Although Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett were more celebrated, Buck Barry did as much or more to tame the Old Southwest. During a long and useful life he was a professional soldier, stock farmer, sheriff, and member of the legislature. His memoirs are never dull, and no wonder.   In 1845 young James Buckner Barry joined the newly formed Texas Rangers and for the next twenty years his life was one of unremitting activity and danger. These pages show him fighting outlaws and Indians from the Red River to the Rio Grande. He served in the Mexican and Civil wars, coming out as a lieutenant colonel. Then he confronted the daily perils of ranching in Bosque County, Texas. Peace officer, legislator, "he served his people well even to the neglect of his private advantage." Such is the tribute of the historian James K. Greer, who edited Buck Barry's private papers and reminiscences and shaped them into this book.