its collapse and launched a brutal campaign against the criminal networks controlling the town. What followed became one of the most explosive confrontations of the Prohibition era.


Boomtown Outlaws is a gripping work of historical true crime that reveals:


• The rise of organized crime during the 1920s oil boom


• How Prohibition transformed Borger into a criminal sanctuary


• The corruption and violence that overwhelmed law enforcement


• Frank Hamer’s controversial Texas Ranger methods


• The human cost of frontier justice, greed, and collapse


Drawing on historical records and Prohibition-era history, this American crime saga explores the violent reality behind Texas Ranger mythology and the forgotten history of one of the wickedest towns in Texas.


Perfect for readers of Killers of the Flower Moon, The Devil in the White City, and Public Enemies.