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Antoine Leroux
Legendary figures in the Old West came about gaining public recognition in a variety of ways. Many came about it by self-promotion. Some, like Custer and Billy the Kid became legends after they died...
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Gold Rush Days in the Mother Lode
California’s Mother Lode was a magic rectangle on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada. It was only 60 miles long and 40 miles wide but yielded a bonanza far beyond the wildest dreams of the Spanish...
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Jack Johnson Swaps Sides
Buck Taylor as Jack Johnson in Tombstone. Jack Johnson (as played by Buck Taylor in Tombstone) rode with Wyatt Earp and company on the infamous Vendetta Ride of 1882, when a number of Cow-boys were...
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Who Was William Preston Longley?
Who was William Preston Longley? Jonathan Smith Rodenberg, Lower Saxony, Germany “Wild Bill” Longley had a reputation—which he helped build—as one of the deadliest gunfighters. But he was racist,...
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Following the Guidon: Texas Frontier Forts
At twilight Fort Concho National Historic Landmark takes on a special magic. The 1870s Officers Row is especially evocative with its stately stone structures standing as silent sentinels of a bygone...
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Bucking Broncos and Breaking Barriers
Jackson Sundown became the first American Indian to earn a world championship title as a bronco buster. He stands here, in the 1916 Pendleton Round-Up arena, next to third-place winner “Bronco” Bob...
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Globe, Arizona
With a majestic backdrop of the Pinal Mountains on one side and the Apache Range on the other, the town of Globe perches on the banks of Pinal Creek, its old buildings huddled on steep slopes. It was...
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When Doc Met Wyatt
Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp became fast friends, which puzzled some of Earp’s pals, especially Bat Masterson, who objected to Holliday’s sometimes appalling behavior.– All photos True West...
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Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp
A question came up the other day, how does Bat Masterson match up with Wyatt Earp in the history of the Old West? Bat Masterson’s history in the Old West was every bit as illustrious as Wyatt’s and in...
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Classic Gunfights: Doc Hits Bottom (but not much else)
By the time he hits Leadville, Doc Holliday, 33, is white-haired, wheezy, stoop-shouldered and walks with a cane.– Illustrations by Bob Boze Bell – August 19, 1884 Broke, sick and usually drunk, Doc...
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Hualapai Joe’s Lost Loot
Arizona is a wild, untamed land of jagged mountains and barren deserts making it an ideal place for lost mines and treasures. These lost treasure tales can lead one down the path of plausibility and...
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Life In A Soddy
When the farmers got west of the 100th meridian they found themselves in short grass country where the grasses were gramma, needle and buffalo. The annual rainfall at 10-20 inches was more than half...
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Who Really “Tamed” The West?
History has lots of candidates, from trappers to explorers to miners, military men, ranchers, homesteaders, even gunslingers. But you seldom hear this: “Though history has all but forgotten them, it...
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Spring is in the Air
What do Tombstone, the Pony Express, an “anti-dude” club and Jesse James have in common? All made history during the month of April. For Tombstone, it started on the very first day of the month, for...
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Rescuing Silver Strike History
During mine tours, Julie and Al Lucero present the history of the mule barn and mules associated with the Sutro Tunnel from mid- to late 1800s. An engineering achievement in Comstock history, the...
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No Way to Stage a Hanging
One place nobody wanted to be on April 25, 1901, was the front rows of spectators at the New Mexico hanging of Black Jack Ketchum. Ketchum was a notorious outlaw and feared gunman, but he was an...
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How Prevalent Were Bounty Hunters?
How prevalent were bounty hunters? Tom Betts Anaheim, California In 1872, the Supreme Court ruled that bounty hunters were a part of law enforcement. Bounty hunters had more leeway when pursuing a...
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Gourmet Glitz at Gateway to the West
Virginia Campbell provided meals to many dignitaries, from President Ulysses S. Grant to Gen. William T. Sherman, in this dining room at her family home in St. Louis, Missouri.– Courtesy Campbell House...
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Classic Gunfights: Doc Hits Bottom (but not much else)
By the time he hits Leadville, Doc Holliday, 33, is white-haired, wheezy, stoop-shouldered and walks with a cane.– Illustrations by Bob Boze Bell – August 19, 1884 Broke, sick and usually drunk, Doc...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hualapai Joe’s Lost Loot
Arizona is a wild, untamed land of jagged mountains and barren deserts making it an ideal place for lost mines and treasures. These lost treasure tales can lead one down the path of plausibility and...
View Article