Bill O'Neal Death
WTHA E-Newsletter
By Tai Kreidler
November 3, 2025
Dear Friends and Members of the Association:
Bill O'Neal. April 8, 1942-November 3, 2025.
A valued longtime colleague and friend to many in the West Texas Historical Association (WTHA) he served as both board member and association president. In 2017, he was honored as a Fellow of the association. Most recently, he presented a paper at East Texas Historical Association conference this fall. He was the biggest fan of citizen historians and to honor them he revived the C. L. Sonnichsen Latin appellation -- genus Historianus herbidus.
After graduating from Corsicana High School in 1960, he
attended Navarro College and Texas A&M University-Commerce. He served as an
athletic director and head football coach at Anna High School (1967-1968) and
Waskom High School (1968-1970). He was a State Historian of Texas (2012-2018) -
second term reappointed by Governor Rick Perry. He authored 59 non-fiction
books, including The Johnson-Sims Feud, The Johnson County War, Historic
Ranches of the Old West, Encyclopedia of Western Gunfighters, and Cheyenne,
1867-1903. He is a retired history professor at Panola College (1970-2011 and
in 1973, received the first annual "Excellent Teacher" award and in
2000, he became the first recipient of the Minnie Stevens Piper Professorship
award at Panola College. In 2005, O'Neal received the National Association of
Outlaw and Lawmen Association (NOLA) award for his book, "The Johnson
County War". In 2007, True West Magazine named O'Neal the West's
"Best Living Nonfiction Writer". In 2012, he received a Lifetime
Achievement Award from the Wild West History Association, and in 2016 received
the A. C. Green Award to honor his distinguished writing career.
His daughter Berri Neal Gormley forwarded the information
on the arrangements (see below)--
Visitation will be 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. - Thursday evening -
Jimmerson-Lipsey Funeral Home, Carthage, TX
Memorial service 11:00 a.m. - Friday - Central Baptist
Church, Carthage, TX
Graveside service 4:00 p.m. - Friday - Pattison Cemetery,
Emhouse, TX
Tai Kreidler, Executive Director
West Texas Historical Association
PO 41041
Lubbock, Texas 79409
806-742-9076
O’NEAL, BILL (William O’Neal)
Born: 4/8/1942, Corsicana, Texas, U.S.A.
Died: 11/3/2025, Carthage, Texas, U.S.A.
Bill O’Neal’s westerns – author:
Henry Brown: The Outlaw-Marshal - 1980
The Arizona Rangers – 1987
Cattlemen vs Sheepherders: Five Decades of Violence in
the West [Revised Edition] – 1988
Fighting Men of the Indian Wars: A Biographical
Encyclopedia of the Mountain Men, Soldiers,
Cowboys, and
Pioneers Who Took Up Arms During America's – 1991
Best of the West – 1997
Encyclopedia of Western Gunfighters – 1997
Historic Ranches of the Old West – 1997
The Bloody Legacy of Pink Higgins: A Half Century of
Violence in Texas – 1999
1830 Citizens of Texas: A Genealogy of Anglo-American and
Mexican Citizens Taken from
Census and
Other Records - 1999
The Wild West – 2001
Captain Harry Wheeler, Arizona Lawman – 2003
The Johnson County War – 2004
Sam Houston Slept Here: Homes of the Chief Executives of
Texas – 2004
Cheyenne 1867-1903: A Biography of the "Magic
City" of the Plains – 2006
War in East Texas: Regulators vs. Moderators – 2006
Border Queen Caldwell: Toughest Town on the Chisholm
Trail –2008
The Johnson-Sims Feud: Romeo and Juliet, West Texas –
2010
West Texas Cattle Kingdom – 2013
Texas Gunslingers – 2014
Lampasas, 1855-1895: Biography of a Frontier Texas Town –
2016
Sam Houston: A Study In Leadership – 2016
Frontier Forts of Texas – 2018
John Chisum: Frontier Cattle King – 2018
Billy and Olive Dixon: The Plainsman and His Lady – 2019
John S. "Rip" Ford: Texian Hero - 2023
Miles City: Rollicking Cow Capital of the Montana
Frontier - 2025
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