For a sample of Williamson's writing style click on any of the articles listed below for the full text.

Escape from Ogalalla

In the summer of 1875 Billy Thompson was shot up in a saloon in Ogalalla, Nebraska.  Following the shooting the law held him under guard at the town's only hotel, The Ogalalla House, until he could be tried and hung - which was a forgone conclusion of all of the residents.  His brother Ben Thompson, a noted gambler and pistol fighter, was convinced that the mob in Ogalalla was waiting for him to come after Billy.  He had reason to believe that if he showed up they intended to stage a necktie party for two. Hedging his bets Ben called in an old friend, Bat Masterson, to free his brother from the clutches of what was reputed to be the crooked law of Ogalalla. The article recounts the events that played out  involving  slipping a Mickey Finn to a guard,  an escape by train at midnight, and finally a raucous rescue by Buffalo Bill Cody.

The Game of Draw Poker (Introduction to Reprint Edition)

John W. Keller wrote the first  rules and strategy for draw poker in his book, The Game of Draw Poker, published in 1887.   Williamson was asked to write an introduction to the reprint of the book.  The result was a mini history of the evolution of the game of poker and the development of the totally American version - Draw Poker.

Tale of Notorious Gunmen Ends In A Pool of Blood

Shortly before midnight on March 11, 1884 two of the most feared pistol fighters of that day pushed through the saloon doors of Jack Harris' Vaudeville Theater & Saloon on the corner of Commerce and Soledad.  In less than an hour Ben Thompson and John King Fisher lay dead in an upstairs room cut down by a hail of gunfire.  A hastily arranged coroner's inquest ruled that the killings were done in self defense but a room full of witnesses knew that the two men had been murdered in cold blood.  The article details the events that led up to the shooting and the aftermath of the bloodbath.