Frank Stahl's autobiography, published in 1959, was based largely on his own notes. It is not certain when those notes were created but Connelley's Standard History of Kansas and Kansans (1918) has an entry for Frank that covers many of these same events and probably relied on what Frank had already written by that time. Outside sources mentioned below confirm almost everything he recounts (with the exception of the Jack Dempsey episode in chapter 17), so most of what he wrote seems to have been based on accurate recollections.

State and federal censuses have additional information about many of the people referred to, as do digitized historical newspapers. The Topeka papers in particular have several stories about Frank's exploits as chief of police. The Santa Fe Trail Association's interactive map has details on many of the waypoints that he mentions from his two trips on that trail. In addition, the Kansas Memory website has historical documents and photographs, some of which appear here, that help to complement Frank's narrative. Records about his Civil War service and pension are in the files of the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

The illustrations are the work of Margaret Whittemore, a Kansas artist born in 1897. She was a graduate of Washburn University and later studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. The actual text is based on a combination of Frank's notes and interviews that she conducted with him before his death (1937) while she was working as a reporter for a Topeka paper.

Special thanks are due to Patti and Erika for their patience in proofreading.